Everything was a wonderful new experience. From the cup of tea to the lounge, to the TV screen playing the news, to the sofa... every single gadget in this house caused awe in the heart of the Slug Sannin.
When she proposed to 'talk' she wasn't expecting her scopes to be blown the way they were, with the magnitude they were blown.
'This is a completely new world' she thought, looking at the page of a geography book where the map of the world was shown. A planet called Earth is filled with things to explore.
"So this country is called Japan and this big expanse of water here is the Pacific Ocean. This is South Korea, North Korea and China..." Ray explained with Elysir and Yasaka sitting at either side while Tsunade sat in front, enjoying her honey lemon tea and listening to his explanation.
Her first question had been simple, she asked if in this world there was a place called 'Konohagakure no Sato or the land of fire' to which naturally the answer was 'no'.
It amused Ray that instead of asking about them, she had started asking about knowledge regarding the world they were in.
"It's... big, and completely different... do you have daimyous?"
"Let me answer, Ray-sama" Yasaka took the lead given her long historical background.
"There hasn't been a Daimyou in Japan for the last hundred years, although there is still an Emperor, he holds little to no political power over the region, this world has moved forward in time and adopted a form of government called 'Democracy', I believe the ramifications of government have diverged considerably from the world where you hail from, Tsunade-san".
"Yasaka-san, yes? If you'd allow me to ask. Who is the leader of this country? Is it you, Ray?" Tsunade tilted her head, doubting very much that this kid was the ruler but since he labelled himself as a 'demigod' then one thing should follow the other.
Yasaka giggled deciding to opt for the simple answer since revealing Amaterasu as the leader of Japan would only lead to further questioning.
"You could say I am the leader~" It wasn't entirely a lie considering the Emperor of Japan, the head priest of the Onmyouji and the Japanese Prime Minister, all served her.
Following that statement, Yasaka's tails and ears manifested, what they didn't expect was the reaction that this manifestation would have on Tsunade. The moment she saw that it was as if a truck had impacted straight against her brain, she even got on guard.
"Bijū! (Tailed Beast)".
Elysir, Ray and Yasaka regarded one another before the Egyptian Goddess sighed and waved her hand, Tsunade's body started moving on its own and sat back down on the sofa.
!!!
"First off; you should calm down, Tsunade. She's not your enemy" Elysir stated.
"But you're a bijū!" Tsunade glared at Yasaka.
"I'm certainly a tailed beast but..." the Kitsune didn't understand where the hostility was coming from, it was as if just being a kitsune was enough reason to be hated in Tsunade's world. In Japan, nine-tailed foxes were widely venerated, but it seemed like that wasn't the case in Tsunade's world, instead, it was the opposite.
"You're a Kyuubi no Kitsune! (Nine-tailed Fox)"
"That's not completely correct, I'd be more appropriate to call myself 'Juubi no Kitsune'. I'm ten tails. Here, count them~" Yasaka extended her tail towards the still apprehended Tsunade with pride on her tail, the latter -despite the kitsune's friendliness- seemed incapable of lowering her guard even after regaining control of her body.
Tsunade did indeed count the tails but instead of feeling reassured, she exasperated further.
'So she's stronger than the Kyuubi!?'
In her mind, the Kyuubi was a merciless monster capable of easily levelling a village when let loose, it was a wide knowledge (in her world) that the more tails a bijū had, the stronger they were and back in her world there weren't even records of there being such a thing as a ten tails.
Nonetheless, the lady in front of her, cutely wiggling her tails and even entangling them around the boy, didn't look like a threat at all.
"See? My pet is inoffensive".
"P-Pet?"
"That's right, I'm Ray-sama's pet~" While Yasaka stated their relationship with pride, Elysir resisted the urge to roll her eyes, wondering if there was still any pride left in Yasaka or if she had already completely fallen for Ray's hands.
Tsunade couldn't believe what she was hearing. She couldn't even believe her eyes when the boy patted the golden lady's head and began playing with her eyes like... like she was his pet.
'If she's his pet... then how strong is he!? wait... that's not necessarily the case'.
For a second her thoughts went back to the massage she had just received and from one moment to the other... the whole 'pet' situation seemed completely logical. She was already dying to get another massage... even if she knew that wouldn't be possible for the time being.
"Since you have finished your tea-" Elysir took the chance the moment Tsunade went into her train of thoughts, unaware that she had already finished the delicious tea.
"Is there any possibility that I could stay in this world temporarily?" the blonde stood up with her hands on the table, regarding the confused trio.
"What is your objective for staying further than necessary" Yasaka questioned as if she was border control.
'I want another massage!'
*cough!*
"I want to learn more about this world..."
Tsunade coughed with a serious expression, the perfect facade of a liar. A pity that nobody believed her bullshit, not when she was blushing, clearly recalling the memories from a few minutes prior.
"Also, this sun energy which I'm now able to use. It has to do with you, correct?" She asked Ray.
"You're right, but..."
"What you call 'Sun Energy' is an enhanced version of what you'd call 'Natural Energy' Are you aware of this, Tsunade" Elysir answered instead.
"I know what it is, natural energy exists in my world as well although it is mostly inaccessible-"
"Well, now you have attained a body completely capable of controlling not only this energy but also Sun Energy-" Elysir began explaining, unaware that she had given Tsunade the last straw that she needed.
"If that's the case, could I stay here for a while longer, studying this type of energy?"
She was determined to stay no matter what!
Ray sighed, having caught onto her intentions for a while now.
'She doesn't look like a bad woman. I also don't want to let her return just like that when she can't even use this 'chakra' that seems to be important to her'.
"Ely, I want to talk to my mom".
"Ray-chan?" Elysir switched with Reina, this time her whole appearance changed in front of the shocked Tsunade.
'Genjutsu?' She thought inwardly, having a misunderstanding.
"Mom, you have been listening, right? Do you think Tsunade could temporarily stay in one of the rooms, it wouldn't be inconvenient for you, right?"
'This is his mother...? but why did her appearance change? she's behaving completely differently... bipolarity of personality disorder?' while listening to their conversation, Tsunade was already starting to make her own theories, in the end, it was decided that she'd be able to stay but Yasaka gave her a time limit.
Elysir made many suggestions to Yasaka, mostly regarding the nature of otherworlders, so far everything was perfect with Tsunade but she couldn't rule out the possibility of a decoy. They were unable to completely trust anyone that came out of that transdimensional gate.
"You can stay for three months, Tsunade. You're not able to stay overnight anywhere out of this house unless you're in the company of either Ray-sama, Elysir or me. Is that understood?"
"Yes, I believe we can both benefit from this~"
"What exactly can you do for us?" Ray questioned with a frown, he didn't mind her staying mostly due to his curiosity about the other world. He was still expecting to visit her world with the hopes of finding the true Elysir there.
"As I told you before, I am a medical-nin... therapy and massage is not outside of my realm of expertise~".
"..."
The moment the knowledge of medicine was involved, Tsunade felt like a fish in the sea, and it was at this moment she realised that Ray's massage had been more effective than she could have possibly imagined.
'I feel like I'm back in those youthful days!'.
There was this spark of fire inside her heart that she believed had dulled with the continuous loss of those she loved. Although their deaths were still in her mind, they didn't affect her as much, instead... she felt a renewed passion.
It wasn't only her appearance that had reached a point beyond her prime.
"Your power is wonderful, Ray, I have never felt anything so pleasurable in my life, but..." She pointed her finger at him with a smirk, "Your kneading technique and the distribution of energies is subpar at best~".
"H-Ha...?" Ray's eyebrows twitched and so did Reina and Yasaka's.
"Are you saying my massage was... low-quality?"
"Ray-sama, should I kill her?~"
!!!
The killing intent coming from the Kitsune was no joke. How dare she belittle her master's sacred hands? unless her next set of words was satisfactory, she was as good as dead.
'Tch, I have to watch my words in front of this brat'
She may be brash, but Tsunade Senju wasn't stupid any wrong word and she didn't know what those two women would do.
"*cough!* I didn't say that, allow me to rephrase. Your power is overbearing and as you were massaging me I had a hard time focusing but just as you were analysing me, I was also analysing you, Ray. The flow of energy and the way you apply this energy on the chakra roots... you have little to no control over this overflowing energy that's emanating from your body and that's what I mean when I saw your control is 'subpar' at best".
"So, what do you suggest?"
Rather than inflate his ego, Ray thought deeply about what she said and his own method, the truth was that the majority of the powers he now had were still new to him and the way he incorporated his energy into the massages was almost instinctive... so far the results were as desired so he didn't consider there was any need for 'enhancement' but look and behold, an expert in the field appeared to point out the flaws.
Tsunade stood up, and walked around the table until she was standing next to him and Elysir, stretching her hand.
"Simple... I'll teach you the proper method of energy distribution, and the quality of your therapy will enhance categorically, so... what do you say?"
Ray smirked and shook her hand, only to end up pulling her down until her flustered head was next to his.
"And how do you intend to measure whether the quality has enhanced?~"
"Naturally... you will have to massage me" She returned with a smirk of her own.
"Isn't that very convenient for you? to get my massages without giving a sacrifice~".
"..."
Both parties remained in a deadlock until interruptions arose.
[-10 Chaos Points].
"Oh?" Ray and Elysir both frowned simultaneously.
"Chaos points were used? for what?" the goddess remarked.
[Ray, we have a situation... the Septem Diebus has acted independently-].
Horus began talking about just at that time a set of words in a golden screen manifested in front of Ray.
...
[New Quest: Bloodied Snowfall]
[Save Yamada Anna from the looming threat at Mount Yōtei].
[Reward: 1200 CP].
[Failure Penalty: Yamada Anna's Death].
...
"I'm sorry, Tsunade, but that answer is going to have to wait. Ely, stay with her here... Yasaka, can you fly me to a place called Mount Yōtei? it is urgent!"
Ray didn't waste time and pulled Yasaka by her sleeve.
"Are you sure you don't want me to come?" Reina morphed back into Elysir and crossed her arms, wondering why he had decided to take Yasaka instead.
'I can't fully trust Tsunade... I'd rather you stay with her instead of Yasaka. If she tries something you can create that gate and send her back, right?' Ray communicated with her mentally.
[That makes sense... then be careful though I believe... if Yasaka is with you, there shouldn't be any problems]
"Is there anything wrong?" Tsunade noticed a sudden change in the atmosphere around him, although she didn't know what was happening. Elysir patted her shoulder.
"We will have to wait. Something urgent turned up; I'll stay here with you in the meantime".
...
"Ray-sama, you want to go to Mount Yōtei? That's in Hokkaido... it is where I was planning to take us" Yasaka followed Ray out of the house, still a bit confused over his sudden switch in tempo.
"I just received a heads-up, Anna is in danger and she's currently in Mount Yōtei, I need to be there right now" Ray explained.
"Understood!"
*WHOOSH!*
Yasaka didn't ask further questions and instead following her master's orders, she transformed into a ten-tailed fox form that was neither big nor small. She was so beautiful that Ray was left baffled, pitying the fact that he couldn't waste time admiring this form of hers.
"Mount me, we will be there in two minutes!"