Kiyosuke wasn't about to let this fat sheep—Tsunade—just walk away. He quickly chased after her and at the same time created a shadow clone to notify Jiraiya and the two brats.
"Tsunade-sama!"
Shizune rushed out of the arcade with the money in hand and the pig in her arms, catching up to Tsunade and Kiyosuke with an excited look.
"Tsunade-sama, we made five hundred thousand ryō! This is the first time you've ever won this much since I've started following you! Should we keep the momentum going?"
"Pfft!"
Kiyosuke couldn't help but burst out laughing. Shizune had been with Tsunade for nearly twenty years and they had never won before?
As expected of you!
A real cash cow!
"What the hell are you laughing at?"
Tsunade's forehead twitched with irritation.
"I just thought of something funny. My house is getting renovated."
He stifled his laughter. He didn't want to get beaten to death by Tsunade.
"There he is! It's Kiyosuke-san!"
Naruto and Sasuke came running over and looked curiously at Tsunade.
Wasn't she supposed to be around the same age as Jiraiya?
She looks barely in her twenties. How is her skin still that good?
Jiraiya already looks like he's got one foot in the grave!
"So this is the Tsunade-sama who's considered one of the 'Three Legendary Sannin' alongside Pervy Sage and Orochimaru? She looks so young… though age-wise she's probably an old lady, right?" Naruto said in astonishment.
A merciless iron grip grabbed Naruto by the head and lifted him off the ground. Tsunade smiled sweetly.
"Hey, brat. What did you just say? It's very rude to bring up a woman's age, you know."
"Waaahhhh! My head! My heaaaad! It hurts!"
Naruto struggled frantically. Sasuke gulped and quietly stepped over to Kiyosuke.
"Kiyosuke-sama, do you think Naruto will survive this?"
"He won't die. Don't worry," Kiyosuke said. "Tsunade-sama, Naruto is Kushina's son. Please go easy on him."
"Kushina's son?"
Of course Tsunade remembered Kushina. She herself had a quarter Uzumaki blood and knew Kushina well—after all, Kushina had become the next Nine-Tails Jinchūriki after Tsunade's grandmother.
Which meant this brat was the son of the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato—the current Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
Tsunade casually tossed Naruto aside.
"You brats, stop following me. You're on your own if anything happens. Shizune, let's go!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Shizune hurried to catch up.
Kiyosuke called out from behind, "Tsunade-sama, I'm not the only one looking for you—someone else is too!"
"Tsunade!!!"
A voice echoed from afar. Tsunade turned to see Jiraiya charging toward her in his wooden clogs.
"Huh?"
She looked closer.
"Jiraiya?! What the hell are you doing here? Wait, don't tell me—you're also here to drag me back to the village? Forget it!"
"Ahh, let's not get into that now. It's been a long time. Let's grab a drink first!"
He saw Tsunade's resistance and decided to play it smart—take a roundabout approach and hold off on bringing up serious matters.
"Fine. Let's go. My treat today. You three come too."
As long as they didn't bring up the Hokage business, Tsunade was surprisingly easy to talk to. She immediately invited them to a nearby izakaya.
"Kiyosuke-san, we're underage… aren't we not allowed to drink?" Naruto paused in front of the izakaya with Sasuke.
"You two idiots, who said you were drinking? You're just here to eat. Leave the drinking to us grown-ups."
Kiyosuke dragged the two brats inside.
Since there were quite a few of them, they booked a private room.
Jiraiya, Kiyosuke, and the two boys sat together. Across from them were Tsunade, Shizune… and a pig.
Kiyosuke eyed the pig with murderous intent.
A top-tier roasted suckling pig...
"No way! You can't eat this little guy!" Shizune clutched her beloved pet and glared at Kiyosuke in protest.
"Alright, alright, I was just joking."
The food soon arrived. The two brats dove into their meals while the four adults started downing sake.
After a few rounds of drinks and dishes, time flew by.
Jiraiya laughed, "Even after all these years, Tsunade, you haven't changed one bit."
Yep, still big.
And not sagging at all!
"You, on the other hand, look ancient."
Tsunade's cheeks were flushed red from the alcohol, which only made her even more stunning.
"Well, not everyone's like you. You developed a jutsu to stay young forever. I heard that bastard Orochimaru's already achieved immortality."
Tsunade blinked in surprise.
"Immortality? Don't be ridiculous."
Kiyosuke added, "He's not joking—it's true. Normally, people die from aging. But as long as the body stays young, you're fine. Just like you, Tsunade-sama—you may not live forever, but you can live a very long time. Orochimaru-sensei took another path. His body dies, but his soul doesn't. As long as he keeps switching bodies, he can live on."
He looked over at Jiraiya.
"By the way, Orochimaru-sensei's current body is a woman's."
"..."
The others were speechless.
Jiraiya sighed. "That freak actually pulled it off. But seriously, to survive, he's even willing to give up his gender?"
"People turn twisted after living too long," Kiyosuke muttered.
"That guy was always twisted," Jiraiya said. "Half a month ago, he attacked Konoha using Edo Tensei, summoning the First Hokage, Second Hokage, and even the Fourth Kazekage."
"What?! Grandpa and Second Grandpa?! How dare he?!"
Tsunade was stunned. She had thought Orochimaru attacked the village alone—not with that kind of monstrous lineup.
"He dares everything. But at least he raised a fine student."
He pointed at Kiyosuke.
Kiyosuke gave an awkward smile.
"They say a good student starves his teacher—I know Edo Tensei too."
"Yup! Kiyosuke-san brought back my dad and together they defeated two Hokage!"
Naruto got excited at the memory. Meeting the father he'd never known and watching him save the village again—how could he not be thrilled?
"Orochimaru dug his own grave with that one," Tsunade snorted. Then she asked, "So neither of you accepted the position of Hokage, and instead you came running to drag me in?"
Either of these two could've become the Fifth Hokage if they wanted, but they were hell-bent on not doing it—and had the nerve to come chase her down.
"Don't say it like that. If Kiyosuke and I took the job, Konoha would probably be gone in under ten years," Jiraiya said.
Kiyosuke nodded.
"Yup. With my personality, the village might last five years at most."
If he were Hokage and the other villages started getting uppity, he'd probably beat the crap out of them.
"You're not worried I'll ruin Konoha?"
If Tsunade took the job, she might just gamble away the whole village.
Kiyosuke and Jiraiya exchanged a glance, then nodded confidently.
"Never. Because this village was founded by the First Hokage. As his granddaughter, you'd never let that happen."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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