Suppressing her disgust at Orochimaru's protruding tongue, Shizune demanded, "Orochimaru, what are you doing here?"
Orochimaru took a step back and looked at the casino behind Shizune, answering a different question. "Little Shizune, Tsunade must be gambling in there. She's still as addicted to it as she was back then."
Shizune looked at Orochimaru and said, "Enough of that. Orochimaru, you've become a missing-nin, yet you still dare show your face before Lady Tsunade? Are you here to attack her?"
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly. Unbothered by Shizune's disrespect, he chuckled. "Not me. The man behind me is looking for Tsunade. As it happens, he's an old friend of hers too."
"Your friend is a missing-nin too?"
Shizune looked questioningly at the figure behind Orochimaru.
She had assumed he was Orochimaru's subordinate, never imagining that he was a friend of both Orochimaru and Lady Tsunade. That meant he was also a ninja originally from Konoha.
At that moment, Hiruko, whose face was half covered in bandages, looked at Shizune and said irritably, "Stop wasting time. Tell Tsunade to come out now, unless you want me to tear down the casino."
Beside him, Orochimaru smiled. "We were childhood friends, after all. There's no need to be so hostile."
"I was never friends with either of you."
Hiruko turned his head aside. He was reluctant to seek Tsunade's help. The very reason he had researched forbidden techniques was to take revenge on these geniuses who looked down on him.
Orochimaru smiled without saying anything more, simply turning his gaze toward the casino entrance.
After studying Hiruko for a while, Shizune's brow furrowed even deeper. Having followed Tsunade for years, she was also a ninja skilled in medical ninjutsu, and she could sense the jumbled energies within him.
*With chakra that mixed up,