The Daily Lives of Little Companions

Walking toward Training Ground 77 with Orochimaru, Xian Yu felt slightly awkward, while Orochimaru's cheeks were flushed with embarrassment.

If this were a man and a woman, anyone seeing this scene would likely suspect that the little boy in front had done something to the little girl behind him.

"Actually..." Orochimaru opened his mouth, then added, "If it's you, Xian Yu-kun... even if you saw... that, it doesn't matter. Please don't take it to heart."

Xian Yu breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and finally smiled. "You should have said so earlier; you had me feeling uneasy for ages... After all, I peeked at your diary and got caught red-handed. Since you kept quiet, I thought I'd made you angry."

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to trouble you, Xian Yu-kun." Orochimaru looked apologetic. He hadn't spoken simply because he was momentarily flustered, not knowing how to react.

After all, if you put yourself in his shoes, it would be like writing in your own diary about how you licked dog poop as a child out of curiosity... and then describing the taste. Plus, having your personal values and outlook on life peeked at by a close friend. Yet, because you have such high regard for this friend, you can't bring yourself to be angry. Instead, you're just afraid they might look down on you because of it.

That was pretty much Orochimaru's state of mind right now.

"Hehe, Orochimaru, you really are understanding. Actually, I truly empathize with you; I've had very profound experiences with some of the things you've gone through. Really." Since the air was cleared, Xian Yu stopped holding back. He had indeed experienced some of the same things in his past life. But since he couldn't explain the concept of reincarnation, he could only say it like this.

Orochimaru was visibly stunned, somewhat unable to comprehend. After all, he knew about Xian Yu's family background, so he didn't understand why he sounded like they were in the same boat. After carefully observing his eyes and expression and confirming that Xian Yu wasn't just offering empty comfort, he nodded and said, "Thank you."

He was truly grateful. The main reason people dislike deep conversations early in a friendship is that once you reveal too much of your personal worldview, you might find a conflict with the other person's values. That is when it's time to part ways.

Clearly, Xian Yu's act of peeking at the diary was even worse than seeing him completely exposed, but if the other party could accept this side of him, then they could communicate on a much deeper level.

For instance, how many times did you wet the bed as a child? Do you like any girls? What kind of girls do you like? What do you think of me? Bah! Of course, not those things!

Rather, it was things like: what is your outlook on life? Let's learn from each other's strengths and point out each other's flaws to improve. Let's live more brightly and happily.

Soon, the two arrived at the training ground, where two figures were already working out.

"One thousand three hundred twenty-one. Hi, Xian Yu-kun, Orochimaru-kun, you're here. One thousand three hundred twenty-seven." The weights on Might Duy were several times heavier than before; it seemed his strength had improved significantly recently.

"Xian Yu, Orochimaru, why are you only just getting here? Duy and I are almost done with today's daily routine." Jiraiya was drenched in sweat, performing weighted squats. His weights were less than half of Duy's.

Due to Xian Yu's appearance, the strength of Orochimaru and Jiraiya was a significant cut above their original counterparts at the same age. Orochimaru now possessed the combat power of a peak Genin—yes, combat power, not just raw strength.

In other words, even without much mission experience or life-and-death combat, he was enough to contend with a formal, veteran Genin.

Tsunade was about the same as Orochimaru. Being in the best possible training conditions and influenced by her peers who were all actively improving, she was also much stronger than her original counterpart.

Jiraiya was a bit behind, possessing only the combat power of an average Genin. But he was still a grade higher than he was at this stage in the original story.

As long as he accumulated a bit more mission and combat experience, he would reach the level of a veteran Genin.

After all, in the original story, he was the weakest of the Sannin; truthfully, Jiraiya's talent couldn't compare to Orochimaru or Tsunade's. It wasn't until he was summoned by the Toad Sage and entered Mount Myōboku that his strength surged, allowing him to catch up to and even faintly surpass them.

As for Might Duy, it was unclear how he fared with the Eight Inner Gates, but during normal training, he could go toe-to-toe with Jiraiya using just taijutsu.

However, when sparring with Hatake Sakumo, he still got crushed, though it was a much better showing than before.

It was estimated that Hatake Sakumo's strength was about the same as Orochimaru and Tsunade's; even if he were stronger, it was limited. The gap wasn't much different from the original story.

After all, Sakumo was a very diligent person, unlike Tsunade.

"Hehe, here, one for each of you. You can use these to contact each other. But it only works within the village; once you leave, it won't work." Xian Yu took off his backpack, unzipped it, and pulled out three brick-like brick phones.

"Eh? What is this?" Jiraiya was clearly curious, holding the brick phone and fiddling with it incessantly.

"Hmm... my number is 111, Tsunade's is 120, Orochimaru's is 113, Hiruko's is 112, yours, Jiraiya, is 115, and Might Duy's is 116. After you dial the number on the keypad, press this confirm button to call out, just like this." Xian Yu announced everyone's numbers, called Jiraiya's phone on the spot, and explained the usage in detail.

"Why is Tsunade's number different from ours? Xian Yu, do you like Tsunade?" Jiraiya asked with an indifferent expression, as if it were just a casual question.

Orochimaru also cast his gaze over.

"Hiruko gave out these numbers randomly; go ask him. That's basically it, I'm going to start my daily routine." After saying that, Xian Yu began putting on his weights and started doing push-ups on the wooden stakes.

Xian Yu had now reached the level of a newly promoted Chunin. Relying on several high-power Wind Style techniques, he could even go toe-to-toe with veteran Chunin. If he faced an average Chunin like Black Wind, he could take them down at the cost of a minor injury or even unscathed. Of course, that was assuming the opponent didn't have any hidden trump cards for escape. Recently, with the help of Spirit Rice, he had become even more diligent.

"What is this Fruit Slot Machine?" Might Duy had been exploring his brick phone since he got it, full of curiosity like a child with a new toy, and asked at this moment.

While exercising, Xian Yu replied, "Click into it, there's a question mark in the top right corner. It has a detailed guide on how to play."

Meanwhile, on the other side, Tsunade had once again lost all her gold coins.

She didn't go to find Xian Yu again, but instead dialed 112, Hiruko's number.

"Beep... beep... beep..."

"Moshi moshi... who is this?" After the phone rang for a while, Hiruko's voice finally came through.

"It's Tsunade. Hiruko, your Fruit Slot Machine has a problem!" Tsunade said with a stern face.

"Hmm? What kind of problem?"

"Xian Yu just topped up 11,000 gold coins for me, using that recharge card serial number 1-11. He begged me to help him test if there was a bug. Seeing as we're friends, I reluctantly agreed. But I only played a few rounds before all my gold coins suddenly disappeared. It must be that bug. You need to send me a few more recharge cards immediately..."