Bring the Pot!

After a long while, Eiji and the others packed up and took away quite a few things from Orochimaru's laboratory.

Before leaving, Jiraiya took one last, deep look at the laboratory.

"Orochimaru, how did you end up like this?"

Jiraiya couldn't help recalling the days when the three of them had studied under Old Man.

Back then, he had been called a useless dead-last, while Orochimaru had been the goal he pursued throughout his life.

As time passed, he became one of the Legendary Sannin, the ceiling of Konoha, and earned the rather abstract nickname of Pervy Sage.

It sounded pretty good.

But...

Orochimaru, once regarded by Old Man as his successor, had taken this path of no return after experiencing a series of upheavals.

Jiraiya had clearly found that even after defecting from the village, Orochimaru had never stopped cooperating with Danzo over the years.

Danzo had used his position to provide Orochimaru with money and test subjects.

And the blood on Orochimaru's hands had continued to increase. Jiraiya didn't even dare imagine how many people had died at his hands!

"Orochimaru, I'll kill you with my own hands!"

"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

A violent fire dragon erupted, instantly swallowing the laboratory.

"Let's go." Jiraiya was in a somewhat foul mood. "Let's find somewhere to rest."

That evening, at a small restaurant.

The four of them ordered several vegetarian dishes and four bowls of rice. Eiji even shamelessly asked for a large basin of free soup.

Jiraiya looked at the food, then at Eiji.

"Kid, we're not fleeing from a disaster. Can't we eat something better?"

Because of the earlier incident in which he had been arrested by the Security Division, Jiraiya already felt somewhat displeased with Eiji.

And today, they didn't even have a bottle of wine. Wasn't this just bullying?

Eiji said nothing. He simply took out his wallet and showed it to Jiraiya.

"That's all I have left. We'll have to rely on Tenzo-senior for lodging tonight."

Tenzo silently raised his hand. "Leave that to me."

Jiraiya gave Tenzo a smack on the head. "This isn't about where we're staying. It's about whether we can order more food."

"No money."

Jiraiya clicked his tongue. "Kid, the Security Division's pay isn't low, is it? You're not married either. Where did you spend all your money?"

Eiji clamped his mouth shut. He couldn't say. He wouldn't say even if they beat him to death.

Honest Tenzo, thinking of easing the awkward atmosphere, said, "Actually, this can't entirely be blamed on Eiji. He lost all his money to Lord Tsunade..."

"Ahhhhhhh!" Eiji went berserk!

Tenzo, you look so honest and thick-browed—how could you still enjoy stabbing people right in the lungs?

Weren't they supposed to be the only ones who knew about this?

"Oh no." Tenzo covered his mouth. "Did I say too much?"

Jiraiya was completely dumbfounded. What the hell—was there still another human being in the entire Shinobi World who could lose to Tsunade?

And lose his entire fortune at that.

How terrible did he have to be at gambling?!

"Hahahahaha!" Jiraiya's mood suddenly improved considerably. He slapped a banknote onto the table.

"Boss, bring out the best dishes in your restaurant."

Two hours later.

After eating and drinking their fill, the group returned to the inn to rest.

Eiji was in a state of self-isolation and didn't want to deal with anyone, so he stubbornly took one of the small private rooms.

That left the three burly men to stay in the other room.

Fortunately, the room was spacious enough, so it didn't feel too cramped.

Kakashi leaned against the sofa and took Icha Icha Paradise out of his pack.

"Lord Jiraiya, please keep the matter of Eiji losing to Lord Tsunade a secret."

Jiraiya's face was practically splitting from his grin.

This kid looked quite clever, yet who would have thought he'd be so hopeless in this area?

Then he noticed the book in Kakashi's hand.

He knew Kakashi was his die-hard fan and bought every new book the moment it came out.

"This is my personally signed edition. It's been driven up to dozens of times its original price on the black market. Kakashi, you sure don't mind spending money."

Kakashi shook his head. "Eiji gave me this book when we first met."

"What?"

Eiji's image in Jiraiya's mind became a little more vivid.

A genius shinobi of the Uchiha clan, with no one among his peers capable of standing against him.

So what was the price?

His luck at gambling was unbelievably, explosively terrible—a Fat Sheep's ultimate Fat Pig.

Normally, he was upright to the point of being devilishly righteous, completely selfless.

Yet in private, he also read Little Lewd Book.

What an interesting kid.

"Kakashi, how is Tsunade?"

Kakashi closed the book and said, "She's still the same. She likes gambling and drinking, and when I asked whether she wanted to return to Konoha, she said she didn't."

"Alas." Jiraiya let out a long sigh. "Tsunade... she's a pitiful person too."

He tapped his head. "Get some rest. We still have to travel tomorrow."

Several days of arduous travel had left them utterly exhausted, and they soon drifted off to sleep.

But Eiji, in the room next door, couldn't sleep.

He took out the evidence they had collected that day from his scroll once again.

The more he looked at it, the more dissatisfied he became.

The references to Danzo were too vague. That old bastard could still wriggle out of it later.

Maybe he should add a little more.

It was all that old bastard's doing anyway. He wouldn't be wronged.

He took out a lighter and set one of the documents on fire.

When it had burned halfway, he snapped his fingers.

Drops of water fell onto the burning paper, producing wisps of smoke.

Next, he took out another scroll and began fabricating a story while imitating Orochimaru's handwriting.

Then he repeated the process.

By the time they returned to Konoha, half a month had passed.

Because the matter involved Orochimaru, even the usually carefree Jiraiya made a rare trip back.

The first thing he did after returning was meet with the Hokage and report on the mission.

"We encountered an attack from Orochimaru. Although we managed to defeat him, he still escaped."

"He seems to have mastered a strange Substitution Technique."

Hiruzen took a drag from his pipe, a trace of helplessness flashing through his eyes.

He had originally still hoped that Orochimaru could turn over a new leaf.

But judging from the fact that Orochimaru had taken the initiative to attack them, that was essentially impossible.

"However, with Lord Jiraiya's help, we found one of Orochimaru's former laboratories."

"We collected some things there."

As he spoke, Eiji and the others placed stack after stack of documents on the desk in the office.

After Hiruzen finished reading the evidence Eiji had fabricated, his hands trembled with rage.

"Danzo, that bastard! Damn it, what has he been doing?!"

"He harmed shinobi from the village and reported them as missing, when in reality they became Orochimaru's test subjects."

"He embezzled the Orphanage's funding and used it to conduct cruel human experiments!"

"And this is only what we found. How much more is there that we haven't uncovered?!"

Hiruzen ground his teeth in hatred. "You several, go back for now. Also, summon Danzo here. Now!"

When Danzo arrived at the office, Hiruzen immediately launched into a furious tirade against him.

When Danzo claimed that he hadn't done anything recently, Hiruzen directly snatched up a scroll and hurled it at his face.

"Look!"

Danzo opened the scroll, and his face instantly turned deathly pale.

That idiot Orochimaru—why had he kept this junk?!

And recorded everything so clearly, too. What the hell was he, a company warehouse manager or an accountant?!

As he continued reading, Danzo's scalp began to itch more and more.

Wait a minute. A lot of these things have nothing to do with me.