Naruto: Becoming the Soul King Chapter 97 - 98: Orochimaru’s Surprise!

"I also greatly admire Orochimaru-sama, but I haven't found the opportunity to visit. Sensei Jiraiya is often away from Konoha..."

Everyone appreciates complints, and Seiryū was very polite.

He knew how to speak respectfully.

Although he was Jiraiya's disciple, he wasn't close to Orochimaru.

Why would he seek him out for no reason?

There was neither reason nor opportunity.

"Hehehe..."

Orochimaru chuckled faintly, but his curiosity remained. Why was Seiryū at Tsunade's house?

What did Tsunade an by what she said earlier?

What exactly had Seiryū done?

The boy looked very weak at the mont.

So Orochimaru asked, "Your relationship with Tsunade seems quite good. Are you not only Jiraiya's disciple, but also Tsunade's?"

Even if Seiryū was Jiraiya's disciple, that alone shouldn't warrant this kind of attention from Tsunade.

Had she also taken him as a disciple?

He hadn't heard any such news.

Besides, from Tsunade's tone, there was real concern. And this boy was wearing Tsunade's clothes.

That wasn't normal.

But what was strange was that their exchange didn't resemble a Sensei-disciple relationship. It felt more like that of friends, or even equals—

That was what puzzled Orochimaru.

He knew Tsunade's personality very well. If she didn't acknowledge soone, she wouldn't treat them this kindly.

Seiryū said, "I'm hungry," and Tsunade got up to cook.

Even he and Jiraiya wouldn't necessarily receive such treatnt from Tsunade.

"..."

Faced with this question, Seiryū carefully chose his words before answering, "I'm not Tsunade-sama's disciple. At most, I'm her student, perhaps? My dical Ninjutsu was taught by Tsunade-sama."

As for his relationship with Tsunade.

Hmm, how should he describe it?

There was a bit of teacher-student, a bit of friendship, also creditor-debtor, and doctor-patient.

In short, it was complicated.

"Student?"

Orochimaru nodded slightly.

But he still didn't fully believe it.

Could a simple student make Tsunade care this much?

With a smile, Orochimaru continued, "Did you co today to visit Tsunade? That's very thoughtful."

He had co to Tsunade's house because they hadn't seen each other in a while.

Today was New Year's Day.

After all, they had once faced life and death together, so they would occasionally et.

He just hadn't expected to find Jiraiya's disciple here and to discover sothing even more interesting.

Even n had their gossiping side.

At the mont, Orochimaru was determined to uncover the story between them.

"No." Seiryū shook his head and spoke honestly, "I ca to collect a debt. She owes money, and the New Year is the best ti to collect."

Thinking of this, Seiryū got angry again, gritting his teeth slightly. "But she tried to default again, and even tried to scam instead. It's truly outrageous! She really is a bad woman!"

Orochimaru paused. "Collecting a debt...?"

His expression beca strange.

He felt this kid was a bit unusual, but couldn't put his finger on what it was.

Sothing was off. He wasn't like a normal person.

It was hard to keep up with his pace.

Just then, Tsunade walked over carrying a bowl of noodles. Hearing Seiryū's words, her expression darkened, and she snorted coldly, clearly annoyed. "When you did that, did you think about the consequences? If I had—"

"In short, I saved your life, so now you owe five million Ryo!"

She was determined to settle the score and let Seiryū understand how reckless he had been. His actions were far too extre!

"Impossible!"

Seiryū refused flatly, even more angry than Tsunade. He hated being scamd for money. "If it weren't for , how could your Hemophobia possibly have been cured?"

"Not only do you refuse to pay a consultation fee, you're trying to extort money from instead?"

This bad woman had no gratitude at all. He'd risked his life to help cure her Hemophobia, and now she wanted to scam him?

Totally unreasonable!

"Cured her Hemophobia?"

Orochimaru's pupils contracted slightly at Seiryū's words. He glanced at Tsunade from the corner of his eye.

Her Hemophobia had erged during the Second Great Ninja War, caused by the deaths of those people.

And now it was actually cured?

This conversation revealed so pretty big information.

"Is that how you treat a disease? Did you not read the dical Handbook I gave you? Which of the Three Great Rules of dical Ninja did you follow?"

Tsunade clenched her fist, really wanting to knock Seiryū on the head.

But considering his current condition, she held back.

Staring at Seiryū, Tsunade's expression turned serious, and her tone was stern. "A dical Ninja must prioritize their own life. You used your life as a gamble, betting on whether I could overco my Hemophobia."

"What if I couldn't?"

"You would have died!!"

"As a dical Ninja, your life is the most important thing. What you did was far too reckless. You need to value your own life more!"

As a dical Ninja, valuing one's life was a basic principle. But what did Seiryū do?

It was excessive, beyond reason.

It ant he didn't value his own life at all.

...Upon hearing this, Orochimaru's eyes flickered again. The information beca clearer.

Seiryū had used his life as a bet to make Tsunade overco her Hemophobia?

Combining that with Tsunade's earlier words about "self-harm," Orochimaru could piece together a general idea of what had happened.

This surprised him greatly. His gaze toward Seiryū beca even more interested.

This boy had done sothing shocking—or rather, insane!

If he rembered correctly...

The kid was only eight or nine years old?

To have that kind of courage?

For so reason, he started to take a real interest in Seiryū.

"There is no 'what if'! You overca your Hemophobia and saved . That proves my thod was correct!!"

Seiryū grinned, a smile very similar to the one he had worn that morning. "I believe in you. You're the Princess of Konoha, Tsunade-hi, the strongest dical Ninja in the entire shinobi world. How could you fail at sothing so small?"

Although Seiryū had made sure he wouldn't actually die, he genuinely believed that Tsunade could overco her Hemophobia.

After all—well—she did overco it in the original story.

That ant it was curable!

"..."

Tsunade stared blankly at Seiryū.

How much trust did he place in her to go through with sothing so crazy?

To be honest, she had already given up on overcoming her Hemophobia.

She didn't believe she could overco it, much less treat it.

Yet Seiryū trusted her so much that he used his life as a wager. For a mont, emotion stirred in her heart.

But then Seiryū's next words shattered that emotional mont.

He said, "More importantly, if you didn't overco your Hemophobia, you couldn't be my Jōnin Instructor! Don't forget, you still owe money. If you don't have cash, use sothing else to pay off the debt! Don't think you can just default!"

Tsunade: "..."

Give back my emotional mont!

Tsunade glared at Seiryū, gritting her teeth. "Shut up! Sit down! Eat your food!!"

(To be continued.)