Tsunade's question clearly caught Orochimaru off guard. Jiraiya, who was standing nearby, also couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise.
If this child possessed jonin-level strength while also having awakened the Sharingan, then with that kind of power, there would be no need for them to worry unnecessarily.
Orochimaru remained silent for a moment after hearing this, not giving a definite answer. Instead, he asked a question in return, "You also think his eyes are special?"
"Yes, very bright eyes. Brighter than any other child of the same age." Tsunade answered with utmost seriousness.
"Hehe... It seems you've noticed his uniqueness too. I think it's highly likely he has awakened it. But that child is excessively cautious, never easily revealing his true strength in front of others." Orochimaru said with a smile.
"That guy, is he really that strong?" Jiraiya couldn't help but interject.
He had originally only thought Ryun was a genius. But after hearing Orochimaru and Tsunade's conversation, he felt he might have severely underestimated him.
If Ryun was really as Orochimaru described, that level of strength would be enough to fight him. The key point was that he was only just 12 years old...
His prime age for explosive growth hadn't even arrived yet. How strong would he be at his peak? Jiraiya didn't even dare to imagine.
"He could probably beat you." Orochimaru glanced at him and casually remarked.
"Damn you Orochimaru, who the hell are you looking down on?" Jiraiya's face turned red as he shouted angrily. He felt insulted.
"Don't believe me then..."
"I don't believe your nonsense..."
"..."
Two days later.
Inside the cave, after continuous efforts by his shadow clones and main body, Ryun successfully mastered two high-level Lightning Release ninjutsu in a short time. His strength had noticeably improved. At this moment, he felt confident again...
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Ryun formed hand seals and created six shadow clones at once.
"Find Nagato. See if you can make contact with him. If possible, try to bring back Uchiha Madara's eyes for me."
Ryun spoke coldly, then had the shadow clones use Transformation Technique to alter their appearances and body shapes.
This was to prevent being recognized by Uchiha Madara or Zetsu in case of failure, or to avoid retaliation later...
Right now, he was in the shadows while Nagato was in the open. He believed his chances of success were decent. Even if he failed, it didn't matter much—he would just lose a shadow clone at worst.
Even if it alerted them, scaring Uchiha Madara, that old bastard, would still be satisfying...
Moreover, after the shadow clones dispersed, he would receive their memories and know Nagato's approximate location, which was also very important.
After all the shadow clones left, Ryun also departed from this quiet hideout.
He didn't plan to return to camp yet. Instead, he sealed away his forehead protector, weapons, soft armor, and tool pouch, then disguised himself as an ordinary child. He found a populated village, spent money to eat some proper food.
Over the past two days, he had only eaten some compressed biscuits and soldier pills. His mouth felt utterly bland.
After filling his stomach, he found a relatively clean small inn and rented a room as a temporary base.
Sitting cross-legged on the dry, soft bed, Ryun took out a small storage scroll, undid its seal, and retrieved an entire small box of study materials.
This was what Mito Uzumaki had prepared for him the day before he left. These study materials essentially contained the Uzumaki clan's heritage. This was her indirect way of acknowledging him as one of their own.
Ryun leisurely studied the sealing knowledge while quietly waiting for news from his shadow clones.
On the first day, two shadow clones encountered danger and exploded into smoke. The routes they took and the dangers they faced were all transmitted back to the main body.
Ryun immediately created two more shadow clones and adjusted their routes.
The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, originally developed the Shadow Clone Technique for intelligence gathering. Ryun was now utilizing this jutsu to its fullest potential.
On the second day, the initial four shadow clones dispersed one after another due to chakra exhaustion.
After receiving a large amount of memories, he gained a general understanding of some towns in the Land of Rain. He then dispatched four new shadow clones.
These four clones didn't continue the previous routes but instead took a different direction to search.
On the third day, Ryun finally grew tired of the monotony of studying and felt he should report his safety to his good teacher. So he left the inn and set off back to camp.
On the fourth day, all six shadow clones disappeared one after another. He still couldn't locate Nagato, which disappointed him. But he persisted and created another batch of shadow clones.
"He probably isn't in Amegakure... I remember Nagato's trio were wandering orphans. They might have already gathered by now, doing petty theft in various towns..."
"I refuse to believe that in such a small Land of Rain, I can't find a few people..."
Not long after, Ryun returned to the Konoha camp's base and reunited with the Sannin.
The hot-tempered Tsunade gave him a fierce scolding. If not for Orochimaru and Jiraiya holding her back, Ryun might have even gotten beaten...
Since she was genuinely concerned for him and was an easily angered, violent woman with a large chest, Ryun had no choice but to admit defeat. He didn't dare talk back when being scolded and even had to apologize proactively...
"It's really not my fault, Tsunade-nee. At that time, the poison gas was spreading, the battlefield was chaotic, and I was being chased by two powerful enemies. I accidentally got lost..."
Ryun explained with a 'wronged' expression.
"Lost for an entire week? You expect me to believe that nonsense?" Tsunade looked unconvinced.
"The ones chasing you were two jonin, right? Did you take care of them?" Orochimaru asked with a smile.
His good teacher didn't care how long he had been gone. As long as he was alive, everything else was a minor issue.
"Yeah..." Ryun vaguely recounted the events.
"Describe the battle process clearly." Orochimaru deliberately made this request.
"..."
Ryun fell silent for a moment. He actually didn't want to explain these things.
"Speak when told to. Dragging your feet—are you thinking of how to fool us?" Tsunade pinched his cheeks.
"Ouch ouch ouch, I'll talk, Tsunade-nee please let go..." Her grip strength was too much. Ryun begged for mercy repeatedly.
"Talk. If you dare hide anything, you're dead!"
Next, Ryun roughly described the battle process. Although some parts were simplified, the Sannin could still grasp the danger involved.
"So he used the antidote, then pretended to be poisoned—no, he endured the poison to make the enemy lower their guard before defeating them!" Tsunade couldn't help exclaiming.
She knew the antidote couldn't completely neutralize the poison. She also knew the body would develop some antibodies after being exposed to Hanzo's poison.
At this moment, she could only say Ryun was truly bold, willing to gamble with his life by enduring the poison. She also marveled at his incredible luck—not only encountering the period when her antidote had just been developed, but also coinciding with the time when his antibody levels were highest after the first exposure.