"You…"
Tsunade's face flushed red with fury, her chest rising and falling sharply. Her delicate fists clenched tightly—she really wanted to land a punch on this infuriating blond brat.
But when she thought about the possible consequences, and about how Naruto always kept his word…
"Uzumaki Naruto, I was friends with your mother, Kushina. She respected me deeply. You can't treat me like this…"
She glared angrily at the golden-haired youth holding her close.
"Here we go again…" Naruto shook his head. "You've said that line at least a hundred times already, haven't you!?"
Ever since he had pulled Tsunade back with him, she had constantly used her seniority as an elder, hoping that status would make him let her go.
"If you're really a senior…" Naruto twirled a lock of her silky hair, smiling. "Then why did you ignore me all this time~!?"
Tsunade froze at his words, shame flickering across her expression. "I… I hated Konoha because of the past. That's why I never wanted to return…"
"Exactly!" Naruto grinned, pressing a kiss against her cheek. As she flared with embarrassment and anger, he continued:
"You hated Konoha, so you never cared about me. If that's the case, why should I care about you?"
Tsunade was left speechless. She knew she had no right to speak from the position of an elder anymore.
"But… but I was your mother's friend, and I'm so much older than you. I could practically be your mother…"
"Then just be my mother at night!" Naruto's gaze dropped to her ample chest, and he smirked:
"I'll respect you properly as my 'mother' then!"
Tsunade's face went crimson, about to explode. Words stuck in her throat, unable to come out.
Especially when she caught the sidelong, odd glances from nearby shinobi—her shame only grew, and she wished she could bury her head ten meters underground.
Konoha Village – Hokage Tower
Bang!
The door to the Hokage's office was thrown open. Yamanaka Haichi barged in, so anxious he didn't even knock.
"Something's wrong! Something's very wrong…"
"Hm!? Clan Head Yamanaka!?" Sarutobi Hiruzen nearly jumped out of his seat, hastily hiding the crystal ball he had been using to spy, before coughing lightly.
"What happened? Why the panic?"
Without glancing at the crystal ball, Haichi hurried over, sweating.
"Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama just sent word through a toad! He said… he said that shinobi—no, giants—no, an entire group of monsters from the Land of Fields have invaded the Land of Fire!"
He fumbled over his words, unable to properly describe the intruders.
Recalling the scroll the toad had spat out, Haichi nearly doubted reality itself.
Giants, twenty-three meters tall!
Blue-skinned fishmen with six arms!
Four-armed archers!
A mysterious shinobi who could turn into yellow sand!
Furry half-human, half-dog women!
Humans with legs two meters long!
Palm-sized little humans…!
If the message hadn't come from Jiraiya, he never would have believed it.
"…." Hiruzen stared in silence.
He read the scroll, drew a deep puff from his pipe, then finally glanced back at Haichi.
"Did Jiraiya… drink bad sake?"
Haichi's mouth twitched. Truth be told, he had thought the same thing.
Who in their right mind would report something like this!?
On the scroll, Jiraiya had even sworn with nearly venomous oaths. Hiruzen frowned harder.
"Could it be… Tsunade's capture left him lust-addled, and he hallucinated all this!?"
"Riding on the shoulder of a giant, humiliating Tsunade as a slave… isn't this just his fantasy!?"
"No way this could be real…"
Hiruzen's frown deepened. He rapped his knuckles against the desk and ordered Haichi to summon Konoha's strongest shinobi.
Soon after, many of Konoha's elite gathered.
Reading the scroll, their expressions turned pitch-black.
Mitokado Homura sneered outright:
"I say Jiraiya's brain got kicked by a tailed beast. Daydreaming in broad daylight!"
Most of the others nodded in full agreement.
Giants, dwarves, long-armed clans, fishmen… they couldn't imagine such races existing.
Nara Shikaku shook his head helplessly. "Hokage-sama, I can guarantee this is fake."
"Why do you say that?" Hiruzen asked, eyes narrowing.
Shikaku spread his hands. "Because it's the Land of Fields. A barren backwater. Who's ever heard of them having such power?
The scroll claims a giant could lift a mountain with one hand. Has anyone here ever seen such a monster?"
"Exactly. If creatures like that existed, with such huge bodies, how could no one have noticed them?
And that's not even mentioning all the other so-called monsters. This has to be fake…"
Everyone nodded again.
Their expressions turned uneasy. "Hokage-sama… is it possible Jiraiya really did lose his mind from Tsunade being taken?"
Hiruzen frowned even deeper. The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Then Utatane Koharu spoke:
"Hiruzen, since you have Jiraiya's blood, why not use it to summon the toads? We can ask directly."
Hiruzen's eyes lit up, remembering the vial of Jiraiya's blood he had been given. Jiraiya had said, if I ever get trapped in the toad world again, use this to summon me back.
He quickly pulled it out.
Summoning a toad, he had it send the message. Then, with another poof, Gamabunta appeared, spewing Jiraiya out in a wave of slime.
"Sensei, Sarutobi!"
Jiraiya scrambled to his feet, ignoring the sticky mucus. His face was grave, his tone urgent.
"I'm telling the truth! Hurry and send shinobi to stop those monsters from the Land of Fields—otherwise, it'll all be over!!"
(End of Chapter)
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