Konoha Year 24, winter, light snow.
Haseo wore only sandals and a thin white yukata. He opened the door with one hand while letting out a yawn, then slowly walked downstairs.
He carried a wooden basin filled with several bottles and jars, atop which lazily lounged a black cat. A long towel draped over his shoulder, partially hiding a slug tucked underneath.
The weather outside was quite chilly, but fortunately his destination wasn't far—just across the street… Hmm, don't get any wrong ideas; he just wanted to take a bath.
In fact, Haseo had arranged for two friends to join him… Well, more accurately, one of his friends had invited him along.
"Haseo, really? You bring your whole menagerie even for a simple bath?" Jiraiya complained, already standing in front of the regular public bathhouse near a pleasure district. Obviously, he had noticed the black cat in Haseo's basin.
"You wouldn't understand. Together, you two still aren't worth more than my pet."
The black cat weakly wagged its tail. Constantly living as emergency rations, it perfectly understood its own worth—of course the owner would value it dearly.
Right now, Haseo felt increasingly annoyed by these two companions. After all, they weren't nearly as cute as they'd been when they were kids… From Konoha Year 20 to 24, Haseo had barely managed to grow back to his previous size, though he remained slightly smaller than he'd been during the Frostfield Battle.
But considering the physical trauma he'd endured, a slowed growth rate was only natural.
Meanwhile, both Jiraiya and Orochimaru had developed without any setbacks. Now at fifteen years old, both stood taller than Haseo—what a bitter lesson that was.
"Let's stop chatting out here. It's getting cold. We should go inside," Orochimaru said coolly.
He spoke softly, his breath rising in soft clouds, blending with the quiet snowfall.
Orochimaru's flowing black hair stood out beautifully against the snow-white backdrop, making him look truly elegant. If it weren't for those intense eye markings, he'd look like the perfect slender intellectual beauty from behind… well, minus a bit in the chest area.
Oh, Haseo suddenly caught on. So *that's* why Jiraiya invited someone like Orochimaru, even though they don't always get along… Hmm, this could get dangerous.
Still, Haseo didn't think Orochimaru particularly feared the cold. The guy increasingly resembled a cold-blooded creature anyway. Most likely, he simply wanted to avoid being seen hanging around this area, where people might misunderstand the situation.
Haseo could relate—he also preferred avoiding mistaken identities.
"Well then, let's go. No matter how long you two stand there freezing, we're not heading somewhere only adults can go anyway."
Saying that, Haseo lifted the curtain blocking their way and stepped into the establishment first… Naturally choosing the standard public bathhouse.
Technically speaking, bringing summoned beasts into such places wasn't allowed. But rules like this rarely stopped ninja determined to break them. After all, ninjas had countless ways of concealing summoned beasts.
Pay up, head inside, then soak in the pool...
With weather like this, Haseo wasn't out of his mind—so he chose the indoor hot spring.
His wooden tub floated on the spring water—but now it had been swapped out for Katsuyu. Meanwhile, the black cat was already swimming around like an idiot in perfect freestyle, as if it owned the place.
Orochimaru edged away from the cat like it was covered in who-knows-how-many germs... At moments like this, he really should have raised his pinky elegantly like a refined gentleman.
Haseo observed this reaction and thought to himself, "He's clearly not as endearing as he used to be a few years back." He said aloud, "Why are you being so mean toward my Nigatsu Ruri?"
"...Haseo, wasn't your cat named Chiho?"
"Is that right... I must've remembered wrong."
The black cat: "..."
Right, there was no way it could talk anyway—it just had to keep it in.
Overall, peaceful moments like this were pretty rare among ninja. Then again, Haseo noticed Orochimaru did have a certain little snake, while Jiraiya truly was a heroic figure.
But it didn't matter—some of Orochimaru's organs were just as useless as an appendix... or maybe that's precisely why Orochimaru developed Living Corpse Reincarnation?
"Haseo, been up to anything lately?"
Jiraiya didn't seem to mind Haseo's cat at all, which made sense—he had extremely low standards when it came to what he considered acceptable. To him, even toads, those slimy amphibians, were absolutely adorable. Compared to that, even a slightly subpar cat couldn't be much worse.
"Nothing particularly important," Haseo replied. "Earlier, I finally completed developing a new ninjutsu called 'Flying Thunder God—Feather Shift'. How should I put it? Even though it was something I was naturally bad at, I eventually finished it through hard work—I feel pretty accomplished about it."
But he had zero sense of accomplishment. If the Second Hokage ever found out his Flying Thunder God technique had been dumbed down into such a low-end version, he'd have dragged Haseo into the flames with him just to teach him a lesson.
Actually, Haseo wasn't nearly as idle as he claimed. Recently, some changes had occurred in the Ninja World, and currently Kagenami was making unusually serious preparations. Of course, this wasn't something necessary to share with Jiraiya.
"And once I'm free again," Haseo added, "I'm thinking of giving that special jutsu of yours a try too."
"That jutsu? You want to learn it too? Come on, give me a break."
Jiraiya instantly figured out what Haseo meant, immediately following up with a complaint.
As Haseo and Jiraiya exchanged cryptic remarks, Orochimaru stood nearby completely lost. What they referred to was [Sage Art]—something Orochimaru hadn't yet encountered. He'd assumed Ryuchi Cave was simply a large den full of snakes.
...
Hot Spring Town was packed full of hot springs. Sometimes shops were separated only by a sliding paper door; other times, just by a thick curtain. Before long, Jiraiya's attention had completely shifted from their conversation.
"Jiraiya," Haseo interjected, "show some taste, will ya? Stop always staring at chests when looking at people. Real beauty? Legs. No nice legs, nothing else matters. Get it?"
Finally, Haseo, as the elder gentleman, couldn't help but start correcting the younger gentleman's sense of aesthetics.
Why would someone who had never played any of Leila's previous games spend four hundred bucks on the new one? Wasn't it all about that girl's legs?
However, Jiraiya, at his current age, clearly hadn't reached the appreciation stage Haseo described, so he merely curled his lips in silence.
But then…after a while, he suddenly turned to Haseo and asked, "Haseo, do you like Tsunade?"
Haseo blinked, slightly taken aback. He hadn't expected Jiraiya to ask such an unexpected question.
In his mind, the image of Tsunade slowly surfaced…Tsunade huh? Her legs were nothing special, though over the years she'd definitely improved from AA to CC in bra size—that was genuinely admirable.
Wait a minute, wasn't this supposed to be about leg appreciation?
"Liking or not liking someone—it's kind of an abstract concept, really."
Haseo began speaking, and now not only Jiraiya and Orochimaru were listening intently, even the black cat stretched its ears forward, and Katsuyu straightened its antennae.
"But how should I put it…those with exceptional looks or abilities naturally draw attention. It's only human nature, after all. Everyone is instinctively drawn to superior individuals and superior things—just like how ninjas pursue powerful jutsu and strength…it's all instinct."
Haseo seemed to say nothing at all, yet somehow, he'd said everything.
Orochimaru fell into thought before speaking next: "If that's the case, then I definitely like Tsunade."
Because…there simply wasn't another female ninja—kunoichi—more exceptional than Tsunade in their generation.
Haseo and Jiraiya both glanced at this guy, thinking—you sure are passionate and straightforward, but just shut up already.
Later, Orochimaru did indeed tell Tsunade, "You're the only one I don't want to kill," and that much was true. However, when he acted against her, he showed absolutely no mercy.
Yet the meaning behind his word "like" was completely different from what Jiraiya meant or what Haseo meant.
What kind of man was Orochimaru anyway? He was just a snake from the start—no need to take anything he says seriously.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>