[A/N] - Support & Read Up to 10 Advanced Chapters on My Patreon!
[A/N] - For More Chapters - Drop Some Power Stones 💎💎
....
Boom-
As if a small earthquake had occurred, it jolted Shizune awake from her slumber.
"W-What happened?!"
"Did the debt collectors come after us?"
"Lady Tsunade, let's run!"
Almost reflexively, Shizune leaped up from the tatami mat. Her eyes weren't even open yet, but she was already scrambling to grab the "valuables box" she'd packed in advance, just in case they needed to make a quick escape.
As her still-sleeping soul caught up with her slender body, Shizune's consciousness gradually came online.
She looked around.
There were no debt collectors; only one person stood in the open space of the small courtyard, her foot having cracked the solid ground with a single stomp.
Tsunade stood there with a gloomy expression, like a human volcano suppressing her fury, ready to erupt at any moment.
In her hand, Tsunade tightly gripped a newspaper. Under her immense strength, the paper was crumpled into a ball, making the original text unreadable.
Clearly, the source of her anger came from this.
Cautiously, Shizune approached her. "did something happen in Konoha?"
Shizune had never seen her "foster mother" so furious. Even when the last member of the Senju clan besides Tsunade had passed away, she hadn't shown such emotional upheaval.
This scary aura... it was as if she was about to destroy the entire ninja world single-handedly.
That's it!
A big adjective popped into Shizune's little head-*"The Terminator of the Ninja World: Tsunade"*
In her mind, she imagined Tsunade quietly floating in mid-air, raising her right hand toward the ground, chanting to the despairing ninjas below: "Hear me, the silence of extinction!"
"Ah..." Tsunade exhaled deeply, squinting her almond-shaped eyes. She instructed, "Shizune, pack up our things. We're returning to the village."
"Oh, returning... Eh?! Return to the village? So suddenly?"
Shizune's heart skipped a beat.
Things were more serious than she had imagined. Something major must have happened in the village for Tsunade, who had left, to suddenly want to go back.
"Yes, we have to go back. Come and see, Shizune."
Shizune took the crumpled newspaper from Tsunade's hand, and the headline at the top caught her eye.
She couldn't help but exclaim, "Advisor Gojo was assassinated?!"
Realizing what this meant to Tsunade, Shizune quickly said, "Our things are always packed; we can leave anytime."
"Let's return to Konoha now, Lady Tsunade."
The seedy atmosphere of Tanzaku Town was too much for a young girl like Shizune.
Setting aside Gojo Kaigetsu's assassination and uncertain fate, young Shizune had long wanted to return.
Return to the most prosperous area of the Land of Fire!
Enjoy the life of a wealthy young lady that belonged to her.
Though following Tsunade around left her penniless, if they returned to Konoha, she could just collect rent and live comfortably for the rest of her life.
You might say Shizune has no right to inherit Tsunade's wealth? On this point, both Tsunade and Shizune were well aware; Shizune, being associated with the Senju clan, could be considered an honorary member.
Suddenly, Shizune seemed to think of something, full of worry:
"The assassination happened two or three days ago, right? But... the Fourth Hokage hasn't sent anyone to find you, Lady Tsunade."
"Could it be that Advisor Gojo has already..."
Shizune didn't utter the worst possibility. Such words would hurt Tsunade too much.
Lost her grandfather in childhood, her brother in youth, and in middle age... her lover.
How tragic can one be?
Tsunade glanced at Shizune expressionlessly. "Shizune, you're still too young."
"The Fourth Hokage is an honest kid. If Gojo Kaigetsu had really had an accident, he would have come to find me immediately."
"Since he hasn't come, that means he's not dead."
Pointing to the words "life and death unknown" on the newspaper, Tsunade said, "It's just a smokescreen thrown out to the ninja world."
"Ah...? Is that so?" Shizune muttered softly. "Since Advisor Gojo is fine, why were you so angry just now?"
"Angry?"
Tsunade crossed her arms under her ample bosom, sneering repeatedly. "I know that guy Gojo Kaigetsu too well. Right now, he's probably hiding somewhere in Konoha, enjoying the feeling of being missed."
"I'm angry that after he was assassinated and didn't die, he didn't send someone to tell me immediately."
"Is he really not afraid I'll worry, or is he trying to use this method to force me back to the village?"
"Since he enjoys being thought about, I'll fulfill his wish. I'll return to the village and make him truly 'life and death unknown.'"
"I'll punch him in the waist, paralyze him from the waist down, and when I need him to move, I'll heal him with my Mystical Palm Technique."
Hearing this, Shizune shivered violently.
This was truly the most brutal punishment.
Take back the earlier thought; Tsunade isn't the destroyer of the ninja world, but the destroyer of Advisor Gojo.
As a fellow female ninja, she empathized with Tsunade.
Advisor Gojo was really going too far! Knowing full well that Tsunade had been thinking about him in Tanzaku Town, yet he still played this fake death game.
Heartless man!
Shizune waved her fist, using body language to show support, and said, "Lady Tsunade, perhaps you should give Advisor Gojo a little face. After all, he's now a Konoha Advisor & Elder. If he gets hurt, it'll be Konoha's reputation that's tarnished if word gets out."
"Tarnish Konoha's reputation?" Tsunade looked amused. "Konoha is my family's. If I don't care, who else needs to?"
"...You're right."
Tsunade's graceful figure bathed in sunlight; she squinted her eyes, gazing at the blazing sun.
"Come to think of it, it's been a long time since I've been home. Let's go back and see how that guy has messed up my house."
Before long, the two women had packed up their belongings in Tanzaku Town.
Shizune first quietly opened the back door of their small house, poked her head out, looked around, and after confirming that no debt collectors had spotted them to block the door, she gestured back:
"All clear, Lady Tsunade. We can depart now."
~Let's slip away~
The big spender of Tanzaku Town, and also the collective debtor of the gamblers.
Although she was a highly skilled ninja, Tsunade had never relied on her ninja status to default on debts. Well, she just defaulted as an ordinary gambler, running away when debt collectors came knocking.
Unless the other party had some bad intentions, Tsunade was happy to play debt games with these non-ninja gambling buddies.
But after just a few steps...
"It's her, there she is!"
A voice filled with anger seemed to form a wall, blocking Tsunade and Shizune's path.
Shizune awkwardly stopped in her tracks, seeing the group of debt collectors not far away. It was too late to avoid them now.
A man with a shark-like face, carrying a bizarre large sword on his shoulder, exuding a scary aura, was protecting the debt collectors as he approached them step by step.
Just by his appearance and stance alone, it was clear that the opponent was scaryly strong.
"The Samehada Sword of the Hidden Mist?" Tsunade squinted her eyes, muttering, "It's just a bit of debt; is it necessary to hire a ninja of this caliber to collect it?"
After all, as one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, even though her skills had rusted a bit due to frequent gambling, she still had basic discernment.
Of course, part of it was that the Samehada Sword's flashy design had quite high recognizability.
However, the Samehada Sword had a new owner now, and compared to the holder from Tsunade's era... this one was the most outstanding.
Having identified Hoshigaki Kisame as the wielder of the ninja sword, Tsunade remained unperturbed.
If it were an ordinary ninja, even a Jonin, upon seeing the Samehada Sword, they would immediately calculate their escape route.
But Tsunade was different.
...
Support & Read 10 Advanced Chapters. Ahead of the rest!
https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
There is 8 Exciting Fanfics already available on my Patreon!