Chapter Forty-Nine: Orochimaru
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Young Tsunade did not understand the future.
At this moment, all she felt was immense happiness.
Because she truly loved medical arts.
There really were things in the world worth loving as much as gambling.
Although the arrival of Seigo Morihara meant she spent less time gambling with her great-grandfather, his presence made her childhood even more joyful.
After returning to Konoha, Seigo Morihara came daily to check on Senju Hashirama’s health. Tsunade got to see him every day; she loved trailing quietly behind him as he deliberately slowed his pace, following him to the Konoha Hospital, wandering the streets together, and buying chestnut juice.
Moreover…
Seigo Morihara was just like the heroes in the stories!
He was even more captivating than the protagonists her great-grandfather told tales about!
Compared to the often unreliable Senju Hashirama in front of his little granddaughter, Seigo Morihara’s image was irresistibly endearing to a child.
When treating patients, Seigo Morihara was utterly serious. Though he didn’t seem approachable at first glance, his words always reflected genuine concern for those he treated.
If a patient couldn’t understand his explanations, he would patiently find ways to make the condition clear to them.
Even though he treated the ninja with cold detachment, as if displeased with the times, he inadvertently revealed a warm heart—especially gentle toward children in ways few could imagine.
On the way to Konoha Hospital,
Tsunade hurried along with her short legs, matching Seigo Morihara’s deliberately slow pace, grumbling about the journey being too long for a child.
“Today feels so far…”
“...”
Seigo Morihara’s eyes lowered briefly to glance at her.
“I’m not tired. I can still walk…”
Tsunade sensed a chill in his expression and feared that the medical ninja she admired might dislike her for lacking resolve. She hurriedly waved her small hands, signaling she could keep going.
“...”
Seigo Morihara fell silent, then reached out and lifted the little girl up. To Tsunade’s surprise, he placed her on his shoulders.
“Eh?”
Tsunade was delighted to find she could see much farther perched atop Seigo Morihara’s shoulders. “Lord Seigo, it’s so high up here… Is this where the slug from the story used to ride?”
“Yes.”
Seigo Morihara, ever solemn, simply nodded calmly. “When the slug couldn’t keep up, it would sit on the shoulder.”
“...”
Tsunade touched her chubby little face and couldn’t help but dream about the future. “I want to raise a slug someday…”
“Hmm.”
Seigo Morihara responded with a quiet hum.
Tsunade curiously noticed that his walking pace quickened, the breeze gently stirring her hair, causing her to blink.
“Will I learn a lot today too?”
“Hm.”
“Then can I drink some sweet grape juice today?”
“No.”
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“That’s for the patients.”
Seigo Morihara rejected the little one’s request but offered another suggestion: “After today’s lessons, you may have some chestnut juice.”
“Hmm…”
Tsunade pouted.
By the time Seigo Morihara brought Tsunade to Konoha Hospital, their presence no longer aroused patients’ curiosity. Both medical ninjas and patients assumed Seigo Morihara was instructing a student.
It was just like that.
Just like teacher and pupil.
This little five-year-old Tsunade had already mastered some medical ninjutsu, occasionally helping treat minor scrapes and bruises.
Of course,
There was still so much more for her to learn.
The little girl always stayed close to Seigo Morihara, watching him speak fluently to patients, explaining troubling diseases in ways everyone could understand.
“Your body’s own resistance is more effective than any medicine.”
“This illness causes your body to produce corresponding antibodies, so in the future, you won’t suffer from it again.”
“Some diseases are like sudden fires in a home. To extinguish the fire, we use water.”
“From then on, to prevent future fires, we keep a water jar ready at home. Antibodies are like this water jar, prepared to put out fires. You need not worry about this disease troubling you anymore.”
“So cool…”
Tsunade’s eyes sparkled with stars.
Though she didn’t fully grasp what antibodies or diseases were, she understood they were opposed like fire and water.
Only after the sun set and her stomach growled did Tsunade tug on Seigo Morihara’s sleeve.
“Lord Seigo, when can we eat? I want to drink that thick, sweet chestnut juice!”
“...”
Seigo Morihara reached out and gently ruffled her hair.
This man seemed taciturn in his leisure, but he never broke a promise. Whatever he promised Tsunade was always fulfilled.
However…
There was a small incident as they left the hospital.
A handsome, delicate boy with long hair was rushed in for emergency treatment, poisoned by food. The situation appeared somewhat serious.
But…
Such cases were minor matters for Konoha Hospital.
If they couldn’t handle even this, there’d be no point in keeping it open.
A medical ninja swiftly induced vomiting in the boy, saving him from the brink of agony.
Seigo Morihara and Tsunade calmly passed by the anxious parents, overhearing the boy’s voice.
“Just ordinary kidney beans and green peppers…”
“Can they really make the body this weak?”
“Honestly…”
The boy’s mother seemed exasperated. “Orochimaru, you can’t keep secretly experimenting in the kitchen like this…”
“All right.”
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The boy’s father sighed too, not reprimanding his son but offering a suggestion.
“Let’s add a new poisonous recipe in the kitchen. Kidney beans and green peppers shouldn’t be mixed…”
“...”
Seigo Morihara stopped, crouched down, and whispered something to Tsunade.
While the medical ninjas engaged in emergency care noted that mixing kidney beans and green peppers was poisonous, Tsunade suddenly dashed into the corridor.
“It’s not because kidney beans and green peppers were mixed.”
“It must be because the kidney beans weren’t cooked thoroughly. Undercooked legumes accumulate strange substances that cause food poisoning.”
“Eh?”
The group stared in surprise at the chubby little girl.
Especially the weak boy lying on the chair. Watching the plump blonde girl dash away, a flicker of astonishment flashed through his narrow eyes.
Someone knew more than he did…
And this person was about his age.
Curious about the unknown from an early age, Orochimaru once accidentally landed in the hospital with his family due to his mother’s dark culinary experiments.
From that day, he discovered there was something in the world that could make both him and fully grown adults equally weak. It sparked his curiosity.
This thing was amazing!
It could make a child overcome an adult!
Orochimaru wondered how many of these things existed in the world.
Children encountered few things, and since his first food poisoning came from dark kitchen experiments, some vegetables in the kitchen became his initial test subjects. So Orochimaru began to try cooking himself.
If the experiment failed, proving the food was safe, he could serve the meal to his parents and earn their praise.
If it succeeded…
He would have to go to the hospital.
Yet today, Orochimaru saw another possibility in Tsunade.
The results of experiments producing poisonous food might not be entirely accurate. There was another kind of knowledge that could more directly and quickly identify what was toxic.
Unfortunately…
The boy didn’t get a chance to say a word.
He watched helplessly as the chubby blonde girl walked out of the crowd, holding the hand of a young man, leaving the hospital.
“Tsunade even remembered knowledge like this…”
A medical ninja hastily corrected the medical record scroll in his hands, praising Tsunade’s intelligence.
“She’s truly a child personally taught by Lord Seigo!”
“Tsunade? Lord Seigo?”
Orochimaru’s eyes lowered slightly.
These two unfamiliar names appeared for the first time in his world. His gaze followed the retreating figures of Tsunade and the young man.
That young man…
Basked in the sunset’s glow, his shadow dark and vast…
And left the first deep and dark ink stroke in the boy’s heart.