The tall kunoichi suddenly grinned, then bit down hard with her back teeth! Kakashi's Sharingan spun, and he'd only just started to raise his hand.
Crack!
A white snake burst from a gap in the floor beside her feet, flashing like a bolt of white lightning as it dislocated her jaw.
Poison mixed with blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. She hadn't died, but her face was twisted like a broken doll, and ragged gasps rasped from her throat.
Lin Zi walked over and crouched. He slipped two fingers into her mouth, pried out a small black pill, and casually tossed it by Kakashi's feet.
"If Minato tries to transfer you to the Anbu soon, remember not to accept the post."
His expressionless voice was light and airy.
"I remember you're on Team Minato. Is that how he taught you?"
When the slightly shorter kunoichi saw her companion hanging there like a dead fish with her jaw dislocated, her mental defenses crumbled. Before anyone could even question her, she started screaming.
"I'll talk! I'll talk! We were planning to go after Tsunade. Don't let Orochimaru near me! I'll tell you everything!"
"There's no need. I already know what you were planning from the letter."
Lin Zi watched her coldly, his snake-like pupils never blinking. The sinister pressure emanating from him left the shorter kunoichi too afraid to say another word.
After the taunt, Kakashi simply knelt on one knee, picked up the poison capsule, and looked seriously at Lin Zi with his dead-fish eyes.
"...Thanks. I'll remember that."
Lin Zi couldn't be bothered to look back at him. He turned to Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya, give them the secret message. Let them take the spy back too. We should get going."
Jiraiya shrugged at Kakashi and hurried after him with a grin. "Hey! Wait up, Orochimaru!"
Guy watched Lin Zi's retreating back and muttered to himself, "...What in the world is going on?"
Kakashi held the poison capsule and stared down at the tiny holes where the snake's fangs had pierced it. He stayed silent for a long time.
[ Ding! World-core supporting character Kakashi and major supporting character Might Guy have experienced intense emotional fluctuations. ]
[ Role-playing progress for Orochimaru (Spirit Snake Sage) has increased by 15%. Current compatibility: 33%. ]
Lin Zi's steps faltered. The lazy voice in his head was giving him a headache.
After they'd walked for a while, Jiraiya came up beside him and slapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey, don't you think you were too hard on those two kids just now? Kakashi's only fourteen, after all. He's still a child."
Lin Zi brushed his hand away, his expression blank.
"Too hard? I think you're the one who's too lax, Jiraiya. At fourteen, you're already on the battlefield. Life and death come down to an instant. Hesitate for half a beat, and you're dead."
"Whoa." Jiraiya leaped back dramatically, eyes wide. "What's with you? The way you talk, you sound more and more like that deadpan Orochimaru from our world!"
Lin Zi couldn't be bothered to answer. He quickened his pace.
By evening, they stopped to rest beside a stream.
Jiraiya took off his shoes and socks and stood barefoot in the water, gripping a sharpened wooden stick. After prodding around for ages, he finally speared two scrawny crucian carp.
Lin Zi sat cross-legged on a rock. Two white snakes slipped out of his sleeves and shot into the water. A moment later, they flung three fat grass carp onto the bank, each held in their jaws.
"Hey, that's cheating!" Jiraiya protested indignantly.
"That's called efficiency, Jiraiya."
Lin Zi slowly got a fire going, skewered the fish on branches, and set them over the flames. Fat dripped onto the coals with a sizzle.
They wolfed down their meal and continued on. In the darkness, only their footsteps and the chirping insects kept them company.
They trudged on in silence for a while. By the next evening, a patchwork of colorful lights finally appeared on the horizon.
They'd reached Tanzaku Town.
It was called a town, but it was more like a lawless frontier.
Neon lanterns crowded the gambling dens. Black-market dealers squatted at alley entrances, hawking ninja tools of dubious origin. Enforcers from underground banks leaned against the walls, their eyes sweeping over every passerby like poisonous snakes.
The moment Lin Zi and Jiraiya stepped onto the street, the air seemed to freeze.
The takoyaki vendor at the roadside jolted, spilling sauce all over his table. A worker cleaning a window nearly fell off his ladder. Two black-market dealers exchanging goods turned in unison, their eyes bulging.
"Is that... Orochimaru?"
"Holy crap, his S-rank missing-nin wanted poster is still posted at the entrance, and he just strolls in like he owns the place?"
"And the white-haired guy beside him... Doesn't that look like one of the Sannin, Jiraiya? Did Jiraiya defect too?"
"Shh! Keep your voice down! Those two together can only be here to find Princess Tsunade, right?"
Everyone lowered their heads and went back to what they'd been doing, though their eyes remained glued to the two men.
Jiraiya, on the other hand, seemed perfectly at ease. He strolled along with his hands clasped behind his back, looking around and even winking at a young woman handing out flyers by the roadside.
"Orochimaru, where are we supposed to look for Tsunade?"
Lin Zi rubbed his temples and scanned the brightly lit street with his golden, slit-pupiled eyes.
"Didn't the secret message say? The Tsunade in your world is gambling herself senseless in this dump, losing every single round. We can search the gambling dens one by one. We're bound to find her."
"Oh, right, right." Jiraiya slapped his forehead, then puffed out his chest. "Ahem, I was testing your basic intelligence-gathering skills. Get it?"
Lin Zi rolled his eyes, not bothering to call him out.
They passed through the bustling street. Before they'd even entered many casinos, a familiar, booming laugh erupted from the biggest establishment ahead.
"Ha ha ha! I lost again! Shizune! Bring me more money! I refuse to believe this!"
Her voice was loud and brash, with an utterly fearless, devil-may-care edge.
Lin Zi and Jiraiya stopped at the same time and exchanged a glance.
"Found her."
Jiraiya's face darkened.
"...Tsunade really hasn't changed at all."
They wordlessly pushed open the doors from either side and walked straight in.
The room was thick with smoke. The clatter of dice, the shouts of drunkards, and the clinking of chips all blended into a single din.
Tsunade had one foot planted on a bench and leaned over the table. The pile of chips that had once towered before her was now gone, leaving only three lonely ones clutched tightly in her palm.
"Come on! Big! Give me big!"
The dealer lifted the dice cup. All three dice showed one.
"...I lost again."
Tsunade stared blankly for half a second, then burst into laughter. She grabbed the wine jug and tipped it back, liquor running down her chin and onto her collar.
Shizune stood nearby, huddled with Tonton in her arms. She was just about to try to talk Tsunade down.
Suddenly, the casino's doors creaked open.
"Yo~"
Jiraiya's unmistakable voice rang over the din. With his hands behind his back, he swaggered in and waved enthusiastically at Tsunade.
"Long time no see, Tsunade!"
Everyone turned to look. When they saw who it was, they relaxed. It was just a lecherous white-haired old man. As long as he didn't bother them, it was fine.
Tsunade squinted at him through her drunken haze for two seconds, then slammed the wine jug down on the table and laughed.
"Who'd I think it was? Jiraiya! What brings you here? Did you come all this way to see me? Got any money? Lend me some first!"
"I came to find you." Jiraiya walked up to the table and stared at the empty space in front of her, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Did you really have to lose that badly?"
"Cut the crap!"
Tsunade slung an arm around Jiraiya's shoulders, her breath, reeking of liquor and perfume, washing over his face.
"Perfect timing! Play a few rounds with me! My luck's been terrible lately. Maybe you'll bring me some good fortune!"
Jiraiya smiled wryly and waved a hand. "I don't have time to lose with you. Konoha's been busy lately."
"Pfft, boring!"
Tsunade shoved him away in disgust.
"You left Konoha ages ago too. Why bother worrying about it?"
She picked up her last three chips, about to slap them down on the table, when Jiraiya suddenly grabbed her hand, his voice turning grave.
"Tsunade, something serious has happened in Konoha. I want you to come back with us."
"No, no!"
Tsunade pulled her hand away, irritation showing through her drunken haze.
"Jiraiya, I'm warning you. Don't pull that on me."
"This time, it really is different..."
"I said no—"
Tsunade's words cut off abruptly.
As if she'd sensed something, every hair on her body stood on end. Most of the drunkenness vanished in an instant. She slowly raised her head, looking past Jiraiya's shoulder toward the entrance.
The temperature in the casino seemed to drop several degrees.
The room, which had been roaring with noise moments before, fell so silent that a pin could have dropped.
Shizune clutched Tonton, her teeth chattering.
"L-Lady Tsunade... Th-that's..."
Tsunade stared toward the entrance, her voice hoarse.
"Jiraiya... who's that behind you?"
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