Chapter 519: Tsunade Keeping a Low Profile
After briefly explaining Otohime's background to Hikari and Karin, the atmosphere finally eased a bit, though Hikari still eyed Otohime with a scrutinizing gaze.
The group walked across the moonlit stone path of the front yard toward the main house.
Hikari took the opportunity to quietly sidle up to Naruto, extending two fingers to gently tug at the sleeve of his Hokages Ceremonial Robe.
Naruto looked down, meeting her eyes, which had already reverted to their pure black color.
There was no eerie glow of the Sharingan, but the meaning in her eyes was crystal clear: should they find an opportunity... to get rid of her?
Naruto shook his head slightly.
His gaze was calm, conveying a clear message: No need.
Although Otohime was an Otsutsuki, for the time being, her stance and alignment were temporarily on his side.
Given the current gap in strength between Naruto and Otohime, as well as his ability to control the situation, there was no need to play low-level tricks like luring her in just to kill her.
If he really had to make a move, it would probably only be slightly more difficult than when he dealt with Urashiki, but it would still be troublesome and might bring unnecessary variables.
There was no need for that right now; he would see how things went.
Just as they stepped into the backyard, they heard the faint clinking of cups and low murmurs.
Looking up, they saw two figures sitting in the small moon-viewing pavilion in the backyard—it was Tsunade and Shizune.
A sake flask and a few small dishes of appetizers were set on the stone table as the two of them sipped their drinks quite contentedly under the full moon.
Naruto paused in his tracks, a question mark slowly appearing over his head:?
What is going on here?
It wasn't like Tsunade didn't have her own home, so why did she come here to view the moon and drink?
To say that his place had a better view would be nonsense. The best spot to view the moon in all of Hidden Leaf Village was Hokage Rock, followed by the roof of the Hokage Office Building.
Seeing this, Karin immediately stood on her tiptoes and whispered into Naruto's ear, "Aunt Tsunade went to the casino again a few days ago and ended up heavily in debt. With the creditors chasing her closely, she brought Sister Shizune to our place to lie low."
She quickly filled him in on the situation over the past couple of days.
"Right now in Hidden Leaf Village, absolutely no one dares to make a racket in front of the Sixth Hokage's residence, let alone barge in to collect debts.
Aunt Tsunade moved in precisely because she set her sights on this."
Karin's tone carried a hint of helplessness, but not much resentment.
Uzumaki Mito was Tsunade's grandmother, and Tsunade had always had a great relationship with Kushina.
During the Chunin Exams, Mito had been reincarnated through Edo Tensei, and Kushina was subsequently reincarnated as well. During that time, Karin and Hikari had studied the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu together under the guidance of these two Seniors.
With this connection, when Tsunade said she wanted to stay for a few days, Karin and Hikari really found it hard to refuse.
Tsunade's arrival and Naruto's departure happened almost back-to-back, and the two girls couldn't contact Naruto at the time.
"So now..."
Karin continued in a low voice, "Aunt Tsunade is staying in Hikari's old room, and Sister Shizune is still in the guest room we arranged for her before."
Naruto's lips twitched slightly upon hearing this, and he instinctively looked at Hikari beside him. "Tsunade took your room, so you..."
Hikari's cheeks flushed slightly under the moonlight. She quickly turned her head away to avoid Naruto's gaze, though her voice carried a touch of self-righteousness. "Well... your room was empty anyway, so I... I moved in. I can even help tidy it up for you while I'm at it."
As expected.
But on second thought, it didn't seem like a big deal.
In any case, he didn't live at home anyway.
He would just have a long-term guest room prepared for Tsunade later.
After all, Tsunade was Hidden Leaf Village's top medical expert and could be considered a relative. As long as she didn't ask him, the Hokage, for money to fill her bottomless pit of gambling debts, letting her stay here temporarily to lie low was not unacceptable.
"That's fine," Naruto nodded, but then thought of another question. "But what about Nawaki?"
Tsunade held her sake cup and replied without turning her head, her voice carrying a tipsy laziness, "Nawaki? He's staying at Orochimaru's house right now, not the Senju ancestral home. He's perfectly safe."
"Orochimaru's house?"
Naruto's first reaction was surprise. Did a guy like Orochimaru actually own legitimate real estate in Hidden Leaf Village?
Then he remembered that when the village was rebuilt using the Wood Release: Technique of the Leaf Village, Orochimaru's original home must have been restored as well. It was just that the guy had been holed up in the Research Institute and had never gone back to live there.
After all, Nawaki had been Orochimaru's student, so moving into his teacher's vacant old house was quite reasonable.
Nowadays, most of the terrible things Orochimaru had done were pinned on the deceased Danzo, so his reputation in the village had indeed improved. Because of his lingering formidable reputation, few people dared to easily approach the vicinity of his residence.
Still, Naruto was somewhat curious. "Then why didn't you move in with Nawaki? The two of you could look out for each other."
Only then did Tsunade turn her head, her cheeks flushed with alcohol. "Nawaki has a girl he likes. The girl of his dreams lives near there, which is why he asked Orochimaru for the keys and moved in.
Besides, I felt Orochimaru's house was too far from our ancestral home, so I didn't go."
She paused and added, "Besides, isn't this place great? It's close to my family's ancestral home, quiet, and no one dares to come disturb me."
Naruto's current residence was located within the former Senju clan territory, which was indeed not far from Tsunade's family ancestral home. This reason made sense.
"A girl he likes?"
Naruto's interest was slightly piqued. "Which family is she from?"
Tsunade took a sip of sake, her eyes darting to Hinata and Hanabi, who were standing quietly behind Naruto, and smiled meaningfully. "The area around Orochimaru's house isn't far from the Hyuga Clan territory. What do you think?"
Naruto came to a sudden realization. "Someone from the Hyuga branch family?"
Tsunade set down her sake cup and rolled her eyes at Naruto. "I heard that during the last Joint Chunin Exams, when Hidden Sand Village invaded, the Hyuga Main Family resisted fiercely. As a result, of the several branches of the Main House that had split off over hundreds of years, everyone died except for Hiashi's line.
So now, isn't the Hyuga Main Family left with only these two young girls beside you?"
She looked at Naruto with an expression that said, "Aren't you just asking the obvious?"
"Heh, the Hyuga Clan is indeed fierce and loyal."
Did Naruto not know whether they were fierce and loyal?
Except for a few Elders, everyone in the Main House had been killed by him. Just as he was about to deal with those Elders, Hiashi had returned.
At the time, he had felt something was off about Hiashi's appearance, and looking back, it must have been Hiashi who killed those Elders.
His father-in-law was quite a ruthless character indeed!
"By the way," Tsunade suddenly picked up the sake flask again, waving it at Naruto and the girls behind him, a playful smile appearing on her face. "Care for a drink? The moonlight is perfect."
"I don't drink, as if you didn't know."
Naruto flatly refused.
Tsunade's beautiful eyes flickered, scanning past Hinata, Hanabi, Hikari, and Karin, before lingering briefly on the cold-faced Otohime, her smile deepening. "And what about these young girls? Aren't you going to let them have a taste?"
Naruto shook his head without hesitation, his tone carrying an unquestionable protective warmth. "They don't drink either."
He had previously wanted to have Brother Diao cure Tsunade of her bad habits, but Brother Diao's soul had returned to the Pure Land again. Although he had finally managed to return, his state was very poor, and he couldn't come back for the time being.
Now, no one could keep this old woman in check.
If Jiraiya was still willing to handle her, he would just dump her on Jiraiya later. If Jiraiya couldn't rein in Tsunade's bad habits, he could just suffer the consequences himself.
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