The Gears of Fate

Before long, Orochimaru arrived at Tsunade's residence.

The house Tsunade lived in was the estate once left behind by the First and Second Hokage. It was quite large, yet Tsunade was usually its only resident.

He knocked for quite a while, but no one came to answer, leaving Orochimaru somewhat puzzled.

"Did she go out?"

Just as Orochimaru thought he had come at the wrong time, a series of clattering sounds suddenly came from inside the house, seemingly the sound of glass bottles hitting the floor.

"Go, Shiro. Go inside and see what's happening."

With that, he released Shiro. Before long, Shiro came back out, its forked tongue constantly making hissing sounds.

Orochimaru understood snake language, so he quickly grasped what it meant.

"So that's what it is. That really is something she would do!"

Not worried about being accused of trespassing, Orochimaru effortlessly vaulted over the courtyard wall. The moment he entered the living room, he spotted Tsunade.

Tsunade was sitting on the floor with her head resting on the table, fast asleep. A heap of bottles and jars lay scattered around her, all of them empty liquor bottles.

"Hm? Drinking in broad daylight? How much did she have?"

Orochimaru twitched his nose. A pungent smell of alcohol hung in the air.

He walked over and called her name a few times, only to find that she gave no response.

Tsunade was completely unconscious and utterly defenseless.

He took the half-finished bottle from her hand.

Orochimaru scooped her up in a princess carry, and only then did he understand what it meant to hold warmth and softness in his arms. Her two full breasts immediately pressed against his chest.

That snowy whiteness was no less striking than Orochimaru's pale skin. Her barely restrained curves left him staring, and that bottomless cleavage was truly enough to invite sin!

Her eyes were like autumn water, her skin like congealed cream, and the girlish fragrance drifting from Tsunade's body made Orochimaru's gaze turn hazy.

Orochimaru wanted to keep holding her like this, to keep feeling that softness against his chest.

Just as he was losing himself in the sight, perhaps because Tsunade felt uncomfortable, her body began to squirm unconsciously, and she mumbled something groggily under her breath.

The sudden change immediately snapped Orochimaru back to his senses. His Adam's apple bobbed as he hurriedly swallowed.

This was not his first time at Tsunade's home. Following his memory, he carried her into the bedroom.

He gently laid her on the bed. Looking at Tsunade's alluring, curvaceous body, Orochimaru truly wanted to pounce on her at that very moment.

But reason told him that if he did, Tsunade would probably grind him into the floor before he got what he wanted.

After covering Tsunade with a blanket, Orochimaru reluctantly withdrew his gaze and prepared to leave.

Just then, a delicate hand grabbed the corner of his clothes.

"Dan... don't leave me..."

Orochimaru looked at Tsunade's tightly furrowed brow, the two trails of tears running from the corners of her eyes, then at the hand clutching him instinctively.

"Sigh... it seems the blow hit her even harder than I imagined."

With that thought, Orochimaru simply pulled over a chair, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and held Tsunade's soft hand. Only then did her murmuring cease.

He watched as her furrowed brow gradually relaxed. Only then did Orochimaru have the time to take a closer look at Tsunade.

It had to be said that Tsunade was one of the Ninja World's rare great beauties. With brows carrying a hint of heroism, full crimson lips, and slightly flushed cheeks, she would have been an unquestionable beauty goddess in his previous life.

She clearly could have lived off her looks, yet she had been forcibly pushed into the Hokage position.

It could be said that Tsunade was the person least interested in the Hokage position. She had left the village for more than a decade, yet one day, someone found her and told her:

"Have you had enough fun? If you have, come back and be Hokage!"

A Hokage position had fallen from the sky. That would probably have made Danzo furious enough to die.

From the Second Hokage to the Third Hokage and then the Fourth Hokage, Danzo's lifelong schemes had remained forever beyond his reach. Yet some people were born to be protagonists, like Konoha's publicly acknowledged Princess Tsunade.

Of course, Danzo did become Hokage for seven days in the end, so it was not as though he gained nothing. At the very least, he managed to become the five-and-a-halfth Hokage.

"What's scary isn't being single. It's having a face that looks like you'd never lack partners. Everyone thinks you're a player, but really, you're a lovelorn fool no one wants."

As he admired Tsunade's lovely face, Orochimaru could not help smiling faintly.

Seeing that Tsunade's breathing had steadied, Orochimaru released her hand, tucked the blanket around her, and left the room.

Through her haze, Tsunade saw a tall, straight-backed figure close the door as he departed.

Orochimaru had originally come to discuss training with Tsunade, but he had not expected to find her in this state.

As her companion, Orochimaru naturally did not want to watch her sink into such despondency.

He had to find something for her to do and divert her attention. Sparring with her would be perfect.

Not only could it let her vent the pent-up pressure of recent days and leave her with no excess energy to brood over things, it could also provide Orochimaru with a steady supply of momentum.

After tidying up the messy house, Orochimaru went straight to Tsunade's study.

He and Jiraiya had come here when they were children. Entering now without the owner's permission was a little impolite.

But he could not exactly shake Tsunade awake right after she had fallen asleep. Once she woke up, she would surely agree if he explained it to her.

The study was quite spacious. As one of the Ninja World's foremost Medical Ninja, Tsunade naturally possessed no small collection of medical books.

There were also all sorts of materials left behind by the Second Hokage, covering personnel management, ninjutsu research, school planning, and everything else imaginable.

This also showed just how brilliant the Second Hokage had been—rational and learned, truly worthy of being called the inventor of ninjutsu.

Orochimaru walked over to the shelf containing Medical Ninjutsu materials, pulled out a book, and began reading.

The moment he opened it, the system notification sounded in his mind once more:

"Host has triggered a story event: Where Dreams Begin.

① Engage in scientific research. You will gain Photographic Memory.

② Be a salted fish. Decades later, you will make an excellent stepping stone. You will gain Shuriken Machine Gun."

He had not expected to trigger another major story event after only a few days. It seemed his life as a snake was destined to be extraordinary.

Faced with these two options, Orochimaru naturally chose the first without hesitation. As for the Shuriken Machine Gun, what the hell was that?

"Congratulations, Host, on obtaining Photographic Memory. The gears of fate have begun to turn. (Note: May the Host never forget their original aspiration on the path of scientific research, and only then achieve a good ending!)"

The next moment, a wave of clarity swept through Orochimaru's mind. Every memory from childhood to the present became incomparably clear, including the memories of his previous life.

"As expected, anything produced by the system is top quality!"

With that thought, Orochimaru began flipping through the book in his hands. Combined with his extraordinary eyesight, he was like a human scanner, finishing a page in less than three seconds.

Only when he encountered material that required thought did he slow down, though his reading speed still far surpassed that of ordinary people.

For a time, only the soft rustle of turning pages echoed through the room.