Chapter 82: Jiraiya Teases Tsunade, Orochimaru Struggles in Command, and Hanzo Declares War on Konoha
On the road, Jiraiya and Tsunade were rushing along in silence for a while before Jiraiya finally couldn't hold back. With a teasing tone, he asked Tsunade: "You and your disciple… aren't you two a bit too close?"
Just during the time Jiraiya was there: first, Naraku walked naturally into Tsunade's bedroom; second, Tsunade immediately ruffled Naraku's hair when she saw him; finally, that farewell kiss.
These actions seemed to go beyond normal master-disciple interactions, and both sides did them very naturally. After teaming up with Tsunade for so many years, Jiraiya had never seen her be this intimate with any man—not even Nawaki had been this frequent.
Tsunade didn't answer. After a while she said: "There's nothing like that. Stop talking about it!"
Jiraiya still tried once more: "Naraku should be almost 10 years old this year, right!"
Tsunade said in a slightly angry tone: "Stop talking!"
Jiraiya ran forward numbly, thinking inwardly: Damn, the Uchiha brat stole the house.
He couldn't quite understand how Tsunade and Naraku could want to be together under so much pressure. First, clan blood feud. Second, 14-year age gap. Finally, the two were in a master-disciple relationship!
But as a teammate of many years, Jiraiya clearly knew what Tsunade's personality and decisions meant.
Despite the pain and helplessness in his heart, he understood he couldn't change Tsunade's choice.
He could only silently accept this fact, tears surging in his heart, thinking that after the war ended he'd find some pretty ladies in the red-light district to comfort his wounded heart!
Jiraiya also comforted himself: he still had to find that person who would save the ninja world, still had to write works that would sweep the ninja world—how could he have time for romance? Handing Tsunade over to Uchiha Naraku was fine—at least that brat, even if a little scummy, really loved Tsunade.
...
Under the guidance of Konoha camp staff, Tsunade and Jiraiya entered the camp.
The two saw that the camp's atmosphere was somewhat tense but not overly so—this puzzled Tsunade and Jiraiya, because if the situation weren't urgent, the old man wouldn't have ordered them here so quickly.
It wasn't until they saw Orochimaru in the command room that things became clear. Orochimaru was currently overwhelmed and exhausted by war affairs.
Although Akimichi Torifu was technically above him, this teammate of Sarutobi Hiruzen seemed to care little about the war and had basically handed command authority to Orochimaru.
This was Orochimaru's first time fully commanding such a large force. At first when battles were smaller-scale it was manageable—after all, Orochimaru had that level of ability. But now as the various nations started fighting seriously, any future war would definitely not be small-scale like before.
Seeing his two teammates arrive, Orochimaru—who hadn't smiled in a long time—showed a joyful expression and said: "You two are finally here! Hanzo the Salamander, riding the momentum of three consecutive victories, has already set his sights on Konoha."
Jiraiya and Tsunade both turned serious upon hearing this. Jiraiya jumped in: "So what can we do now?"
Orochimaru instead focused his gaze on Tsunade: "Tsunade! The salamander's poison must have an antidote made. Do you have a way?"
Tsunade didn't answer immediately. Instead she said: "I can probably produce an antidote for the salamander's poison, but the prerequisite is obtaining a sample of the salamander's poison. Also, judging from Hanzo the Salamander's previous battles with Sunagakure, he updates his poison from time to time. So even if an antidote is made, it will likely only be usable for a few battles! A complete antidote that fully neutralizes the salamander's poison—I can only say I'll try my best, but don't hold too much hope."
Hearing Tsunade's answer, Orochimaru was out of ideas. He had originally hoped that with Tsunade's medical ability she could create a one-and-done antidote, greatly reducing pressure in future wars with Amegakure.
In truth, although he wasn't at Tsunade's level as a medical ninja, years of research had given him considerable knowledge of human biology—he knew a universal antidote wasn't realistic.
The current problem was that obtaining a salamander poison sample required fighting Hanzo the Salamander, but without an antidote they couldn't engage in large-scale combat with Hanzo-led Amegakure forces.
Most disgusting of all was that Hanzo the Salamander kept updating his poison—so even if they got a sample, it wouldn't be very useful against new poisons.
After Orochimaru explained the current dilemma to the two, Tsunade thought for a moment and said: "There are two solutions. One: start with small-scale battles to obtain a salamander poison sample and quickly produce an antidote. In that case Hanzo the Salamander probably won't update the poison, and we can then go straight for a decisive battle. The second: when Hanzo the Salamander updates his poison but hasn't yet mass-produced the new antidote, our side's people defeat Hanzo the Salamander directly—without the ninja armies of both sides participating!"
Orochimaru had no particularly good ideas either—some methods he thought of would encounter various accidents during execution anyway.
And while Orochimaru and the others were discussing tactics, Hanzo the Salamander officially declared war on Konoha.
Hanzo the Salamander demanded that Konoha immediately withdraw from the Land of Rain and pay Amegakure a huge sum in war reparations. Otherwise Amegakure would not only defeat Konoha but also invade Konoha in retaliation!
Shortly after Hanzo the Salamander's declaration of war, Sunagakure and Iwagakure also issued statements strongly condemning Konoha's destruction in the Land of Rain, urging Konoha to withdraw immediately and compensate the Land of Rain for its losses.
Kumogakure saw the excitement and joined the condemnation team, even saying that if small countries weren't afraid of retaliation, they might have joined the condemnation too.
Among the great ninja villages, only Kirigakure remained in seclusion and isolation, unknown what they were doing.
It could be said that Hanzo the Salamander's declaration of war brought enormous pressure to Konoha. Orochimaru immediately reported the specific details to Sarutobi Hiruzen, but after Konoha's F4 discussed it for half a day, they still had no good solution.
Danzō repeatedly requested to fight, but Sarutobi Hiruzen refused each time.
It wasn't until a day later that the village sent back instructions. Orochimaru looked at the orders: retreat to the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire, strengthen vigilance, and quickly produce a universal antidote. It also said support troops were on the way. Orochimaru's pale face nearly turned green from anger.
Retreating to the border would just make it easier for the enemy to attack—Hanzo the Salamander could strike Konoha's forces at any time, and he'd even have the justification of saying Konoha caused destruction in the Land of Rain and didn't pay reparations.
Without solving the salamander poison, sending more ordinary troops would just be cannon fodder.
But since this was the Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen's arrangement, Orochimaru could only obey and withdraw to the Land of Rain border first.
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