Night Maple, half exasperated and half amused, hurriedly pulled the two apart.
"Drink!"
Kushina still had her cup raised; Night Maple snatched it right out of her hand.
"What are you doing? I want to drink!"
"No more. Let's go home!"
Night Maple scooped Kushina up, took two steps, then kicked aside a drunken Fugaku Uchiha who was about to lunge at Mikoto Uchiha.
"Trying to make a move under the cover of being drunk?"
He spared a glance at the half-awake, half-dazed Mikoto Uchiha, shook his head helplessly, and towed her away as well.
Leaving Fugaku Uchiha on the ground hugging thin air.
Just as they stepped out, they ran into Mikoto Uchiha's father.
And so Mikoto was safely handed over.
Then Night Maple carried Kushina and left the Uchiha compound.
Under the moonlight, Kushina mumbled in her sleep.
"Night Maple, five sixes..."
Night Maple rolled his eyes—looked like a brand-new gambling fiend was being born.
In Konoha, the other gambling fiend, of course, was the famed Princess Tsunade.
"Hey, Jiraiya, want to hit the hot springs?"
At that moment a bright, breezy woman's voice drifted from up ahead.
Night Maple followed the voice with his eyes—and froze.
Wasn't that Tsunade?
And the white-haired man beside her—Jiraiya?!
Night Maple had never seen Tsunade and Jiraiya in person, but he recognized them at a glance.
Mostly because Jiraiya's white mane was impossible to miss.
Jiraiya, all righteous and proper, said, "Let's not. We should report to Sensei first—no dawdling."
"You really don't want a soak? It'll melt the fatigue away. I hear this place is popular with girls—and it's switched to mixed bathing…"
At the words "mixed bathing," Jiraiya headed straight for the pools. "Oh? People need to relax once in a while! C'mon, let's go grab a soak!"
"Hah! That's not what you said a second ago."
Tsunade laughed with wicked amusement, turned her head—and locked eyes with Night Maple.
"Is that… Kushina?"
This late at night, Kushina looked drunk—and this man was taking advantage?
He was begging to die!
"You bastard! How dare you try that with Kushina—do you have a death wish?!"
Golden chakra flared all over Tsunade as she charged Night Maple.
"Huh?"
Night Maple was a little baffled—what was Tsunade trying to do?
"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!"
Before Tsunade's fist crashed down, a row of wooden pillars arced up from the ground into a domed wall, blocking Night Maple's front.
Boom!
A thunderous crash!
The ground itself trembled.
Chakra-light flared from Tsunade's fist as it punched through the Wood Locking Wall.
In the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen had been waiting for Tsunade and Jiraiya to report back; at the boom, he sprang to his feet.
"What happened now?"
"Konoha's been anything but peaceful lately."
Donning his hat, Sarutobi leapt out the window, sprinting over rooftops toward the source of the blast.
Meanwhile at the scene, Jiraiya had just stepped into the pool; the sudden boom made him jump. He looked back—where had Tsunade gone?
Jiraiya rushed out, only to see Tsunade trading blows with a young man.
Countless thick roots erupted around the youngster, blocking Tsunade's attacks.
Shadow Clone Technique?
There was another young man behind—still holding a red-haired girl.
"That's Kushina… Wood Release?"
In an instant Jiraiya put it together: this young man had to be the Night Maple who'd been the talk of the village these past few days.
Kunai and shuriken flew in a volley.
Clang!
A few even clattered at Jiraiya's feet.
He could hear Tsunade cursing: "Brat, still not letting go of Kushina? Our Senju clan has never had a lecher like Jiraiya—you're the first to break that ground!"
"Hey! Why drag me into this?!"
Jiraiya was wounded.
Yet he also heard Night Maple, using all sorts of Wood Release techniques to fend Tsunade off while holding Kushina, still retort, "Hey, hey, hey—coming from you, you gambling fiend? If you keep swinging, don't blame me for not being polite!"
"Oh, kid, looks like you don't get it. Come on then—show me how 'impolite' you can be!"
No sooner had she finished than Tsunade shattered the shadow clone with a single punch and flashed to Night Maple's face.
But vine-like saplings coiled around Tsunade's ankles, then up her body, growing into a great tree that pinned her beneath it.
"Wood Release: Tree Bind Eternal Burial!"
Tsunade's eyes went wide.
Poof!
A Substitution Technique as well!
Tsunade suddenly appeared behind Night Maple.
"Not bad."
But before she could even kick, Night Maple vanished again and reappeared at Jiraiya's side.
"What speed on that Body Flicker."
Jiraiya's eyes bulged even more.
The Flying Thunder God Technique?!
Did Sensei teach him that?
Tsunade wore the same stunned look.
This youngster was something else.
He had Grandfather Hashirama's Wood Release and Second Granduncle Tobirama's body flicker?!
Night Maple didn't make another move—because someone had arrived.
He looked up; a shaft of golden light lanced down from the sky.
Thud!
An Adamantine Nyoi Staff was planted in the earth, and a man descended from above.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had arrived.
"Sensei!"
"Sensei!"
"Sensei!"
Suddenly, a figure stepped from the shadows—Orochimaru.
The Third Hokage—and Konoha's Three Legendary Sannin—stood assembled before the hot spring bathhouse.