Red Nara

- Orochimaru! I need your help!

Orochimaru, who had just decided to have a snack, nearly choked on his partner's scream and the door to the official laboratory provided to the snake sannin by the village.

- Jiraya, didn't they teach you to knock?! - Jiraya's eyes widened, and he hissed at the white-haired idiot who had almost caused the unpleasant incident. - And if I was conducting experiments!?

- Well, you're not," the toad summoner said lightly, "I need your help.

- And what do you need from me so urgently? - Orochimaru sighed, rubbing his forehead with his hand.

Over the years, he'd gotten to know his partner well enough to know when it was possible to fight off an adventure, and when Jiraiya was a leech and could only do what he wanted for his own peace of mind. Judging by the serious look on his face, it was the latter.

- Here!

Orochimaru held out the body of a genin in a training suit, and judging by the water dripping off it, it had recently been in a river.

- Do you need help getting rid of the body? - The scientist raised an eyebrow gracefully, examining the body with the gaze of a master vivisector. - Well, my snakes will eat any kind of meat, so they won't mind dead meat.

- No, don't feed Minato to the snakes," Jiraiya pulled his fainting pupil away from him, "we need to give him some initial body enhancement.

- Are you confusing me with Tsunade-hime? She's the iryonin of the three of us, and I'm more on the research side," the snake sannin snorted derisively, trying to excuse himself.

The attempt was doomed to failure when dealing with someone as stubborn as the toadophile, but it was still worth a try.

- You're not Tsunade-hime, but the third degree iryonin title was confirmed at the hospital five years ago, so now you can give the second degree," Jiraiya said, showing that he was well aware of the fact that Orochimaru didn't even tell his partners about it, "so you'll do fine.

- It's expensive, chakra- and time-consuming work," the pale jonin frowned, "I've got enough work to do to waste time on half-dead bodies.

- It's not a body, it's Minato-kun, my personal apprentice," the white-haired shinobi said proudly, "and I'm not asking for a full set of improvements, just an initial one that only takes a couple of days for less experienced iryonins. I'll owe you one," he added seriously, seeing that his friend was unimpressed.

- And why would your genin suddenly need reinforcement? You told me about his genius and guaranteed that in a couple of years he would leave all his peers far behind," Orochimaru leaned his hip on the table, folding his arms across his chest and glancing longingly at his uneaten snack.

- Chuunin Senbatsu Shiken," the toad sannin said gravely, "not only will there be teams from other villages, but all of ours will be competing, and these are the clan children and wards of Hatake Sakumo and Ryo Nara, so any small advantage will matter.

- Well, let's say you're right to be wary of the jinchuriki, especially with training from two S-ranked fighters, but what does that have to do with Nara and his team? - The scholar raised his eyebrows in bewilderment.

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