Chad didn't feel comfortable letting Isaribi continue training today, so he asked her to accompany him for the rest of the day. Maybe they would have to change the training grounds; it wasn't safe to keep using the same location.
They were currently back in the village, on their way to the orphanage to check on the children and assess the situation.
What if Orochimaru found out about the children and tried to kidnap them?
Maybe he should set up a barrier. With the ANBU training Yugao had received, she could help prepare one.
"Sensei," Isaribi walked beside Chad and halfway there pointed at his right shoulder in a surprised tone, "when did you get cut?"
"Hm?" Chad followed his student's finger and saw that, indeed, he had a small cut with a few drops of blood falling from it. "Oh, it's nothing."
It was so tiny he hadn't felt it before. He had even thought the sensation of something running down his skin was just leftover from the fight.
"In fact, the Raikage is right—we should wash properly before going to the orphanage," Chad thought as he used Mystical Palm to heal the wound in an instant. "I thought he was teasing me and exaggerating, but judging by people's reactions as we walked past, the smell must be stronger than we realize."
Their noses were probably somewhat numb from the snake bile, and the brain had a surprising ability to tune out smells under certain circumstances.
As for the wound…
"I'm sure I didn't have it before reaching the beach, and those chunks of soft flesh that fell on me definitely didn't cut me," he reflected. "We didn't even fight at close range, so that only leaves…"
When Isaribi launched her final attack, did Orochimaru do something?
Maybe with the Kusanagi sword?
The cut was definitely from something sharp, but for him not to notice it, the blade must have been coated with an anesthetic.
"Such a small window of opportunity, at a moment when he was about to take considerable damage, and he still used it to get my blood," Chad snorted in annoyance. "A reserve for Edo Tensei, or does he want to study it?"
Well, let's see how he reacts when he looks at it under a microscope!
"Isaribi, let's go to the hot springs first," Chad turned around even though they were almost there. "There's no rush. We stink, and I don't think the kids will feel comfortable with the smell."
They could shower at home, but he didn't want to risk bringing the odor into his house.
"Go to the hot springs?" Isaribi froze for a moment when she heard him. "Sensei, you mean t-together?"
Normally only people like Hibui, Kiyui, and Mabui entered the hot springs with Chad. She and Yugito also used the secluded area—but when they went on their own!
"Of course. How else?" Chad raised an eyebrow as he turned his head to look at her.
The pungent smell would definitely drive away the female customers if Isaribi entered the women's section right now, and as the surgeon who had operated on her multiple times, it wasn't as if she needed to be shy in front of him.
Besides, for all Chad knew, someone might already be using his private section of the hot springs. After all, having a place to yourself—or with very few people—was a better experience than when it was overcrowded.
…
Twenty minutes later, at the hot springs—Chad's section.
"I expected to maybe find someone else, but definitely not you," Chad commented after scrubbing away the stench for fifteen minutes and entering the hot water, his sculpted torso submerged up to his pectorals as he rested his outstretched arms on the edge.
"Raikage-sama took advantage of the situation with Orochimaru to slip away from the office and the paperwork under the excuse of patrolling the village outskirts, probably hoping I'd do the administrative work that's supposed to be his," Mabui commented, submerged up to her neck and relaxed beside her brother. "That's not happening."
Besides, those documents required the Raikage's signature. She couldn't move things forward even if she wanted to, and she definitely wasn't forging signatures. Not today.
"…And you don't have other paperwork to deal with at the office?" Isaribi asked, blowing bubbles and looking disappointed for some unknown reason.
"Clones," Mabui replied simply without even opening her eyes; she was in bliss at the moment. "I don't know who invented them, but thank the Sage for them."
It was surprising how infrequently clones were used—always in battle—when they could free up so much manpower. Even just one clone per person would double the work accomplished!
It was strange; she hadn't noticed them until her brother pointed them out.
"And what's your excuse?" Isaribi looked at the other woman in the water.
"Mabui invited me with her." Only Yugao's face emerged from the water. "Konoha doesn't have hot springs as good as these, and I always avoided them because of a certain person, but I think I could get used to this."
She had already met the izakaya staff and would officially start working in a week, so she would take advantage of every moment to relax and enjoy herself.
Seeing that Chad had a reserved spot, maybe she'd drop by on weekends.
It didn't seem like he minded, so everyone was happy.
"Brother, can you help me with the usual?" Mabui asked Chad, tilting her head.
"Your neck and back hurting again?" Chad moved the hand closest to Mabui and brushed the skin of her neck. Green chakra lit up his palm, filtering through the necessary muscles toward the affected areas.
Mabui sighed in relief as the residual tension and pain the hot water hadn't completely removed vanished under the effect of the familiar, warm chakra. Having a brother who knew medical ninjutsu at this level was a true blessing.
"Thank you," she said, feeling light again.
Chad waved a hand dismissively without saying anything. It cost him nothing to help family, and the treatment only took a minute.
"I'm curious—what did Orochimaru come here to do?" Yugao asked. "After the fiasco in Konoha, I thought he'd lay low for a while."
"It was my fault…" Isaribi explained what had happened on the beach.
"That explains the bad smell from both of you."
"Was it that bad?"
"I almost submerged myself just so I wouldn't have to breathe when you came in. Good thing there's quality soap here," Yugao replied. "By the way, what are those leaves he has? They smell nice."
"Chamomile," Mabui answered. "Now that I think about it, where were you heading before coming here?"
"I was going to the orphanage…" Chad replied.
Mabui's eyes snapped open.
"Did he find out something?" she thought, suddenly tense.
"…I wanted to make sure Orochimaru wasn't aware of the children there," Chad continued, not noticing his sister's reaction, too focused on the heat of the water.
"For that sinister body-switching technique?" Mabui vaguely remembered something about it. "But the children at the orphanage are too young."
Even the oldest wouldn't start at the academy for at least another year.
"I don't think that would stop him," Yugao added from her spot, rising from the water to her shoulder blades as she leaned back against the edge. "During Konoha's Chunin Exam, he 'marked' the son of the Uchiha clan patriarch with the Cursed Seal during the second test," she explained. "The Uchiha didn't take it well, I assure you."
Orochimaru's actions meant the Uchiha clan was in his sights.
As they talked about it, Chad simply sank a little deeper into the water.
Orochimaru's technique wasn't perfect. It made him especially vulnerable to illusions, and the rejection from the body he took over could be very painful. Not to mention that each transfer made the next body last for a shorter time.
Even if Orochimaru had successfully taken over Sasuke's body, he would only have been able to keep it for a decade at most before transferring again.
"Why did he never make clones of himself?" Chad had wondered more than once. "Bodies made from his own flesh wouldn't cause rejection. Clones wouldn't have a soul to fight with. He could always perform alterations to induce part of a clan's bloodline, and by controlling the clones' age, he could maintain an approximate age at will."
Ironically, Orochimaru was so obsessed with bloodlines and immortality that he ignored the fact that he himself might have been the best method to achieve it.
"Chad. Chad!"
"Hm?"
"Were you falling asleep?" Mabui asked. "I hope not. It wouldn't be easy for all of us to carry you home," she joked.
Had Mabui just called him heavy?
"I was just mentally reviewing the clash with Orochimaru," Chad rolled his eyes. "What were you saying?"
"I wanted to know why you're going to hire Kakuzu again. Kiyui mentioned it to me." She stretched her arms upward, lifting them out of the water. "You should still have enough genetic material left for several batches—enough for years."
"Correction—I'm not hiring Kakuzu this time, but someone from his Akatsuki group," he clarified. "They have a guy who's good at gathering information."
"The village has its own intelligence network," Mabui made a face; she still didn't like the idea. "Akatsuki isn't cheap."
Even if you got a discount for paying with explosive tags, it was still expensive!
"What I want to obtain isn't easy," Chad replied. He knew Mabui didn't approve of resorting to Kakuzu or Akatsuki, but he had to—especially for this purpose.