Tōshirō smiled awkwardly, "How about I introduce you to a few girls from the Uchiha clan who are around your age?"
Introducing a girl to Orochimaru wasn't a spur-of-the-moment idea—he had thought about it for a long time.
If he wanted to truly win Orochimaru over, emotional bonds alone weren't enough; their relationship needed to go deeper.
As the saying goes, "Good water shouldn't flow to outsiders." A talent like Orochimaru, who was a genius in science and technology, should naturally be brought into the Uchiha family through marriage.
Orochimaru was momentarily stunned and then replied indifferently, "I have no interest in those things. If you want to talk about this, you should go find Jiraiya—he might be interested."
"Forget about Jiraiya."
Tōshirō raised an eyebrow and smirked, "So, what do you say? Want to give it a try?"
"I don't need to try to know the answer."
"Oh? Really? I don't believe you."
Tōshirō hooked his arm around Orochimaru's shoulder, smiling mischievously. "How about a little bet?"
Orochimaru: …
"Who knows? Just one time, and you might actually like it. If you have a kid in the future, how about naming him Mitsuki if it's a boy, and Hebihime if it's a girl?"
Orochimaru was speechless.
What was this nonsense?
His friend's train of thought was way too wild—he didn't even have a girlfriend, and yet Tōshirō was already talking about having kids.
Orochimaru glanced at Tōshirō. It was strange—these two used to dislike each other in the past, but now their relationship had completely changed.
It reminded him of a saying: love can change a person.
If he found a girl and started dating like Tōshirō, would he change as well?
Just as this thought crossed his mind, a commotion ahead interrupted his train of thought.
Looking up, he saw a white-haired boy being chased by a group of young girls—Jiraiya.
Jiraiya tripped and fell while running. When he got back up, the girls had already surrounded him.
Smack.
A girl cracked her knuckles, eyes filled with murderous intent. "You wanna die? How dare you peek at the women's bathhouse?"
Jiraiya, of course, refused to admit it and loudly protested his innocence.
One of the girls scoffed, "If you weren't peeking, why did you run the moment we saw you?"
"Well, uh… um…" Jiraiya stammered before coming up with a lame excuse. "It's because the moment you saw me, you all looked like you wanted to kill me! I panicked and ran on instinct."
Another furious girl stepped forward and yelled, "Don't listen to his nonsense! This bastard has done this before. Let's beat him to death and dig his eyeballs out so he'll never peek again!"
Jiraiya was just about to beg for mercy when he spotted his two friends passing by.
It was like grabbing onto a life-saving rope. "Orochimaru! Tōshirō! You guys came just in time! Help me explain!"
Tōshirō raised an eyebrow. "Explain what? That you were caught peeking at the bathhouse?"
Jiraiya reflexively responded, "How did you know—"
The moment the words left his mouth, he realized he had walked right into a trap.
The temperature around him seemed to drop, and the girls' gazes turned even more terrifying. His face turned ashen, and he started trembling. "L-let's talk about this…"
"Beat him up!"
The girls, seething with rage, rushed forward and began mercilessly pummeling Jiraiya. His screams echoed through the streets, rising and falling like the cries of a pig being slaughtered.
After venting their anger, the girls finally left, leaving behind a bruised and battered Jiraiya, who lay there groaning. "Damn it… You two didn't even help me…"
Tōshirō sighed at Jiraiya's complete lack of remorse.
"Jiraiya, don't you think it's time you matured a little? Stop peeking at girls while they bathe. Never mind how they feel about it—just imagine if you were one of their boyfriends. If you found out someone was spying on your girlfriend, how would you feel?"
Jiraiya immediately said, "I'd kill that bastard."
"Exactly." Tōshirō shrugged.
"…"
"You claim to like Tsunade, but then you're out here spying on other girls. Do you really think anyone would take you seriously like this? Honestly, it's no wonder you're still single."
Jiraiya's face turned red with embarrassment. "Stop acting like some wise teacher lecturing me! You talk as if you actually have a girlfriend!"
Orochimaru: …
Jiraiya noticed Orochimaru giving him a strange look and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that, like I'm some kind of pathetic fool?"
Orochimaru replied indifferently, "Nothing… I just think Tōshirō has a point. There's a reason why you're still single."
Jiraiya was indignant. "Like you two are any different! You're both single! You're no better than me!"
Orochimaru fell silent.
He might not know whether he was the same as Jiraiya or not, but one thing was certain—Tōshirō was definitely not like Jiraiya.
Seeing Jiraiya's sulky reaction, Tōshirō couldn't help but chuckle. "That's not quite right. Orochimaru is different from you—he's very popular. If he wanted to, all he'd need to do is say a few words, and plenty of cute girls would be all over him."
This wasn't an exaggeration. Whether back in their school days or now, the cold and taciturn Orochimaru had always been the most eye-catching figure in the village.
Jiraiya, despite his unwillingness to accept it, couldn't refute the statement. Instead, he turned to the other person. "And what about you?"
Tōshirō replied casually, "I'm not really interested in finding a girlfriend right now."
Jiraiya grinned, finally finding something to counter. "If you don't have one, you don't have one—no need for excuses. I'm not gonna make fun of you."
"…"
Tōshirō didn't argue, and Jiraiya took his silence as a small victory. "You two always tease me about not having a girlfriend, but come on, do you even know who I'm pursuing?"
"That's Tsunade we're talking about."
"What if it were you, Tōshirō?"
"Could you do it?"
Tōshirō hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to respond.
Jiraiya interrupted him, looking smug. "You couldn't. You don't have what it takes, you know that?"
"Uh…"
Jiraiya continued, explaining his reasoning. "Think about it—how many people have confessed to Tsunade since we were kids? One after another, countless guys tried, and yet not a single one has even held her hand."
"She has her reasons too. I mean, come on, she's the First Hokage's granddaughter. And then look at yourself—what level are you at? You think you're worthy of chasing after her?"
"As she keeps growing, Tsunade's becoming more and more beautiful. Do you know how many guys in the village are after her now? I even heard some people are planning to hire fake kidnappers just so they can swoop in and play hero. Damn it, they really have no shame. I mean, even I haven't stooped that low yet."
Tōshirō: …
Jiraiya scratched his head, looking troubled. "At this rate, I feel like my chances of winning her over are getting slimmer and slimmer."
Tōshirō sighed. "Then why not just give up? There's a saying: 'There are plenty of flowers in the world—why be fixated on just one?'"
Jiraiya stroked his chin. "Honestly, I have thought about that before…"
Tōshirō raised an eyebrow. "And yet you're still—?"
"But if I've made my choice, then I have to see it through to the end, right?"
Jiraiya adjusted his forehead protector, striking what he probably thought was a cool pose.
"…Pathetic," Orochimaru muttered in a low voice.
Jiraiya was annoyed by Orochimaru's remark and clenched his fists. "Orochimaru, you looking for a fight?"
Orochimaru turned his head away, clearly uninterested in wasting energy on something so pointless.
Jiraiya glanced around. "Speaking of which, I haven't seen Tsunade today. Have you guys?"
Orochimaru shifted his gaze toward Jiraiya, thinking to himself: She's in the Forest of Death right now, waiting for her date. She even asked me to stand guard for her…
Tōshirō casually shrugged. "Haven't seen her. Maybe she's playing with her little brother."
Jiraiya nodded without much thought, but then his expression turned serious as he suddenly remembered something. "By the way… are you doing okay?"
The moment he spoke, the atmosphere grew heavy.
Orochimaru turned to look at Tōshirō, watching his expression closely.
After a brief silence, Tōshirō forced a faint smile. "I'm fine."
Hearing that, Jiraiya let out a relieved sigh.
But Orochimaru wasn't as naïve as Jiraiya. His eyes drooped slightly, seeing right through the forced and stiff smile.
Others might not notice, but having lost his parents at a young age, Orochimaru had a keen sense for these things—he could tell.
(End of Chapter)
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