"Orochimaru, come have a drink with me!"
After burying Mito Uzumaki in the Senju clan's cemetery, Tsunade gazed silently at the sacred ground where countless clan members lay for a moment, then calmly said to Orochimaru beside her.
"Alright!"
Orochimaru naturally wouldn't refuse. He shrunk the Nine-Tails into the size of a plush toy and followed Tsunade.
The Nine-Tails had now become Orochimaru's summoned beast. Unlike other summoned beasts, it had no clan to return to and was alone.
Rather than being a solitary fox, it was better to tag along with Orochimaru and join the fun.
Tsunade's destination was clear. She led Orochimaru forward, passing by what would become the famous Ichiraku Ramen without a second glance, and directly entered the barbecue restaurant run by the Akimichi clan.
As Orochimaru passed by Ichiraku Ramen, he couldn't help but peek inside. Teuchi was still a handsome young man in his twenties, his small eyes, which looked like they had never fully opened, narrowed into slits as he served customers with a smile.
Upon arriving at the barbecue restaurant, the owner naturally recognized Tsunade and Orochimaru. Seeing the two walk in side-by-side, he joyfully welcomed them.
A disciple of the Third Hokage, a jonin, and rich!
"Lord Orochimaru, Lady Tsunade, welcome!"
"What would you two like to eat?"
Tsunade simply threw out, "Just give me some sake!" and fell silent.
Orochimaru shook his head, about to order two portions of barbecue, when the Nine-Tails, squatting nearby, nudged his leg with its paw.
He looked down and saw the Nine-Tails pointing at itself with a paw, its meaning self-evident.
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow and chuckled at the owner.
"Two bottles of sake, and three portions of barbecue!"
The barbecue restaurant owner glanced at the furry Nine-Tails and obsequiously flattered Orochimaru,
"Lord Orochimaru, is this your pet? It looks so smart, it even knows to ask its owner for food!"
"Please come in, sirs. We'll have everything ready shortly!"
The barbecue restaurant owner, unaware that his compliment had landed on deaf ears, happily led them to a private room.
"You damned fatty, calling me your pet!"
"If it were in the past, I would have eaten him in one bite!"
As soon as the private room door closed, the Nine-Tails leaped onto the table and bared its fangs and claws in the direction the owner had left.
Orochimaru chuckled, shaking his head,
"Eating indiscriminately isn't a good habit!"
"Didn't the legendary 'two lights' of the Hidden Cloud Village once get eaten by you?"
"And then what?"
The Nine-Tails' expression faltered. It jumped off the table sheepishly, sat down in imitation of Orochimaru, and then grumbled in a huff.
"What do you know! Eating people is just a slander by you humans!"
"At that time, I was just annoyed by those two guys, so I casually took a bite into the crowd. I had never eaten a human before!"
"Besides, eating is an irrelevant matter for Tailed Beasts!"
The Nine-Tails quickly explained, establishing its aloof persona.
"Moreover, I didn't know anything about the Hidden Cloud's golden or silver lights at the time. And how could I have imagined that those two strangely shaped humans would have ancestral treasures in their hands!"
"It gave me a stomachache for half a month. I still get angry thinking about it!"
Orochimaru looked at the Nine-Tails with a strange expression and suddenly asked,
"Then how did they get out? Did you..."
The Nine-Tails immediately felt offended by Orochimaru's gaze, tucked its furry tail between its legs, bared its teeth, and snarled,
"Vomit! I vomited them out!"
"You scoundrel, thinking such disgusting things!"
Tsunade, who had been stoic, couldn't help but twitch her lips as she listened to the conversation between the man and the fox. She wanted to laugh but couldn't force a smile.
Seeing Tsunade's still stern face, Orochimaru and the Nine-Tails exchanged a glance and fell silent together.
Before long, the owner of the barbecue restaurant personally brought the items Orochimaru had ordered, even thoughtfully preparing a set of utensils for Orochimaru's pet.
Of course, whether the Nine-Tails would use human utensils was another matter.
After arranging everything, the barbecue restaurant owner bowed to the two and discreetly closed the door and left.
The Nine-Tails, seeing barbecue for the first time in its life, was completely captivated. The sizzling, oily meat skewers released a fragrant aroma, immediately whetting the Nine-Tails' appetite.
"Gulp!"
The Nine-Tails swallowed the saliva that had almost dripped from its mouth and stared longingly at the barbecue in front of it. It wanted to reach out and grab it, but remembering how dismissive it had been of human food earlier, it felt conflicted.
Orochimaru found it amusing. He picked up a piece of almost-cooked meat with his chopsticks and placed it in front of the Nine-Tails.
"Although eating is irrelevant to Tailed Beasts, experiencing human food occasionally should be a good experience!"
"Try it!"
"If you like it, I'll have the owner bring more!"
The Nine-Tails' eyes lit up. It gave Orochimaru a knowing look and swallowed the meat skewer whole.
"Mmm..."
"It's just average! Similar to the taste of the insects I accidentally ate before. Not particularly delicious!"
The Nine-Tails squinted its eyes and gave a perfunctory review, but its paws uncontrollably reached out, grabbed a piece of barbecue, and without regard for whether it was cooked, began to devour it.
"Let me try some more. You two can talk about whatever you want, don't mind me!"
"If anyone comes, I'll remind you!"
The Nine-Tails promised casually while stuffing barbecue into its mouth, as if they were getting a great deal.
Orochimaru chuckled and shook his head, deciding to ignore it. He picked up the sake from the table and poured a cup for Tsunade and himself, then turned his gaze to Tsunade.
"Tsunade, is there anything you want to say?"
Tsunade gave him a cold look, picked up her wine glass, and drank it down in one go.
"You're so clever!"
"I'm in a bad mood and just asked you to come have a drink with me, what else do I have to say!"
Orochimaru gave a wry smile and refilled Tsunade's cup.
"You don't have to be like this with me!"
"I understand you!"
"If you were just in a bad mood, you'd be at a casino right now, not calling me to a place like this."
"Speak."
Tsunade snorted, but her eyes suddenly dimmed.
"Orochimaru, when my parents sacrificed themselves on the battlefield in the Land of Whirlpools, I didn't feel this sad!"
Tsunade raised her wine glass and drank it down.
Perhaps she drank too quickly, and Tsunade choked, coughing violently.
Seeing Tsunade's dishevelled state, Orochimaru sighed softly,
"Drink slowly. Look, you're even coughing out tears!"
Tsunade, with red-rimmed eyes, wiped the tears from her face and huffed.
"None of your business!"
Orochimaru refilled her cup again and raised his own to clink against hers.
"I'll have a drink with you!"
Tsunade felt a warmth spread through her heart. She lowered her head, looking at her reflection in the cup, and murmured,
"Grandma is gone..."
"Orochimaru, only Nawaki and I are left of the Senju clan..."
Orochimaru took a sip of sake and nodded gently.
"I know!"
"So?"
Tsunade felt a surge of grievance. She looked up and glared at him, draining her cup and slamming the empty glass onto the table.
"Bang!"
"So, I..."
The sudden noise startled the Nine-Tails, almost causing the barbecue skewer in its mouth to fall.
"Stupid girl, why are you banging the table for no reason?"
Tsunade's brewing emotions were suddenly interrupted. She puffed out her cheeks and angrily swallowed back the words that were about to escape her lips.
Orochimaru gave the Nine-Tails a helpless look.
"Why are you so talkative?"
"If you don't want to eat barbecue, you can leave first!"
The Nine-Tails immediately withdrew its gaze from Tsunade and continued to eat in silence.
After a long while, Tsunade finally managed to reassemble her interrupted thoughts. She pushed her cup towards Orochimaru, signaling for him to refill it, and began to speak.
"Grandma asked me to pass on a message to you before she left..."
Tsunade leaned forward slightly, lowering her voice,
"Madara Uchiha is still alive, and he might have awakened the Rinnegan!"
Orochimaru felt a slight flash in his eyes. He calmly lowered his gaze and nodded gently.
"I know!"
"There are very few things in the ninja world that I don't know."
Tsunade felt Orochimaru's attitude was perfunctory, and a nameless rage immediately rose within her. She leaned forward, grabbed Orochimaru's collar, and questioned him furiously,
"I finally decided not to lose my temper anymore, and this is your attitude?"
"You know?"
"Do you know how strong Madara Uchiha is? Do you know how powerful the Rinnegan's restraint on Tailed Beasts is?"
"Do you know that your current situation is the same as Kushina's, and you could be killed by Madara Uchiha at any moment because of the Nine-Tails' existence?"
Orochimaru could tell Tsunade was worried about him, but facing Tsunade's pressure, he shifted his gaze uncomfortably and said evasively,
"Tsunade, keep your voice down!"
Tsunade released her grip and sat back down, annoyed.
"I know all of that!"
Orochimaru stroked his wine glass, not looking at the patch of snow-white skin exposed by Tsunade's vigorous movements, and slowly began to explain.
"I know Madara Uchiha is still alive. I was the one who first told Grandma Mito this news."
"I also knew that Madara Uchiha would eventually awaken the Rinnegan and attempt to summon the Nine-Tails through a summoning jutsu. The Nine-Tails knows some of this."
The Nine-Tails, who was devouring food, nodded enthusiastically when Orochimaru mentioned it, mumbling,
"Yes, Orochimaru did mention this to me!"
Seeing the Nine-Tails' confirmation, Tsunade's anger subsided considerably, despite her surprise.
"Orochimaru, why do you know all this?"
Orochimaru shook his head.
"It's hard to say!"
"I don't know how to explain everything that has happened to me yet."
"Just assume I already knew all this."
Tsunade asked doubtfully,
"Then what about when you told the old man that war was about to begin..."
Orochimaru nodded and readily admitted,
"Yes!"
"Not only the news of the Second Great Ninja War about to begin, but also the existence of the Nine-Tails, Grandma Mito's death, the selection of the next Jinchuriki..."
"I knew all of this!"
"Even the potential future events in the ninja world..."
"These memories are like imprints on my mind, clear, accurate, and without omission!"
Orochimaru ignored Tsunade's shock and suspicion and finished his sake.
"I arranged for Nawaki to graduate a year later because I knew the Second Great Ninja War was about to begin, and Nawaki would die in this war!"
"I asked Master Hiruzen to deploy ANBU to capture Shinon because I already knew he was a spy for the Sky Ninja."
"He possesses an unprecedented body-survival secret technique in the ninja world and the void within me, and he has a child beside him capable of bearing the power of a Tailed Beast."
"I know that Master Hiruzen might become dispirited due to his eldest son's serious injury, gradually influenced by power and the emotions between teammates, thus leading the Leaf Village to decline."
"I know the names of all nine Tailed Beasts, their origins, their current locations, their specialties, and who their Jinchuriki are..."
"I even know the origin of chakra in the ninja world, Kaguya Otsutsuki, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, Hamura Otsutsuki..."
"Everything that has happened, everything that has existed, I know it all!"
Tsunade was so shocked she couldn't speak, staring at him blankly. The Nine-Tails also stopped eating and stared at Orochimaru in a daze.
"Orochimaru, you..."
Tsunade shook her head, still unwilling to give up, and asked,
"Then tell me, what have I been doing during this time?"
Orochimaru looked at the stubborn Tsunade and chuckled.
"Heh!"
"You went to the Forest of Toad Slime with Grandma Mito's help and signed a summoning contract with Lord Frog Sage."
"And unfortunately, with your current personality, you did not obtain the qualification to learn the Sage Mode of the Toad Slime from Lord Frog Sage!"
The wine glass in Tsunade's hand clattered onto the table, her face filled with disbelief.
"You really know?"
"Yes! I know!"
Tsunade bit her lip and asked hesitantly,
"You said just now that if you hadn't prevented Nawaki from graduating, he would have died in the war, right?"
"Barring any accidents... yes!"
"What about me?"
Tsunade's eyes held a hint of anticipation.
"You..."
Orochimaru pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head,
"You don't want to know!"
"It's a future you can't even imagine right now!"
Tsunade's expression froze, and she asked curiously,
"Is it very miserable?"
"Extremely miserable!"
"More miserable than death?"
"You will lose everything!"
Tsunade sat there in a daze, unable to recover for a long time.
The Nine-Tails put down the barbecue in its paws and eagerly leaned forward.
"What about me? And the person predicted by the old man?"
"Orochimaru, do you know?"
Orochimaru looked at Tsunade deeply, then nodded gently at the Nine-Tails.
"I know!"
"Tell me quickly! I feel it's quite interesting!"
Orochimaru shook his head and chuckled,
"What's the point? It's already changed, hasn't it?"