"Grandpa, Grandma, goodbye!"
Nawaki waved his arms, reluctantly bidding farewell.
"Come back and see us often, and when I..."
Before the unreliable words were finished, Tsunade gave Nawaki a hard slap on the back of his head.
"You brat, saying such foolish things again!"
Hashirama Senju was amused by Nawaki and burst into laughter.
On the side, Mito Uzumaki, holding his arm, glared at the foolish child, then turned to Orochimaru and said:
"Orochimaru, this child has the same temperament as Hashirama, he's truly a bit foolish."
"Grandma is going to rest in the Pure Land with Grandpa this time, and from now on..."
"Nawaki and Tsunade will be entrusted to you!"
Orochimaru smiled and nodded.
"I've already promised you, Grandma, don't worry!"
"Then we'll meet again next time!"
Mito Uzumaki gave Orochimaru a playful glare, but did not reject the possibility of him using Edo Tensei again.
Next time, it might be when Nawaki gets married, or when Orochimaru and Tsunade have children!
Thinking of this, even resting in the Pure Land, he would surely have many beautiful dreams!
The three stood still for a long time, until Hashirama's soul, freed from the Edo Tensei, returned to the Pure Land hand in hand with Mito.
Orochimaru put away the corpse of Kidomaru, which still had some use, and sealed it back into a scroll, then turned to look at Nawaki, who had a silly grin on his face.
"Nawaki, that outfit of yours..."
Looking at the bright green, tight-fitting outfit Nawaki was wearing, Orochimaru rubbed his temples with a troubled expression.
"Ah ha!"
When Orochimaru mentioned his clothes, Nawaki immediately became animated and gestured with his hands.
"This was given to me yesterday by Senior Might Guy when I went to train with him."
"It's getting hot now, and my old training clothes always made me sweat easily."
"This one Senior Might Guy gave me is much better, it's light and breathable, and it feels great to wear!"
Orochimaru's mouth twitched, and he nodded gently.
"As long as you're happy!"
"How's your progress with training with Might Guy?"
"How many gates can you open now?"
Nawaki's spirits immediately rose, and he said with pride:
"Senior Might Guy is indeed worthy of being the first strong ninja in the village to dare to practice the Eight Inner Gates, he has his own unique insights into this secret technique."
"With his help, I have now perfectly mastered the first three gates, and I've tried the fourth gate too, but after opening it, I felt a bit unable to control its power, so I still need some time to get used to it."
Orochimaru nodded with satisfaction.
Nawaki had only been exposed to the Eight Inner Gates for a little over half a year. To go from a complete novice in taijutsu to being able to open the fourth gate, despite the advantages of his bloodline and the secret technique of body activation, was enough to show how hard he had worked.
"Your progress is quite good, but you need to keep working hard and aim to reach the level of opening five or more gates before the Chunin Exams."
"There are quite a few exceptionally talented ninjas in your generation."
"With your aptitude, I don't expect you to win with skill and wisdom like Minato, you just need to focus on your own strength."
Nawaki scratched his head a little shyly, then said with determination:
"Yes! I will work hard!"
"Then I'll go back to training!"
Orochimaru chuckled and stopped his disciple, who was eager to leave.
"No rush."
"I called you here today, not only to let you meet the First Hokage, but also because I have something else to give you."
Nawaki's expression lit up, and his gaze immediately fell on Orochimaru's right hand.
"Teacher, are you going to give me that divine weapon?"
"That's great!"
Orochimaru's face darkened, and he backhanded the unfilial disciple with a rap on the head.
"What are you thinking? I wouldn't even give it to Kurama if he wanted it."
"You're already eyeing the Empty Sky Blade when I'm not even dead yet?"
Nawaki rubbed his head, crying out in pain.
Orochimaru's current strength was such that a casual blow was enough to make Nawaki, who was known for his physique, uncomfortable for half a day.
"Ouch, ouch..."
"It hurts!"
"Then what do you want to give me, Teacher? You know, I'm really not good at ninjutsu."
Orochimaru smiled mysteriously and gave Tsunade a look.
"Tsunade, bring out what I asked you to find earlier!"
"First, let Nawaki memorize the hand seals, so he doesn't know how to use it later."
Tsunade nodded with a radiant smile and took out a piece of paper from her embrace, on which something was transcribed.
As she handed it to Nawaki, her expression instantly turned stern.
"Memorize the hand seals for the ninjutsu on here, immediately, right now!"
The bloodline suppression of his elder sister was terrifying. Nawaki, who had been smiling at Orochimaru just moments ago, immediately became like a bullied child.
Twisting his face, he looked at Tsunade with a wronged expression like a little bride, then opened the paper in his hand and began to read.
"Good, good!"
"These hand seals don't look too complicated..."
Secretly relieved, Nawaki continued to read.
" 午-戌-巳, Wood Style - Wood Clone Jutsu???"
"Huh???"
Nawaki raised his head in surprise, his gaze shifting back and forth between Tsunade and Orochimaru.
"This... these are Grandpa's Wood Style ninjutsu hand seals! I..."
"Teacher, I can't use Wood Style!"
"Slap!"
Tsunade's eyes widened, and she slapped him, making Nawaki shrink his neck.
"Just memorize it when I tell you to, don't talk so much nonsense!"
Nawaki rubbed his head, his expression dejected as he lowered his head. To avoid further torment from his elder sister, Nawaki gritted his teeth and began to recite.
"巳-子-戌-寅, Wood Style - Wood Dragon Bullet."
"丑-亥-酉-戌-子-寅, Wood Style - Deep Forest Emergence."
"Teacher, I've finished reciting!"
Orochimaru looked surprised.
He had mastered the hand seals for dozens of Wood Style ninjutsu so quickly? Had his disciple suddenly become so intelligent?
With a doubtful attitude, Orochimaru reached out and took the paper from Nawaki's hand. He was instantly speechless.
"Tsunade, I asked you to copy a few Wood Style ninjutsu hand seals, and you only copied three?"
Tsunade waved her hand dismissively.
"The two easiest ones, and the most difficult one in normal conditions, just right."
"If he can release them, he can learn slowly later."
"If you expect this brat's brain to remember more at once, do you think he can memorize it?"
Orochimaru looked at the foolishly grinning Nawaki, remained silent for a moment, and nodded in agreement.
"That's true!"
"Nawaki, if you're ready, let's begin!"
Just as Nawaki was about to ask what they were preparing for, Orochimaru's palm, glowing with a dark green light, pressed against his chest.
The surging Ashura's origin chakra was severed by Orochimaru's Yin-Yang Release and instantly flowed into the 108 vital acupoints located on Nawaki's chakra meridians.
Nawaki's body stiffened, and the bloodline power within him, which shared the same origin as Ashura, seemed to be awakened. The 612 acupoints, not yet nourished by Ashura's chakra, simultaneously sent signals of thirst.
Orochimaru was not stingy, and directly dispersed Ashura's chakra, instantly filling all 720 acupoints in Nawaki's body.
A brand new chakra network formed by pure Ashura power instantly took shape. The amount of chakra within Nawaki's body, which ordinary ninjas would consider vast, was like an undeveloped child in front of the network formed by Ashura's chakra, instantly absorbed and assimilated completely.
The changes within his body happened too suddenly. Nawaki felt as if insects were constantly crawling within his meridians. His body convulsed, emitting groans of pain or pleasure.
At the same time, Nawaki's aura surged upwards, and large amounts of excess Wood Style energy, unable to be absorbed further and thus expelled from his body, surged around him.
The surrounding environment, influenced by the powerful life force of Wood Style, caused patches of lush green plants to sprout on the ground of the Senju compound, centered around Nawaki.
Orochimaru glanced within his body, finding that there was still a significant amount of Wood Style origin chakra remaining.
However, Nawaki's current condition clearly could not accommodate any more chakra. Helpless, Orochimaru withdrew his hand, ceasing the output of power into Nawaki's body.
"So much is left..."
Orochimaru rubbed his chin, then suddenly turned to Tsunade.
"Tsunade, do you want some?"
Tsunade was taken aback, her face instantly flushed red.
"Pervert, Nawaki is still here!"
Orochimaru: ???