Little Shota?! Gimme That!

"I really envy you, having such a resounding title all to yourself at such a young age!"

After a long day of intense battle, the four-man squad on the northern front of Konoha was currently hiding in a cave to escape the rain.

Thinking about how Qi Luna had already earned a personal title despite being more than half a year away from her eleventh birthday, Jiraiya felt an indescribable sense of emotion.

"It's just a boring byproduct of a trade-off between the two sides. If you like it, I'll give it to you."

Qi Luna didn't seem to care much about Jiraiya's teasing, merely poking at the campfire in front of her with a flat expression.

Listening to Qi Luna's calm, unhurried tone and the "crackling" sound of the burning fire, the other three couldn't help but reveal rare smiles.

Things were different from the original story.

Because of the improvement in Tsunade's strength, yesterday's battle hadn't resulted in her falling into a trap or Jiraiya getting injured while trying to save her.

Consequently, there was no aftermath of Jiraiya being a liability to the squad due to his injuries, nor the subsequent threat of being hunted by Amegakure, which had led Orochimaru to consider abandoning him in the original timeline.

Coupled with the fact that Qi Luna was watching their backs, scouting the surroundings, and preventing enemy ambushes, their nerves didn't need to be constantly frayed.

Therefore, the current atmosphere could be considered quite harmonious.

"Don't be so cold. After this mission ends, if nothing else, the merit from yesterday's battle alone is enough for you to be promoted to Chunin, or even Special Jonin. Cheer up!"

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Jiraiya leaned back and stretched, staring blankly at the ceiling of the cave as if he were still reliving the perils of yesterday's fight.

"Ji—"

"Who's there? Who is it?! Come out!"

Tsunade had been about to say something, but Orochimaru suddenly barked a sharp command toward the depths of the cave!

Driven by ninja instinct, Jiraiya and Tsunade reflexively assumed defensive stances, their gazes scanning the depths of the cave with vigilance, ready to strike at the slightest provocation.

Only Qi Luna remained in place, showing none of the tension felt by Orochimaru and the others.

They're here!

"Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade, there's no need to fight. They're just a few children without even a trace of chakra refinement. They must have been hiding in the cave to escape the rain before we arrived."

Hearing Qi Luna's words, the three finally eased their tension, though they didn't let go of the ninja tools in their hands.

"Don't be careless. Even if they are just little mice, they are still from Amegakure."

Orochimaru held a kunai in his hand, though the intense hostility in his eyes had faded.

"Don't hide anymore, come on out."

Tsunade also lowered her guard, even crossing her arms over her chest.

As if sensing that the three were no longer hostile toward them, a boy hiding behind a stone pillar finally stepped out.

He was a boy with short orange hair who looked to be only five or six years old. Perhaps due to malnutrition, the tattered clothes he wore looked far too large for his frame. On his back, he carried a helmet, likely used for protection against the rain or poison.

"Who... are you?"

Looking at the boy before her, Tsunade asked with some confusion.

The boy didn't answer Tsunade's question; he simply walked slowly up to Jiraiya and extended his right hand.

"Please share some of your food with me."

"Where are your parents?"

"They were killed by ninjas during this war."

The boy's tone was low and his expression was incredibly calm, as if he were recounting a trivial matter.

Jiraiya and Tsunade's pupils constricted; clearly, they hadn't expected such an outcome.

"Take it, I have some crackers here."

Facing the crackers Jiraiya handed over, the boy didn't take them immediately, but instead turned around and looked toward the back.

"Nagato, Konan, come out. They don't seem like bad people."

Hearing their companion's call, two more children, who also appeared to be only five or six years old, ran out from behind the stone pillars in the depths of the cave.

The two children were a boy and a girl; the girl had blue hair, and the boy had red hair, his bangs hanging down to cover his eyes.

The two were dressed almost exactly like the orange-haired boy, the only difference being that the blue-haired girl's clothes were better fitted and cleaner.

Even their cheeks were rounder than the boy who had called them out; it seemed he had been taking care of them.

Under Tsunade's stunned gaze, the two children quickly took the crackers from Jiraiya and her, then prepared to lead the orange-haired boy to the side to share them together.

"Oi, just eating crackers won't give you any nutrition. Catch!"

Seeing the three children about to leave, Qi Luna hurriedly called out to them and tossed over a package, sealed in oil paper and roughly the size of a modern Chinese dictionary.

The orange-haired boy scrambled to catch the package Qi Luna threw, but he didn't quite succeed, and it ended up bumping gently against his head.

However, the boy wasn't angry; he carefully unwrapped the package to check if the contents were safe.

"It's dried meat!"

Seeing what was inside the package, the orange-haired boy couldn't help but let out an exclamation.

"Is this... really for us?"

The red-haired boy's tone was filled with disbelief.

The three of them hadn't eaten meat in a long time; the closest they had come to it was when Little Dot had starved to death.

However, Little Dot had been their companion, and no matter how scarce their food supply was, they couldn't bear to bury him in their stomachs.

The three little ones couldn't help but swallow hard, exchanging glances before looking at the dried meat in the parcel, and finally fixing their gazes directly on the red-haired young ninja who had given it to them.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I'm not an adult yet either, so I don't have any wine to give you! Besides, aren't you all just kids? Why would you need wine? And anyway, with just that little bit of dried meat, you won't burst your stomachs even without wine, so just eat up!"

Watching the three little ones, Qi Luna couldn't help but find it amusing, though she felt more heartache than anything else.

Wuwuwu, these three little cuties, so smart and sensible at such a young age, and so soft and adorable—I really want to take them all home!

"Qi Luna, what kind of nonsense are you spouting? What does eating meat until your stomach bursts have to do with drinking wine? When we eat grilled meat, don't you only drink fruit juice yourself?"

"And another thing, I asked you for this dried meat earlier, and you wouldn't even give me any, yet you gave it all to them. Your sympathy is really overflowing, isn't it~"

As he spoke, Jiraiya walked up to the three little ones, picked up a piece of dried meat, and began to eat it himself.

"Hmm~ the taste isn't bad."

"You bastard Jiraiya, it's Qi Luna's own stuff, she can distribute it however she wants, what business is it of yours? You've really got some nerve, stealing food from children!"

An angry Tsunade punched Jiraiya on the head, "generously" gifting him a large "bump."

"Forget it, Tsunade."

Orochimaru, who had put away his kunai and sat back down by the campfire, suddenly spoke up to intervene.

When Tsunade looked at him, he gave her a meaningful look.

Only then did Tsunade notice that the three little ones, who had been at a loss while holding the parcel, had finally picked up the dried meat and started to share it.

It was simply because Jiraiya's actions had let the three little ones know that the dried meat in the parcel hadn't been poisoned or tampered with in any other way.

Realizing this, Tsunade reluctantly let it go and dragged Jiraiya back to the side of the campfire.

Supplementary note:

The part where Orochimaru tries to kill a severely wounded Jiraiya was originally supposed to be while they were being hunted by Iwagakure, and it definitely had to happen before the Sannin became famous, but I was too lazy to write out the plot of Konoha fighting Iwagakure for this, so I changed it.

Also, the point about eating meat without wine causing one's stomach to burst was just a joke by Xiao Zi, referencing a story from the Spring and Autumn period about Duke Mu of Qin.

As for the specific details of that story, if any of you handsome guys or beautiful ladies are interested, feel free to look it up yourselves.