Over here.
After convincing Tsunade to return to the village as Hokage, Shinju and Jiraiya's group set out on the journey back.
To save the most time, Shinju suggested using the Flying Thunder God to teleport everyone directly back.
"Hey, kid, why the rush to get back?"
Tsunade immediately spoke up: "Just thinking about going back to Konoha and facing a mountain of paperwork already gives me a headache. 〒_〒"
"Wouldn't it be better to stay out a while longer?"
Naruto, who loved playing around, agreed wholeheartedly: "We finally got out of the village, so why not hang around for a few more days?"
Shinju thought it over and had to admit… they had a point.
After all, once back in the village, daily life was nothing but eating, sleeping, and missions. Dull!
"Let's go to the hot springs," Tsunade suggested.
"Huh? What's so great about hot springs?"
Jiraiya pouted. "Let's hit the kabuki theater or an izakaya and really relax."
"But as far as I know, this village's hot springs are mixed bathing. Lots of young, pretty girls bathe there," Tsunade breathed out softly, leaning toward Jiraiya.
Jiraiya: (´◊ω◊｀)
"Alright! Then tonight we're going to the hot springs for a proper soak!!"
The five of them headed into the mixed-bathing hot springs.
Unnoticed behind them, two mysterious figures in straw hats crept along…
Jiraiya had been full of joy, eagerly anticipating a soak with some beautiful young ladies.
But once inside, he discovered… nothing but a bunch of hulking, rough-faced men!
After they left, in came a group of wrinkled old radishes in their fifties and sixties…
Surrounded by old radishes, Jiraiya wanted to cry but had no tears: ᕦ༼༎ຶ_༎ຶ༽ᕗ
"Hang on… I just need to wait for the young, pretty ladies to arrive."
...
Meanwhile, outside the hot springs, in a small gambling hall—
Tsunade and Shizune, wrapped in coats, were busy at the slot machines.
"Tsunade-sama, aren't we going to the hot springs together?" Shizune asked.
"That pervy guy is in there right now. No way I'm bathing with him. ┐(´-｀)┌"
Tsunade pouted.
She knew all too well what Jiraiya was like.
As they spoke, the slot machine let out the sound of running out of tokens…
An angry Tsunade slammed her fist into the machine.
"What a piece of junk! Can't you just let me win once! (ꐦ ಠ皿ಠ)"
Her punch instantly wrecked the machine.
A staff member rushed over with a polite smile ^_^: "Hello, that'll be ten thousand."
Tsunade: "…"
Honestly, what she'd just thrown into that slot machine was nearly her last bit of cash!
She might look well-dressed, but her purse was emptier than her face was clean.
"Write me an IOU. I'll pay you back later."
So, Tsunade began her all-too-familiar borrowing routine.
But the staff still kept smiling ^_^: "We're just a small business here. No loans."
At those words, a group of other staff moved in, surrounding Tsunade and Shizune.
With her strength, Tsunade could have easily floored these small fry.
But she was about to return and inherit the Hokage title. Getting into a brawl over debts would disgrace Konoha!
So Tsunade said sternly to Shizune: "Shizune, you understand what I mean, right?!"
Shizune, clutching Tonton, nodded awkwardly. "Tsunade-sama, are you sure we should…? After all, right now you…"
Tsunade nodded. "I'm sure. On the count of three…"
Shizune, nervous: "Alright."
Tsunade: "One, two…"
"Three!!"
And the two kunoichi, both far from weak, bolted away in a blur!
The casino staff were left stunned.
"Huh… how'd they run so fast?"
"They looked all fancy, but turns out they couldn't even cough up ten thousand."
One staffer suddenly frowned in thought.
"Didn't that blonde woman look familiar to you?"
"Especially that diamond-shaped mark on her forehead… I remember now! She's that legendary cash cow—Tsunade of Konoha!"
"In that case, let's just go collect the debt from Konoha itself. With a village that big, they can't possibly be short on that kind of money."
Another staffer suggested.
At that moment, Shinju and Naruto, fresh from the hot springs, happened to pass by and overheard.
No doubt about it—Tsunade-sama had skipped out on her debt again.
Not wanting Konoha's name dragged through the mud, Naruto borrowed ten thousand from Shinju and paid the debt off for her.
Afterward, the staffer smiled in satisfaction at the two kids.
"Now this—this is what I call the spirit of Konoha's fine shinobi!"
"Don't ever learn from that fat sheep Tsunade of yours! Gambling without money to pay up!"
Shinju and Naruto were left utterly speechless.
Tsunade-sama was already over fifty and about to become Hokage, yet she still pulled stunts like this…
They couldn't help worrying a little about Konoha's future.
...
Afterward, the two bought a bit of food and returned to the inn.
Opening the door, Shinju was shocked to find their belongings had clearly been searched.
What was missing—was the large scroll Shinju used to store purchased ninja tools!
Shinju's face immediately darkened.
"Dammit, who stole it! That scroll alone is worth tens of thousands! (▼皿▼#)"
Suddenly, Naruto noticed a note on the floor.
On it was written—
[If you want your scroll back, have Tsunade bring all her debts to the back mountain.]
[Signed: The Akagi Family]
Shinju could only sigh, utterly exasperated. "So it's because of that old hag's debts again!"
Naruto's face was just as helpless. "Can someone like that really lead Konoha?"
Without delay, Shinju teleported via Flying Thunder God to Tsunade's side.
At that moment, Tsunade was calmly drinking tea and chatting with some old man!
Shinju slapped her on the back unceremoniously. "Because of your debts, someone stole the scroll I spent a fortune on!"
Tsunade: "Because of my debts?"
Shinju: "Yes! So hurry up, pay them back, and redeem my scroll."
While Shinju and Tsunade were talking—
The white-haired old man across from her looked at Shinju in surprise.
"Young man, was that just now… the Flying Thunder God Technique?"
"Yes."
Tsunade nodded.
The man's expression instantly turned astonished.
"Tsunade, could this be the ninja who inherited Wood Release?!"
Tsunade nodded again. "Yes."
"Youth, a pleasure, a pleasure!"
The man hurriedly clasped Shinju's hand.
Faced with such enthusiasm, Shinju could only respond politely: "Heh, pleasure's mine."
Tsunade pointed to the man and introduced him: "This is my friend, Wasabi Jirōchō."
Then she pointed to Shinju. "And this is a young shinobi from our village, Shinju."
Wasabi Jirōchō looked directly at Shinju and got to the point.
"Every four years, our Land of Tea holds a grand festival. At that time, I'd like to invite you to help protect our contestants. Would you have the time?"
Shinju answered politely: "Just submit the mission request to Konoha. If I'm not already assigned to something then, I'll take it."
After the formalities, Shinju turned back to Tsunade, not forgetting his original purpose.
"Now hurry up and pay your debts!"