"Tsunade." Orochimaru sat down opposite her.
Tsunade raised his head, glanced at him, then lowered his head and continued drinking.
"What are you here for?"
Orochimaru didn't answer. He took out the declaration of war from his pocket and put it on the table.
Tsunade glanced at it but did not reach out to take it.
"Sunagakure and Iwagakure have joined forces." Orochimaru said, "We are going to fight Konoha."
Tsunade's hand paused for a moment, then continued drinking.
"What does it have to do with me?"
"I need you." Orochimaru's voice was as calm as if he was talking about an ordinary thing, "Sunagakure, Chiyo will definitely use poison. Only you can detoxify her poison."
Tsunade put down the glass and looked at him.
There was something in those eyes that Orochimaru couldn't understand. It wasn't anger, sadness, or fear.
It was something more complicated, like being pressed by something and making me unable to breathe.
"I can't go," she said, her voice hoarse, "You know I..."
"I know." Orochimaru interrupted her.
"But you can sit in the back. You don't need to go to the battlefield, and you don't need to see the blood. You just need to prepare the medicine and detoxify. Leave the rest to me."
Tsunade was silent for a long time.
The tavern was very quiet, with only the sound of the wind outside and the occasional footsteps.
The afterglow of the setting sun poured in through the window, making the shadows of the two people very long.
"The teacher asked me to come." Orochimaru added.
Tsunade raised his head and looked at him.
"Orochimaru." She said, "How long do you think Konoha can last?"
Orochimaru has no answer.
Tsunade continued speaking, his voice was very soft, as if he was talking to himself.
"Kumogakure beat us, Iwagakure beat us, Sunagakure also beat us. Danzo is useless, Jiraiya is useless, and so am I. Only you and Minato are left. How long do you think you can last?"
"It will win."
Tsunade has no answer.
She just picked up the wine glass and took another sip. The wine was very strong, burning from her throat to her stomach, like a fire. But she was used to it.
In the past few years, she had suffered numerous fevers, and she had long been unable to feel anything.
Orochimaru looked at her without urging her.
It's very quiet in the tavern.
"Orochimaru." Tsunade put down the wine glass, his voice hoarse like sandpaper rubbing against wood, "Do you know why I don't go back?"
Orochimaru said nothing.
Tsunade raised his head and looked at him. Those eyes were bloodshot and drunk, and there was something Orochimaru had never seen before.
It felt like I was being pressed down by something, and after being pressed for so long, I no longer cried out in pain.
"Nawaki." When she said the name, her voice was very soft, as if she was afraid of disturbing someone.
Orochimaru's brows moved slightly.
Tsunade continued, his voice getting lower and lower.
"Do you think...Nawaki just accidentally stepped on Explosive Tag and died?"
Orochimaru was silent.
Tsunade looked at him, waiting for his answer. But Orochimaru didn't speak, just sat there quietly, like a sculpture.
"I was on the front line." Tsunade's voice began to tremble.
"When I received the news, I still didn't believe it. How could my brother, that stupid brat who always shouted that he wanted to be Hokage, die like this? When I rushed over, I only saw..."
Her hand clenched the wine glass so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
"I only saw his body. There was a big hole in the chest, and all the internal organs were gone. It was clean, as if it had been hollowed out. Orochimaru, tell me - Explosive Tag can blow up a person's internal organs completely, but the skin and flesh are still there?"
Orochimaru looked at her and was silent for a long time.
"What are you suspecting?" he asked, his voice very soft.
Tsunade didn't answer. She just picked up the wine glass and took another sip.
The wine flowed down the corner of her mouth and dripped on her clothes, but she didn't wipe it away.
"I checked," she said.
"Nawaki The captain of that team disappeared after the war. Of the other two members of the team, one died during the mission and the other went crazy. Nothing could be found. It was clean, as if nothing had happened."
She put down her wine glass and looked out the window. The sunset had already set, and there was only a dark red afterglow left on the horizon, as if someone had scratched a wound there.
"I asked the teacher." She said.
"I asked the teacher what happened to Nawaki's death. The teacher said that in war, people will always die. Let me grieve, cheer up, and stop thinking wildly."
She smiled, and the smile was very weak, with an indescribable bitterness.
"My condolences. Cheer up. Don't think too much."
She repeated the words as if savoring their flavor.
"I believed it. I told myself that Nawaki accidentally stepped on Explosive Tag. It was bad luck, but it was fate. I told myself to cheer up, be strong, and live for Nawaki. I told myself..."
Her voice suddenly broke off.
Orochimaru looked at her, waiting for her to continue.
Tsunade was silent for a long time, so long that the proprietress in the tavern thought she was going to fall asleep.
Then she spoke, her voice hoarse as if it was squeezed out of her throat.
"Orochimaru, do you know the darkness of Konoha?"
Orochimaru said nothing.
Tsunade continues.
"I didn't know before. I think Konoha is the best village, with the best Hokage, the best companions, and the best future. Nawaki also thinks so. He always said that he wants to be Hokage, protect the village, and let everyone live a good life."
She paused.
"Then he died."
She picked up the wine glass and found it was empty. She waved to the landlady. The landlady hesitated for a moment, then came over with a bottle of wine, put it down, and hurriedly retreated behind the counter.
Tsunade poured himself a glass, but didn't drink it. He just watched the transparent liquid sloshing in the cup.
"I figured it out later," she said.
"Nawaki didn't accidentally step on Explosive Tag. He was designed to die. Someone wanted his life, or wanted something from him. The people in that team were either silenced or bribed. The teacher knew it, or at least guessed it. But he did nothing."
She raised her head and looked at Orochimaru.
"You said, Konoha, why should I go back?"
Orochimaru looked at her and was silent for a long time.
"So you don't plan to go?"
Tsunade nodded.
"I drank a lot, lost a lot of money, and owed a lot of debt. I don't want to go back to Konoha, I don't want to see those people, I don't want to see those faces pretending that nothing happened."
"Danzo, Homura, Koharu--who of them doesn't know? They all know it. But none of them tell it. Because if they tell it, Konoha will not be clean. Konoha must be clean, must be good, and must be a place that everyone aspires to."
Her voice became lower and lower, until it was almost inaudible.
"Who cares about Nawaki? Who cares about a dead child with no internal organs?"