Orochimaru signed his name on a document and set it aside before speaking. "That idiot went out to scout the area. The Rain Ninja have been snooping around nearby lately."
"I see." Tsunade thought nothing of it. She had injured Ninja to treat, and Orochimaru had administrative work to handle. Naturally, those missions fell to Jiraiya.
"Yi wanted to come to the front lines, but Grandmother stopped him." Tsunade ate a pastry before continuing.
"Uchiha Yi? I haven't seen him in two years. He already had the strength of a Jonin back then. I imagine he's even stronger now." Orochimaru was a genius with pride of his own, but even he felt inferior to Uchiha Yi.
Most importantly, Uchiha Yi hadn't relied on a Kekkei Genkai like the Sharingan. He had researched Ninjutsu himself, then learned the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique.
From what Orochimaru had seen, Uchiha Yi could become a formidable Ninja even without the Sharingan.
His greatest strengths were his Chakra control and his ability to learn. Orochimaru had never seen anyone who learned like Uchiha Yi.
"He might even be stronger than me now," Tsunade said. She couldn't decide whether to be happy or dismayed.
Uchiha Yi was her student, after all. Being surpassed by him was a little embarrassing for her as his teacher.
But an outstanding student was also a source of pride. When it came to teaching, neither Jiraiya nor Orochimaru could compare with her—even if Grandmother had done most of the teaching.
Sometimes, having a student who was too talented was a happy problem.
Tsunade's words startled Orochimaru. "He's surpassed you?"
Orochimaru didn't consider himself much stronger than Tsunade. If Uchiha Yi had surpassed her, hadn't he surpassed Orochimaru too?
Uchiha Yi was only ten!
"Who knows? You know how troublesome