Early the next morning.
At the gates of Konoha Village.
Tsunade wore her usual tea-green coat with black trim, a loose, sleeveless kimono-style top underneath, a black cloth belt around her waist, and deep blue capri pants. The only difference was her hairstyle—instead of her usual mature low ponytail, she'd switched to a playful high ponytail that made her look much more youthful.
Beside her, Rinjin was dressed in his standard black open-front robe over a black tactical bodysuit, with a large backpack slung over his shoulders. His gaze kept drifting to the ponytail bouncing behind Tsunade's head.
Ponytails were such versatile things:
Tie it high, and it screams youth and vitality.
Tie it low, and it whispers mature allure.
Let it drape over your shoulder, and—ma'am, your hairstyle is dangerously tempting~
Simply perfect for any occasion!
But as an enthusiast of the Eight Gates taijutsu, Rinjin had to admit his favorite was still the high ponytail that embodied "youth."
After all, at certain moments, the rhythmic swaying of that little ponytail was quite... captivating.
Don't get the wrong idea—I'm talking about jump rope...
...
With one last glance back at Konoha Village, Rinjin and Tsunade walked out of the village.
In the forest, the two strolled at a leisurely pace.
"Hey, Rinjin! What made you decide to come traveling with me this time?"
Rinjin yawned and replied calmly, "There's somewhere I want to go."
"Where?" Tsunade pressed.
"Takigakure. I want to check out an organization called Akatsuki. Plus, I don't really feel like staying in the village right now."
Tsunade mentally noted this "Akatsuki" organization and asked again, "You don't want to stay in the village? Why not?"
Rinjin pondered for a moment, then answered honestly: "Over the next couple of years, the village is going to produce a batch of really talented rookies. I don't want to be stuck leading a team as their sensei."
He wasn't lying.
With the three Sannin going their separate ways and Jiraiya and Tsunade both leaving, the entire village had fallen into a transitional period. It was already Year 40 of Konoha.
Sakumo, who'd made his name during the Second Great Ninja War, probably wouldn't be around much longer either.
This meant that most of the pillars who'd supported the Second Ninja World War were nearly gone.
Without "Suna's Bane" Sakumo, without "the Healer" Tsunade, without "the Pervy Toad Sage" Jiraiya—could this hastily concluded war really satisfy the ambitions of all the villages?
Obviously not.
Could Ōnoki of Iwagakure swallow his pride after being ambushed by Kumogakure? Could he just watch Konoha grow stronger? Would he let Amegakure off the hook? Well... that last one was possible, since no one wanted to deal with Rinjin's particular brand of chaos...
Setting aside Iwagakure, what about Sunagakure? Would they just sit quietly?
Impossible!
With Tsunade gone gambling and Sakumo dead, two major threats had lost their fighting power. It'd be strange if Sunagakure didn't cause trouble!
As for Kumogakure, there was nothing to say.
Wherever there's war, there's the Third Raikage.
That wasn't a joke.
Thinking about all this, Rinjin couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
The Third Great Ninja War was really just a continuation of the Second~
Seeing the calculating gleam in Rinjin's eyes, Tsunade pursed her pink lips and said with exasperation:
"Rinjin, stop scheming! All you do is plot and calculate these useless things—don't you get tired?"
Snapping back to reality, Rinjin gave his beloved wife a dramatic eye roll.
"Stop scheming? If I stopped, we'd both be drinking the northwest wind! Our great-grandfather managed the village so well precisely because of our great-uncle's contributions! Otherwise, with his 'lose every bet' nature, the village would've gone bankrupt long ago!"
That single sentence left Tsunade speechless, her flawless face flushing bright red.
He wasn't wrong, but damn if it wasn't infuriating to hear!
Following the Senju principle of "if you can't win with words, use your fists," Tsunade immediately grabbed Rinjin's ear.
"Let go!"
"I won't!"
"Fine! I surrender!"
Rinjin immediately raised both hands in defeat.
Seeing this, Tsunade finally showed a triumphant smile, gave his ear two more twists, then released her delicate grip.
"You should've given in from the start! So, where are we going to have fun now?"
Rubbing his reddened ear, Rinjin replied sullenly: "Takigakure..."
"Great! Let's go!" Pumping her fist, Tsunade looked like an excited little girl as she strutted ahead.
...
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a week had passed since Rinjin and Tsunade left Konoha.
They'd traveled like tourists, stopping here and there, and finally arrived outside Takigakure on the seventh day.
Looking at the magnificent waterfall before them, Tsunade couldn't help but marvel: "Takigakure is hidden inside that?"
Rinjin nodded, his gaze subtly scanning the entire waterfall.
"How do we get in?"
"We fly in."
With that, Rinjin wrapped his arm around Tsunade's slender waist.
The next second, black iron sand surged from the ground, lifting them both into the air.
High above, fierce winds whipped at their clothes.
Tsunade clung to Rinjin's neck, her light brown eyes fixed on the view below, filled with wonder.
"Rinjin, after we finish this job, let's do all our future travels by flying!"
Rinjin rolled his eyes dismissively. "Yeah, right. Once or twice is fine, but with these high winds, you'd be turned into a crispy pork sister in less than two weeks~"
Tsunade instinctively shrank her head.
Crispy pork sister...
You're really a damn genius with metaphors!
While Tsunade was grumbling internally, Rinjin released her and quickly formed hand seals.
A gray mist enveloped the entire cloud—Slippery Ghost Technique activated.
Rinjin found a secluded grove and gently descended with the iron sand cloud.
After hiding their luggage in the forest and using the Transformation Technique, they finally strolled out of the woods with casual expressions.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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