Orochimaru, utterly oblivious to the remote scrutiny of Shen Mo, fixed his gaze on Tsunade as she walked away from the Hokage Tower.
"Lord Orochimaru," came a soft, almost imperceptible voice from the woman disguised as one of his bodyguards, Kabuto Yakushi. "Our intelligence suggests that Tsunade and the Third Hokage have recently engaged in a significant conflict."
"That is highly uncharacteristic of Tsunade," Orochimaru murmured, a wry, knowing smile playing on his lips. He knew his former teammate intimately. Even from this distance, he could perceive the faint, weary disappointment on her face, yet there was no trace of the soul-crushing despair that had defined her for so long.
She is merely disappointed, not broken.
"Beyond the political friction, there is a more peculiar piece of information," Kabuto continued, employing a covert technique to ensure only Orochimaru heard the delicate details. "Tsunade brought a strange man into Konoha. People saw them together on the streets, but we can find absolutely no verifiable information on this individual—no background, no records, no clear identity."
"Oh?" Orochimaru arched a brow, turning his head slightly to acknowledge his brilliant subordinate.
Kabuto Yakushi's talent for intelligence gathering and research was peerless. Most would dismiss the man as a new friend or, more likely, a romantic entanglement. But Kabuto reasoned that given Tsunade's power and position—a Legendary Sannin and a strong contender for the Fifth Hokage—any man in her close confidence could not possibly be so utterly untraceable.
"It seems Konoha has become surprisingly dynamic lately," Kabuto noted. "I haven't managed to extract the full details, but there are multiple indicators of events that have been intentionally obfuscated."
"Interesting." Orochimaru's smile widened, a charismatic gesture that drew curious glances from nearby villagers.
He believed he had deciphered the situation: "I wondered what could have caused such a profound shift in Tsunade. It seems even a Legendary Sannin remains, at heart, a woman. No matter how deep her trauma, it can be healed by a new love."
He was convinced that an intriguing new lover had pulled Tsunade out of her self-imposed exile and given her a new reason to fight.
"Therefore, should we implement any adjustments to our plan?" Kabuto inquired, though the predatory confidence in Orochimaru's smile suggested he believed the entire board was still under his control.
"We must acquire more information first to truly understand if any adjustments are warranted," Orochimaru replied simply, then began to walk toward the path Tsunade had taken. He seemed driven by an irresistible urge to encounter his old friend.
Kabuto Yakushi felt that confronting Tsunade now was unwise; it risked prematurely announcing their return and escalating the instability. But the Sannin's confidence was absolute, and Kabuto remained silently obedient.
Tsunade arrived at her temporary residence. The small house, though recently cleaned, was silent and empty. Shizune was likely out attempting to gamble back her substantial accumulated debts.
Tsunade's mind was reeling from the confrontation with Sarutobi. The Konoha she had fought to protect was not the complex, manipulative political machine her former teacher was now forced to run.
And then there was Shen Mo... the catalyst for all this chaos.
"Silence..." Tsunade murmured the name, a trace of deep-seated worry clouding her eyes.
"Was that his real name?" A voice, slightly muffled but utterly familiar, materialized directly behind her.
"—!?"
Tsunade whirled around.
Standing before her was the man in the light gray-white robes, his long, straight hair framing a pale, unsettlingly composed face.
"Orochimaru!"
The name escaped her lips on a rush of air, still laced with disbelief.
"It has been a very long time, Tsunade." Orochimaru advanced slowly. His cold, snake-like gaze and unsettling aura instantly dragged Tsunade back to the raw, painful memories of their last encounter over a decade ago.
"After everything that has happened, you still dare to set foot in Konoha?" Tsunade looked at him with a complex mixture of pity and rage. "I heard the rumors of your experiments on the villagers... That is not the man I knew."
The old Orochimaru had been popular, a comrade who would protect his own.
"Everyone changes, my dear. Even if we remain inert, time itself will change everything around us," Orochimaru said, positioning himself perfectly in the shadow of the wall opposite Tsunade.
One stood resolutely in the shade, the other in the faint sunlit doorway—the divide between them was stark and absolute.
"You didn't come back simply to reminisce, did you?" Tsunade's eyes narrowed. The proximity of Orochimaru made her feel a profound, visceral unease; even her Strength of a Hundred Seal seemed to react to the presence of his dark, unnatural Chakra.
"I simply heard that you had returned to Konoha, and with a man no less," Orochimaru continued, his voice low and insinuating. "I came to check up on my old friend and see if you had finally decided to embrace life. I wonder, would Katō Dan be happy for you if he knew?"
Tsunade's chest rose and fell sharply. Her fists clenched so hard her knuckles turned white.
The fury lasted only a few seconds before she forced a cold, dangerous smile onto her lips.
"If you are here purely to provoke me, you had better be prepared for the consequences."
"Still so prickly. I thought a new companion might have taught you some manners..." Orochimaru cut himself off as he sensed the pure killing intent radiating from her.
A full-blown fight here would be disastrous.
Orochimaru softened his smile. "Actually, beyond satisfying my curiosity about the man who finally dragged you back to the village, I also brought you genuinely good news."
Tsunade said nothing, the meaning in her eyes clear: Say your piece, and then get out.
"Over these long years, I continued my relentless research," Orochimaru said, intently studying Tsunade's reaction. "The human body possesses great power, yet is ultimately fragile. I sought to unravel the mysteries of life and death, and eventually... I successfully devised a Kinjustu—a forbidden technique capable of resurrecting the dead."
As he delivered the final, climactic words, he focused his entire attention on her.
He expected utter devastation, a heart-stopping shock that would shatter her iron facade.
Instead, Tsunade's expression was marked by something altogether foreign—a look of indescribable awkwardness and bafflement.
Why the strange reaction? Orochimaru felt a momentary chill, as if his grand, ultimate move had been anticipated and mocked.
"Is that why you came here?" Tsunade asked, an odd tone entering her voice.
In less than half a month, two separate entities had offered to resurrect the dead. She had personally witnessed Rin Nohara's miraculous, perfect revival. The concept of resurrection no longer held the paralyzing, absolute shock value it once had.
Would you like to see Orochimaru react to Tsunade's strange indifference or Shen Mo's direct intervention in the Sannin reunion?