"Heh."
Five hundred thousand ryo.
Orochimaru didn't know where Tsunade got the confidence to demand such a cut.
So, he took the scroll and opened it to read.
"Hyuga Takashi? The student you brought along? I remember he suffers from a Kekkei Genkai degeneration."
Orochimaru's memory was impeccable. Seeing the signature, he immediately remembered Takashi.
"What student? I never formally accepted him as a disciple. I just happened to have the time to guide him a little, and it turned out the brat had incredible talent, far exceeding my expectations."
Talking about Takashi made Tsunade feel proud.
Even though there was no formal master-disciple relationship, Takashi was still someone she, Tsunade, had taught.
He could barely be considered her disciple, someone she acknowledged—worth bragging about a little.
"He needs a large number of animal corpses. Is it for research?"
Orochimaru looked at the mission's contents, thinking perhaps he'd found a kindred spirit.
But Tsunade shook her head. "No, the kid's gotten into puppetry lately. He keeps saying he's just a weak medical ninja and also has that bloodline illness, so he wants to make puppets to protect himself."
"These animal corpses are to be used as puppet materials. Compared to using ninja corpses or expensive mechanical parts, animal corpses are much more appropriate."
Puppets?
That was unexpected for Orochimaru.
"What level of quality is required?" Orochimaru put the scroll away.
Tsunade wasn't wrong. Orochimaru was definitely one of the more suitable candidates for this mission.
It was quick, simple, and a good opportunity to make some money. Even after giving Tsunade her share, there would be a significant profit—a worthwhile deal.
Much less trouble than going out and performing a high-level mission.
In the dense forests of the Land of Fire, there were plenty of strange and powerful creatures.
Tsunade instructed, "The stronger, the better. And don't just bring me a bunch of random snakes."
"Understood."
Orochimaru agreed, then held up two fingers towards Tsunade.
"Two hundred thousand?"
Tsunade was displeased. "Orochimaru, you're pushing it. Do you have to haggle like this?"
"Or I can go to Master Sarutobi and take the mission directly from the Hokage's office."
Five hundred thousand?
No way. I'll give you at most two hundred thousand, let you enjoy some small profits. If you don't like it, I'll just bypass you and go to the Hokage's office.
"You..."
Tsunade was so angry she wanted to punch someone.
"Fine, two hundred thousand ryo, but I want the money right away."
Two hundred thousand ryo to buy into a long-term mission—a total win for Orochimaru.
He wasn't sure how much wealth Takashi had, but given Takashi's diligent work at Konoha Hospital, it was enough to cover the mission's compensation—as long as Orochimaru didn't go overboard.
Orochimaru understood the principle of "slow and steady wins the race." He didn't mind if Takashi owed him some money, as long as it wasn't Tsunade. Everything else could be negotiated.
Making money was secondary; Orochimaru also wanted to get to know Takashi better.
Who knew—maybe they could end up on the same path.
As long as Takashi still wanted to treat his bloodline illness, he wouldn't be able to avoid experiments and research. And then Orochimaru's opportunity would come.
A prime experimental subject wasn't easy to find.
The Hyuga clan's Kekkei Genkai degeneration—that was definitely interesting.
It was the end of the workday, and all the patients had been seen. Takashi and Tsunade left the hospital together.
Compared to the oppressive atmosphere of the Hyuga compound and the liveliness of the Uchiha clan, the Senju ancestral residence was cold and desolate.
In order to prevent the commoner branch of the clan from reuniting, Tobirama Senju, ever pragmatic, had dispersed the non-shinobi Senju members across different areas of the village.
The Senju ancestral home had become one of Konoha's heavily guarded zones, effectively killing off any hopes for the clan's revival.
For the scattered clan members to restore the glory of the Senju, they would need the leadership of the ancestral branch. But now, the two sides were completely isolated, and with the die-hard faction wiped out, the Senju's civilianization process was complete.
"It's pretty quiet, isn't it?"
Seeing Takashi curiously look around, Tsunade sighed.
"To prevent the Hokage position from becoming the exclusive right of one clan, my granduncle had to break up the family, civilianizing them, leaving only the main branch with the ancestral home—and even gave up the Senju surname."
"Now, there's no one left living nearby. Just a few from the main branch."
"The Second Hokage was a man of conviction."
Although Takashi thought Tobirama Senju was quite ruthless to his own people, he had to admit, Tobirama was a man of conviction.
Throughout Konoha, only he could make such a decision.
"Granduncle had his reasons. Grandma always said if he hadn't done it, the succession of the Hokage would no longer be fair, and the village would become a place dominated by the Senju clan, which would go against Grandpa's ideals."
"There was a lot of opposition when he civilianized the clan, but he went through with it anyway."
As a child, Tsunade hadn't understood any of this. All she knew was that her stern, serious granduncle actually doted on her a lot, always indulging her mischief, no matter how annoyed he seemed.
Back then, Tsunade thought her granduncle had been too harsh.
It was only when she grew up that she realized Tobirama had made the right decision.
The Senju clan had reached the peak of its prosperity. If they didn't change quickly, the entire Hidden Leaf Village would become a village solely for the Senju.
All the commoners and other ninja clans would become vassals of the Senju.
Even if civilians might accept it, would the other ninja clans—the Hyuga, Uchiha, Sarutobi, Shimura, Ino-Shika-Cho—agree to that?
They had all worked together to establish the village as an equal community, only for the Senju to turn around and make everyone else subservient?
Some smaller clans might not be able to resist, but the large ones would never allow it.
So, Tobirama faced a difficult choice.
Either break apart the clan, erase the powerful Senju identity in a controlled manner, or let them grow unchecked until the other clans felt compelled to unite against them.
In the end, Tobirama chose to civilianize the family.
Given the situation back then, if the Second Hokage had come from a different clan, it might have been easier to suppress the Senju's ambitions. But both the First and Second Hokages were Senjus.
The clan's ambition was inevitable.
Hashirama and Tobirama could suppress it while they were alive, but once they were gone, chaos was sure to follow.
Even Sarutobi Hiruzen becoming the Third Hokage would have been uncertain.
"Grandma, I'm home."
Upon reaching the doorstep, Tsunade called out as she entered. Takashi followed her into the courtyard.
The ANBU members assigned to protect the Senju residence widened their eyes in surprise.
Was that Hyuga Takashi?
Why was he here at the Senju ancestral home?
"Report this to the Hokage."
Even if Takashi could be considered half one of their own, he was still from the Hyuga clan. His visit here would definitely draw attention from the Hokage's office.
"You're back."
Sitting in the courtyard, Mito Uzumaki smiled gently, then started to appraise the young man standing next to Tsunade.
"Lady Mito, I'm Hyuga Takashi. It's an honor to meet you."
Takashi had deep respect for Mito Uzumaki.
She was a senior truly worthy of admiration.
"You look nice. No wonder Tsunade and Kushina are both so fond of you," Mito chuckled as she made a light-hearted comment.
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