"Hey—why did you suddenly blurt something like that out?!"
Tsunade was still trying to make excuses, but she hadn't expected Orochimaru to expose her so bluntly. For a moment, she was completely caught off guard.
"Isn't it exhausting," Orochimaru said calmly, "to keep making excuses all the time?"
As he spoke, a memory surfaced in his mind—one from many years ago.
Back when Tsunade had first obtained her ninja registration, when she was only six years old, she had already dragged him to a casino. Recalling that incident, Orochimaru couldn't help himself.
"Also," he continued leisurely, "even when you were six, you were already an experienced gambler. You used Transformation Jutsu to sneak into casinos all the time. Back then you were already—hmm!"
Before he could finish, Tsunade's face flushed bright red.
Seeing that Orochimaru was clearly about to reveal even more of her dark history, Tsunade panicked. She lunged forward and covered his mouth with her hand.
Feeling Uchiha Hikari's gaze land on her, Tsunade forced out a dry laugh.
"H-Hikari," she said awkwardly, "Orochimaru and I are just going to the casino for a bit. It's better if children don't come along."
"Tsunade," Hikari replied calmly, emphasizing each word, "you left the village when you were six. I'm already twelve."
He deliberately stressed the word already.
After all, in the entire ninja world, no one was truly older than him in terms of actual existence.
"Casinos aren't fun at all," Tsunade insisted weakly. "You'll just get bored. You shouldn't—"
She stopped mid-sentence.
Seeing that Hikari still showed no intention of backing down, Tsunade suddenly lost her motivation to go gambling altogether.
Far away, at a desolate battlefield buried by time—
The weapons of the Uchiha Clan, sealed here… are gone.
Kara Zetsu emerged silently at a place that had once been a battlefield between the Senju and Uchiha clans during the Warring States Era. However, upon arriving, he found that the underground seal was already broken.
The girl known as "Nameless," who had once been sealed here, was gone.
Did someone break the seal?
Kara Zetsu crouched down and brushed away the dirt from a stone slab. The Senju clan crest was clearly engraved upon it.
So someone had already freed Nameless.
Was it a member of the Uchiha Clan?
A strange smile crept onto Kara Zetsu's face.
Interesting.
As long as his plan continued smoothly, the current state of the ninja world was irrelevant to him.
Konoha Village, Hot Springs Street.
Inside a bustling casino, Uchiha Hikari stood quietly among the crowd. Using Transformation Jutsu, he appeared as an ordinary adult man, completely unremarkable.
At the gambling table nearby, Orochimaru and Tsunade—also disguised—were deeply engaged.
"Damn it! I lost again!"
Tsunade slammed her cards onto the table in frustration.
Why did she keep playing after losing so much?
Hikari couldn't understand it.
He already had a basic grasp of how valuable money was in this era. Precisely because of that, Tsunade's obsession with gambling made no sense to him.
He felt no enjoyment at all from it.
If Orochimaru hadn't insisted on coming, Hikari would have preferred to stay home reading books.
There was still so much he needed to learn.
So many ninjutsu left to master.
He had already learned Clone Jutsu and Transformation Jutsu—two of the Three Basic Techniques. As for the Substitution Jutsu, he felt it had little value.
It was only useful for surprising enemies of equal strength or toying with weaker ones.
Hikari preferred Genjutsu—absolute control followed by a clean, fatal strike.
What he truly wanted to learn was the Shadow Clone Technique.
He had seen Orochimaru use it many times. It was extremely practical.
Even though chakra would be evenly divided among the clones, Hikari believed that was an acceptable trade-off.
Later, on the street outside the casino—
Tsunade dispelled her Transformation Jutsu and muttered gloomily, "My gambling luck is completely hopeless…"
Even after realizing the truth, she still hadn't quit gambling.
Sure, she won occasionally—but not nearly enough.
She would definitely try again next time.
"You don't think this was my fault too, do you?" Tsunade asked.
Orochimaru smiled faintly and reached out, pinching her cheek.
Years later, Tsunade would finally admit that her terrible gambling luck was entirely her own problem.
"Tsunade," Hikari asked, dispelling his own Transformation Jutsu and staring at her with wide black eyes, "you've lost so much money. Why do you still gamble?"
He genuinely wanted to understand.
Was gambling really that interesting?
To him, it felt unbearably dull.
"Well…"
Tsunade fell silent for a moment.
After a long pause, she sighed. "Hikari, this is entertainment for adults. You'll understand someday."
"Don't forget," Orochimaru added calmly while counting his money, "we're only sixteen right now."
He handed half of his winnings to Tsunade, then took out ten thousand ryo and passed it to Hikari.
"Huh?"
Hikari looked from Orochimaru to the money. "Why are you giving me this?"
"Hikari, this is your allowance," Orochimaru said gently. "You can buy whatever you want with it."
He placed the money into Hikari's hand, then paused.
"Ah, right. You don't have a wallet yet. I'll buy you one later, alright?"
"Mmm!"
Hikari nodded happily.
"Orochimaru~! Where's my allowance?"
Tsunade wrapped her arms around Orochimaru's waist, resting her chin on his shoulder and pouting exaggeratedly.
"Didn't I already give you some?" Orochimaru replied helplessly.
"That doesn't count!"
She rubbed her cheek against his, a mischievous glint shining in her brown eyes.
"Here," Orochimaru sighed. "One hundred ryo. Spend it wisely."
He pulled out what was considered a large bill and placed it in her hand.
"Only one hundred ryo?!"
Tsunade stared at it in disbelief.
She had been thinking in terms of tens of thousands!
The difference was outrageous!
"Only one hundred," Orochimaru said calmly. "If you don't want it, give it back."
"No takebacks!"
Tsunade immediately stuffed the money into her pocket and stuck out her tongue.
Hikari watched their interaction with quiet envy.
Someday, he hoped to have a bond like that too.
For now, the most important thing was healing his body—and growing stronger as fast as possible.
Land of Rain, Hidden Rain Village
Rain Tower Conference Hall
"Hanzo-sama," one of the elders asked gravely, "the Hidden Sand Village is purchasing large quantities of grain. Does this mean the great nations are preparing to move?"
Small nations caught between great powers had no choice but to stay vigilant.
Hanzo examined the scroll in his hand and nodded slowly.
"Judging by the amount of grain," he said, "Sunagakure may indeed be preparing for war."
"If war breaks out, our country's food production will suffer," another elder said. "We should refuse their request."
"Refusing them outright would be dangerous," a bald elder countered. "The Hidden Sand Village won't just let that go."
"What's there to fear?!" another shouted. "We rely on the company, not the great nations!"
"Silence!"
Hanzo's roar instantly shut them all up.
They may have been elders, but before Hanzo—the man who had reshaped the Land of Rain—they were nothing more than advisers.
"The Land of Rain does not fear war," Hanzo said coldly. "But we will not provoke it. Nor will we interfere."
"The agreed grain supply will not be reduced. Strengthen patrols around White Snake Electric Town and White Snake Central Town."
As long as the great nations didn't affect the Land of Rain—or the White Snake Pharmaceutical Company—Hanzo didn't care how they fought.
But if they crossed that line, they would bear the consequences.
Konoha Village, Orochimaru's Laboratory
Orochimaru gently shook the test tube in his hand.
Inside was an improved version of Chakra Poison, refined using blood samples from the Chinoike Clan.
If Chakra Poison could successfully gain contamination and reproduction properties—
It would become a terrifying weapon, capable of killing any chakra-using being.
What is Orochimaru doing…?
Hikari played quietly with a red-tongued, chibi White Snake plush wallet while secretly watching him.
"Failed again…"
The liquid inside the test tube had separated into layers.
"It seems improving Chakra Poison won't be easy."
Hyuga Mio took the tube and disposed of it carefully.
"Still," Orochimaru murmured, "the direction isn't wrong. One step must have failed."
This would require many experiments.
Fortunately, he still had time.
"Would you like to rest?" Mio asked gently, massaging his shoulders with chakra-enhanced pressure.
"I still need to teach the Sealing Team students later," Orochimaru said reluctantly. "Resting is for people useless to the ninja world."
Mio fell silent, then continued massaging him quietly.
"Ninja Academy?" Hikari asked. "You teach there?"
"Only occasionally," Orochimaru replied. "I help the Sealing Team."
He suddenly sniffed the air.
"Mio… did you start wearing perfume?"
"Perfume?"
She shook her head, then hesitated.
"Maybe I changed my shampoo…"
Orochimaru leaned closer, sniffing her hair.
Mio's eyes widened. Her face flushed, and she hurriedly stabilized herself with chakra.
"I thought you started using perfume," Orochimaru said casually.
A woman who never wore perfume suddenly changing her scent…
For a moment, Orochimaru even considered who might deserve burial.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)