"Orochimaru, didn't you leave the village? Why are you back?" the Third Hokage asked curiously in his office, seeing Orochimaru walk in without knocking.
"Naturally, those three little rascals have completed their mission and are probably almost at the village entrance by now," Orochimaru said. "But that's not the main point I wanted to make."
"I remember their mission requirement was three days. I didn't expect them to return today after leaving yesterday. But what is it you want to say?" the Third Hokage asked.
"They encountered a Sand Village pursuit squad on their way back."
The Third Hokage took a puff from his pipe. "A Sand Village pursuit squad... that would require at least a special Jonin. It's indeed very dangerous for them to encounter a Jonin at their age. Did you intervene?"
Orochimaru shook his head. "That's the main point. The Sand ninja was a Jonin specializing in taijutsu, but I didn't intervene. They dealt with him themselves."
The Third Hokage's hand visibly trembled, and ash fell from his pipe, but he didn't seem to care. He urgently asked, "You said they dealt with him themselves? They independently killed a Jonin? And a taijutsu specialist at that? That's impossible."
"I also thought it was impossible at first. I just wanted them to experience the strength of a Jonin, and I would have intervened when they couldn't hold on anymore. But Uzumaki Kyuushin... he used an unknown ninjutsu and defeated him."
"A ninjutsu you've never even seen? What was it like?" the Third Hokage asked curiously.
"It was a constantly rotating blue orb of light, purely made of chakra. But the most important thing is, I didn't see him form any hand seals," Orochimaru said, a hint of doubt in his voice.
"Oh? A no-hand-seal ninjutsu, capable of instantly defeating a Jonin, and so powerful?"
Orochimaru licked the corner of his mouth with his long tongue. "You said before that Kyuushin's talent in combat was even better than mine, but today I saw that his talent in ninjutsu also surpasses my own. At least, at his age, I couldn't do that at all."
The Third Hokage took a puff from his pipe, calming his mind. After a moment, he said, "Don't spread what happened today. Since he's such a genius, then you three must put more effort into teaching him."
...
After Kyuushin and the others returned to the village, they didn't rush to submit their mission report. They first handed over their target to the Konoha Prison guards, then went directly to Konoha Hospital. Although Orochimaru had checked them and said there was nothing serious, Nawaki had broken bones after all.
There were people in the hospital who recognized Nawaki, and upon seeing him arrive, they immediately informed Tsunade.
"What's going on with you three? Wasn't Orochimaru leading you?" Tsunade pushed open the door and asked directly, seeing the three of them looking a bit disheveled.
"Hehe, big sister, we went on a mission, and this time it was incredible. We even encountered a Jonin," Nawaki said, somewhat boastfully.
Tsunade examined the three of them and found that only Nawaki was seriously injured, so she immediately began to treat him. After hearing Nawaki's words, she couldn't help but smack him on the head. "Is encountering a Jonin something to be proud of? You even got yourselves into this state. If it weren't for Orochimaru, you probably wouldn't have made it back, right?" At this point, she felt a bit scared and quickly rubbed Nawaki's head again.
"Oh, this time it wasn't thanks to Orochimaru-sensei; we took down the Jonin ourselves," Nawaki said with some dissatisfaction.
"What nonsense are you talking about? You probably hurt your head, didn't you?" Tsunade didn't believe him and still wanted to check his head.
"It was indeed a fluke this time. We barely managed to kill the opponent after a narrow escape," Kyuushin had to explain when Tsunade turned to look at him. But after hearing Kyuushin's explanation, Tsunade was not happy at all. Instead, she started scolding, "That stinking snake! I told him to take good care of you, and he just lets you face a Jonin. I'll give him a piece of my mind later."
"Tsunade, you're coddling him a bit too much," Orochimaru said, pushing open the door and walking in. He had just come from the Hokage's office and had taken some effort to find them, only to be met with Tsunade's threat. Without waiting for her to speak, he continued, "Once you choose to become a ninja, you cannot avoid danger. Nawaki and the others are being looked after by us now, but we can't look after them forever. We must now make them understand the dangers of being a ninja. This way, when we are no longer looking after them, they can continue to survive. If we don't let them encounter any danger now, won't they be in even more danger when they need to be independent later?"
You could say Orochimaru was heartless, but what he said was absolutely correct. Tsunade also knew this, so in the face of his words, she could only remain silent.
"I think Sensei is right. I can't live my whole life under your care, big sister, and Grandma's," Nawaki said. "Since I chose to become a ninja, I've also prepared myself to face these dangers." Even Nawaki spoke up for Orochimaru, and Tsunade could only sigh. But then she still said to Orochimaru, "At least in the early stages, before they've grown up, I hope you can still take good care of them."
Hearing this, Orochimaru also nodded. "I naturally understand." He then turned to Kyuushin. "Give me the Sand ninja's body. I'll write this mission report. For the next few days, I won't assign you any missions for now."
"Yes, thank you, Orochimaru-sensei," Kyuushin quickly handed the scroll containing the body to Orochimaru, who nodded and then left without asking anything further about ninjutsu.
Broken bones would take a long time to heal for ordinary people, but with medical ninjutsu, the healing speed was very fast. In less than half an hour, Nawaki's fractures were basically healed. However, Tsunade still warned him not to engage in high-intensity physical training for the next few days. As for Kyuushin, he mostly had superficial scrapes. Minato, besides his external injuries, also had some bruising on his throat, but the treatment was also very simple. All in all, although facing the Jonin was thrilling, none of them sustained fatal injuries, thanks in large part to Kyuushin's appropriate tactics.
After leaving the hospital, they had no mind to wander around. Although their external injuries were healed, their spirits were exhausted. They just wanted to go home, eat, and get a good night's rest.
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