"Where's Sensei?"
"You… you're drinking without him?!"
Anko had just stowed the cash box in Orochimaru's quarters when she opened the wooden door and froze. Orochimaru was gone, and there was Gen, sitting cross-legged with a sake jug tipped back against his lips.
"He left early. Something urgent."
Gen set the jug down and smirked. "Want a taste?"
Anko's throat bobbed. She quickly shook her head. "You can't drink until you're an adult! It's one of the Three Ninja Prohibitions."
Gen chuckled.
"What's so funny?" she snapped, puffing her cheeks.
"The Three Prohibitions? I've risked my life for Konoha. You're telling me I can't enjoy myself once in a while?"
"It's not like one or two drinks will ruin me. Sometimes relaxing is better for a ninja's body and mind than constant tension. Even the moon waxes and wanes — nothing lasts forever. Haven't you seen shinobi unwind in taverns after missions?"
She hesitated. It… almost made sense.
"…Alright. I'll try it."
She plopped down beside him, eyes bright with anticipation.
Gen poured a small cup. Anko downed it in one gulp.
"Agh! Liar! It's spicy and disgusting!" Her face flushed crimson as she coughed.
"Tastes no different from water to me."
It was just sake. Bland, weak compared to the high-concentration liquor he'd known in his past life.
"You've lost your taste buds," Anko muttered, still baffled.
Gen said nothing, tilted his head back, and poured half the jug straight into his mouth in one go.
Anko stared, stunned. "You're… not even drunk."
"This? Nothing." In his last life, he could put away over a jin of 54-proof liquor. This body was stronger still.
"I'm leaving with you. I've got money now — I'm buying dessert."
"Don't overdo it. You heard what Sensei said."
"Yeah, yeah. Acting like a senior brother already…"
"It's mostly that I don't want a fat junior sister."
"Pfft! I never gain weight."
Gen hid a smirk. She clearly didn't know she'd been round as a dumpling during her Mist mission — saved only by the calories she burned in the field.
The two bickered all the way out of Orochimaru's house, then split up in the street.
At home, Gen collapsed onto the white sofa for a moment's rest before unslinging his new Kusanagi. Pressing his right hand to the blade, he drew a plum-sized sphere of light from his chest — condensed soul energy — and absorbed it.
Then he gathered more of his stored life force, shaping it into an apple-sized orb of radiance, and pressed it into the sword.
The change was immediate. A face emerged on the slender blade: tiny eyes, nose, and mouth. The Kusanagi floated into the air.
"Master," it said, voice metallic and cold.
A flash of red — and Shuryu swooped in, the tiny fire dragon circling the new arrival with open curiosity.
"From now on, your name is Shizukamaru," Gen said. "When you're unsheathed… none shall live."
"Yes, Master."
Shizukamaru clearly had no patience for Shuryu's hovering. In a blur, the sword lashed at him.
Shuryu darted away, twin flames snorting from his nostrils. "Watch it, little brother, or I'll roast you!"
"I'm not afraid," Shizukamaru replied flatly.
"Enough." Gen's tone cut through their sparring. "Right now, neither of you can harm the other. Shuryu, you were born first — act like it. Shizukamaru, show respect to your elder."
Both nodded.
He wasn't wrong: Shuryu's current heat couldn't touch the Kusanagi, forged from the hardest metal in the shinobi world. And as living flame, Shuryu was immune to normal steel, no matter how sharp.
"Go play. Stay inside, and don't fight."
"Yes, Master."
They darted off, chasing each other through the halls.
Gen headed to the kitchen. Soon, both Homies returned — Shuryu curling beside the gas burner to feed, Shizukamaru hovering impatiently until Gen tossed a kunai and two shuriken onto the stove. The sword crunched them down like candy.
By the time Gen sat to eat, both were well-fed and back to racing each other up and down the stairs.
After lunch, Gen unrolled the scrolls Orochimaru had given him.
The Bringer-of-Darkness Technique came first. Despite its A-rank classification, it wasn't difficult for someone with his talent. In less than fifteen minutes, he formed the seals.
A snap of chakra — the living room went pitch black.
"Master? I can't see!"
"Me neither!"
His two Homies flailed in the dark until Gen dispelled the genjutsu.
"Alright, carry on."
With that mastered, he moved on to the Snake Techniques. Progress was slower, his talent here was only average; but steady.
And while he was studying, across the village, Shimura Danzō stormed into the Hokage's office, fury in every step…