But this was just wishful thinking; the village elders would never hand such a thing over to him, even if it killed them.
Jiraiya noticed Tōshirō seemed less than happy. He hooked his arm around him. "What's wrong? We won the battle, and you're still gloomy."
Tōshirō looked at his fallen comrades, letting out a heavy sigh. "Once war begins, there's no winning or losing."
These words struck a chord with Jiraiya and the others around them, who all lowered their heads.
Tōshirō continued, "Besides, didn't we let the Sky Ninjas get away?"
Jiraiya scratched his head, a bit annoyed. "We couldn't help it. In terms of individual combat power, the Sky Ninjas weren't strong, but their flying devices were simply too tricky. We could only watch them leave."
"That's true." Tōshirō rubbed his chin, pondering for a moment. He then looked at the fallen Sky Ninjas on the ground and suggested, "In that case, why don't we develop our own aerial unit?"
Jiraiya was taken aback. "Our own aerial unit?"
Tōshirō smiled. "Exactly."
"But is that even possible?"
"Why not just research it?"
Tōshirō smiled at his resident great scientist. "Orochimaru, with these remnants on the ground, can you research and replicate a set?"
The Sky Ninjas' flying devices looked rather crude. Tōshirō felt that with Orochimaru's research capabilities, he should be able to replicate them.
Tōshirō had always wondered why the great nations in the original story didn't develop such convenient devices.
If smaller nations could produce them, there was no reason why great nations couldn't.
In this world, it was often the smaller nations that had impressive technology. For example, the Land of Snow could develop powerful armors that amplified chakra and granted immunity to genjutsu, which were incredibly strong.
In comparison, the Hidden Leaf had no impressive scientific devices.
Or was it a prejudice of the great nations?
Believing that a ninja's true strength came from within, and those who relied on external tools were unorthodox and inferior.
While it currently seemed that pursuing technology didn't have much future, it was hard to say what would happen later...
After all, the strength of artificial humans in fan-fiction works could even rival that of the Ōtsutsuki, which was ridiculous.
Orochimaru's lips curved upwards, showing keen interest. "It looks like a rather interesting thing. I will report your suggestion to the higher-ups and allocate funds for research."
"That's good..."
Tōshirō yawned. He was already sleepy, and the enemy attack had made him even more tired.
Considering they had just repelled the enemy, it was unlikely anyone would disturb them for a while. He planned to get some good sleep and replenish his energy.
"If there's nothing else, I'll go to sleep now. Just call me if anything comes up."
Tōshirō calmly walked towards his living quarters in the camp.
Jiraiya turned his head sideways, looking at Tsunade.
Tsunade was bewildered by his gaze. "Why are you looking at me?"
Jiraiya had a mischievous grin. "Aren't you going to sleep with him?"
"Why should I have to sleep with him?!"
Tsunade retorted flirtatiously. "Besides, I still have to treat the injured. I'm not as free as he is."
At this moment, Orochimaru walked over and suddenly said, "Tsunade, I think you should follow Jiraiya's suggestion."
Tsunade's jaw dropped. "Orochimaru, even you..."
Orochimaru gently shook his head. "Tsunade, you misunderstood my meaning."
Tsunade looked at him strangely.
Orochimaru approached gracefully, analyzing. "While it might seem inappropriate to say this, to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, your chakra should be reserved for more critical moments."
He wasn't speaking emotionally but considering the bigger picture.
Orochimaru continued, "Tōshirō used a lot of chakra when he cast Ice Age earlier. To replenish his own chakra, he must have absorbed quite a bit from you."
Tsunade nodded. "That's true..."
Orochimaru reassured her, "You don't need to worry too much. Even without you, we have enough medical ninjas to provide treatment."
Tsunade sighed, accepting it rather reluctantly.
Inside the tent, Tōshirō saw Tsunade return, a surprised expression on his face. He let out a light "Hm?" "Why are you back? I thought you were treating your comrades. I was already prepared to spend the night alone."
"Spending the night alone is usually used to describe women, isn't it?"
Tōshirō waved his hand, casually saying, "No big deal, as long as people understand."
Tsunade: ...
Tōshirō spoke cheekily, "Don't tell me you came back specifically to sleep with me because you missed me so much?"
"Don't flatter yourself," Tsunade rolled her eyes.
"Tsunade, when did you get a Byakugan transplant?"
"???"
"Otherwise, how would you have the Hyūga clan's Byakugan?"
Tsunade: ...
"Haha, just kidding, don't take it seriously." After the joke, Tōshirō composed himself and asked seriously, "Seriously, why did you come back?"
Based on his understanding of Tsunade, she wouldn't go out of her way to come back just to keep him company.
Tsunade looked at Tōshirō with a disgusted expression. "You think I want to? It's not like that. Orochimaru said that you absorbed too much of my chakra, and if I continued using medical ninjutsu for treatment, my chakra consumption would be too great, which would negatively impact the battle later on."
Tōshirō nodded, fully appreciating Orochimaru's meticulous thinking and his ability to consider the bigger picture rather than individual gains or losses. This man was someone destined for great things.
Natural chakra recovery was quite slow. Taking a past example of a "large Sasuke," that guy rested for several days, doing nothing, yet his chakra remained depleted.
Tōshirō looked at Tsunade's beautiful face, thinking of last time, his heart stirring with desire. "Do you want me to give you back your chakra then?"
Tsunade's expression wavered for a moment, then she understood what he was implying. She gave him a bubbly, disgusted look. "Dream on! I know you just want to take advantage of me."
"Tsunade, that's going too far," Tōshirō denied it. "Everything needs proof, you know."
"Do I need proof?" Tsunade's lips twitched. She saw through Tōshirō's ill intentions with her perceptive eyes. "It's written all over your lecherous gaze, staring at my chest."
"That's a very harsh thing to say." What bad intentions could Tōshirō have? He put on an expression of an innocent man being wronged:
"It's late at night, and the temperature is dropping. I'm merely trying to bring you a little warmth with my burning gaze."
Tsunade's beautiful face visibly twitched. How could her boyfriend be such a smooth talker? He was clearly acting perversely, yet he could say it with such righteous indignation. Only he could do that...
Despite how lecherous he was, she still loved him.
She supposed that must be love.
Tsunade gritted her teeth. "Well, thank you very much then."
Tōshirō's skin was as thick as a wall. "You're welcome. It's what I, as your boyfriend, should do."
Tsunade: ...
Tōshirō chuckled. Bantering and teasing like this was quite fun; it could effectively relieve the oppressive atmosphere of war.
"Tsunade, since I've fulfilled my duties as a boyfriend, can you also fulfill your duties as a girlfriend?"
"What do you want me to do?" Tsunade felt he was up to no good.
Tōshirō leaned closer to Tsunade, smiling mischievously. "I've been under a lot of stress lately. Could I borrow your stress ball to play with and release some pressure?"
A stress ball is a spherical toy used to relieve stress and tension.
Tsunade looked a bit confused. Did she have such a thing on her?
But this doubt quickly dissipated.
That scoundrel Tōshirō was brazen enough to pull a move right in front of her, showing off his excellent technique.
Flustered and enraged, Tsunade kicked Tōshirō off the bed. "You go sleep on the floor."
(End of Chapter)
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