"Have you ever actually won?"
Orochimaru's quiet voice cut through the evening air like a blade. His amber-brown eyes held a trace of mischief, yet he wouldn't quite meet Tsunade's gaze.
"Of course I've won," Tsunade shot back, counting on her fingers. Her voice softened with every number until she finally muttered, "…a few times."
The way she averted her eyes made the answer clear.
"Tsunade, every ryo we earn on missions matters," Orochimaru said, his tone calm but firm. "I'd rather see you spend it on something important than throw it into a casino."
Tsunade planted her fists on her hips. "Orochimaru, you sound like an old man! Quit nagging."
"I apologize."
Orochimaru inclined his head slightly. He knew he had no right to lecture her. After all, Jiraiya's infamous habit of peeking at bathhouses wasn't any less questionable, and nothing anyone said ever changed him. Even their dignified teacher Hiruzen was rumored to have his own less-than-noble hobbies. Who was he to judge?
Tsunade blinked, expecting an argument. Instead, Orochimaru's expression remained unreadable.
"I'm going to train," he said simply, turning to leave.
"Wait—Orochimaru!"
Something like panic flickered in her eyes. She hurried after him, blurting, "Fine, I was wrong, okay?"
"I'm not angry," he replied, glancing at her flushed, sheepish face. A faint smile softened his normally cold features.
Relieved, Tsunade changed the subject. "By the way, what kind of training are you doing?"
"Ninjutsu." Orochimaru withdrew a slim scroll from his pouch. "Hiruzen-sensei gave me techniques for all five basic elements: Fire, Wind, Earth, Water, and Lightning. They're the fundamentals, but mastering them will still take time."
"You're planning to learn all of them?" she asked, astonished.
"They might be useful on missions," he said. And far cheaper than endless ninja tools, he added silently.
"Future missions, huh…" Tsunade thought of how hard Jiraiya had been training lately.
"If your chakra nature includes Lightning," Orochimaru continued, "I suggest you start there. Lightning Release can stimulate every cell in the body and boost speed. Combined with your natural strength, you'd have a devastating attack style."
Tsunade considered it, though her grandmother's sealing techniques already filled her schedule. The Yin Seal was interesting, and Medical Ninjutsu appealed to her—she liked the idea of healing people after hitting them too hard.
(It was rumored that the Yin Seal originated with Uzumaki Mito and was part of the Uzumaki clan's powerful sealing arts. Mito had passed it down to Tsunade, though Tsunade never inherited other famous Uzumaki abilities like the Adamantine Sealing Chains or Kagura's Mind Eye. Perhaps her interest in Medical Ninjutsu came from those moments in childhood when she accidentally hurt someone and wanted to make it right.)
"You want to spar with me?" Orochimaru asked as they walked.
Before Tsunade could answer, her stomach growled loudly.
The evening breeze carried the sound like a drumbeat.
"I'll buy you dinner," Orochimaru offered with a quiet chuckle, pointing toward a nearby tavern.
Tsunade's eyes lit up. "You still have money left?"
Seventy-five thousand ryo had already disappeared into her unlucky hands earlier. Orochimaru instinctively clutched his wallet, suddenly wary. "Why?"
---
A Costly Meal
Later, Orochimaru stared at the shrinking contents of his coin purse while Tsunade leaned back with a satisfied burp.
If he'd known how much she could eat, he might have thought twice about offering. She was the First Hokage's granddaughter—surely someone else could feed her. Meanwhile the proud Senju clan might have faded into Konoha society, but Tsunade's appetite clearly hadn't faded with it.
"Why the gloomy face?" she teased, a sly grin tugging at her lips.
"You know why," Orochimaru said flatly. His hard-earned manuscript fees were gone, and now his mission savings had taken a direct hit.
"If you didn't want to treat me, you could have said so," Tsunade replied, pretending to pout. "No point sulking after the fact."
"I'm not sulking. I'm heading to the training grounds. Coming?"
"Of course." Her curiosity lit up. Hiruzen had praised Orochimaru and Jiraiya repeatedly; she wanted to see what made the quiet prodigy stand out.
---
The Training Ground
They found Jiraiya seated cross-legged, gathering chakra. He looked up with a grin.
"Well, well! You two came to watch me train? How touching."
He sprang to his feet and sauntered toward them.
Orochimaru regarded him with a silent stare. Too much confidence… no, arrogance.
"You don't get it!" Tsunade snapped, stepping forward. Her fist shot out and sent Jiraiya flying before he could finish his smug laugh.
A serene lake rippled nearby, fish scattering at the splash. Orochimaru settled on the grass, unrolling his scroll while a Shadow Clone strode across the lake, a massive stone strapped to its back.
"You're training with Shadow Clones?!" Tsunade exclaimed. Her eyes darted between the real Orochimaru and the clone laboring across the water.
"When a Shadow Clone disperses," Orochimaru explained, "its accumulated experience and fatigue return to the original body. It's efficient."
He had already memorized every jutsu on the scroll:
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique
Wind Release: Fierce Wind Palm
Lightning Release: Earth Run
Earth Release: Earth Shore Return
Water Release: Wild Water Wave.
The Lightning technique, though powerful and capable of stunning foes, required water or conductive materials to reach full effect—hardly practical in every fight.
"But using clones for training burns through chakra, doesn't it?" Tsunade asked.
"It does," he admitted. "Right now I can maintain three at most."
As if to prove the point, two more Orochimaru clones appeared with a soft pop.
"If you have the chakra," he said, "you can train the same way. Shadow Clones let you achieve twice the result with half the effort."
He rose and performed the next sequence of hand seals. "Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
His cheeks puffed slightly before a sudden jet of water burst from his mouth like a high-pressure hose.
"Haha! Is that all—" Tsunade's laughter cut off as the spray splashed her full in the face.
"The lake's small, but it's enough to drench you," Orochimaru said with a rare hint of smugness. For a first attempt, the Water Release wasn't bad.
"You little—!"
Tsunade lunged, only to find herself blocked by a slab of rock as a clone slammed its palm to the ground.
"Earth Release: Earth Shore Return!"
Her kick shattered the stone.
"Wind Release: Fierce Wind Palm!"
A sudden gust knocked her off balance, shards of stone pelting her from the air.
"Damn it!" she barked, swinging again, but the clone dodged easily.
"No one will stand still and let you hit them," Orochimaru called from a nearby tree branch. He formed the Tiger seal.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A small flame flickered from his lips—then fizzled.
Tsunade grinned. "Nice try!" She leapt forward and drove a punch straight into his stomach.
With a puff of white smoke, the target dissolved. "A Shadow Clone?"
The real Orochimaru stepped out from the trees. "That's enough, Tsunade. I still need to continue my training."
The memory of her punch, transferred through the vanished clone, still throbbed in his body.
---
A Sudden Summon
Jiraiya had been watching their sparring with growing tension. Orochimaru really is a genius, he thought, channeling chakra rapidly as he formed a long series of seals.
Hidden in the shadows, Hiruzen Sarutobi watched as well, surprise glinting in his eyes. He hadn't expected his pupil to master the scroll's ninjutsu so quickly.
But his attention snapped to Jiraiya. "Wait! Jiraiya, don't use an un-contracted Space-Time jutsu! You can't predict the consequences!"
"Too late!" Jiraiya grinned, slamming his palm to the ground.
Boom!
A thick cloud of white smoke erupted. When it cleared, Jiraiya was gone.
---
The night grew still again, broken only by the soft lapping of water against the lake's edge. Orochimaru exhaled slowly, already reviewing every movement and chakra flow from the session, while Tsunade wiped damp hair from her face and glared—half annoyed, half impressed.