Tsunade and Orochimaru's talk ended quickly.
Orochimaru used blood to control her and gave her one week to think it over, then the four of them split up in pairs and left.
Naruto followed Tsunade to make sure she didn't get too far and become hard to find.
Even though Jiraiya had tracked her down at a tavern before, there was no guarantee they'd find her so easily again.
Better to be safe…
And as Naruto guessed, Tsunade and Shizune didn't head back to the tavern in Tanzaku Street. Instead, they left toward an empty alley.
After walking for a while, Tsunade and Shizune suddenly stopped.
"Come out. How long are you planning to follow us?" Tsunade said.
They noticed me?
Naruto was a bit surprised. Judging by their expressions, it seemed Shizune had also spotted him.
Was his tracking really that bad?
Doubting himself a little, Naruto stepped out from hiding.
"Did Orochimaru send you to spy on us?"
Shizune gave a cold laugh. "Is he looking down on us that much? Sending someone with tracking skills as bad as yours?"
"..."
Did she have to say it that bluntly?
Thanks a lot!
Naruto explained with a helpless look, "I'm not working for Orochimaru. Someone wants to see you, so I've been following you."
"Someone wants to see me?" Shizune looked confused.
Since Shizune had spoken instead of Tsunade, Naruto's words seemed directed at her.
"Not you. Her." Naruto pointed at Tsunade.
"Who wants to see me now?" Tsunade's face was calm, but she clearly wasn't in a good mood.
She had just won big yesterday, finally beating the odds for once—so why did trouble have to show up now?
"Jiraiya," Naruto said.
"Jiraiya?"
Tsunade froze for a moment, then said, "I won't seeing him."
"Sorry, but you have to." Naruto blocked the path where Tsunade and Shizune were about to leave, speaking in an even tone.
"What did you say? Do you know who you're talking to?"
Shizune scolded, "This is Lady Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin of the Konoha!"
"I know." Naruto's face stayed calm, as if he didn't take Tsunade seriously at all.
"Oh?"
Tsunade was a little surprised by Naruto's confident tone. She looked him up and down and asked, "What's your connection to Jiraiya?"
"Strictly speaking, he's my teacher," Naruto said.
"Teacher? You mean you're the student of Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin?"
Before Tsunade could say anything, Shizune blurted out in surprise.
"I'm curious—what kind of strength does a student of Jiraiya have, to talk to me like that?"
Tsunade rubbed her wrist, looking like she was about to make a move, but Shizune stopped her.
"Lady Tsunade, let me handle it. You just fought Orochimaru and haven't recovered yet."
In truth, Tsunade and Orochimaru hadn't fought much, but the blood Orochimaru showed still greatly weakened her combat ability. She was probably still feeling the aftereffects.
Tsunade hesitated, then said, "Alright, you do it. Take it seriously—this boy is still Jiraiya's student after all!"
Shizune had trained under Tsunade since she was young, and now had the skills of a jonin.
On paper, dealing with someone like Naruto, who looked fresh out of the academy, should be no problem.
But Tsunade still kept her guard up, remembering Jiraiya's track record—he trained the Fourth Hokage, after all.
"Don't worry, Lady Tsunade, I won't hold back!"
With that, Shizune gripped a kunai and rushed at Naruto with great speed.
Naruto, however, didn't move at all.
Just as Shizune's kunai was about to stab Naruto, he suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist.
"What?!"
Not only Shizune, but even Tsunade was shocked.
He actually caught Shizune's attack?!
"Too slow."
Naruto calmly took the kunai from Shizune's hand and tossed it to the ground.
"I don't want to fight you. You just need to come with me to meet someone you know."
"Heh… someone I know."
Tsunade gave a helpless smile. "I guess today really is a day for running into old faces."
"Since you put it that way, let's go meet them."
Naruto's easy victory over Shizune had convinced Tsunade, so she gave up the idea of fighting him.
Compared to Orochimaru, her relationship with Jiraiya wasn't bad.
She had only thought about making a move earlier because Naruto's tone was so arrogant, as if he didn't care about her status as a Sannin.
But now that Naruto had proved he had the strength to back it up, she no longer felt like arguing.
"Alright, where's Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked.
Naruto didn't answer. Instead, he summoned another messenger toad.
When Tsunade saw Naruto summoning toads from Mount Myoboku, she was fully convinced of who he was.
This kid was only twelve, right?
With this kind of talent, could he be the one Jiraiya had been looking for all along?
"Take me to Jiraiya," Naruto said to the messenger toad.
"Don't worry, follow me!"
With the messenger toad leading the way, Naruto and the others quickly found Jiraiya.
At that moment, Jiraiya had just arrived near the Tanzaku Tower ruins, following the messenger toad, and was staring gloomily at the destruction.
He was lamenting that he was one step too late again, when suddenly Naruto appeared from around the corner—bringing Tsunade with him.
"Jiraiya, is this the pretty lady you wanted to interview? The one with a great figure and, uh, big chest?"
"…"
Before they could even be happy to see each other, Naruto's words instantly made things awkward.
Seeing Tsunade's dark expression, Jiraiya coughed twice and said, "Ahem… if I told you I never said that, would you believe me, Tsunade?"
"If you came to me for something this boring, then you can get lost right now, you idiot!"
Tsunade clenched her fists, looking ready to start a fight, which made Jiraiya a little nervous.
"Just listen to me first!"
Jiraiya quickly waved his hands. "Give me a chance! An izakaya! Yeah, let's have a drink and talk. No need to get angry so fast!"
"Hmph!"
Tsunade snorted coldly. "You'd better explain yourself clearly."
"I will! I will!"
Jiraiya scratched his head with an awkward smile, then shot Naruto a sharp glare.
If he had known, he wouldn't have come up with such a lousy excuse to trick Naruto here. As long as he paid him, Naruto would've followed without any fuss anyway.
Before long, the two of them arrived at an izakaya in Tanzaku Town.
Four people and a pig sat drinking and chatting casually.
"So, what did you come to see me for?" Tsunade asked after taking a sip of her drink, looking displeased.
"No rush, how about we play some cards first? I just learned a new card game from this kid. It's pretty fun!" Jiraiya asked the owner for a deck of cards.
"A new card game?"
Ah, who's our guest today? Of course, it's the beautiful, ageless Tsunade-sama herself! Sign in now and get a chance for Tsunade-sama to personally teach you how to gamble! First come, first served!
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