In a remote town in the Land of Fire.
At night, the tavern was brightly lit.
"Whitebeard and the jinchuuriki are looking for me?" Tsunade, who had gambled away every penny and accumulated a huge debt, was sitting in this small tavern, quite drunk.
Her fair face had a slight blush.
This member of the Legendary Sannin had a somewhat dazed look in her eyes.
When she glanced at the two masked ANBU members next to her, her gaze showed a hint of confusion.
Tsunade frowned and said, "You guys came all the way here just to tell me this?"
She exclaimed, "I know the jinchuuriki, Watergate's kid! But who the heck is Whitebeard?"
"Shh!" One of the ANBU members had a few beads of sweat on his forehead.
He hurriedly reminded Tsunade, "Lady Tsunade, please keep your voice down. The jinchuuriki has always been a secret of the Hidden Leaf Village!"
"Tch!" Tsunade didn't care.
She grabbed a cup of sake.
And downed it in one gulp.
The ANBU member took out a scroll, intending to hand it to Tsunade: "Lady Tsunade, everything that has happened in the Leaf Village recently is recorded in this scroll. It's not convenient to say some things here, so please take a look."
Unexpectedly, Tsunade directly snatched it. She roughly spread the scroll on the table.
Completely unafraid of others seeing it.
As Tsunade's blurry gaze scanned the text on the scroll, the more she read, the more her eyes cleared up, as if she was sobering up gradually, though she might have been feigning drunkenness.
Her brow furrowed slowly.
Then quickly relaxed.
Tsunade sneered, "The old man couldn't win against another old man in his own village, got hospitalized, and even had his brainwashed jinchuuriki stolen?"
"Lady Tsunade, the Hokage never brainwashed the jinchuuriki," the ANBU member tried to correct Tsunade's wording.
"Tch!" Tsunade ignored the ANBU member.
"Basically... Minato and Kushina's kid left the village to find me to treat his newly adopted dad's chronic illness?"
Tsunade stroked her smooth chin, "What a filial child! But he's obviously looking for the wrong person. I'm done with ninja affairs."
"Um..." the ANBU member interjected, "Lady Tsunade, if Whitebeard really finds you, Elder Koharu and Elder Homura hope you can..."
His last words were very quiet.
But they made Tsunade's face darken.
Boom!!!!
The ANBU member who had spoken was slammed through the tavern wall, flying out at an incredibly fast speed.
Tsunade stood up.
She glared at the other ANBU, who was sweating profusely, with undisguised disgust and gloom, "Tell them to get lost as far as possible and convey my words!"
The last ANBU, still under pressure, reminded, "Lady Tsunade, even if you've decided not to intervene in ninja affairs, you are still a ninja of the Leaf. Sometimes, please consider the bigger picture..."
Boom!!!!
The last ANBU was thrown out even faster than the first, vomiting blood mid-air, with several ribs likely broken.
"Huff—"
Tsunade grabbed the sake jug, downed several gulps, and then crushed the empty jug in her hand.
She couldn't suppress her anger.
"The Leaf has been corrupted by those old bastards."
Tsunade looked down at the scroll on the table, "They want me to trigger Whitebeard's chronic illness while treating him to shorten his lifespan... such a vile method, only those old geezers could think of it!"
"A bunch of old fogies, they've lived too long and should just get into their coffins to give the Leaf some peace." Tsunade snorted coldly, speaking words that would be considered treasonous by most.
Very few in the Leaf would dare to say such things openly.
Tsunade was one of them.
"By the way, where's Shizune?" Tsunade muttered, "I sent her to get some money, and it's been five days. If she doesn't bring the money soon, I need to leave this troublesome place."
In this remote town's casino...
Tsunade had lost all her money.
For someone of her caliber, taking any mission, even escorting a noble from one place to another, would easily earn millions of ryo.
However, Tsunade had not taken a mission for many years, unwilling to get involved in ninja conflicts.
This led to...
Her financial support mainly comes from her disciple, Shizune. Shizune would take missions or go back to the Leaf to bring money, or occasionally, Tsunade would treat a wealthy individual.
This way...
She replenished her gambling funds.
...
"One more day of walking, and I should reach," Shizune muttered, speeding through the forest at night with a sealing scroll on her back. She looked up at the moon through the dense leaves.
Feeling quite tired, she couldn't help but mutter, "Lady Tsunade, despite always losing, loves gambling so much."
As a result, her disciple suffered.
She worried, "I hope Lady Tsunade hasn't gone gambling again while I was away. She might have accumulated more debt."
Thinking of this possibility...
Shizune felt numb.
"Huh?" Suddenly, she stopped atop a tree and saw a blaze not far away: "A wildfire?"
"This isn't good. If a forest fire breaks out, many animals will die."
Shizune hurried over.
As she approached the flames, she said to the tiny pig on her neck, "Tonton, hold on tight!"
Then.
Shizune leaped high, several meters above the treetops, quickly forming hand seals for a water jutsu.
"Water Release: Water... Huh???"
She stopped.
She was confused.
She realized the huge blaze wasn't a wildfire but a large bonfire made of stacked wood.
She also noticed a large man by the fire, who seemed to sense her and looked up.
He saw her!
Shizune instinctively covered her crotch to avoid accidental exposure in front of strangers.
Then she realized.
She was in mid-air.
"Ah!!!" She fell awkwardly directly into the huge bonfire below.
...
...