"Lord Orochimaru, it's been so long since we last saw each other!"
In the Forest of Konoha, Zhou Duan took out a scroll and unsealed a pile of tableware and pastries. Nawaki shamelessly reached for one, only for Zhou Duan to kick him flying. Zhou Duan picked out the finest pastry and offered it to Orochimaru:
"These were made by a famous pastry chef in the village. Would you like one?"
"No!"
Orochimaru's face was cold.
"I'm not hungry right now!"
"How about some wine?"
"During wartime, shinobi aren't allowed to drink!"
"Oh, Lord Orochimaru really is a strict shinobi!"
Zhou Duan ignored Orochimaru's expressionless face.
"Lord Orochimaru, you're amazing at hiding your presence. Even Hundred Palms, with his Byakugan activated, couldn't detect you!"
"I merely made it seem as though the Chakra throughout my body had stopped flowing. Their eyes were completely useless against that!"
"Ah, that's incredible! By the way, how did that Sand shinobi who used a forbidden technique just now find us? We were at least five hundred meters away!"
"It was just an additional function of his technique, allowing him to roughly sense the people nearby. The murderous urges in their nature make it impossible for them to stop killing. On top of that, he instinctively feared me. I also observed that your squad was the closest to him, so it's no surprise he went after you!"
"I see. Lord Orochimaru really is incredible. You figured out so much just from a quick glance. Wait, why did Lord Orochimaru, who should have been fighting on the front lines, suddenly come here?"
"That's classified information from the village!"
"Ah, sorry, I overstepped..."
Zhou Duan smiled awkwardly.
"Then can I ask why our supply squad suddenly ran into Sand shinobi? Judging by their actions, they seemed to know we were coming and had prepared an ambush in advance. It looks like we weren't the only squad they targeted, either. If there was a leak, then an awful lot of information got out, didn't it?"
"This..."
Orochimaru gave Zhou Duan a cold look.
"Operational secrets!"
"Oh, I see..."
Zhou Duan nodded.
"Thank you for clearing that up, Lord Orochimaru!"
Water Gate: "..."
Hundred Palms: "..."
Nawaki: "..."
Sitting on the other side, well away from Zhou Duan and Orochimaru, Water Gate, Hundred Palms, and Nawaki watched the two of them talking with bewildered expressions. They could only feel that something strange was in the air. Nawaki thought for a moment, then spoke to the two beside him:
"I think something's off about this atmosphere!"
"It's not just off. It's downright awkward!"
Hundred Palms stared at Zhou Duan and Orochimaru, a dark look on his face.
"This is the most awkward conversation ever. Anyone would have given up listening by now. I can't believe those two are still talking. What's he even doing it for?"
"For the benefits, of course!"
Water Gate looked thoughtful.
"You've all heard about Captain's behavior back in the village. He can't take his eyes off anything that might benefit him, and now he's practically groveling to Lord Orochimaru. He must be hoping to get something out of him!"
Water Gate's guess was quite accurate. Zhou Duan had never been one to accept a loss. Without something to gain, he wouldn't have gone out of his way to flatter Orochimaru. Of course, that depended on Orochimaru giving him the chance—and that chance was standing right in front of Zhou Duan: Senju Nawaki!
More precisely, the blood and tissue samples from Nawaki's body—the genetic material he had inherited from the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama!
Orochimaru still wasn't bold enough, or perhaps was simply cautious enough, to tamper with the First Hokage's corpse. He didn't dare touch the other Senju Clan shinobi, either, despite their vigorous vitality and presence on the battlefield, even though they had no Wood Release. As for the rest of the Senju Clan, the stronger the genes, the lower the odds of a perfect inheritance. The shinobi in the Senju Clan these days either lacked talent or had physical defects. Some even had far less Chakra than an ordinary shinobi despite being middle-aged. The only one who had caught Orochimaru's interest was Nawaki, whom he had just happened to see today!
Orochimaru's plan had been simple enough: wait for the Sand shinobi who had used a forbidden technique to injure Nawaki, then suddenly appear. He could save Nawaki and collect a blood sample at the same time. After all, Nawaki was Tsunade's younger brother; Orochimaru couldn't go too far. But reality was always cruel. Not only had things failed to go as planned, he'd also witnessed a battle that ended with someone's "guts getting ripped out." Orochimaru's feelings were a tangled mess.
Zhou Duan had deliberately kept Orochimaru talking for so long to see how much Nawaki mattered to him. It turned out that the Senju Clan's blood samples were quite tempting to Orochimaru. On one hand, things hadn't gone as planned, and Orochimaru wanted to leave. But with Nawaki right there, staying made him uncomfortable, while leaving left him unwilling to give up. So Zhou Duan had kept him there all this time. But as Orochimaru's patience wore thinner, Zhou Duan knew when to quit while he was ahead. He gave Orochimaru a meaningful look, then turned and walked over to Nawaki!
"Nawaki!"
Zhou Duan stopped in front of him and spoke gravely:
"Nawaki, you've been poisoned. You need to sell your butt to Lord Orochimaru!"
"...I @%￥ you @￥%￥%@!"
Nawaki's eyes widened in horror.
"How did I suddenly get poisoned? Why do I have to sell my butt? Zhou Duan, will you explain yourself?"
"Ah, I suppose it's my fault..."
Zhou Duan looked full of remorse.
"The hormone potion from earlier has side effects. I treated Water Gate and Hundred Palms for the poison, but you weren't with us, so I forgot about you. The longer the poison went untreated, the more it worsened. With my medical skills, I can't cure you now. Fortunately, Lord Orochimaru knows a lot about Medical Ninjutsu, too. While he's still here, you should hurry and let him examine and treat you!
"Oh, right. I phrased that badly just now and gave you the wrong idea. I didn't mean you should sell your butt. I meant that you should cut off a piece of flesh from your butt for Lord Orochimaru to analyze!"
"...I can't help feeling like you're trying to harm me!"
Nawaki shakily raised his hands to cover his butt. The terror had instantly cleared his head.
"I won't sell my butt or let you cut off a piece of it! If you want me to believe you, then wait until the potion's side effects kick in!"
"Ah, Nawaki!"
Seeing how wary Nawaki looked, Zhou Duan put on a heartbroken expression.
"Look, the potion's side effects are already kicking in. You don't trust me and think I'm trying to harm you—that's the best proof!
"I'm a doctor first and your captain second. Do you really think a doctor who cares about the whole world and a captain who cares for his subordinates would harm their patient and teammate?"
"I think..."
Nawaki replied shakily:
"That for the sake of profit, you wouldn't hesitate to kill me!"
"Nawaki, how can you think that!"
Zhou Duan let out a "heartbroken" shout and kicked Nawaki to the ground before he could dodge. He planted his right foot on Nawaki's back, sliced open his pants with a Kunai, then raised another Kunai and brought it down hard on Nawaki's butt.
"You're already gravely ill. As your doctor and captain, I can't just watch you keep suffering from the poison!"
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