Sarutobi: Oh no! My students are staging a coup!

"Hey, Tsunade."

"I need to talk to you about something..."

Orochimaru lowered his voice.

Tsunade did not even turn around.

She watched the little brats in the distance, exhausted as dogs, and the corners of her mouth lifted ever so slightly.

The fish had taken the bait.

Showing off the Flying Thunder God and intimidating the heirs of those great clans had only been incidental.

Her real target—the one she needed firmly in her grasp for now—

was Orochimaru!

She and Orochimaru were partners, yes.

But that was nowhere near enough.

She wanted Orochimaru to owe her completely!

Apart from experiments, what could make Orochimaru lose his head?

The secrets of ninjutsu!

And Konoha's greatest trove of those secrets lay in the Book of Seals.

The moment Orochimaru saw those two six-year-olds use the Flying Thunder God, the desire for forbidden techniques buried deep within him had caught fire.

He was hooked!

Tsunade turned her head and glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

"What is it?"

Orochimaru's eyes flickered. He tipped his head toward the depths of the woods.

The meaning was clear: they needed to speak in private.

Tsunade had barely taken half a step.

A tall figure cut straight between them.

Jiraiya planted his hands on his hips and thrust his broad face between the two of them, his suspicious gaze darting back and forth.

"What are you keeping from me?"

Jiraiya stuck out his neck, his booming voice echoing through the woods.

"What secret can't I hear? I'm the assistant instructor. I have to hear it!"

A vein twitched on Orochimaru's forehead.

He gave his idiot teammate a look of disgust and warned coldly, "Keep your curiosity to yourself, Jiraiya. This has nothing to do with you."

"Bullshit! Nothing good ever comes from you two huddling together!"

Jiraiya glared at Orochimaru.

The shouting hurt Tsunade's ears. She casually shoved aside the arm Jiraiya had put in her way.

"Let him hear." Tsunade looked at Orochimaru. "Go on."

Orochimaru fell silent for two seconds.

He licked his dry lips. The feverish longing he had been suppressing was plain in his golden, slit-pupiled eyes.

"I want to see the Book of Seals."

The air went dead still.

The expression on Jiraiya's face froze, his eyes widening like saucers.

He stood rooted to the spot as though lightning had struck him.

Then he stumbled back a full step and pointed a trembling finger at Orochimaru. His voice cracked.

"Orochimaru! What the hell are you saying?"

"That's the Book of Seals! Konoha's most closely guarded secret! Are you trying to start a rebellion?"

Jiraiya bristled, Chakra surging through him on instinct.

Sneaking a look at forbidden techniques was a capital offense!

Orochimaru paid no attention to Jiraiya's outburst.

His gaze remained locked on Tsunade's face as he waited for the answer that would decide his fate.

"All right." Tsunade did not hesitate for a moment. "I agree."

Boom.

Jiraiya's mind blew apart.

He spun around, grabbed fistfuls of his unruly white hair, and roared in despair:

"What do you mean, all right? Tsunade, have you gone mad? Why are you going along with him?"

"That thing is full of S-rank forbidden techniques! If the old man finds out, he'll skin all three of us alive!"

Tsunade dug at her ear in irritation.

"Stop yelling."

She shot Jiraiya a glare.

"What about the Book of Seals?"

"My granduncle Tobirama Senju developed eighty percent of the techniques in it."

"Is it a crime to look at the inheritance my own family left behind?"

Jiraiya's mouth fell open.

Every rule and lecture he had been ready to recite stuck in his throat.

Uh...

He thought it over.

She had a point, didn't she?

Anyone else who touched it would be committing a capital offense.

But if she did it, wouldn't she just be rummaging through her own family's drawers?

Orochimaru watched Tsunade act as though it were the most natural thing in the world. His throat bobbed sharply.

He had to admit, Tsunade had won him over.

In a way he could not possibly resist.

He had expected a difficult struggle, but he had never imagined Tsunade would be this bold.

She had agreed outright.

"In that case..."

Orochimaru lowered his voice. A ruthless edge crept into his tone, like that of a man with nothing to lose.

"When do we..." Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "Make our move?"

Where were the barriers?

When did the ANBU change shifts?

Which escape route should they take?

Orochimaru was already running through plans to infiltrate the Hokage Building.

Tsunade frowned.

"Make our move?"

She gave Orochimaru a strange look, as if he were an idiot.

"What move?"

Orochimaru froze.

For the first time, confusion appeared on his pale face. "Aren't we going to steal the Book of Seals?"

Tsunade rolled her eyes, her exasperation written all over her face.

"Who said I was going to steal it?"

"That place has hundreds of ANBU guarding it and more than a dozen layers of barriers. Try stealing it if you want."

Orochimaru was utterly baffled.

His golden, slit-pupiled eyes were full of disbelief.

"If we don't steal it, how are we supposed to see it?"

"We ask the old man for it."

Tsunade's tone was perfectly matter-of-fact.

A cold wind blew past. Orochimaru stood frozen in place.

Ask the Third Hokage?

For the Book of Seals?

He must have damaged his mind with all those experiments. How else could he be hearing something so absurd?

Could they really stroll in and ask for something the entire village regarded as its lifeblood?

Tsunade pursed her lips.

"It's not like I haven't asked him before!"

"Once today's training is over, come with me to the Hokage Building."

With that, she turned toward Jiraiya, who was still standing there in a daze.

"Hey." Tsunade raised her chin. "Are you coming?"

Jiraiya snapped back to his senses and pointed at his own nose, his voice trembling.

"Me? I... I'd better not."

Jiraiya swallowed and waved his hands frantically.

"If the old man finds out I got mixed up in this too, he'll beat me to a pulp with the Adamantine Staff!"

"Suit yourself."

Tsunade did not try to persuade him. She shrugged and turned away.

Jiraiya remained where he was.

He watched Tsunade and Orochimaru walk side by side toward the edge of the clearing, restlessness gnawing at him.

If they were stealing it, he would not dare go, even if they beat him to death.

But if they were asking for it... if they were walking into the Hokage Building to ask for it openly...

That did not seem like such a big deal, did it?

Surely the old man would not kill them all just for taking a look?

The string in Jiraiya's mind called "principles" snapped.

"Wait!"

Jiraiya shot up a hand and hurried after them.

"I'm coming too!!!"

That evening, at the Hokage Building.

In the top-floor office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned as he reviewed supply reports from the front lines.

A jumble of heavy footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door.

Before he could ask who was there,

Bang!

The office's heavy wooden door flew open under a kick and slammed against the wall with a deafening crash.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's hand jerked, dragging his brush across the document in a long black streak.

He looked up.

His three students stood in his office, looking fierce enough to pick a fight.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart lurched.

Oh no!

My students had come to stage a coup!!!