"Traveling all over the world, huh…"
Orochimaru stood with her arms crossed, leaning against a tree trunk, looking at Jiraiya, who was ready to leave Konoha, and asked, "Do you still remember what I once said?"
"What? You've said too many things; how could I possibly remember them all?"
Jiraiya knew what Orochimaru was referring to, scratched his head, and deliberately pretended to have forgotten.
"The Great Toad Sage's prophecy is about what you will do in the future, the possibilities of your future. Don't deliberately make yourself the person in the prophecy because of it. If you do, are the things you do truly what you want to do, or are you merely a puppet of the so-called prophecy?"
Orochimaru saw through Jiraiya's pretense of ignorance.
"Orochimaru, the Great Toad Sage's prophecy mentioned a White Snake."
Jiraiya felt it was very necessary to tell Orochimaru. He thought it was possible that the White Snake in the prophecy could be either Orochimaru or White Snake Pharmaceutical Technology Company.
"White Snake? Impossible!"
Orochimaru didn't believe she would appear in the Great Toad Sage's prophecy.
Rather, she didn't believe in the Great Toad Sage's prophecy at all. Its role was more like a guide, using prophecy to guide things to develop in the direction it wanted.
To put it bluntly, it was just an old charlatan; the so-called prophecy had no scientific basis at all.
Seeing Orochimaru's unequivocal denial, Jiraiya tried hard to make her believe him.
"It's true, I really didn't lie to you! The Great Toad Sage said that the White Snake and my disciple would bring change to the Ninja World! You have to believe me!"
"Believe what?!"
Tsunade had just arrived and heard Jiraiya trying hard to explain something. Her first thought was that this guy was going to use the excuse of leaving Konoha to travel the world to confess to Orochimaru, and her fists immediately hardened, hard enough to punch Jiraiya spiraling to unprecedented heights.
Jiraiya looked at Tsunade, who was walking over aggressively, and was so scared that he quickly hid behind Orochimaru, pointing at Tsunade and saying, "You, you, you, let's talk nicely, don't use your hands!"
"Talk nicely?"
Tsunade's clenched fists cracked, and the Chakra bursting from her body cracked the ground.
"Tell me, did you confess to Orochimaru again?! Don't dream, Orochimaru won't fall for you!"
"Huh?"
Orochimaru, who was watching the drama unfold, was stunned. Suddenly, she felt like she was the protagonist of this play.
No, whether you want to argue or fight, how can you involve me?
"What confession?! Lord Jiraiya gave up on you guys a long time ago! Lord Jiraiya wants to have a whole forest! He wants those big sisters with prominent chests and butts!"
Jiraiya, upon hearing Tsunade's words, felt insulted. He stepped out from behind Orochimaru and confronted Tsunade loudly.
"Don't joke around; who needs you to give up on them?!"
Tsunade threw a punch that had been accumulating power for a long time.
Wow, he flew so high.
Orochimaru watched Jiraiya spiral into the sky. Perhaps because Tsunade had been accumulating power for this punch for a long time, Jiraiya flew exceptionally high.
Bang—!
Jiraiya fell to the ground with his butt sticking up, his body twitching.
"Hmph! Learn your lesson!"
Tsunade maintained her punching posture.
"Pfft—!"
Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya's posture as he fell to the ground and burst out laughing.
Time flowed, and years passed; everything seemed to return to that year, that day when they were snatching bells in the Third Training Ground.
"Damn it! You…"
Jiraiya got up from the ground, intending to scold Tsunade for being a violent woman, but then he heard Orochimaru's laughter, turned to look, and awkwardly scratched his head, joining in the laughter.
"What? So it's because of this that you're traveling all over the world."
A moment later, Tsunade understood why Jiraiya wanted to leave Konoha and travel the world. It turned out it wasn't some bad idea to confess to Orochimaru, but because of the Great Toad Sage's prophecy.
"What did you think?"
Jiraiya pointed to his swollen chin. With that punch just now, he felt like he had seen an old man with a goatee.
"Ahem, be careful on your way!"
Tsunade cleared her throat awkwardly and waved at Jiraiya.
"That's it? Our friendship is only worth one sentence?"
Jiraiya looked at Tsunade in disbelief. No matter what, they would be separated for several years, yet she dismissed him with just one sentence.
"Well… then no one will fight me for Orochimaru's cooking anymore. Hurry up and go, go!"
Tsunade, thinking that Jiraiya wouldn't be able to compete with her for Orochimaru's cooking for a long time, beamed with a happy smile, wishing Jiraiya would leave quickly.
I suddenly don't want to go out and travel anymore.
Jiraiya saw Tsunade's smile and really wanted to say that sentence.
"Jiraiya, if you encounter trouble, you can ask White Snake Pharmaceutical Technology Company for help. I still have some say in the company, but one thing: the company will not participate in wars between nations."
Orochimaru was very worried that Jiraiya would drag the company into wars between small countries.
"Orochimaru, don't worry, Lord Jiraiya isn't that foolish a person!"
Jiraiya grinned, showing his white teeth, and pointed at himself with his thumb.
You don't look very smart either… Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya, who was radiating foolishness, and silently complained in her heart.
"Here, these are rebirth pills and soldier pills. Don't misuse the rebirth pills."
Orochimaru took out two small pouches and threw them to Jiraiya. One pouch contained rebirth pills, and the other contained soldier pills.
"Jiraiya, this is an emergency medical kit for you. We are all Teacher Hiruzen's disciples, so don't disgrace us!"
Tsunade took out her prepared farewell gift. Her recently improved medical kit had not yet been popularized in Konoha. Some injuries aren't fine just because they heal; for example, foreign objects in a wound won't disappear as the wound heals, so treating wounds is also very important.
The Ninja who was attacked by Iwagakure earlier, after escaping back to Konoha, had many Ninja tools removed from his body during surgery at the hospital. Afterward, a doctor weighed them, and they amounted to over a kilogram.
"You guys are so nagging! Just like Teacher Hiruzen, so nagging!"
Jiraiya disdainfully put away all the items, feeling touched by Tsunade and Orochimaru's concern for him, his eyes reddening. He turned around and said, "Goodbye."
"Damn it! Jiraiya, you actually called me nagging! Give me back my medical kit!"
Tsunade was so angry that she gnashed her teeth, wanting to chase after him and snatch back the medical kit.
"I won't give it back to you!"
Jiraiya saw Tsunade chasing after him with a fierce expression, and he ran incredibly fast, wishing he had more legs to run even faster.
"Hey! You haven't registered yet!"
By the Konoha gate, two guards watched Jiraiya and Tsunade rush out of the gate, one after the other, unable to stop them.
Orochimaru came before the two guards and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I've caused you trouble."
"Lord Orochimaru, it's alright!"
"Yes! You don't need to apologize to us!"
The two guards said, deeply moved.
Look, how amiable Lord Orochimaru is!
She's just not like those people from the great clans who always look down on others.
Orochimaru filled in Jiraiya and Tsunade's information on the form, completely unable to understand why the two guards were so moved. She had only done something very ordinary.
Perhaps they had been ignored too many times?
Orochimaru could only assume that was the case.
"Didn't catch him, did you?"
Orochimaru looked at Tsunade, who was walking back.
"Hmph hmph!"
Tsunade, with the posture of a victor, blew on a white hair in her hand. Needless to say, it must have been plucked from Jiraiya's head.
"6."
Orochimaru gave Tsunade a thumbs-up. Jiraiya had truly messed with a force of nature by bothering her.
"Is that Jiraiya guy alright?"
On the way back, Tsunade was a little worried about Jiraiya.
The way you proudly pulled his hair just now, I didn't see you worrying about him much.
Orochimaru complained in her heart.
"After all, those prophecies, whether true or false, we don't even know. Isn't it too risky to just go out on a journey like this?"
Tsunade looked at Orochimaru beside her and asked, "Orochimaru, what do you think?"
"I think the Great Toad Sage's prophecy can be used as a reference, but it can't be fully believed."
Orochimaru stated her thoughts. Anyway, she couldn't fully believe in prophecies. Just like in the original Naruto story she remembered, there were already many people she had never seen or heard of in the original work.
This world was a real world; the original work could only be used as a reference after all.
"Looking at Jiraiya, he completely believes it, that idiot!"
Tsunade clenched her fist, feeling that the punch she threw earlier wasn't satisfying enough.
"Only Jiraiya himself knows what he's thinking. Whether he believes it or not is not something we can control."
Orochimaru walked beside Tsunade. There were no Uzumaki survivors in the Land of Rain; she was very certain of this. After the Uzumaki survivors settled in the Land of Waves, they successively found many survivors who had fled to other countries.
Moreover, given the current situation in the Land of Rain, Konan and Yahiko's parents lived in White Snake Electric Town and White Snake Hub Town. It was unlikely they would be caught in a war, which meant they wouldn't become war orphans.
However, even without Nagato, there might be Shortgate, Backgate, or various other 'gates'.
Uchiha Madara only needed a vessel capable of bearing the Rinnegan. Perhaps there were Uzumaki people who had fled to some country.
Who could say for sure about such things?
Orochimaru didn't believe that she had brought about the changes in the Land of Rain. It was Hanzo's decision that brought about the changes, transforming the Land of Rain into the prosperous and rich Land of Rain it was now. Food production could not only achieve self-sufficiency, but the surplus food could even be sold to Rouran and the Land of Wind.
Were these the changes she brought to the Land of Rain?
No.
This was the change brought by Hanzo, the leader of the Land of Rain, making the right decision at the right time. She merely went with the flow.
If Hanzo hadn't gone to the Land of Waves initially, she wouldn't have established battery processing plants or transportation hubs in the Land of Rain.
The Land of Rain would still be that Land of Rain, a Land of Rain suffering from constant warfare.
"So, what is that, a man's persistence? A baffling persistence."
Tsunade said dismissively, looking at Orochimaru's hand, slowly reaching out to hold her hand. Just as her hand was about to grasp Orochimaru's hand, a familiar voice interrupted her action.
"Big Sister Orochimaru!"
Almost... almost had it!
Tsunade looked at Nawaki, who was hugging Orochimaru's leg, then down at her hand, which was about to grasp Orochimaru's hand.
Note:
Dear readers,
The Lunar New Year is approaching, and I wish you all a new year filled with success, good fortune, and prosperity!
Holiday Announcement:
I'm writing this to announce that I will be taking a short break from posting to celebrate the holiday from February 15th to February 22nd, 2026. I will officially return to work on February 23rd.
Don't worry though! During this break, I'll be busy prepping a bunch of new chapters so I can post them consistently once I'm back. I promise the upcoming parts will be even more exciting, so please stay tuned!
Thank you so much for your understanding and for always being such a supportive community.
Happy Lunar New Year!