In the crisp autumn air, Mitaraishi Anko walked down the street. Her nose twitched faintly several times as she caught the sweet scent of dango and red bean soup wafting from the shops beside her. Her throat moved involuntarily, and her gaze drifted to the side.
"Anko."
"Yes, teacher!"
A hoarse voice rang out, startling Mitaraishi Anko, who had been secretly eyeing the dango. She quickly turned to look at her teacher, Orochimaru, an embarrassed smile appearing on her face.
Looking quietly at his silly student for a while, Orochimaru took a thick stack of bills from his robe and placed it in Mitaraishi Anko's hands.
At the delighted look in her eyes, Orochimaru spoke:
"I have something to take care of. Anko, go look around by yourself for now. I'll come back for you in an hour."
With that, Orochimaru turned and left. In less than a few seconds, his figure vanished into the crowd, leaving behind a purple-haired girl wiping drool from her mouth.
"Dango, dango, here I come." A lover of sweets, she took advantage of her youth and fast metabolism to devour dango and sweet red bean soup, her face glowing with satisfaction.
After all, she would be leaving the village tomorrow with the others to carry out a mission. Today was the perfect time to replenish her energy. The money her teacher had given her was equivalent to the reward for a B-Rank Mission, so she had to eat her fill today.
Meanwhile, after leaving Mitaraishi Anko, Orochimaru had already appeared atop Kage Rock. The scenery here could be said to be the most beautiful in Konoha. From this elevated position, anyone standing there could perfectly overlook the layout of the entire village. People who were fond of power naturally enjoyed the feeling of having everything under control.
"Orochimaru, your experiments haven't made any progress, yet you keep demanding supplies. What are you trying to do?"
A sinister light showed through Danzo's left eye as he stared coldly at him. His dissatisfaction was no longer concealed. The power of Wood Release and the Sharingan had made him intensely greedy, but obtaining them meant relying on Orochimaru.
Someone like Orochimaru, regardless of his strength or identity, could never make Danzo feel at ease. Yet he could not do without him either. This conflicting feeling left Danzo able only to keep a close watch on Orochimaru while being unable to do anything.
"I couldn't help it. The child who looks so much like the Second Hokage isn't anything special after all. It was merely a false hope. If you could hand over A to me, I believe I'd achieve a new breakthrough very soon."
Orochimaru's hoarse voice entered Danzo's ears, sounding more like an invisible provocation. He had nearly ordered the Root members hidden nearby to attack, but remembering Orochimaru's usefulness, he forcibly held himself back.
"One year. If things are still like this at this time next year, remember this: my things aren't so easy to take."
With that, Danzo stormed away, leaving Orochimaru standing there quietly, gazing down at Konoha. As he looked at the land that had given him life and raised him, no one knew what he was thinking.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss."
At some point, a little snake had coiled around his shoulder. When the sound rang out, a look of understanding appeared on Orochimaru's face.
"So Tsunade left her legacy in that child? To be able to summon Slug at that age... The size isn't impressive, but the talent is passable."
After learning that Senba was now Tsunade's successor, Orochimaru became even less interested. At present, he was wholly focused on the art of immortality. His assistance to Danzo was merely because he was interested in the Hashirama Cells.
Meanwhile, Danzo, whose heart was burning with anger after being infuriated by Orochimaru, was walking through the Root's passageways. He felt that he needed to teach Orochimaru something about status and hierarchy.
"Send someone to have a talk with his female student. Crippling her will be enough. Let Orochimaru know the consequences of offending me."
"And bring Kabuto here as well. The orphanage isn't where he should be staying."
Danzo's cold voice echoed through the silent Root.
After a day of training, Senba was exhausted. Although Slug could heal them, she still had to take care of Tsuki and Iruka as well. At Senba's request, Slug had to heal all three of them at once, which quickly drained Senba's Chakra.
After repeating this training over and over, Senba was being carried back to his residence by Iruka. The pain in his body made him suspect that he would probably be unable to sleep tonight.
"Iruka, wait a moment. Turn left. I ordered some sushi and rice balls there. Let's pick them up."
Iruka found Senba's behavior rather strange, but he did not think much of it. Following his instructions, he walked toward the nearby restaurant.
A moment later, Iruka emerged with an awkward expression, carrying Senba on his back. A huge bundle hung around his neck, containing enough sushi to last him three days.
The sight drew the attention of many passersby. With a bundle hanging from his chest and an injured person on his back, they would have taken Iruka for some refugee if not for his neat clothes and Konoha insignia.
"Senba, if you can't cook, you can stay at my house. There was no need to buy so much at once. It won't be easy to store, and if it spoils and gives you food poisoning, it'll be more trouble than it's worth."
"We're here, Iruka."
Iruka's rambling was interrupted by Senba from behind him. Following the direction of Senba's finger, he saw a white-haired man wearing glasses smiling at them. Iruka, who was rather thickheaded, felt that the man's smile seemed somewhat forced.
As Iruka was thinking about this, Yakushi Kabuto walked up to him and gently removed the bundle from his chest. When he saw the exhaustion on Senba's face, a flicker of emotion passed through his eyes.
"Thank you, Senba. We owe a lot to kindhearted people like you who have been sending us food and relief money without interruption. Sorry for the trouble. The village issued an order today. From now on, it will fully guarantee the orphanage's needs, so you won't need to keep bringing supplies anymore."
"Let me thank you once again. Thank you."
Exhausted, Senba silently nodded when he heard this and prepared to leave. But as if he had thought of something, he stared at the gentle smile on Yakushi Kabuto's face. In the end, he could not hold back and spoke.
"Kabuto, you'd actually be quite suited to being a ritual priest. After all, both of you perform while wearing masks."
Without paying any attention to the fake smile that was nearly breaking down on Kabuto's face, he turned and left with Iruka. He had only acted out of kindness on a whim. Now that the orphanage was back on track, he no longer needed to spare any attention for it.
Watching the two leave, Yakushi Kabuto stood still for a moment before taking a piece of sushi from the bundle and putting it to his mouth. He used the motion of chewing to conceal his true expression, his thoughts becoming chaotic.
The young Yakushi Kabuto was still far too inexperienced. He was not yet worthy of being called a master of emotional control.
Inside the Chakra Flame space.
"You were a little reckless, original body. If a member of Root had been nearby, you'd have been in danger."
Sitting beside the Chakra bonfire, Senba of the Forest looked sternly at the sheepish-looking Senba opposite him. The warning in his tone was unmistakable.
Senba also knew that he was in the wrong. He had been a little too conspicuous lately. Before he could turn his opportunities into strength, he really had been getting carried away.
Senba of the Forest had a good way to treat that problem. The next second, he punched the original body's right eye. The furious original body immediately retaliated with a kick.
A clattering, crackling brawl began again. The cries of pain that rang out from time to time showed that both of them were hitting hard.
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