When Haruya finally came to, he realized he was already back in Konoha.
He rubbed his head, still groggy.Seriously… had he actually fallen asleep just because something was soft and smelled nice?
"You're too old to be nodding off like that," he muttered to himself, giving his cheeks a brisk slap for motivation.
In the main room, Shizune sat reading a medical text while Tsunade was nowhere in sight.
"Sis Shizune, I'm heading back to the orphanage," Haruya announced.
"Be careful," Shizune replied, barely looking up—she was too used to this. Haruya returned to the orphanage practically every other day.
Konoha Village was sprawling, but the central area—protected within the barrier—really wasn't that large.It was no wonder the Uchiha clan seethed about being pushed to the outskirts. They'd been shoved so close to the barrier that the next step would be the Forest of Death itself. Uchiha Fugaku had once looked Danzo straight in the eye as if saying: You've shoved us so far we've lost even the dignity of pretending otherwise.
Senju Hashirama's old compound, along with the orphanage, sat closer to the village's heart. Haruya reached it only a few minutes later.
"Big Bro Haruya, you're back!"
"Haruya-nii!"
"Candy! Candy!"
The second he stepped inside, a crowd of tiny bodies swarmed him. He lifted the bag in his hand higher.
"No grabbing—one lollipop each."
"Thanks, big bro!"
The horde instantly lost interest in him and focused on the true treasure. Haruya scanned the room and spotted Kabuto sitting alone with a small white rabbit. Studying it, to be precise—specifically, its anatomy. In unsettling detail.
"Kabuto, want a candy?" Haruya asked as he walked over.
"I'm not a kid," Kabuto said proudly. His hands were stained red, and the rabbit's opened ribcage didn't bother him in the slightest. If you ignored his tiny face, it was hard to believe he was only seven.
"Kabuto, you're coming with me to see Lady Tsunade later. You can show her what you can do."
Haruya unwrapped a lollipop and stuck it in his own mouth. Good flavor—cherry, maybe.
Kabuto's eyes brightened at once. The solemn miniature adult vanished, replaced by a trembling spark of excitement.
"Will Lady Tsunade accept me?" he asked almost breathlessly.
"She will," Haruya said confidently. Kid, if you knew how terrifying your medical ability becomes in the future, you'd understand why I'm the one who should be excited."Even if she doesn't take you as a disciple outright, I can definitely get her to train you in medical ninjutsu."
With the relationship he had with Tsunade now, a bit of pestering and wheedling would go a long way.
Nonoyu, Kabuto's guardian, was a skilled medical-nin too—just stuck in a complicated position. Keeping Kabuto with her meant Danzo's eyes were always watching. The old war hawk collected promising children the same way Orochimaru collected… bodies.
Similar habits, different uses.
Danzo liked reshaping geniuses into obedient tools of Root. Orochimaru liked reshaping geniuses into replacement bodies.
And Kabuto? He fit the preferences of both.
"The rabbit's kinda cute," Haruya commented, glancing at the dissection. "Hard to believe you could butcher it so ruthlessly."
A joke from his past life popped into his mind."Add some chili for lunch. Spicy rabbit cubes, anyone?"
"…."
Kabuto froze, blinked twice, and then nodded seriously. "That was my plan, actually."
The orphanage didn't waste food.
Haruya watched for a few minutes, got bored, and moved to an open corner to practice ninjutsu.
Body Flicker—D-rank.One of the most practical basic techniques. The Flying Thunder God was essentially an evolved form of it—space-warped and on another level entirely—but the Body Flicker was simply controlled acceleration, creating the illusion of teleportation.
He practiced that, and then Water Style: Water Surge, a simple three-seal technique that blasted a jet of water from the mouth.
Haruya possessed both water and earth affinity, but his water nature was stronger, so he prioritized it. Besides, Water Style gave him perfect cover for hiding his Wood Style—no one would look twice at a kid who appeared to be a normal water-type ninja.
He spent the rest of Sunday at the orphanage before heading home in the evening.
"I'm home," he called.
Tsunade was sprawled across the couch watching television.
Yes—television existed in the ninja world. So did computers. Not that most people could afford them. Civilians in poorer nations lived below basic subsistence. But because of the overwhelming power gap between ninja and non-ninja, no one could exactly raise banners and shout, "Down with the nobles!"A single jōnin could wipe out a thousand untrained civilians.
Haruya dropped onto the sofa beside Tsunade. Without even thinking, she draped an arm over his shoulders and ruffled his hair like he was a house pet.
Which—frankly—is exactly how he felt.
In his previous life he had been the one doing the petting. Now karma had flipped the roles.
Since it was the weekend, he wasn't training Wood Release. Shizune, meanwhile, was diligently studying at her desk.
"Being a normal medical ninja will never be enough to save the shinobi world," Haruya muttered, quoting a line he remembered from his past life.An ordinary doctor wouldn't reach Tsunade's level. And even she, later in life, often felt like someone drifting around on the sidelines.
A real man pilots a Gundam.
He caught a faint scent from Tsunade—floral, soft. Not perfume…? Or was it deodorant?
There was this old theory: if someone wasn't wearing perfume yet you still found yourself drawn to their scent, it meant your genes had selected them as an ideal match—your future children wouldn't inherit immune-system defects.
"Sis, did you put on perfume?" he asked.
"No." Tsunade sniffed her sleeve. "Is there some weird smell?"
"Oh, no. I just thought I smelled something nice," Haruya said.
Tsunade paused. A slow, mischievous smile spread across her face. She leaned in closer, wrapping around him like a lazy serpent.
"Why don't you smell again and tell me?" she teased.
Woman! You are playing with fire!
Which red-blooded man could endure this?
Haruya now understood a crucial truth: the Tsunade who doted on her younger brother in the original story was apparently a very affectionate woman. Maybe too affectionate.
He escaped her coils with great effort, sucking in fresh air.
"I can't watch TV like that," he protested.
Tsunade chuckled and finally let him go.
Two weeks passed in this absurd rhythm.
Haruya attended school in the morning and, in the meantime, slowly took control of the Gunma Syndicate. With Tsunade's backing, it was laughably easy.
Invite the executives, talk politely, remove the ones who didn't cooperate, accept the kneeling loyalty of the rest.Just another day in the bureaucratic underworld.
Gunma dealt in two major trades: casinos and underground banking—loan sharks with fancy signage. Haruya immediately ordered a complete overhaul.
The casino would stay but be professionalized. The underground bank, however, would be transformed into a real bank—modeled after the financial systems from his previous life. As far as he knew, he was the only person in this world who truly understood how profitable banks could be.
Renovations would take a month or two. Training staff even longer.
He left it all on autopilot for now.
He had more pressing goals:—meet with Orochimaru,—deliver a generous "gift" to his desk partner, Uchiha Itachi,—use his growing income to hire capable ninjas for a mission in the Village Hidden in the Grass.
Choosing which ninjas to hire required careful thought.
On a moonless, windy night, Haruya spent another point of fate to send a wooden clone into Orochimaru's compound.