Chapter 14: Well-Reasoned and Convincing

"Tsunade, are you seriously planning to wear that to the Chūnin Exams?"

Not long after leaving Tsunade's house, Orochimaru finally couldn't hold back and asked.

No matter how you looked at it, a kimono like that wasn't exactly made for combat, right?

"None of your business. I'm not going to lose anyway," Tsunade replied, not at all interested in explaining to Orochimaru what true elegance meant. Instead, she changed the subject. "You, on the other hand, should focus on how to lose gracefully to me in the finals."

"You really have no regard for the other villages' shinobi, do you?"

Orochimaru grinned a little excitedly, sticking out his tongue to lick his lips.

"You seriously think you'd lose to a Genin?"

Tsunade curled her lips dismissively.

Frankly, she didn't believe anyone outside of herself and Orochimaru would make it to the final round. Not because she was arrogant—but because… well, it was just the Chūnin Exams. To be honest, during wartime, shinobi of their caliber were usually promoted to Chūnin on merit alone after a single mission. Especially during the First Great Ninja War, the standards had been a bit looser due to the chaos.

The only reason Tsunade and Orochimaru hadn't been promoted back then was… complicated.

Although they'd been sent to the front lines during the war, their missions were mostly on the safer side. Even if combat was involved, their squad's strength was more than enough to handle it.

Tsunade suspected this had a lot to do with Mito Uzumaki.

By the end of the First Great Ninja War, things had reached a boiling point. The Second Hokage had fallen in battle, and Hiruzen Sarutobi had been hastily shoved into the position of Third Hokage. Neither his age nor his strength really commanded respect at the time, and whatever the Second Hokage had been thinking, he'd appointed Hiruzen as his successor anyway. But Hiruzen lacked the authority to lead Konoha to victory.

So, the one who truly took charge behind the scenes was Mito Uzumaki—the wife of the First Hokage.

As the first Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, Mito rarely appeared in public after marrying Hashirama Senju, but her strength was unquestionable. She was especially skilled in sealing techniques and medical ninjutsu. Of course, age had taken its toll on her. Still, as the wife of the First Hokage, her presence alone carried immense prestige.

Under Mito's leadership, Tsunade had been granted a sort of elite status. The reason was simple: the Senju Clan, known for leading from the front lines, had suffered devastating losses. Even the clan leader—the Second Hokage—had died in the Land of Lightning. At that time, Tsunade was considered the last real hope of the Senju.

Given those circumstances, no one was stupid enough to object.

Of course, it's not like Tsunade's team spent the whole war sipping tea. During the most intense battles, they were assigned extremely dangerous missions. On one such mission, led by a jōnin, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya led a team of Konoha shinobi hundreds of kilometers behind enemy lines. Though they completed the mission, they were surrounded by enemy forces on their way out.

To escape… well, let's just say they used every trick in the book.

In the end, only Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya made it out alive.

That raid had cost Konoha one jōnin and several Chūnin, but the results were impressive enough to turn the tide of the war. From that point on, the momentum shifted in Konoha's favor—and Tsunade's team was no longer needed on the front lines.

Due to their lack of age, experience, and enough official merit, Tsunade and her team were never promoted. The war ended before that could happen, with Konoha emerging as the victor.

Because of all this, Tsunade had always assumed she was a special jōnin by now…

That is, until a few days ago, when she found out from Hiruzen-sensei that this was all just one beautiful misunderstanding.

So now, with both Tsunade and Orochimaru still technically Genin but possessing far beyond average strength, Hiruzen had chosen them as Konoha's trump cards for this Chūnin Exam. He figured it was finally time to promote them, anyway—sending them on D-rank and C-rank missions was just a waste of talent at this point.

Back to the present.

Orochimaru didn't think he'd lose to a Genin, but his cautious nature meant he never overlooked important details. Unlike Tsunade, who was always too carefree, he took the Chūnin Exams seriously—even if it was just a promotion exam.

"Whether or not you'll lose to a Genin, as a Konoha ninja, shouldn't you at least be wearing your forehead protector?"

"I am wearing it."

"Sorry, but I don't see it."

Orochimaru was confident he wasn't so careless as to miss something that obvious. Still, deep down, he believed Tsunade. She wasn't the kind of person to lie about something like that. If she said Jiraiya would be bedridden for a week, there was no way he'd get out of bed before day eight.

Well-reasoned and convincing.

So Orochimaru began to suspect that maybe Tsunade had done something weird to hide it.

Which, frankly, was very on-brand for her—always doing odd, unexpected things that seemed useless.

What he didn't know was: the things he thought were useless were actually proof of Tsunade's efforts to become stronger.

But Tsunade didn't explain anything. She simply crouched down, bent over, and lifted the hem of her kimono. First, she revealed her smooth, fair calves… then her knees… and finally, the Konoha forehead protector strapped to her thigh—alongside three ninja tool scrolls tucked inside her inner thigh.

"See? I told you I was wearing it. You just didn't believe me."

"…"

Orochimaru found himself at a loss for words. He never imagined Tsunade would actually wear her forehead protector like a garter.

After a long pause, Orochimaru finally squeezed out a sentence:

"So even you need to carry ninja tool scrolls, huh?"

Tsunade dropped her kimono and chuckled helplessly. "Why wouldn't I? I don't have some kind of dimensional pocket in my chest. Where else would I keep my gear during battle?"

"…"

At this point, 'Jiraiya'—who had been obediently keeping quiet under Tsunade's orders—suddenly spoke up. He tugged at the forehead protector hanging from his neck like a collar and protested, "Boss, I wanna wear mine down there too!"

"Your legs are too skinny. It won't stay on."

Tsunade rejected her 'husky' companion's request once again.

"Oh, okay…"

After thinking about it, the four-legged pup admitted his limbs were indeed too slender for tying on a forehead protector.

Just then, Tsunade suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned to look at a distant figure—an unfamiliar ninja walking away.

"He's got mouths on his hands."

Orochimaru turned his head slightly and spotted a young man, likely not even twenty.

"That's a Genin from Iwagakure, the Hidden Stone Village. You noticed the mouths too, huh? According to the intel, he mixes chakra with clay through the mouths in his hands, then detonates it. The resulting explosions are extremely destructive. He's one of the stronger candidates in this Chūnin Exam."

Clearly, Orochimaru had done his homework.

"A powerful guy who could totally survive being single forever," Tsunade commented with genuine admiration.

"…"

For some reason, Orochimaru had the distinct feeling that he and Tsunade were not thinking about the same kind of "strong."

"Mouths on both hands. Isn't that incredibly convenient?"

Tsunade argued her case seriously and explained in earnest.

"…"

Again, that same conclusion:

Well-reasoned and convincing.

(End of Chapter)

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