60 Tsunade’s Decision

'Summoning Jutsu: Dual-Headed Snakes'

A giant double-headed snake-like creature appeared in front of us. The snake has blue color scales and large fangs. It had a large white bone carapace on its head.

Hisss….

The snake hissed at us as it attacked with its fangs.

"Eat this." I made some hand signs and shoot a fireball at the snake. The snake opened its maw wide and gulped down my fireball.

"It really ate it." I am surprised by this development as I engage in a fight with the snake. Hiruko escapes again,

"Orochimaru-san! You are the leader of the team. You should go ahead and chase down Hiruko. I will keep this snake occupied. I take out my Chakra blade as I shrug off another attack from the snake."

"It's decided then." Orochimaru nods to me and chases Hiruko.

The snake opens its mouth wide and two more snakes emerge from its mouth. This continues for a while as the snake continues to multiply as they become smaller and smaller until they form a large net to capture me.

I infuse Light Chakra in my Blade,

'Light Style: Light Sabre'

The blade turns blue from heat and vibrates. One by one, I slash one snake after another as I dodge its attacks. I continue to whittle down the headcounts of the snake. Katsuyu praises me for my strength.

"You are strong, Izuna-kun. I think you can fight Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama, and Orochimaru-sama in a few more years."

'Well, I can still fight and win against them, but the victory will come at a cost. Jiraiya has the Sage mode with toads, Orochimaru is an unkillable Cockroach, and Tsunade has her healing Jutsu. Among them, Tsunade is the weakest if I have to state the facts.

The bloodline of Senju and Uzumaki runs through her. She has the bloodline of Asura Otsutsuki. Maybe, she has high growth potential which she wasted in alcohol and sorrow. I hope she can overcome her grief soon. She will be a major help in our fight against Otsutsukis if she can reach her full potential.'

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Orochimaru continues to chase Hiruko as he catches up with him. Orochimaru appears in front of Hiruko as he pulls a kunai from his holster.

"You have done quite the research, Hiruko. I am amazed by your research notes. Your way of thinking aligns with me." Orochimaru licks his kunai as he stares at Hiruko.

"Orochimaru, you were sent by the Third Hokage to kill me. You have the chance now when I am weakened by my experiments. I don't have any summons anymore. You could kill me easily. Why are you stalling time now?" Hiruko questions Orochimaru's intentions.

"Hiruko, we have grown together, and I could notice the helplessness in your eyes. Your weakness pushed you to search for an alternative to search for power. I have a similar goal to you. There are some many jutsus, so much knowledge to learn in this short life.

Why our lifespan is so small? Why we can't reach immortality and live forever. I am quite interested in your Research on Chimera Technique. Why don't we make a deal? I will pass my research information to you and you pass your research information to me." Orochimaru entices Hiruko.

"What are your intentions, Orochimaru? I have already abandoned the village as the village can't handle my research anymore. As for you, you are a student of Third Hokage and I am sure he won't be happy to hear about your thoughts." Hiruko raises his guard as he looks warily at Orochimaru.

"Don't be so wary of me. I meant no harm to you, I will even help you escape from the Land of Fire. What I want is just your research knowledge? I am sure you are carrying a copy of your research with you. Here, you can see my research first to think seriously about my offer." Orochimaru throws a scroll to Hiruko, who catches the scroll warily.

After inspecting the scroll for a while for any traps, Hiruko opens the scroll and reads the research notes of Orochimaru. Hiruko is shocked to see the contents of the paper as he starts to frantically mutter to himself.

"Wonderful! Absolutely Wonderful! Your research aligns a lot with mine. If your offer is honest, I will comply with you. But you have to help me cross the borders of Land of Fire first, I will pass my research to you after that." Hiruko agrees with Orochimaru's deal.

Orochimaru leads Hiruko to the borders of Land of Fire and Land of Grass. After crossing the border, Hiruko throws a scroll towards Orochimaru and disappears from his vision.

Orochimaru grabs the scroll as he skims through it. He laughs maniacally and turns around to return to his teammates.

"It is easier to put this smaller clone of Katsuyu in genjutsu compared to the real body." Orochimaru strokes the slug.

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Later inside the Hokage's office,

Orochimaru presents a scroll to Hiruzen as he starts to explain his findings regarding the research of Hiruko.

"He was able to successfully slip from our grasp and escape the borders of Land of Fire. We have a peace treaty with Iwagakure, so I stopped at borders." Orochimaru reports to Hiruzen as he continues.

"Using his Kinjutsu, he created various Chimera Summoning beasts which he used in the battle against us." Orochimaru starts to explain the appearance and natures of Chimera beasts.

"So, Hiruko escaped from your hold. Label him as a missing-nin and put a bounty on his head. He is an S-Rank criminal, update his info on Bingo Book." Hiruzen orders as he smokes from his pipe.

"Thanks for your hard work, Lord Third. You still can't relax after your retirement." Minato assures Hiruzen.

"You don't have to thank me, Minato. I am just tying some loose ends. And also, I want to make sure that the transition between our tenure is smooth. You still have lots of things to learn, I am just playing my part in it." Hiruzen humbly responds to Minato's praise.

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I stood together with the Sannins as I listened to the report.

'I am pretty sure Orochimaru could have stopped Hiruko from escaping.'

Earlier I examined Hiruko's body with my Sharingan and I could notice many stitches all over his body. His body was weakened from the use of Kinjutsu. Part of the reason he never engaged in combat with us. He just used his Chimers summons to stall us.

'So, it seems Orochimaru allowed Hiruko to escape. They must have made some sort of deal. I am not interested in anything related to Orochimaru as long as he stays out of my way. If he tries to mess with me, I will give him a taste of my real power.'

Tsunade is lost in her thoughts as Izuna's earlier words cycle through her mind.

'He is much more realistic and intelligent compared to Nawaki.'

Tsunade walks up to me as she asks me,

"What's your dream, Izuna?"

I am surprised by her question, but I still answer to her nonetheless.

"My dream is to grow stronger than anyone else…."

Tsunade's expression dwindles as she seems to be disappointed by my answer. I continue with my answer.

"….so I could protect my family and loved ones from any sort of Danger. And to that, I will help them grow stronger with me."

Tsunade is surprised to hear my answer and a little happy too. She contemplates for a while before she seems to come to a decision.

Tsunade removes the necklace from her neck and approaches in front of me. Tsunade ties the necklace around my neck as she smiles at me.

Everyone including Hiruzen and Minato is surprised by this development as they look at us with wide-eyes.

My thoughts go haywire at this development. Various alarms start to go off in my brain as my thought process becomes a mess.

'Wtf! Is she raising a flag on me? I just wanted to help her overcome her grief and grown stronger in the time she spent sulking in grief. Has my Talk-no-Jutsu backfired on me? Or perhaps I have overdone with the Jutsu.

Powerful, this Talk-no-Jutsu is way too overpowered. It carried the entire Naruto series all by itself. Have I also earned the legendary fame of 'Plot Armor'? Well, I do have plot Armor from my wishes, but isn't this too much?��

She kisses my forehead as she smiles at me.

"Thanks for making me realize my mistakes. I think I will be able to overcome my grief. Your words helped me a lot."

"It would be better if you kissed me on lips." I smile back at Tsunade.

Bonk…

"You kid! Stop falling prey to Jiraiya's pervy nature." Tsunade bash my head as she laughs at me.

"Hey, don't accuse me of his misdeeds. It is his thoughts, I have no hand in them." Jiraiya tries to explain.

"It is your pervy nature that is corrupting Izuna." Tsunade hugs me in her embrace.

I am pressed in between her massive mounds. I enjoy this feeling of bliss.

'One can die for such a heavenly feeling. It is pure bliss.'

Jiraiya starts to grumble at me as he mutters,

"Damn! This lucky brat. He even managed to charm Tsunade with his sweet tongue."

Jiraiya looks at my handsome appearance and curse again.