"Think carefully before you speak. I'll give you another chance."
There was no way he could be taken down by such a small trick when Tsunade could clearly see every strand of hair on his body.
"Oh come on, you know best, my dear."
Kawaki pretended to sulk. He stretched out his hand and pulled Tsunade into his arms.
"This isn't over yet. Don't get handsy with me."
Tsunade batted Kawaki's wandering hand away.
"It wasn't even a big deal."
"Let's focus on something important first."
Kawaki didn't stop—he got even more enthusiastic.
Tsunade's light resistance had absolutely no effect.
Soon enough, two pale naked bodies were rolling around on the bed.
A war without smoke had begun.
Soft moans echoed in Kawaki's room for a long while.
When the war finally ended, Tsunade didn't even feel like moving a muscle—there was no way she could think about punishing Kawaki anymore.
The next morning when Kawaki woke up, Tsunade was already gone.
As far as recovery went, women still had the upper hand.
After washing up and eating a late breakfast, Kawaki planned to head off to school.
Just as he passed by the martial arts training hall, he saw Nagato running toward him while shouting "Teacher!"
"What's going on?"
Kawaki stopped walking, wondering what Nagato needed from him.
"Teacher, yesterday you mentioned removing some tissue from the eye. Do you remember exactly where it was?"
Nagato had given it some thought last night.
Even if he didn't know what kind of tissue it was, knowing the general location would save him a lot of time during his experiments.
That's why he'd waited until Kawaki left the house this morning; otherwise, he'd have already started dissecting eyeballs in the lab.
"I actually do remember that."
"It's near the front part of the eyeball—probably a thin transparent membrane."
Kawaki wasn't entirely sure—he hadn't studied it in depth.
"That's enough! More than enough!"
Nagato hadn't really expected much in the first place. They all knew how much—or rather, how little—the Teacher actually revealed.
The lower the expectations, the easier it was to be pleasantly surprised.
Now he felt completely satisfied.
"Great, that's good to hear."
"Do you have anything else on your mind?"
Seeing Nagato's happiness, Kawaki felt he'd done something positive.
"Nope."
"Teacher, I'm off."
Without looking back, Nagato ran out the door and quickly disappeared.
"This kid... I've never seen him this invested in anything before."
Chuckling, Kawaki shook his head and walked out toward the school.
Nagato ran all the way to the hospital, heading straight for the laboratory.
As he opened the lab door, he found Orochimaru talking with Misaki.
"Huh? Long time no see, Nagato. What brings you here today?"
Orochimaru initially thought it was Kawaki—the annoying one—again.
"Orochimaru-sama, Sis Misaki."
"I came here because I have something to take care of."
Nagato politely greeted them.
It had been a while since he joined Anbu—he hadn't stepped into the lab for quite some time now.
"It's been a while. How have you been lately?"
Ever since getting married, Orochimaru had grown gentler by the day, with smiles appearing on his face more frequently.
The pressure he gave off had also eased significantly.
"Not bad."
Nagato replied shyly, hesitating on how to bring up the subject himself.
"Well, here's the thing—I want to dissect an eyeball."
"Need some help with anything?"
Orochimaru noticed Nagato's hesitation and took the lead in asking; otherwise, who knows how long he'd dawdle.
"Is there a specimen in the lab?"
Nagato responded accordingly.
"That's easy. Just go inside and get one yourself."
Orochimaru pointed toward the room where specimens were stored.
"I'll help," Misaki said, then hurried ahead of Nagato to get a specimen.
"How come you suddenly want to study eyes?"
"Did something happen to your eye?"
Orochimaru thought maybe Nagato's Rinnegan was having issues.
"No, no."
"I just wanted to study the structure of the eye."
Nagato felt too embarrassed to admit he was doing it for Nonou, his face still somewhat red.
"In that case, I feel better."
"Go on then."
Orochimaru spoke exactly like a caring elder, exuding unusual warmth.
"Alright."
Nagato nodded and entered the dissection room.
Soon after, Misaki returned holding a transparent glass jar filled with liquid.
Inside floated a pair of eyeballs—slightly unsettling to look at.
"This is for that girl named Nonou Yakushi, isn't it?"
Smiling faintly, Misaki had heard the news from Nawaki.
"Onee-san Misaki, don't believe what they're saying."
"We're just normal friends."
Nagato quickly explained, acting exactly like someone hiding something guilty.
"Haha, look at you."
"Fine fine, I won't mention it anymore."
Misaki herself shared a similar personality with Nagato, easily empathizing with him.
"Then let's begin."
Nagato skillfully put on gloves, accepted the glass jar from Misaki, and opened it.
Misaki also picked up the necessary knives and tools.
Eyes were delicate human tissues; observation alone wouldn't suffice.
Everything prepared, both dove into their work.
They stopped chatting idly and seriously began the dissection.
As time passed, the two eyeballs were meticulously dissected by Nagato.
He meticulously documented every tissue, finishing the dissection task.
"I'm still not sure which specific tissue the teacher meant."
Nagato removed his gloves and threw them into the trash bin, walking toward the sink.
"At least our brother-in-law gave us a direction."
"All we have to do next is figure out the function of these tissues."
Misaki tidied up afterward, thinking this research wasn't complicated at all.
Studying Hashirama's cells and Tailed Beast cells left her clueless until now.
Mostly, she couldn't offer any help.
"You're right—I was being too impatient."
Nagato adjusted his emotions—it definitely wasn't something achievable in a single day.
"Want to stay a bit longer?"
Tenten's lab was always quiet, with only Misaki and Orochimaru around—it made her feel kind of bored.
"Sure."
After a short pause, Nagato agreed—he didn't have anything else to do at home anyway.
Besides, staying here let him learn more.
"Let's head out then. Orochimaru-sensei's experiments have been going well lately."
"I'll give you the tour."
Misaki eagerly led Nagato out of the room.
"Done already?"
As they walked out the door, they ran into Orochimaru.
"Yeah, most of it is done."
"We can run more tests later."
Nagato gave an honest update on the experiment. There weren't any major issues needing Orochimaru's input right now.
Still, having Orochimaru around gave Nagato more confidence.
"Hmm, take your time. No need to rush."
"If you run into any problems, come ask me."
Without lingering, Orochimaru slipped into another room after speaking.
After watching Orochimaru vanish inside, the two continued down the hall.
Naruto: Starting from Pursuing Tsunade – Please bookmark us: (m.