"Don't even think about it!"
Tsunade looked up to see Jiraiya and Orochimaru eyeing her, quickly raising her hand to shield her bowl.
"If you want to eat, go to the logistics unit yourself. Don't even think about taking mine—I'm starving here."
"Sorry, you two," Takuya apologized, "I didn't know you were here, so I didn't prepare anything for you."
Takuya genuinely hadn't known that Orochimaru and Jiraiya would be there; otherwise, he would have made extra bowls. But now that he wasn't the one eating, it wasn't his problem.
As long as Tsunade wasn't embarrassed, Takuya didn't care. They were her guests; she could deal with them herself.
"Haha, it's not too late to make more now," Jiraiya suggested, trying to take advantage of the situation.
"..."
Takuya was speechless.
The thickness of Jiraiya's skin exceeded his expectations.
"Get lost!"
Tsunade jumped in to help Takuya out, yelling at Jiraiya, "Takuya just finished a night shift and then made breakfast for me. If you want to eat, make it yourself."
I was just joking—no need to get so serious.
Jiraiya looked up at the sky in exasperation.
Orochimaru chuckled softly but said nothing, his eyes curiously studying Takuya for a moment.
This was the first time Takuya had met Orochimaru.
"Phew~ it's so stuffy in here."
Snowy emerged from under Takuya's raincoat, her gaze shifting between Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya.
Tsunade's eyes lit up at the sight of the stunningly beautiful Snowy.
Jiraiya leaned in curiously, "Is this your pet?"
"So cute! And it's a girl too—the voice is so sweet."
Of the three, only Orochimaru's body tensed.
When Snowy had glanced at him earlier, he'd felt like a terrifying predator had its eyes on him.
It was a sensation Orochimaru had never experienced before.
"Stay away from me, frog guy. The stench of frogs on you is even stronger than on that guy named Minato."
It seemed that tailed beasts naturally didn't get along with the creatures from the three great sanctuaries.
As soon as Jiraiya got a little closer, his eyes filled with not-so-innocent curiosity, Snowy immediately became wary.
"Pfft~~~"
Jiraiya, who had been about to ask where Takuya got such a pet, was thoroughly taken aback by Snowy's words.
Frog stench?
Do I really smell like frogs?
How could I, the great Toad Sage Jiraiya, smell like a frog?
"Hahaha, that's hilarious!"
Tsunade laughed so hard she almost choked, not even noticing that she sprayed bits of noodles all over Jiraiya.
Jiraiya's expression grew even more pitiful.
"Tsunade, it's bad enough that a pet is insulting me, but did you have to spit on me too?!"
"Hahaha, serves you right!"
Tsunade laughed with no regard for appearances.
Orochimaru managed a faint smile, squinting slightly as he looked at Snowy perched in Takuya's arms. "This isn't just a pet—it's a summoning beast, right, Takuya-kun?"
Judging by the eerie feeling he'd just experienced, Orochimaru was confident that the white fox in Takuya's arms was no ordinary pet but a powerful summoning beast.
The kind of beast that, if you mistook it for a pet, could swat you to death before you even realized what was happening.
"Yes, Snowy is my summoning beast, not a pet."
Takuya stroked Snowy's soft fur, smiling. "Just call me Takuya, no need to be so formal."
"Alright then, Takuya it is."
Orochimaru, who hadn't yet walked the path of darkness, wasn't that difficult to get along with.
Strangely enough, though he was the most extreme and dark of the three Sannin, Orochimaru was also the most reasonable.
He didn't have Jiraiya's thick skin or Tsunade's rough-and-tumble personality, nor did he resort to physical violence so readily.
"Fine, summoning beast."
But how can such a small fox assist in battle?
Snowy had completely concealed her chakra, leading Jiraiya to mistakenly believe that she was weak—perhaps just a support-type summoning beast.
Even Tsunade seemed to think so.
Only Orochimaru was sure that Snowy was neither a pet nor a support-type summoning beast but a terrifying creature.
"Don't you think this little fox..."
Having been rejected by Snowy, Jiraiya kept his distance, observing from afar.
Suddenly, he clapped his hands as if he'd figured something out, but just as he was about to say "fox," Snowy shot him a warning look, so he quickly corrected himself:
"Doesn't this little Snowy resemble a certain big guy we have in Konoha?"
Although he hadn't seen the Nine-Tails with his own eyes, as a disciple of the Third Hokage, Jiraiya was well aware of what tailed beasts were.
He knew what the Nine-Tails looked like.
Except for being smaller, white, and more aesthetically pleasing, Snowy's appearance was almost identical to the Nine-Tails.
"She does look a bit like it, but there's no way a second Nine-Tails could exist in this world."
Tsunade shrugged and resumed eating her noodles.
She quickly finished her bowl, patting her stomach contentedly with a satisfied expression.
"The Nine-Tails?"
Takuya feigned ignorance, looking over with curiosity.
Are you sure you want to talk about this?
Orochimaru and Jiraiya exchanged looks of surprise, but Tsunade waved her hand dismissively.
"What's the big deal? He may have Uchiha blood, but he'll find out about this sooner or later."
While the Third Hokage and Danzo were desperate to keep these things hidden, Tsunade didn't care.
She trusted that Takuya wouldn't harbor any ill will toward Kushina.
Better to let him know early to avoid any misunderstandings down the road.
"Takuya, have you heard of tailed beasts?"
"I've heard they're some kind of powerful creatures."
Takuya's lips twitched slightly. I'm literally holding one right now.
In his arms, Snowy drooped her ears, feeling rather bored as she listened to someone explain what a tailed beast was to her master.
"That's not a bad way to put it."
After thinking for a moment, Tsunade continued:
"There are nine powerful tailed beasts in the ninja world, ranging from the One-Tail to the Nine-Tails. The more tails a tailed beast has, the stronger it is. Konoha has one, and it's the strongest—the Nine-Tails."
"Tsunade!!"
An angry voice echoed from outside the tent.
Hearing it, Tsunade rolled her eyes while Jiraiya shrugged at Orochimaru.
Orochimaru's smile turned playful. He knew Tsunade was in trouble now.
At the very least, she wasn't getting out of a good scolding.
There might even be a fight.
Danzo had arrived.
There weren't many people in Konoha who dared to scold Tsunade, but Danzo was one of them.
Too bad Tsunade wasn't likely to take it lying down.
***********
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