Naruto: Reborn with the Tenseigan

Orochimaru, already accustomed to it all, remained unmoved, only offering Jiraiya a half-smile.

But Takashi was getting fed up.

Jiraiya, shameless as he could be, was truly exhausting. Not only was he exhausting, but he also kept leaning in closer.

This idiot probably took his money to spend on some ladies for a few days, and hadn't even bothered to bathe or change his clothes.

Unable to tolerate it any longer, Takashi finally gave in.

"Stop rubbing against me. I only know how to make certain special puppets. Orochimaru wanted to study them, so we made a deal."

"On the battlefield, enemy corpses can be used to make puppets. It's free material, you get it?"

"Special puppets?" Jiraiya scratched his head, wondering what kind of puppet could be called a "special puppet".

Curious, aren't you?

Well, I'm not telling you. Get lost, leaning won't help. Also, back off!

"Get lost!"

Jiraiya tried to use the same tactic he used on Takashi on Orochimaru, but he was immediately greeted with a cold glare and an even colder dismissal.

"Scram."

"Alrighty!"

Jiraiya wisely backed off, fully aware that Orochimaru wouldn't hesitate to resort to violence if he didn't.

The second wave of support troops wasn't very large—at most five or six hundred people. The situation in the Land of Rain hadn't yet escalated to where Konoha needed to send thousands of ninjas.

The more people there were, the slower the pace of travel. Along with the need to transport various supplies, speed was just not feasible.

Medical supplies could be carried with sealing scrolls, but for basic necessities, using sealing scrolls was too costly. Even with Konoha's resources, it couldn't afford such expenses—so supplies had to be carried by cart or on the backs of ninjas.

As for the medical supplies needed at the frontline camp, they were all contained in a few sealing scrolls, carried by Takashi himself.

In addition to him, the village had dispatched a team of fifteen medical ninjas, all reporting to him.

If the situation worsened, more personnel would be sent.

After being scolded by Orochimaru several times, Jiraiya finally took the opportunity, during a rest stop, to jump into the river, scrub himself clean, and put on fresh clothes.

No longer smelling awful and no longer shooed away, he joined Takashi's side.

Compared to the perpetually cold and foul-mouthed Orochimaru, Jiraiya preferred being around Takashi—he could joke around and relax.

"Takashi, aren't you going to say hi to your clansmen?"

There were members of the Hyuga clan among the support troops heading to the Land of Rain. Jiraiya was puzzled as neither side seemed interested in even acknowledging the other, let alone chatting.

Takashi glanced at his clansmen and smiled faintly.

"Do you know the Hyuga Clan's hierarchy?"

"Main house and branch house?" Jiraiya scratched his head.

"Correct, but not entirely."

Takashi shook a finger, correcting him. "It's the main family, followed by branch family elders, then the branch family, and finally, those with diluted bloodlines. Four tiers."

"Oh, I see."

Jiraiya nodded in realization but quickly raised another question. "Wait a second. That's still only three tiers. Aren't the branch elders part of the branch family?"

If they're part of the branch family, why aren't they grouped together?

"Due to the clan's system, becoming a branch elder requires significant merit. Ordinary branch members have no chance of assuming such a role. Most branch elders are former main family members who lost their inheritance rights and were branded with the Caged Bird Seal. They look down on regular branch members."

"On the surface, they're branch elders, but their hearts align with the main family. That's why they're a separate tier."

"Now do you understand?"

"Damn."

Jiraiya's jaw dropped. "That's so... brutal?"

So when it came to matters involving branch interests, most branch elders wouldn't side with the branch house because their loyalty lay with the main house.

"But aren't they supposed to be branch members forever? If that's the case, why lean toward the main house?"

Jiraiya's confusion only deepened.

Takashi looked up at the sky, making Jiraiya follow his gaze, thinking there might be something there.

But there was nothing.

"They became branch members due to the inheritance system, but their Byakugan purity remains high. If given the chance, their descendants could marry back into the main house."

"Huh?"

Jiraiya looked utterly confused.

Orochimaru also listened with great interest.

No matter how prestigious the main house seemed, there were only so many of them, and not every generation had suitable matches. So, branch members with high Byakugan purity became suitable options.

Besides having few members, there were considerations of blood relations. The main house had a tough time finding appropriate matches over generations.

This is driving me nuts.

Do all major clans have such complicated dynamics?

Suddenly, Jiraiya felt lucky to be a civilian ninja rather than being born into a big clan.

"Don't make that face."

Takashi saw that Jiraiya clearly misunderstood something and decided to clarify: "Not every ninja clan is like this. In all of Konoha—no, in the entire shinobi world—only the Hyuga Clan is like this. The other clans aren't, like the Uchiha, they don't have these weird rules."

"In fact, most clans don't even mind marrying outside the clan, like the Senju Clan."

Recalling the antics of the Senju Clan, Takashi couldn't help but laugh.

"Back in the day, the Senju Clan loved marrying into the Uzumaki Clan, which led to a lot of resentment. The Uzumaki Clan felt annoyed because the Senju always took away their most beautiful and talented girls."

Such antics were indeed… a bit outrageous.

"They could've just married off their own women to the Uzumaki, right?"

After all, mutual alliances through marriage were standard practice.

"Idiot. Why do you think the Uzumaki harbored resentment?"

Orochimaru, unable to stand Jiraiya's naivety, interjected. "Think it through—if both sides played fair, why would the Uzumaki bear a grudge?"

Clearly, the Senju were being opportunistic, always taking advantage while leaving the Uzumaki feeling shortchanged.

After being scolded, Jiraiya finally understood.

Even someone as thick-skinned as him couldn't help but mutter, "That's just too stingy."

"Why else would they be resentful?"

Jiraiya had a knack for lightening the mood and making blunders. Sometimes, after being scolded by Orochimaru, he would ignore it. But if the insults got too harsh, he'd snap back at Orochimaru.

Amusingly, when Jiraiya did push back, Orochimaru would always walk away with a cold expression, as if he didn't want to argue with an idiot, leaving Jiraiya howling in frustration.