Hearing Ryun's straightforward words, Jiraiya was visibly taken aback.
"You came here on your own? Kid... do you know how dangerous the battlefield is? You could lose your life in an instant. You're just a fresh graduate, a genin..."
"Shut up, you big idiot. He's my student, so don't interfere."
Before Jiraiya could finish, Orochimaru impatiently cut him off.
"Orochimaru, you..."
Jiraiya glared at him but didn't press the issue further.
"Tsunade has made a preliminary breakthrough on the antidote. Let's go take a look." Jiraiya announced.
"!!!"
Orochimaru's face lit up with excitement, and he immediately gestured for Ryun to follow.
Soon, the three of them arrived at a small, cluttered experimental tent.
"Huh? You brat, why are you here?"
The moment Tsunade saw Ryun, she reacted just like Jiraiya, even walking up to him to scrutinize him from head to toe.
"You graduated early?"
"Yes, Tsunade-nee..." Ryun nodded, then explained how the Hokage had forced him to graduate early to serve as extra manpower.
"It seems the village is already running short on personnel..." Jiraiya sighed.
The so-called manpower shortage was really just a lack of low-level shinobi. Konoha accepted all kinds of missions—no matter how difficult or tedious, as long as the pay was good, someone would take it. War was fought with money, and the biggest casualties were always the low-ranking shinobi. Originally, genin handled most of the menial tasks, but with so many dying or being sent to the battlefield, the village was left understaffed.
At this point, Konoha was still managing, but the Second Shinobi World War had never before required sending children to the battlefield.
"Tsk tsk tsk, you brat... this whole outfit was specially approved by that old man (the Third Hokage), wasn't it?"
Tsunade circled Ryun, unable to resist asking.
Ryun was now wearing the same type of soft armor as the Sannin. Even jōnin weren't guaranteed to have this—it was usually reserved for ANBU squad leaders. The fact that Ryun had one showed just how much the Third Hokage valued him.
When Tsunade reached for his chakra longsword, Ryun quickly clarified,
"The sword is my own..."
"What are you so nervous about? Your big sis just wants to take a look, not steal it."
"Damn, this is a famous blade from the Land of Iron, isn't it?" Tsunade noticed a special symbol on the hilt and was visibly surprised.
"Heh... Tsunade, you have a good eye. This is entirely forged from chakra-conductive precious metal." Orochimaru chuckled hoarsely.
In the original story, Sarutobi Asuma's twin "Flying Swallow" daggers were made of the same material.
Just the raw materials used for Ryun's longsword could probably make four or five "Flying Swallows."
"That precious metal?! Orochimaru, did you give this to him?"
Tsunade stared at Orochimaru, thinking: This bastard actually gave something so valuable to this kid? Nawaki never got this kind of treatment...
"Heh... this sword is the child's personal property. He went on two high-rank missions with me and spent all the money on this blade!" Orochimaru stated plainly.
One A-rank mission, one S-rank mission, plus the additional substantial earnings from those missions—this sword was the result of Ryun's willingness to spend big.
"I see. Pretty cool, kid!"
After sliding the chakra blade back into its black sheath, Tsunade wrapped an arm around Ryun's neck in approval.
Ryun did look very cool right now. He carried a unique aura, completely different from his peers—lacking the immaturity and naivety of a typical boy, he carried himself like a young adult.
His appearance was also strikingly handsome, enough to impress even Tsunade, who playfully leaned against him.
"Uh..."
Ryun gave an awkward smile but didn't push her away. Tsunade's closeness was purely sisterly affection for a younger brother.
"I heard you've made a preliminary breakthrough on the antidote?" Orochimaru asked.
"Yes. It still can't fully neutralize Hanzō's poison, but with this antidote, his toxins won't be fatal anymore."
"Of course, that's only if the antidote is administered in time..."
As she spoke, Tsunade pulled out a tube of green liquid.
This was the result of her countless hours of research.
In truth, she had been the busiest over the past six months—fighting on the frontlines, treating injuries, developing antidotes for various poisons.
Her contributions were immense. The title "Medical Saint" had been earned long before "Konoha's Sannin."
Orochimaru took the antidote and examined it carefully.
"Good. Now we leave it to Konoha to mass-produce it..."
"I've already sent the encrypted formula back to Konoha. The old man should have received it by now. But some of the ingredients are rare, so mass production will be difficult in the short term." Tsunade sighed.
"No problem. Once mass production begins, victory will be ours!" Jiraiya laughed.
"Idiot, it's still too early to talk about victory. Overcoming the poison doesn't mean overcoming the Land of Rain. The war is far from over." Orochimaru scolded, his tone deadly serious.
'Indeed, there's still a long way to go... at least another six months.' Ryun thought to himself.
And that was just for Konoha's campaign in the Land of Rain. Soon after, they would have to fight the Land of Wind. The Second Shinobi World War wouldn't end so quickly.
"Ryun-kun, want to join me on a mission tonight?"
Orochimaru suddenly extended an invitation. He wanted to see how much Ryun had grown in the past six months.
"You're going solo again, Orochimaru? And this time, you're taking him along?" Jiraiya frowned.
Orochimaru occasionally went on missions without Jiraiya and Tsunade. Given his survival skills, even if he ran into Hanzō, he could escape unscathed.
"Sure."
Ryun nodded calmly, showing no trace of fear or hesitation.
"Truly, 'newborn calves aren't afraid of tigers'..." Jiraiya muttered.
"Orochimaru, are you really taking him on a mission?"
Orochimaru's missions were almost always high-risk. Both Jiraiya and Tsunade thought this was reckless.
"Heh, don't underestimate this child..." Orochimaru licked his lips, clearly holding Ryun in high regard.
Listening to the Sannin's conversation, Ryun rarely interjected. He simply had no interest in proving himself and saw no point in arguing.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📖 Like the story? Read 120 chapters ahead!
🔗 patreon.com/atomelectron
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━