Ryusei listened without flinching, his face a blank mask.
Inside, though, a smirk tugged at the corners of his thoughts.
He knew better than anyone the truth of Tsunade's condition.
She had recovered.
Completely.
He had asked her directly more than once, and her answers, along with their sparring sessions, told him everything he needed.
Her will, once fractured, had firmed again.
Her control, her precision, her techniques, she was reacquainted with them all.
Each time she corrected his posture or demonstrated a form, she reforged her own.
Even holding back against him, her shinobi instincts stirred.
Muscle memory was not so easily forgotten.
In Ryusei's mind, she already stood shoulder to shoulder with Orochimaru and Jiraiya, all of them in their current primes, high Kage level, no less.
But there was a difference between being able to fight and being willing to.
Twas likely the reason the higher-ups had agreed to station her here in the first place, and why Orochimaru had fought to keep her on this front despite pushback.
They were gambling that proximity to the battlefield would drag her back into the fold, that eventually her strength would be theirs again.
They were wrong.
After all, unlike in the canon he remembered, this Tsunade had never developed a crippling fear of blood.
What she lost was just subtler but no less devastating, the spiritual will component of chakra that defined a true shinobi.
By the time Ryusei first met her, she had been little more than a shell, perhaps early Kage level at best.
But he had given her a new purpose.
A direction. A bond that reshaped her spirit.
It was only natural that her strength returned.
And yet, that didn't mean she'd fight for Konoha. Not anymore. It didn't return for them.
The more time she spent with him, the more her bitterness deepened.
He had shown her truths she hadn't wanted to see, the rot at the village's heart, the darkness behind its politics.
He had fed her a steady diet of disillusion, peeling away every layer of idealism that remained.
It was almost comical, like a reverse indoctrination: where Hiruzen and his Will of Fire sought to bind shinobi to sacrifice themselves for the village, Ryusei whispered of betrayal, hypocrisy, and freedom.
Tsunade was listening.
Now, all she wanted was peace.
To be left alone. To protect him.
She would heal the wounded, yes.
But to wield her as a tool of the village again?
That was no longer easily possible.
Orochimaru's request had bounced off her the moment it reached her ears.
That was why she ignored him, Ryusei realized, without him ever needing to warn her.
Pride stirred in his chest. His influence was working.
Tsunade wasn't just recovering, she was changing for him.
Shaped by his words, she was becoming something far more dangerous and far more valuable than the Hokage's dog.
And to Ryusei, she had never looked more attractive.
When it came to Orochimaru's request, Ryusei knew he could deliver.
Convincing Tsunade wouldn't be an obstacle at all.
She trusted him. She listened to him.
And he already had in mind what kind of favors he would demand in return, from Orochimaru, favors that aligned perfectly with his next broader plans to rise in this world.
The real question wasn't whether she would fight, but whether she could hold the line against the Raikage's sons at the same time, currently, with her own level of strength.
The Third Raikage himself was already past his prime.
In his mid-fifties now, a decade removed from his peak, the edges of his strength had dulled.
Unlike Hiruzen, who was also similar age and out of his prime, leaning on his versatility and endless arsenal of ninjutsu, which didn't blunt so much, but could even grow with age, the Raikage's might was built on overwhelming physicality.
His Lightning Release Armor, his body turned into a spear and shield both, relied on physical raw strength and stamina.
Age chipped away at that the most.
Even so, by every rumor Ryusei collected, the man was still High Kage at minimum.
A terrifying thought, that his current, weakened state was still high on the ladder Ryusei had drawn in his mind.
At his peak, the man may well have stood in that tier Ryusei labeled Peak/Super Kage.
But Orochimaru could handle him. Ryusei was sure of that.
Orochimaru didn't fight battles he couldn't twist in his favor.
His mind, his planning, his adaptability, those were more than enough to counter brute force.
No, the variable was Tsunade.
How strong were the Raikage's sons at this moment in history?
That was the calculation Ryusei had to make.
A, the future Fourth Raikage, was already in his early thirties.
Very close to the shinobi prime. The world already judged him as the candidate to succeed his father, but still not on the same level yet.
Even later in life, during the original plot of the series, A never quite reached his father's heights, in his opinion, so Ryusei slotted him into Mid Kage now.
Dangerous, yes, but manageable.
Killer B was trickier. If his prime surpassed his brother's, as seen in the original story, then where did that place him now, only in his late teens, around 16 or 17?
Less than half the age at which most shinobi peaked.
But B was a jinchūriki, and jinchūriki distorted every chart.
But it also took time to build familiarity with the beast.
But still, if he drew some power from the Eight-Tails, if he accelerated his development through that borrowed power, a bit more than any other jinchuriki already, then Mid Kage now also wasn't impossible.
Ryusei weighed it carefully.
Worst-case scenario: Tsunade as a strong High Kage facing two opponents hovering around Mid Kage each.
Not hopeless.
Risky, yes, but not beyond her.
Especially with her regeneration, her durability, how their abilities matched up, and the morale shock her presence would create.
That settled it.
She was more important to him than this front.
Losing her would cripple his plans far more than a defeat here.
But the probabilities all leaned toward survival.
Survival and a victory that would be very rewarding in more than one kind of way.
So Ryusei made his decision.
He would agree to Orochimaru's request.
So he finally laid out his condition next.
He would convince Tsunade, but only if Orochimaru allowed him to also take part directly in the coming clash, here at the den, at the center of Kumo's strike.
He wanted to be present with Orochimaru's own central and gathered forces, with Tsunade, and to fight openly where the action was the biggest.
Orochimaru's lips curved in that serpentine snicker, his voice thick with irony.
"So eager to contribute to the glory of our village? Truly, a shining pillar of the younger generation."
Ryusei's mouth tilted upward, his grin carrying the same edge.
"Of course. The Will of Fire burns brightest in me, doesn't it?"
The sarcasm hung heavy between them. They both knew the truth.
Orochimaru saw through him easily. Ryusei didn't care about "the village."
What he wanted was merit.
To stand where every eye could see him, carving a place into the war's history.
To force the elders to swallow their venom when they looked his way.
If he emerged from the clash with honors, if he became a young war hero, then smearing him or quietly removing him would become exponentially harder.
Every pretext would crumble under scrutiny.
The more merit he amassed, the more dangerous it would be for them to fabricate a convenient accident or label him a traitor.
Heroes, especially young ones, gathered too many eyes.
And the more eyes, the harder it was to bury the truth.
Merit was more than a shield. It was leverage. It was his ladder upward.
The problem was that the elders would never willingly allow him such chances.
They would keep him buried in low-level, during this war, unremarkable assignments forever if they could, anything to keep him invisible.
But Orochimaru, as the front commander, had the authority to maneuver every shinobi under his command.
He could send Ryusei wherever he pleased under the pretext of special missions, regardless of the council's intent.
That was why Ryusei needed him.
Orochimaru studied him a moment longer, then let out a soft chuckle.
"You really are a troublesome brat."
Inwardly, he weighed the risks.
Danzo, his current biggest collaborator, would not like this.
None of the higher-ups would.
But he had no choice.
If this was the price to convince Tsunade, it was still the lesser evil.
Later, he could explain it to Danzo: their joint plan to place him as the next Hokage would collapse entirely if Ryusei refused to get Tsunade involved next.
So Orochimaru finally inclined his head, his smile widening ever so slightly. "Very well. If Kumo's army dares to come knocking here, you will stand among us. Don't disappoint me."
Ryusei smirked, leaning back as if the deal wasn't finished yet.
"Hold on. I have another request. No, more of a promise. After this is over, you'll be sending me on some special missions away from this front. Toward the southeast. Near Kirigakure's lines."
Orochimaru's pale face shifted, the amusement fading into neutrality. His mind ticked quickly, calculating.
The southeast was Fugaku Uchiha's domain, and that front was also bleeding hard.
There were opportunities there, certainly, opportunities to also gain a reputation.
Was the boy aiming to collect merits in two theaters, not just one?
'To greedy...', Orochimaru's tongue flicked across his lips as he weighed it.
If he granted this as well later, then Danzo would howl.
Once was already risky. Twice would be harder to explain.
The suspicion would turn heavier.
But he needed Tsunade now.
Without her, this front collapsed, and with it, his own aspirations.
'What should I do... Yes...'
So why not agree in the moment and trick the boy later, when circumstances shift?
But as if reading him, in real time, Ryusei's grin sharpened. His voice then cut in smoothly.
"It wouldn't be in your best interest to try and trick me, Orochimaru. Who knows what kind of 'present' I might bring back from those assignments?" His eyes gleamed with quiet mischief.
"After all, you know who is stationed there in greatest concentration, don't you?"
Orochimaru's body stiffened. Then, almost involuntarily, he leaned forward, the mask slipping. His aura sharpened into something terrifying, greedy, and unmistakably hungry.
"Uchiha!?"
Ryusei's grin widened. "Exactly. Didn't you say yourself how badly you wanted a high-quality Sharingan, after reading those notes I passed you? Who's more trustworthy, more capable than me to bring one back to you? Who knows better which Sharingan has more potential than the other? Can Danzo deliver it this fast? Why didn't he do it already then? You probably asked. You don't want some trash Sharingan either. But keep this in mind: if I get it, I'll be trading it. Nothing free. That special mission to the southeast stays part of our deal if you want me to convince Tsunade."
Orochimaru's breathing stilled, eyes burning golden.
It wasn't far-fetched. No front was pure against only one great enemy hidden village.
Orochimaru had full authority as commander to dispatch "special missions" across lines.
If their plan here succeeded, he'd have more weight to send reinforcements southward to boost his own fame.
Fugaku might bristle, but with his front failing, he couldn't refuse the help, and refusing Orochimaru's face outright would be harder at that point, as he would showcase his might against Kumo literally prior.
Ryusei, meanwhile, had his reasons stacked neatly.
First, the merits. After forcing Kumo back, the Suna and Kiri fronts would be ripe for plucking, like unclaimed trophies.
If Minato wasn't there yet, then Ryusei could sweep in and collect before history repeated itself, which would be great.
Second, alliances. With more chips and strength in hand, he could now finally press harder on the Uchiha and Hyūga directly to bind them closer to himself.
Third, the Byakugan.
After all, in the original series, the only Byakugan ever lost had been against Kiri, not Suna, where the most Main Branch members now were.
That meant something.
Either a Main Branch Hyūga had ended up there somehow, after all, both of those were Southern Fronts, or another, unfactored variable existed.
If he wanted that dōjutsu, Kiri was the place to initially search, at least.
And finally, the Sharingan, not to keep for himself, mainly, but to trade with Orochimaru later, for something else. To pry loose the even rarer prize, and the rarest resource area he knew Orochimaru held now, but he himself lacked, something far more valuable than a pair of eyes.
For example, when it came to science, in general, Ryusei was a complete novice compared to Orochimaru, the best in the world.
And that alone was a decisive vector, a game-changer if he truly wanted to climb to the highest 'hardware' echelons of power in this world and tap into those alien levels somehow.
The eyes were leverage, nothing more. And who said he had to stop at just one pair anyway?
If opportunity presented itself, or if he simply changed his mind and chose to later get it for himself too, he could always pluck additional pairs in secret.
All it would take was the right plan, the right timing, with his growing strength. Orochimaru's science was far more valuable.
Additionally, if he had to choose between the Byakugan and the Sharingan, Ryusei valued the Byakugan far more for his current needs.
As for Orochimaru, Ryusei knew the man's greatest hidden weapon in climbing the ladder of power was science now.
So, Orochimaru would never part easily with that world-leading foundation, not without something truly extraordinary in return.
Which meant Ryusei would have to deliver him the highest-quality pair possible. A true prize.
Finding such a candidate wouldn't be simple.
The right eyes were rare, almost impossibly so.
Not to mention the scheming required to do something like this cleanly was almost impossible as well. All he could do was gamble that fortune tilted his way this time.
If not, then it simply couldn't be forced, but it cost him nothing to try at least after this.
Although Ryusei knew he held a head start in science compared to most of this world's inhabitants, which was why he even dared to think about it ahead at this early stage.
His modern insights, born from a far more advanced civilization, gave him perspectives no shinobi could replicate.
Nevertheless, this world was also not his old one entirely, obviously.
What use were theories of physics or biology when confronted with chakra here? How did concepts like souls, natural energy, or the Pure Land fit into any framework he once knew?
They didn't. That was why insights from someone like Orochimaru, who had already spent decades probing those mysteries, were invaluable.
And even if Ryusei could form the theories alone, where would he procure the equipment to test them? Without Orochimaru's assistance, his progress would stall before it began.
He also already had Kanae's unique vision as a kind of his first "assistant," too, but if he could secure Orochimaru's boost at this early stage, the results would compound with years, not decades.