Naruto: Reborn with the Tenseigan

After resting for two days at the camp, the reinforcement troops began receiving their assignments. Squad after squad of ninja left the camp and entered the battlefield.

On a ninja battlefield, large-scale frontal assaults were rare. Most battles were fought in small squads. A more intense skirmish might involve a platoon, with a few dozen or up to a hundred people—already a significant engagement by ninja standards.

Due to the unique nature of the ninja profession and their limited numbers, it was impossible for ninja warfare to resemble the massive charges of regular armies.

More and more ninja were dispatched to the battlefield, and even Jiraiya received his assignment.

However, when Jiraiya was preparing to leave the camp, he suddenly noticed something strange: why wasn't Orochimaru on the squad list?!

Could it be that Orochimaru was leading another team?

Confused, Jiraiya went to find Nara Shikashin, who directed him to look for Orochimaru in the morgue of the medical unit.

Jiraiya headed to the morgue, pushing open the door. As he walked past the neatly arranged corpses, he remained composed, finally locating Orochimaru in a small, secluded area at the back of the morgue.

"Uh..."

Upon entering the room, Jiraiya saw Orochimaru working on a corpse, installing some kind of components. Jiraiya's steps faltered, and his eye twitched as he took in Orochimaru's blood-covered hands and the pile of organs stacked nearby.

"Orochimaru, even if these are enemy bodies, we shouldn't desecrate them like this."

Without looking up, Orochimaru replied:

"These corpses have already been used by the interrogation and intelligence units—they were incomplete to begin with. I'm just making use of waste material."

Konoha was certainly not interested in respectfully handling enemy corpses. The bodies of their own comrades were collected for proper burial, but the enemies' were for extracting secrets and intelligence.

The bodies sent to the morgue were already exploited. Calling it "waste utilization" wasn't far from the truth. If Orochimaru didn't use them, these bodies would be burned and buried somewhere.

"Even so, you shouldn't be conducting experiments on them!"

Jiraiya couldn't accept such actions.

Orochimaru remained calm: "I'm just making puppets. It's a traditional trick of Sunagakure. Has anyone ever accused Sunagakure of being inhumane?"

"I..."

Jiraiya was speechless. Indeed, Sunagakure was notorious for using corpses to create puppets. If they could do it, why couldn't Orochimaru?

"Besides, I have Takashi's permission. These bodies belong to me."

I'm acting within my rights—I've done nothing wrong.

"Fine," Jiraiya conceded, though not without frustration. "But don't you have a mission to carry out? Most of the reinforcements have already entered the battlefield, and I'm about to lead my squad out too."

"No need. I'm Takashi-kun's assistant. I get to stay at the camp, and when I don't have tasks, I can do whatever I want."

"No way!"

Jiraiya shouted indignantly, "It's one thing for Tsunade to stay in the village, but why do you also get to avoid the battlefield while I'm the only one who has to go out there?"

Jiraiya didn't mind fighting for the village, but anyone would feel a bit of imbalance in their heart under such circumstances. Just like now.

If Orochimaru had to go fight like him, Jiraiya would have had no issues. But instead, Orochimaru got to stay, and he had to lead a squad into battle, facing the dangers of the front lines.

He might act like a fool, but he certainly wasn't actually stupid.

"Click!"

Orochimaru finished attaching the last component, cleaned the blood off the body, then put the completed puppet away. He looked at Jiraiya, his face sporting a gleeful smirk:

"Because I'm the assistant. I can help Takashi analyze toxins, mix antidotes, and even act as a temporary medical ninja. And you?"

"What can you do?"

Take that.

"..."

"I don't accept this!"

Jiraiya's face turned bright red. Orochimaru's argument was logical, leaving Jiraiya unable to refute it. Orochimaru truly had many skills and could handle all these tasks.

Unable to argue, but still feeling deeply unsatisfied, Jiraiya growled internally.

"If you have nothing else to say, please leave. Don't interfere with my work."

Orochimaru unceremoniously gave him the boot.

"I'm going to find Takashi and ask him to revoke your position as his assistant!"

Jiraiya stormed out of the morgue, heading straight to the medical unit.

"Revoke Orochimaru's assistant position?"

Takashi, who was in the middle of brewing medicine, straightened up, stretched, and loosened his stiff muscles:

"Why? He's doing a great job. Whether it's identifying types of poisons or preparing antidotes, he's done well. When we're short-handed, he even steps in as a medic or medical ninja."

"An assistant like that is hard to come by."

To be honest, aside from worrying about Orochimaru's occasional mischief, Takashi was growing increasingly fond of having him as an assistant. With Orochimaru's help, Takashi was spared a lot of trouble and exhaustion.

Orochimaru could fill in for him on many tasks.

"But I..."

Jiraiya struggled to find a reasonable argument. He didn't have a logical reason to remove Orochimaru.

He couldn't very well say, "I feel unbalanced about this, so I hope you revoke Orochimaru's position as your assistant." That would be ridiculous.

Damn it, if I had known, I wouldn't have goofed off so much back then. I should have studied more and become a versatile talent like Orochimaru.

Now that I think about it, I regret it.

Oh well, I'll just go by myself. Anyway, our team has long since disbanded.

Usually, a ninja squad disbands once all its members pass the chunin exams. After that, how they grow and what they do is up to them.

The village-appointed instructor isn't going to babysit forever.

Once disbanded, you either form your own squad or do whatever you like—it's your choice.

Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru were different because their teacher was the Third Hokage. Unlike other instructors, the Third Hokage couldn't personally lead them on missions all the time, so he asked others to help train them. Their squad only truly disbanded after all three passed the jonin exams.

After that, they each went their separate ways: Tsunade joined the medical corps, while Orochimaru and Jiraiya became freelancers, either taking on missions or doing as they pleased.

This explained why Jiraiya and Orochimaru took on far more missions than Tsunade did in the original story.

After disbanding, Tsunade entered the medical unit. Following the Second Shinobi War, she left the village, heartbroken, spending over a decade away without taking on any missions.

Orochimaru, on the other hand, was always busy with his research and experiments, eventually defecting from the village. As a result, he completed fewer missions than Jiraiya.

Only Jiraiya, like an old ox, earnestly and diligently fulfilled mission after mission.

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