At this moment, a faint sound of footsteps slowly came from outside the door.
Everyone turned to look. They saw Rengoku's clone leading the way in front, with Karin following closely behind as she walked in.
When the clone reached Rengoku's original body, it melted into his shadow in an instant, like ice meeting spring.
The Karin who appeared before everyone now looked completely refreshed. She wore a simple halter top and a pair of short hot pants, her whole figure radiating youthful energy and charming allure.
As the saying goes, "Clothes make the man," and the outfit she wore perfectly highlighted her graceful curves.
Seeing this, Tsunade couldn't help but show a teasing smile.
Her gaze swept back and forth between Rengoku and Karin, her eyes full of curiosity and gossip.
She even joked, "You really know how to pamper people. Even at such a critical time, you still didn't forget to accompany Karin to buy new clothes."
Hearing that, Rengoku just smiled faintly, then reached out and gently rubbed Karin's hair.
"This kid was still wearing clothes from five years ago yesterday. Buying her some new ones, isn't that perfectly normal?"
Tsunade couldn't help but roll her eyes dramatically, clearly speechless at his explanation.
"Oh please, stop calling her a kid all the time. You're always like this, talking as if you're some old man. It's unbearable."
"You only stayed two days in another timeline. You're still twenty-one now, and she's eighteen. That means you're only five years older than her."
At this moment, before Rengoku could respond, Karin, who was standing nearby, chimed in with a cheerful smile, "Lady Tsunade, no matter what, in my heart, I'll always be Shishou's cutest little disciple."
A trace of astonishment flashed across Tsunade's face, and she looked at the two of them with a strange expression.
'These two… are they getting a bit wild with it?'
But this was Rengoku's private matter. Tsunade wouldn't interfere, though as a friend, she still had to tease a bit.
"Even if she's a disciple, you still dare to make a move on her?"
Rengoku wasn't the type to lose verbally. Instead of answering, he looked around and then said meaningfully, "Huh! Strange. Why don't I see Kato Dan anywhere here?"
At this moment, Tsunade clearly hadn't fully grasped the deeper meaning behind Rengoku's words. She simply explained casually, "Dan took Yakumo out on a mission. He's not in the village right now."
Rengoku acknowledged it, then asked curiously, "Kato Dan seems to be over twenty years younger than you, right?"
Hearing this, Tsunade was visibly stunned. Her face instantly flushed red.
After all, she had just accused Rengoku of going after a kid, and now he pointed out that Kato Dan had only been revived after being dead for so many years.
To Tsunade, that made him even more of a "kid."
Because they were more than twenty years apart.
"Well now, so you were setting me up all along!"
Tsunade first scolded him with a half-angry, half-amused tone, but soon returned to her usual hearty smile, waving her hand generously as if it didn't matter.
"Alright, alright, let's get going. We've got plenty to handle today."
After saying that, she stepped forward.
Orochimaru had no interest in idle chatter. He went straight to the point, "Rengoku, I'll explain what you need to do today."
With that, he led Rengoku and Karin further inside.
Rengoku held onto Karin's soft hand tightly and lowered his head, speaking gently, "Karin, you'll have to work hard today."
Karin pressed herself close to Rengoku and softly replied, "Mm, it's not hard at all. Being able to help you, Shishou, makes me really happy!"
Rengoku suddenly felt a strange softness against his hand. Looking down, he saw that Karin had somehow wrapped his arm against her full chest.
At this moment, Karin's face was slightly flushed, but she lifted her head and gave Rengoku a sly, somewhat proud smile.
Faced with such a playful, straightforward, and adorable Karin, Rengoku could only shake his head and laugh softly. She was always this mischievous.
At this moment, Rengoku followed Orochimaru into the inner room.
As soon as they stepped through the door, what came into view was a room filled with all kinds of massive cultivation tanks.
Inside those transparent glass containers were all sorts of human limbs, some complete, some incomplete.
Seeing this scene, Rengoku asked, "Are these all part of our limb regeneration business?"
Rengoku also knew that the plan he had set was being executed well, and this business had already developed into one of Konoha's most profitable projects.
After all, Orochimaru's various scientific research projects were like a bottomless pit, consuming huge amounts of money and resources.
Because of this, such a profitable pillar industry was naturally given high importance by Orochimaru. He nodded slightly and explained to Rengoku, "That's right. Every limb here is priced at no less than five million ryo. If someone from another village wants to purchase, the price will increase by five to ten times on top of that."
Hearing this, the way Rengoku looked at those tanks filled with limbs instantly changed.
These limbs floating in nutrient fluid originally looked horrifying, the kind that would make one's sanity plummet.
But if you imagined them as stacks of thick cash, then perhaps they wouldn't seem so frightening anymore. You might even think the scene wasn't so bad.
At this moment, Orochimaru led Rengoku quickly through the outer room, heading deeper along the corridor.
When they finally reached their destination, another room full of nutrient tanks came into view.
But unlike before, what was inside the tanks this time were no longer just limbs, but complete human bodies.
Jugo was holding a notebook, carefully checking the data displayed above each tank.
Hearing someone enter, he quickly stopped what he was doing and greeted Orochimaru and the others.
Then his gaze fell on Rengoku, and a look of joy appeared on his face.
"Lord Rengoku, you're finally back!"
Rengoku smiled in response and reached out to lightly pat Jugo's arm.
Since Jugo was over two meters tall, patting his shoulder wasn't exactly easy.
After that, Rengoku began to look around, carefully observing the nutrient tanks and the people inside them.
Unfortunately, for these unfamiliar figures submerged in liquid, he had no impression of them at all.
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