"Naruto, are you stupid or what!"
At the entrance of the Town, Jiraiya yelled at Naruto, who was lying on the ground covered in blood.
"Didn't I tell you not to use your chakra? Didn't I tell you not to use it! But no, you just ignored me, huh!"
Jiraiya was so angry he didn't care about appearances anymore, just kept scolding.
The whole thing was actually simple. For three days, Naruto had been pestering Jiraiya non-stop, so Jiraiya finally caved and explained the theory behind the Rasengan. Of course, he only explained the theory and didn't actually teach Naruto how to practice it. The goal was just to let Naruto familiarize himself with the Rasengan's operation.
And Jiraiya had repeatedly warned Naruto not to use any chakra, especially not Kurama's chakra. His body was too weak right now, and even a little bit of chakra could worsen his old injuries.
But Naruto, with a smile on his face, nodded in agreement, only to turn around and start practicing the Rasengan. Not only that, he used Kurama's chakra.
So now, the Rasengan hadn't formed, and Naruto had ended up covered in blood on the ground, scaring the townspeople half to death.
Naruto gave a sheepish smile, his face pale.
"Hey, Pervy Sage, I think you should help bandage me up first."
He had accidentally used too much chakra because he subconsciously followed the method for making a Tailed Beast Bomb instead of the Rasengan. As a result, his old wounds reopened, splattering blood everywhere. But it wasn't as bad as it looked. The injury only got a little worse, but there wasn't much difference from before.
He still looked like he was half-dead.
Jiraiya's face darkened.
"You need to promise me that you won't use chakra again. Otherwise, even if you recover, I won't teach you the Rasengan."
"Next time for sure, next time for sure," Naruto nodded quickly.
"Next time?" Jiraiya's face darkened even more.
"Uh," Naruto awkwardly turned his head and cautiously replied, "Well... maybe not next time?"
Jiraya clenched his fists, ready to swing.
Jiraiya really wanted to give Naruto a good smack, just so he could experience what a complete childhood felt like. But seeing him covered in blood, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Wait, why did I even bring him along in the first place? He's fine now; I should have just left him in the village and come out to find Tsunade on my own. This is driving me crazy.
If he had a pen in hand, Jiraiya would definitely slam it down hard.
Taking a deep breath, Jiraiya forced down his anger.
"Naruto, if you don't listen to me next time, I swear I'll send you back to Konohagakure! And I won't teach you any more ninjutsu!"
Naruto shrank his neck at the scolding. He probably realized he had gone a bit too far, so he replied weakly, "I'm not stupid. I'll just train in the seal space from now on."
*Boom!* With a loud crash, the wall beside Jiraiya completely collapsed, leaving a two-meter-wide hole in front of Naruto.
Jiraiya stood there, holding a blue Rasengan, and said threateningly, "Naruto, once you're healed, I'll give you a proper childhood—with this Rasengan."
He had made up his mind. He was going to teach this kid a serious lesson, one that would make him understand what fatherly love was. Even if it meant facing Kushina in the afterlife, he had to make sure Naruto learned to take care of his own body.
"Just you wait, Naruto." Jiraiya dispelled the Rasengan, tossed a handful of money to the nearby vendor to cover the damages, and without saying another word, turned and walked into the streets.
Naruto, sweating nervously, shouted at Jiraiya's back, "Pervy Sage, you forgot me! I swear there won't be a next time! Take me with you! Hey!"
But Jiraiya didn't respond. He just left, disappearing from Naruto's view.
Nearby, a few passersby came out from their hiding spots, looked at the bloodied Naruto lying on the ground, then at the large crater beside him, and finally decided it was best to act like they hadn't seen anything.
Naruto lay there helplessly, feeling the scorching sun beating down on him, unable to hold back his frustration.
"Kurama, this is all your fault."
Inside the sealed space, Kurama was sprawled on the ground, watching Naruto with an amused expression.
"How is this my problem?"
Naruto, filled with anger, replied, "If you hadn't kept saying all that weird stuff, I wouldn't have learned it, and Pervy Sage wouldn't have left me here! It's all your fault!"
"Heh," Kurama chuckled. "Let's be real here, I say weird stuff because that's my thing. How is that any of your business?"
"You got left behind because of your own problems. It just shows that your training wasn't sneaky enough, and you got caught. If it were me, I definitely wouldn't have been found out."
Kurama proudly puffed out his chest.
"So, this is on you. You deserved it, got it?"
Naruto: "..."
He was frustrated he couldn't out-argue Kurama. Frustrated he was left behind. The sun was hot and glaring, which only made him angrier.
He felt like he had lost all hope.
...
As time slowly passed, by the afternoon, in a quiet tavern, a charming blonde woman with wavy hair sat by the window. She was lazily sipping on her drink, even though her gaze had become a bit hazy and her cheeks were flushed. But that didn't stop her from continuing to drink.
Normally, she would be gambling at this hour, but today she kept winning, and it was boring.
Jiraiya walked into the tavern with a backpack on his shoulder. He immediately spotted the woman sitting in the far corner. Without hesitation, he walked over, sat across from her, put down his backpack, and asked the waitress for a bottle of sake and a cup. Then, he started drinking by himself.
Neither of them spoke. They just quietly drank together.
After a while, Tsunade suddenly glanced at Jiraiya, a slight smile appearing on her face.
"Just drinking is no fun. Want to play cards?"
"Sure, as long as you're not afraid to lose." Jiraiya put down his cup and pulled out a brand-new deck of cards from his backpack. After shuffling, he placed them on the table.
They drew their cards. Jiraiya glanced at his and decided not to swap any. Tsunade let out a chuckle and tossed away all her cards, drawing five new ones.
She looked at her new cards, her chuckle turning into a more obvious laugh, and then she threw them down.
Jiraiya glanced at them and revealed his cards.
"Straight flush. I win."
"You lost," Tsunade said, taking a sip of her drink and collapsing onto the table with a laugh. "How strange, I won again."
"You? Win? I don't believe it." Jiraiya laughed as he picked up the cards Tsunade had thrown down.
A royal flush...
Jiraiya went silent, his smile vanishing as he stared in shock.
He flipped over the cards Tsunade had discarded earlier.
What the... Another royal flush, in a different suit.
Jiraiya sat there, utterly confused, staring at Tsunade. He opened his mouth to speak but hesitated, and after thinking for a long time, he completely forgot what he wanted to say.
Was this really Tsunade???
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