Soon, Orochimaru arrived at Tsunade's residence.
The house where Tsunade lived was the mansion originally left behind by the First Hokage and Second Hokage. It was quite spacious, but usually only Tsunade lived there alone.
After knocking on the door for a long time without anyone coming over, Orochimaru was somewhat puzzled.
"Could she be out?"
Just as Orochimaru thought he had come at a bad time, a clattering sound suddenly came from inside the house, sounding like glass bottles hitting the floor.
"Go on, Shiro, go inside and check out the situation."
With that, he let Shiro out. In no time, Shiro came back out, its snake tongue constantly making a "hissing" sound.
Orochimaru understood snake language himself and quickly grasped its meaning.
"So that's how it is, truly something she would do!"
Unconcerned about being accused of trespassing, Orochimaru effortlessly scaled the courtyard wall and, upon reaching the living room of the house, caught sight of Tsunade at a single glance.
Only, at this moment, Tsunade was sitting cross-legged, slumped over the table fast asleep, surrounded by a pile of jars and bottles—empty wine bottles she had already finished drinking.
"Huh? Drinking in broad daylight, just how much did she drink?"
Orochimaru twitched his nose as a pungent smell of alcohol drifted through the air.
Coming up close, Orochimaru called out to her a few times, only to find no reaction at all.
By this time, Tsunade was completely unconscious and devoid of any resistance.
He took the half-empty wine bottle from her hand.
With a bridal style lift, Orochimaru scooped her up into his arms. Only then did he realize what it meant to have warmth filling his embrace, as those two great soft mounds pressed straight against his chest.
That patch of snowy whiteness was by no means inferior to Orochimaru's own pale skin. The impending fullness left Orochimaru momentarily dazed, and the bottomless cleavage was truly enough to tempt one into sin!
Her eyes were truly like autumnal waters, her skin like congealed lard, coupled with the youthful feminine fragrance emanating from Tsunade's body, leaving Orochimaru's gaze somewhat hazy for a moment.
Orochimaru truly wished he could hold her like this forever, endlessly feeling the softness radiating from her chest.
Just as he was hopelessly immersed in this beautiful scenery, perhaps feeling uncomfortable, Tsunade's body stirred unconsciously, while she murmured something in a hazy daze.
This sudden turn of events instantly snapped Orochimaru back to his senses. His Adam's apple bobbed as he hurriedly swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
It was not his first time at Tsunade's house, so following his memory, he carried Tsunade into the bedroom.
Gently laying her on the bed, looking at Tsunade's curvaceous, devilish figure, Orochimaru right at that moment truly wanted to lunge right on top of her.
But reason told him that if he did so, he might get pinned to the ground and rubbed into the dirt by Tsunade before getting what he wanted.
Tucking the blanket over Tsunade and withdrawing his lingering gaze, Orochimaru intended to leave.
Yet right at that moment, a delicate hand grabbed the corner of his clothing.
"Dan... don't leave me..."
Looking at Tsunade's tightly furrowed brows, with two trails of tears flowing from the corners of her eyes, and then looking at that hand instinctively clutching onto him.
"Sigh... It seems the blow she took was even greater than imagined."
At this thought, Orochimaru simply pulled over a chair from nearby, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and grasped Tsunade's delicate hand. Only then did the murmuring Tsunade fall silent.
Watching her brows gradually smooth out, Orochimaru finally had the time to examine Tsunade closely.
He had to admit that Tsunade was indeed one of the rare great beauties of the Shinobi World. With her slightly spirited eyebrows, full crimson lips, and flushed little cheeks, if placed in his past life, she would undoubtedly be a top-tier goddess of looks.
Clearly capable of making a living on her looks alone, she had instead been forcefully pushed into the position of Hokage.
It could be said that Tsunade was the person who cared least about the position of Hokage. Having left the village for over a dozen years, she never expected that one day someone would find her and tell her:
"Done playing around yet? If you're done playing, come back and be the Hokage!"
A Hokage position dropping straight from the sky—that probably made Danzo furious enough to drop dead.
From the Second and Third down to the Fourth, Danzo's lifelong scheming remained an unattainable dream, while some people were simply born protagonists, such as Konoha's acknowledged Princess Tsunade.
Of course, Danzo ultimately serving as Hokage for 7 days was not entirely without gains; at least he managed to scrape by as the 5.5th Hokage.
"What's terrifying isn't being single, but having a face that looks like you're never short of partners, while others think you're a massive player when you're actually just a hopeless romantic."
Admiring Tsunade's lovely visage, Orochimaru could not help but smile slightly.
Seeing that Tsunade's breathing had steadied, Orochimaru let go of her hand, tucked her in properly, and walked out the door.
In her hazy daze, Tsunade saw a tall, straight back retreating and pulling the door shut behind him.
He had originally intended to come find Tsunade to talk about training matters, but never expected to encounter this kind of scene.
As her companion, Orochimaru naturally did not want to stand by and watch her sink into such a dejected state.
He had to find something for her to do to divert her attention, and dragging her into sparring practice was just right.
Not only could it allow her to vent the pent-up frustration of this period and leave her with no surplus energy for wild thoughts, but it could also provide Orochimaru with a steady stream of kinetic momentum.
After tidying up the messy room, Orochimaru headed straight for Tsunade's study.
He and Jiraiya had indeed visited this place when they were kids, but entering now without the owner's permission was slightly impolite.
Still, he couldn't just shake the newly sleeping Tsunade awake right now; after she woke up, he would just tell her, and she would agree.
This study was quite large. As a top-tier Medical Ninjutsu master in the Shinobi World, the medical books collected by Tsunade were naturally numerous.
There were also many various documents left behind by the Second Hokage, ranging from personnel management and ninjutsu research to academy planning—everything imaginable was there.
From this, one could also see the extraordinary brilliance, rationality, and erudition of the Second Hokage, truly worthy of being the inventor of ninjutsu.
Orochimaru walked over to the bookshelf for Medical Ninjutsu materials, pulled one out, and began reading.
The moment he flipped open the book, the system's prompt tone rang in his mind once more:
"The host has triggered a plot event, Where Dreams Begin.
① Engage in scientific research, and you will acquire a photographic memory;
② Be a lazy slacker, and decades later you will make a fine stepping stone, acquiring a shuriken machine gun."
He never expected that within just a few days another important plot would be triggered; it seemed a snake's life was destined to be extraordinary.
As for these two options, Orochimaru naturally chose the first one without the slightest hesitation. As for the shuriken machine gun, what on earth was that?
"(Congratulations to the host for acquiring a photographic memory. The gears of fate begin to turn. (Note: May the host never forget their original aspiration on the path of scientific research and see it through to the end!))"
The next moment, a wave of clarity washed over Orochimaru's mind. His memories from childhood onward became extremely clear, including the memories of his past life as well.
"As expected, whatever the system produces is bound to be a fine product!"
At this thought, Orochimaru began flipping through the book in his hand. Paired with his super-enhanced vision, Orochimaru became like a human scanner, finishing a page of content in less than 3 seconds.
He would only slow down when encountering content that required contemplation, yet his reading speed was still incomparable to ordinary people.
For a time, the rustling sound of turning pages echoed through the room.