Orochimaru's Fairness

Shizune quietly watched Tsunade, drunk into a heap.

Her entire body exuded a gloomy air of someone facing a miserable life.

After all, she was exhausted.

With the Fifth Hokage taking office and Konoha bustling with excitement, she had spent the entire day working to earn some money.

Then, after work, she had to search for Tsunade, who had run off to who knew where. She had finally found Tsunade at this restaurant, only to be met with this drunken state.

So she would have to work hard again next.

Still, she quickly consoled herself. At least Tsunade had not gone gambling.

She would not rack up another debt.

"Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama, thank you for taking care of Tsunade earlier." Shizune bowed politely.

"It was no trouble." Jiraiya waved his hands repeatedly, smiling as he said, "Tsunade is our good companion. How could she ever be a bother? Oh, right, Shizune, there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" Shizune asked.

But she was somewhat absentminded. She truly did not want to deal with any more troublesome trivialities.

"Tsunade is staying in the village."

"I see, Tsunade is going to stay in... What did you say?!"

So agitated was Shizune that she grabbed Jiraiya by the collar.

She practically roared as she asked.

Jiraiya was startled as well. He hurriedly said, "I said Tsunade is staying in the village."

"Really?!"

"Really."

"Tsunade-sama won't run around anymore?"

"Uh, unless there's a mission that absolutely requires her, she won't be running around anymore."

"Sniff!"

Shizune sharply sucked in the snot running from her nose.

Jiraiya stared at her blankly.

"You're crying?"

Shizune released Jiraiya's collar.

Overwhelmed with emotion, she said, "I'm just too excited! Tsunade-sama finally, finally doesn't have to run around anymore! She won't be going everywhere looking for casinos to gamble in, and she won't be borrowing money and racking up debts everywhere! I finally won't have to follow Tsunade-sama around, struggling to dodge debt collectors! Sob, sob, sob! I'm so happy! Since I started following Tsunade-sama, I've never been this happy! Really, it's so moving! Sob, sob, sob..."

"..." Jiraiya.

"..." Orochimaru.

On reflection, both Jiraiya and Orochimaru felt that Shizune truly had it rough.

Although Tsunade was indeed an exceptionally skilled teacher, being the disciple of a teacher with such a terrible gambling habit was undeniably miserable.

Sigh, Shizune had really suffered, ending up with a teacher like that.

"Orochimaru-sensei!!!"

Orochimaru jolted, a faint sheen of sweat appearing on his forehead as he looked toward his disciple, Anko, running over from the other side.

"Orochimaru-sensei! I want to learn ninjutsu! I want to learn the most powerful ninjutsu!!!"

Anko clenched her fists and roared passionately before him!

Orochimaru looked down at his disciple.

He could see the unwillingness in Anko's expression, so...

"Who did you lose to?"

It should not have been Kabuto. Kabuto had not been with him for long and did not yet possess that kind of strength.

Yamato, on the other hand, could easily defeat Anko. Could it be that Anko had challenged Yamato and been taught a lesson with Wood Release Ninjutsu?

That was the most likely possibility.

"W-Who lost to that Itachi bastard?!!!"

"..." Orochimaru.

"Itachi Uchiha?" Jiraiya muttered from the side, stroking his chin. "That eldest son of the Uchiha Clan, the new disciple you took in, Orochimaru? Isn't he only six? Could he be another Kakashi, possessing Chunin-level strength at only six years old?"

"Hmph! He doesn't have Chunin-level strength!" Anko said unwillingly.

"So, you lost to a six-year-old brat who doesn't even have Chunin-level strength?"

Jiraiya's words pierced Anko's heart.

This time, Orochimaru was genuinely interested.

He had heard that Itachi, the eldest son of Fugaku, head of the Uchiha Clan, was highly talented. But after taking him in, Orochimaru had been occupied with all sorts of affairs and had not had much time to devote to his newly accepted disciple.

Now, it seemed that the disciple he had neglected recently possessed talent beyond even his expectations.

At six years old, without Chunin-level strength, yet capable of defeating Anko—this was not something easily accomplished.

"Tell me exactly what happened."

"This..."

Anko truly did not want to recount, in careful detail, how she had been defeated.

"Didn't you want to learn more powerful ninjutsu?"

Gritting her teeth.

Everyone already knew she had lost anyway.

So Anko began recounting the events in detail.

After she had thoroughly described every detail of her fight with Itachi.

"That kid is pretty impressive," Tsunade remarked.

"You're awake?" Jiraiya was startled.

"Shizune was crying so loudly." Tsunade picked at her ear with her little finger and said impatiently, "If I let her keep crying about it, how am I supposed to show my face as her teacher?"

You know perfectly well how shameful your behavior has been.

Of course, neither Jiraiya nor Orochimaru said that aloud.

"That Uchiha kid has a lot of potential." As he spoke, Jiraiya glanced at Orochimaru and clicked his tongue inwardly, somewhat displeased. "A true genius possesses extraordinary talent that others could spend a lifetime never reaching. Orochimaru, you've taken in a good disciple."

Orochimaru glanced at Jiraiya, and Tsunade glanced at Jiraiya as well.

Jiraiya had once had a disciple with such heaven-defying talent too.

Naturally, Orochimaru and Tsunade tacitly chose not to mention it.

After all, it was a painful matter for both Jiraiya and Konoha.

"So, Orochimaru, how do you plan to teach such an outstanding disciple?" Jiraiya asked with interest.

"I haven't had much time to teach him recently."

Orochimaru shook his head. There were simply too many trivial matters in the village that required his attention as Hokage.

The aftermath of the Nine-Tails' Rampage, as well as matters involving the Joint Security Company.

There were countless tangled affairs to sort through. Only once everything was on the right track could Orochimaru truly relax.

"You can't just leave him to grow on his own, though. Of course, the Uchiha Clan is also capable of teaching him."

After all, the Uchiha Clan had deep foundations and was fully capable of drawing out Itachi Uchiha's potential.

"But as the Hokage's disciple," Jiraiya said as he looked at Orochimaru, "it would be best if he isn't influenced too deeply by his clan."

Orochimaru knew Jiraiya was right.

As his disciple and the eldest son of the Uchiha Clan, Itachi would be best served by receiving the influence of the Hokage's line.

Moreover, this also concerned Itachi's evaluation.

As Orochimaru's disciple, he was qualified to become Hokage.

But a Hokage could not be confined to a single clan.

It was not specifically aimed at the Uchiha Clan. Rather, the position of Hokage had to take every aspect of the village's balance into consideration.

If Itachi was constrained by the influence of his clan during his upbringing and thus became unable to become Hokage.

That would be unfair to him.

Allowing him to be shaped solely by his clan's influence.

Would instead mean giving up on his possibility of becoming Hokage.

Orochimaru might have been very scheming.

But he still cared greatly about fairness toward his subordinates and disciples.

I posted two extra chapters. I really have no stockpiled chapters left.