Orochimaru lay on Tsunade's lap with a complex expression. Suddenly, a soft "hiss—" sound reached his ears. He looked down and saw that Yamata had somehow slithered out of his clothes and was flicking its tongue at him.
The pure white snake, tinged with pale gold, licked Orochimaru's cheek. Its scarlet snake eyes showed concern and affection.
"Ah, what is this? Wow, this little snake is so beautiful!" Tsunade, who was tending to Orochimaru, said, looking surprised and delighted.
Yamata glanced at Tsunade, and a clear trace of hostility showed in its scarlet pupils.
As a descendant of the Yamata Clan, Orochimaru could sense the little snake's animosity. He gently stroked its head in comfort and whispered, "It's alright, it's nothing. This is my companion!"
Yamata nodded its snake head and focused its gaze back on Orochimaru.
Suddenly, Yamata's tongue flickered rapidly a few times, as if it sensed something. Immediately afterward, its half-meter-long snake body shot out like a white flash of light, instantly reaching the corpses of the three bandit leaders.
Jiraiya, who was searching for loot, was startled to see the strange snake appear before him. He jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on and shouted toward Orochimaru, "Damn it, Orochimaru, there's a snake here! And it's a weird white snake!"
Jiraiya kept backing away, swinging his arms forward in a shooing motion, his voice trembling with fear as he repeatedly said, "I'm terrified of snakes! Damn it, stay away from me!"
Seeing Jiraiya's unusual reaction, Orochimaru suddenly remembered his history and gave a helpless, bitter smile.
Yamata looked at Jiraiya cautiously. Seeing that the latter actively retreated, it seemed quite satisfied. It casually glided over the corpses of the three bandit leaders, occasionally stopping and taking a deep breath. A faint blue chakra was then extracted by Yamata from the corpse and absorbed into its body.
Jiraiya screamed again, "Oh! That snake... that snake is absorbing the chakra from the corpses! Damn it, how can this snake be so perverse!"
After Yamata had absorbed all the chakra within the three corpses, it slithered back to Orochimaru's side.
Seeing this sight, Jiraiya was practically petrified. His face was ashen, and he roared, "Orochimaru, this snake is yours? This weird white snake is yours?"
Yamata sensitively picked up on the word "weird," which seemed to be a not-so-flattering adjective, and again aimed a hostile look at Jiraiya. Jiraiya instantly closed his mouth and continued his task with a gloomy expression.
While collecting the spoils from the corpses, he muttered, "Hmph, is having a weird snake a big deal? Can a weird snake just scare people for no reason? Hmph, when I go back to the clan, I'll go to Mount Myōboku and get a big toad. Heh heh, then! Wait, does a snake eat a toad, or does a toad eat a snake? Hmm, it must be a toad eating a snake! The ancestor said so, so it must be right!"
Orochimaru ignored Jiraiya's frustration and, along with Tsunade, watched Yamata's actions without blinking.
The small, white-and-gold Yamata began to display its peculiarities again.
Yamata continuously slithered over Orochimaru's body, occasionally puffing out a pale-gold breath. It guided this strange pale-gold essence to seep into Orochimaru's body.
The full-body soreness and inability to move—the side effects Orochimaru suffered from using the Eight Inner Gates Technique—rapidly vanished after the pale-gold essence permeated him. The chakra inside his body was also quickly refined and condensed like the rising tide.
Yamata stopped its movements only when Orochimaru's chakra had recovered by about half. It seemed a little tired and lay lazily on Orochimaru's body.
Orochimaru sat up and re-gathered a third of his total chakra at his heart. The pale-gold Yamata Seal reappeared.
Yamata seemed to sense that its "home" was fixed. With its scarlet snake eyes half-closed, it slipped inside Orochimaru's clothes and coiled itself over the seal.
Orochimaru lightly touched his chest, stood up, and started collecting the spoils of war with Jiraiya.
Tsunade, who was behind him, followed with an expression of curiosity and longing, constantly asking Orochimaru question after question about Yamata's origin.
The tall figure standing on the distant tree was indeed Hiruzen Sarutobi. He wore a satisfied smile, his eyes still holding remnants of surprise. When the three Chūnin first appeared, he had considered stepping in to provide support, but Orochimaru once again provided him with continuous astonishment.
Seeing that the three children were essentially capable of defending themselves, Sarutobi quietly left. He had obtained the satisfying information he sought, and the objective of the mission had been achieved, so there was no need for him to reveal himself!
Sarutobi was unaware that in the moment he turned around, he nearly caused his three subordinates to lose their lives because of that decision!
Orochimaru organized the loot from the corpses, providing one-sentence answers to Tsunade's increasingly strange questions about Yamata.
Suddenly, he felt something unusual on the bare-handed bandit leader's body. There was a slight, almost imperceptible protrusion near the heart area of the deceased ninja's vest. If Orochimaru hadn't undergone special body tempering secret arts training and wasn't rapidly improving his control over his body parts, he would have had difficulty noticing it.
Orochimaru reached inside the collar of the ninja vest and fumbled around. He found a small inner pocket stuck close to the heart. He pulled out a black-and-white striped scroll, about the length and thickness of a baby's arm.
Orochimaru discreetly checked it with his spiritual senses. After confirming there were no ninjutsu traps or mechanisms, he slowly and carefully unrolled it.
It turned out to be a meticulously crafted map. The territory shown on the map was that of the Land of Fire, specifically the area surrounding the bandit camp. Numerous places on the map were marked with conspicuous red dots.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed instantly, and his habitual evil smirk froze. Although he didn't know what the red dots represented, his seasoned experience from his previous life made him immediately conclude that these dots were highly likely to be the secret stationed locations of Leaf Village (Konoha) ninja. This suggested that the three bandit leaders were probably spies who had secretly infiltrated the Land of Fire.
Sensing the complexity of the situation, Orochimaru immediately informed Jiraiya and Tsunade. The three exchanged glances, quickly sorted the loot, only taking a few items of the highest value, and gave the rest to the poor women who had suffered greatly in the bandit camp.
Once they finished, the three immediately took Chi and left the camp.
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