The Young Sannin

"Nawaki, what are you thinking about? Why are you staring at yourself in the mirror?"

The voice behind him jolted Nawaki out of his thoughts. In the mirror, he saw a familiar figure. He hurriedly turned around and exclaimed with delight, "Tsunade! When did you get back?"

The person who had entered Nawaki's room without a sound and stood behind him was none other than his older sister in this life, Tsunade.

Though she was still only an eleven-year-old girl, years of honing her skills on missions had already given her a hint of the Sannin's presence.

Her body had begun to develop early, and she was already graceful and striking, with a figure that was starting to take shape. Her long golden hair and delicate features gave her an air that was three parts alluring, three parts bold, three parts youthful energy, and one part tenderness—the side she showed only to her family.

As the Third Hokage's student, Tsunade had many missions to undertake with her two teammates, who were also both jonin. So she spent most of her time away from home, returning only during breaks between missions to spend time with her family. Mito Uzumaki usually looked after Nawaki. Tsunade had left the village on a new mission just a few days ago, and he hadn't expected her to return so soon.

Did she hurry back to Konoha after finishing her mission just so she could celebrate my birthday with me? Seeing how travel-worn Tsunade looked, Nawaki was deeply moved. His family in his previous life could hardly have been any more devoted.

I'll protect you, Tsunade! Nawaki silently vowed.

Tsunade was gratified by her younger brother's delighted expression. Smiling, she pretended to be displeased. "Honestly! How many times have I told you? You should call me 'big sister'! You really are such a disobedient little brat."

After speaking, Tsunade gave Nawaki a vigorous head rub, mussing up his hair.

Nawaki did his best to shake his head free of her clutches as he protested, "How many times have I told you not to mess up my hair? It could stunt my growth! Do you want your little brother to grow up short?"

Hearing Nawaki's threat, Tsunade laughed. "Where did you get such a strange idea? I'm a medical ninja, and even I've never heard of that!"

Still, she quickly pulled her hand back. What if it was true? She couldn't bear to do anything that might hurt her little brother, even if there was only the slightest chance.

"Today's your birthday. Why aren't you out playing with your friends? Why are you hiding in here all by yourself, staring into the mirror?" Tsunade asked with concern, looking at her brother as he pretended to be annoyed.

Tsunade worried about her precocious genius of a little brother. He was well-behaved, mature, and clever, but he never played with children his own age and rarely spoke. He always preferred to sit quietly by himself, lost in thought. Even at such a young age, he seemed weighed down by his worries, and it hurt to see him like that. Only around her and their grandmother did he talk and play like a normal child.

Proud of his own "cleverness," Nawaki rolled his eyes as he fixed the hairstyle Tsunade had ruined. "You want me to roll around on the ground with babies who can barely talk, and make mud pies with those immature brats who run around the village peeing everywhere?"

Tsunade was briefly at a loss for words. Imagining her brilliant little brother, the young heir of the mighty Senju Clan, grinning strangely as he rolled around in the mud with a bunch of children, she shuddered.

"Fine. I guess being too precocious isn't always a good thing. Luckily, I brought two friends along today to introduce you to. I'm sure you'll have plenty to talk about." Tsunade spoke to Nawaki through the mirror.

At that, Nawaki turned around and asked with interest, "Oh? The other two members of your team, Jiraiya and Orochimaru?"

"What a clever little brat—and not cute at all. Grandma's entertaining them right now. They've all come to celebrate your birthday, so come along. It wouldn't be very nice to keep our guests waiting." Tsunade said, taking Nawaki by the hand and hurrying out the door.

In the Senju Clan's hall, Mito Uzumaki was chatting with two young ninja when a clear voice suddenly came from the doorway. "Grandma! I've brought my little brother."

Two figures, one tall and one short, came through the doorway. "This is my little brother, Senju Nawaki. Don't underestimate him just because he's only one year old. He might be smarter than a certain idiot!"

"What do you mean, 'a certain idiot'? Who are you talking about, Tsunade? It must be that guy Orochimaru, right?" A delinquent-looking boy with a head of white hair and paint on his face jumped up from his chair and asked.

Beside him sat a boy with long black hair and snake-like eyes, his manner cold and gloomy. In his distinctive voice, he calmly spat out two words: "Idiot!"

These two were Tsunade's teammates, the future Sannin, Jiraiya and Orochimaru.

Jiraiya heard Orochimaru's remark and asked angrily, "What exactly do you mean by that?"

But Tsunade and Orochimaru had no intention of answering him.

"Jiraiya, they mean that whoever admits it first is the idiot!" Seeing how flustered Jiraiya was, Nawaki couldn't bear to leave him hanging, so he "kindly" explained.

Tsunade burst out laughing. "My little brother really is smarter than you! Exactly. Whoever admits it first is the idiot!"

Jiraiya's face fell. "What a precocious little brat. Not cute at all."

Orochimaru seemed very interested in Nawaki. He stared at him with his cold, snake-like eyes, unconsciously releasing a murderous aura that enveloped him.

An ordinary child would have been too terrified to move, but as a transmigrator, Nawaki knew Orochimaru very well, so he wasn't intimidated at all. He curiously studied Orochimaru's snake-like eyes and calmly said, "You must be my sister's teammates, Orochimaru and Jiraiya. I'm Senju Nawaki. It's a pleasure to meet you both. I look forward to learning from you."

"To move freely under my killing intent at just one year old—you have astonishing courage and intelligence. You really are a natural-born ninja! I'm very curious to see what your future holds." As he spoke, Orochimaru stuck out his tongue like a snake, saliva dripping everywhere.

Nawaki stared at his tongue and thought to himself, Orochimaru could satisfy any woman with just that tongue, couldn't he? What a villain! Hm? What am I even thinking? Jiraiya must have infected me. That has to be it!

Jiraiya felt there was something strange about the way Nawaki was looking at him. Was the kid looking down on him?

"Orochimaru, you went way too far! How could you release your killing intent in here? Lady Mito, please forgive him. He's always like this—when he gets worked up, he can't control his emotions." Jiraiya apologized to Mito Uzumaki on Orochimaru's behalf, though he was really just making excuses for him. Those two really were close "buddies."