"Nawaki, I can't believe it's really you."
When Orochimaru was dragged here by Jiraiya, he was filled with emotion upon seeing that familiar face in the Senju Clan Land.
He always valued this disciple highly. When Tsunade asked him to mentor Nawaki, he agreed without hesitation. Who would have thought that Nawaki would die unexpectedly, making him feel the fragility of life?
Now seeing Nawaki resurrected, Orochimaru felt that anything was possible in this world. If he could fully understand it, both truth and eternal life could be his.
"Orochimaru-sensei, it's so good to see you again."
Nawaki smiled when he saw Orochimaru, according to his memory, he hadn't seen Orochimaru for over a year, but for Orochimaru, it had been more than ten years.
"Nawaki, what do you plan to do next? Why not continue being my disciple....."
"Wait, wait..."
Jiraiya quickly interrupted, "Orochimaru, aren't you surprised? Nawaki has been resurrected!"
"You're making a fuss over nothing. The Second Generation Hokage once researched Forbidden Techniques for reviving the dead, but it didn't succeed and turned into the Reanimation Jutsu to summon the dead for battle...."
Orochimaru glanced at Jiraiya and then walked with Nawaki into the house.
At this moment, Shizune was already preparing dinner, buying a lot of well-known local delicacies in the village. Most were already cooked; you just opened the packaging and ate.
After Tsunade finished her bath, she came down to help. Today, it was just the Sannin and Shizune, plus Nawaki, making five people in total.
Seeing Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Nawaki come in, Tsunade spoke up, "Here you are, everything's ready. Let's drink to our hearts' content tonight."
Jiraiya had a lot of questions to ask, but seeing Tsunade like this, he held back, planning to ask once the drinks were flowing.
Soon, Shizune finished preparing the last of the food, and with Tsunade leading, the group started drinking.
Having sweated it out in that Shy Little Ghost's office earlier, then showering and helping Shizune, Tsunade's body needed hydration badly, so drinking plenty of sake was necessary.
After Orochimaru had two cups with Tsunade, he brought up the topic Jiraiya had interrupted earlier, asking Nawaki if he wanted to continue being his disciple.
He knew that Nawaki hadn't been resurrected long and, in his memory, Nawaki was still early in his apprenticeship. Orochimaru wanted to train Nawaki into a strong ninja properly.
Watching a disciple die before him was a knot in Orochimaru's heart.
"Of course, Orochimaru-sensei, I was always your student."
Upon hearing this, Nawaki gave a thumbs up to Orochimaru at the dining table, his enthusiastic and silly demeanor frustrating Tsunade.
She didn't mind Nawaki continuing as Orochimaru's student, but that zealous fool attitude had been nearly a year of correction, yet hadn't changed.
So Tsunade smacked Nawaki on the head; after he yelped, she continued, "Orochimaru, you see, Nawaki's personality needs changing. I'm counting on you."
Orochimaru understood Tsunade's meaning: if Nawaki didn't change his impulsiveness, he'd get hurt sooner or later on missions. That was easy; he had plenty of methods to make Nawaki rid his impulsiveness.
"Tsunade..."
After a few drinks, Jiraiya couldn't help but ask, "How was Nawaki resurrected? Could... could it revive Minato too?"
"Jiraiya, Nawaki's resurrection had nothing to do with me, and you shouldn't consider it...."
When Tsunade heard Jiraiya's words, she winced. She hadn't expected such directness. Last time she didn't know what cost Uchiha Yoichi paid, but resurrecting someone definitely couldn't be done without consequences.
And the image of Uchiha Yoichi's Sharingan bleeding was unforgettable; she remembered Uchiha Yoichi saying it was fortunate that Nawaki was a Genin, needing less pupil power.
"The cost Yoichi paid to resurrect Nawaki was quite high; I haven't seen his Sharingan in over a year. Resurrecting the deceased caused him considerable harm, and I don't want him to pay an irreversible price because of my persuasion...."
Moreover, Tsunade had to consider for Uchiha Yoichi; the cost was too great. She couldn't bear for that Shy Little Ghost to sacrifice and then resurrect others.
This time it's Minato, who will it be next?
"....Are you doing this because of Nawaki's case...."
"Have some food, Jiraiya."
Orochimaru placed a grilled lamb sushi onto Jiraiya's plate, stopping the words he was about to utter. A loss was still a loss; he'd always thought Tsunade wouldn't like a fool like Jiraiya anyway, and Jiraiya never did anything to make him favorable to her.
If he asked that question, it would have been too embarrassing.
"Sorry, I got a bit drunk..."
Jiraiya snapped back to reality. He had indeed been too emotional, mainly because of too many recent worries; one disciple had fallen out with Konoha, another had died, and both were promising children of destiny he had high hopes for.
And Namikaze Minato's death was related to his persistence; if he hadn't insisted on taking Namikaze Minato on that second mission, leaving it to Uchiha Yoichi, maybe Namikaze Minato wouldn't have died.... At that time, his disciple had just finished a mission and was with family.
So even after a year, Jiraiya still felt guilty about Namikaze Minato, avoiding going into Kushina's house whenever he passed by, only looking around from the outside before leaving.