Orochimaru had headed back to Konoha, completely bypassing travel time thanks to Tobirama Senju's Flying Thunder God technique.
Initially, Tobirama had harbored a massive grudge against Orochimaru—after all, this was the snake who had used his own technique to summon and control him, all while harboring a misguided obsession with Uchiha power.
But as Orochimaru's attitude changed, and the two spent days geeking out over collaborative scientific research, Tobirama's opinion of him had gradually softened.
So, when Orochimaru expressed a desire to return to the Leaf for a new experiment, Tobirama, acting as his benevolent senior and elder, kindly teleported him to save time.
Now that Tsunade was returning to the village and Makoto needed Orochimaru back for the 'Limited Tsukuyomi' preparations, Tobirama considerately used the Flying Thunder God to transport both of them as well.
The moment the trio suddenly materialized in the Hokage's office, Shizune—who was sitting at the Hokage's desk miserably handling stacks of documents—jumped right out of her skin in fright.
Fortunately, this wasn't the first time it had happened.
Shizune aggressively patted her chest to calm her racing heart, though she couldn't help but complain.
"Lord Second, if you keep popping in and out of here like a ghost, I'm legitimately going to develop a heart condition."
"Why not just build a small room around this spot with a door? That way, Lord Second can at least knock when he arrives," Makoto suggested, pointing at the wall where the Flying Thunder God seal was permanently marked.
"Wouldn't that be even scarier? An empty little room suddenly having someone aggressively knock on the door in the dead of night..." Shizune was completely speechless.
The fear of the unknown was truly terrifying.
Honestly, that idea felt way less reassuring than just having a living person appear right in front of her.
Oh, right—the Second Hokage wasn't exactly a living person.
He was very much a ghost.
"Can't we please just change the location of the mark?" Shizune sighed weakly.
"Alright, Shizune, I'm back. But there's something important I need to ask you," Tsunade said, cutting off Shizune's complaints with a dead-serious expression.
"Orochimaru returned to the village earlier—he hasn't done anything bad, has he?"
"Not at all. According to the Anbu surveillance reports, Orochimaru just went to have a drink with Lord Jiraiya," Shizune said, shaking her head.
"That's bad! Something terrible must have happened!" Tsunade's face dramatically paled.
"Why?" Tobirama looked genuinely puzzled.
"Because that bastard Orochimaru has never voluntarily drunk alcohol in his life, let alone sought out Jiraiya for a friendly drink! He must be up to something! Shizune, quickly tell me, where are they right now?!"
Thump, thump, thump!
A series of frantic footsteps echoed from the hallway.
A masked Anbu member shoved open the large office door, freezing momentarily at the sight of the crowded room.
"Lord Hokage, you're back! Thank goodness! Orochimaru and Lord Jiraiya are arguing just outside the village... it looks like they're about to kill each other! Please come stop them quickly!" The Anbu was overjoyed to see Tsunade and hurriedly reported the crisis.
"Alright, lead the way immediately!" Tsunade urged.
Thus, guided by the Anbu, the group rushed out toward the village outskirts, leaving Shizune behind to miserably continue handling official duties.
"Let's not rush to stop them just yet. Let's see what's really happening first," Makoto advised as they ran.
"Understood." Tsunade nodded in agreement.
She had managed to calm down a bit during the sprint.
If Orochimaru truly had sinister plans, it meant his previous "reformed" behavior had all been an act.
If they intervened directly, it might allow Orochimaru to maintain his disguise and conceal his true intentions.
...
Outside Konoha, the group reached the destination.
Tobirama relied on his own elite sensory abilities to easily conduct stealth observation from the forest.
Meanwhile, Makoto grabbed Tsunade and brought her to observe from high above in the sky.
"Orochimaru, you beast! I'll kill you!" Jiraiya roared.
"Jiraiya, I never thought you'd trust me so easily. You're still so delightfully naive," Orochimaru sneered.
Jiraiya had summoned a giant toad and was leaning heavily against it with a deeply pained expression.
His eyes were filled with boundless, murderous rage as he glared at his former teammate.
"Hmm." Tsunade poked Makoto in the ribs. "Why have they been talking for so long without saying anything substantial?"
It was incredibly strange.
After exchanging vague insults for what felt like forever, aside from confirming their deep hatred for each other, there was absolutely zero usable intel being dropped.
What was the source of this hatred?
What exactly had Orochimaru done?!
"You're one of the Legendary Sannin along with them, and you're asking me?" Makoto shot her a deadpan look.
"...Could they have discovered us, or Grandpa Second, and are intentionally keeping quiet?"
"No, that shouldn't be possible."
Tsunade felt completely exasperated.
What the hell was really going on down there? She had heard of patients avoiding medical treatment, but avoiding the actual fight and just exchanging cryptic insults?
If Orochimaru being meticulous and tight-lipped was understandable, how could the loud-mouthed Jiraiya manage to keep a secret?
"Should we just go down and ask them directly?" Tsunade finally suggested.
"Good idea," Makoto agreed, feeling that this staring contest couldn't continue indefinitely.
Thud!
Makoto released Tsunade, who dropped like a meteor from the high altitude, landing violently right between Orochimaru and Jiraiya.
Grabbing both combatants by the collar, she hurled them to opposite sides.
"Tsunade?" Orochimaru remained perfectly calm, even stretching out his long tongue with a creepy smile.
"T-Tsunade?!" Jiraiya violently shuddered, then turned to glare viciously at Orochimaru again.
"What exactly happened between you two?! Fighting out here like idiots? The commotion was so big for the Anbu to ignored!" Tsunade shouted at both of them.
"Tsunade, you don't even know what this beast Orochimaru has done! This inhuman monster! The sheer cruelty, the brutality, the horrifying, perverted, evil, despicable things he's committed!!!" Jiraiya lowered his head, his shoulders shaking, before looking up again with actual tears streaming down his face, accusing Orochimaru while weeping bitterly.
"Did... did he kill Naruto?" Tsunade asked tentatively, her heart dropping.
"It's worse than that!" Jiraiya wailed in absolute agony.
'Damn.'
As Makoto descended from the sky and Tobirama emerged from the forest shadows, both were utterly startled by Jiraiya's dramatic words.
What the hell could Orochimaru have possibly done that was worse than killing Jiraiya's precious disciple, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?
Tobirama even began to doubt his own judgment—had he truly misjudged this snake?
Facing such heavy accusations from Jiraiya, Orochimaru just stood there, entirely unfazed.
"Wait, Orochimaru, didn't you return to Konoha to conduct experiments on some new Cursed Seal you developed? Was that entirely an excuse?" Tobirama spoke up, his tone stern.
"Of course it's true. How could I ever deceive you, my most respected Second Hokage?" Orochimaru chuckled darkly.
"So what exactly did you do to him, Orochimaru? Confess and receive leniency, resist and face severity!" Makoto demanded, completely out of patience for these guessing games.
"Heh... you should know exactly what this new Cursed Seal of mine is, Makoto-kun. It's that one. The very interesting one," Orochimaru continued playing the riddler.
However, Makoto immediately understood exactly what Orochimaru meant.
Among all the similar Cursed Seal concepts they had theorized, Makoto had only ever mentioned one specific idea to Orochimaru—the "Cinnabar Mole."
They had discussed it while analyzing Tsunade's Creation Rebirth recovery, conceptualizing a seal analogous to a 'Reverse triple birth'.
Before Makoto could process the horrifying implications of putting that on Jiraiya, a loud voice broke the tension.
"Pervy Sage! What are you doing out here?! Take me to train already! Damn it, take this! Harem Technique!"
Naruto Uzumaki, who had been desperately searching for Jiraiya for days, came sprinting toward the commotion.
Spotting his master, he immediately launched his signature, highly-inappropriate ninja technique to get his attention.
Poof!
A cloud of smoke revealed a dozen gorgeous, naked women.
"NO! NARUTO! DON'T——————!!!"
Jiraiya's eyes widened in absolute, unadulterated horror.
He let out a blood-curdling, agonized scream, desperately clutching at his dick before collapsing entirely unconscious to the dirt.
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