After traveling for roughly 20 minutes from Konoha's main gates, Sumoku stopped suddenly and performed the Summoning jutsu. In a puff of smoke appeared two distinctly different creatures.
The first to appear was a vicious-looking canine, unlike the typical nin-dogs of the Inuzuka clan, standing at 2 meters tall on all fours with a sleek body made for speed. The beast's mane was silvery-white and silky smooth, emitting a faint white aura that resembled smoke lines. This was Sumoku's first summon, Sati the smoke wolf.
The second creature that appeared sharply contrasted Sati's ferocious appearance with a lazy looking face and slow movements. Its overall size was slightly larger than Sati, standing at 2.2 meters tall on all fours with a much larger width to boot. At the ends of each of its four limbs were four long claws sharper than any kunai or sword. Its body was covered in muted brown fur with an almost raccoon-like pattern that made it somewhat cute in an ugly way. This was Sumoku's second summon, Indi the megasloth.
Now you may be asking yourself: How does Sumoku have two distinct summoning contracts? Truthfully, the answer is as simple as it is ridiculous – Sumoku bribed them both with drugs.
In Sati's case, Sumoku accidentally discovered that smoke wolves benefited greatly from consuming the herbs he cultivated for smoking. With that fact discovered, he simply promised to give the smoke wolf clan a portion of his special herbal inventory every now and then, which they easily accepted.
Indi's case was even more bizarre – the big lug simply liked to get high! Sumoku accidentally found him when completing a mission in the Land of Grass. At first he planned to simply ignore the creature and go about his day, but the moment he lit one of his special joints while resting, the megasloth came charging through the woods at full force. Though, instead of attacking Sumoku with the opportunity of surprise, it plopped down in front of him and begged him for a joint with puppy-dog eyes that did not fit his large size at all. It was truly the weirdest experience Sumoku had ever had in this life.
"Hey buds, we've got another mission on our hands. Sati, try to trace the scent of this shirt and lead the way for us. Indi, I'll call for you later in case we run into some unexpected delays, so no smoking for the time being. And yes, before you ask, I will compensate you for helping as usual." Sumoku quickly spoke without giving the two summons time to respond. He had argued with these two addicts enough times over the years to learn not to give them any ground in negotiations, otherwise they'd bargain for more, especially Indi…
"Awwwwww… C'mon boss Sumoku, you know I don't lose combat ability when I'm high. This is just bullying!" Indi was despondent in his tantrum, plopping onto his stomach while stretching all four limbs to his sides, resembling a fur rug.
"Shut it, you lazy ass!" Sumoku spoke roughly with a knowing smile on his face. "You already know the deal: you help me out of a tight spot, and I give you half a month's worth of the goods. Isn't that right, my sweet Sati?" Sumoku side-glanced at the beautiful silver smoke wolf to his right.
Sati glanced over at Indi's typical tantrum and didn't respond vocally, instead choosing to walk closer to the useless meat bag throwing a tantrum in order to deliver a kick with ferocious force directly to his head!
*BAMM*
The ground beneath Indi cracked in response to the force of the kick. Despite the commotion, Sumoku just shook his head at the scene. He knew better than to believe a kick with that little force would even make Indi wake up from a nap.
"Ehhhh? Did a fly land on me? Sati, can you get it for me… I'm too tired…" Indi, none the wiser, slightly turned his head to greet his summon-in-arms.
"*tch* You useless thing. You should be honored to work alongside such distinguished ones such as Sumoku and myself. Get. It. MOVING!" Each word of her final sentence was followed by another kick to Indi's head, all of which he treated as pleasant scratches.
"Alright, enough jokes. Indi, I'll call you when you're needed. Sati, let's go." Once Indi's summon was canceled, Sumoku and Sati bursted into a sprint amongst the treetops.
At the moment, Sumoku actually didn't know the exact location of his mission target. But with the information available to him, it wasn't hard to guess that he needed to head towards the Land of Hotsprings, then Sati could do the rest. For a distance like that, it would take him roughly half a day to reach his first destination at full speed.
The maps in his past life didn't do the true Ninja World any justice. While the Land of Hotsprings shared a border with the Land of Fire, the distance separating Konoha from that border spanned nearly 1000 kilometers!
To the current Sumoku, though, this was just another stroll through the neighborhood.
The sun in the sky had just started to disappear behind the horizon as Sumoku finally slowed his travel speed, arriving next to a tree that was a hundred meters away from the target town's entrance.
"Thanks for accompanying me on a walk, Sati. I'll give you a summon if things get dicey, but I don't expect things to reach that point this time. Give Saturn-san my regards when you get back."
"Understood, Sumoku-sama. Please remember to come visit Father in person some time soon. He's been particularly agitated about not having a proper sparring opponent." Sati vanished in a cloud of smoke after speaking, leaving Sumoku with a sweat drop on his forehead.
'That damn battle junky, I could've sworn I swapped their intake to mostly Indica strains… Shouldn't he have chilled out by now??'
"Whatever. Better to have a motivated summon than a junky…" Sumoku nodded to himself as if he were a sage delivering world-shaking wisdom, then paused awkwardly when remembering his other summoning partner.
Shaking off the comedic feeling and refocusing his attention, Sumoku performed a seal-less transformation jutsu, taking on the identity of an unremarkable minor noble looking to sample the Land of Hotsprings' hospitality. After summoning a few Shadow Clones and disguising them as Samurai, he proceeded forward.
Once inside the calm, serene town, Sumoku casually sauntered towards the building with the most dazzling lights – the casino. Stepping inside the rich establishment felt like entering an entirely different world from outside. With his trained eyes and ears, Sumoku easily picked up on something interesting amongst the cacophony of voices surrounding one table in particular.
"That's black. Everyone, please place your bets for the next spin." A uniformed woman with not a hair out of place calmly directed the surrounding gamblers. The faint gleam of sweat on her forehead and slightly tightened brows gave away the immense pressure she was feeling from handling such a crowded table.
Ironically enough, despite the employee's prompt to begin placing bets, every gambler present turned their eyes towards one person in particular. They sure as hell weren't about to accidentally miss out on even more free money!
"Hmph, what a joke. Shizune, place 50,000 Ryo on black again." The haughty, slurred voice of a powerful woman filled the silence, followed by every other gambler placing bets on the roulette ball landing on red.
'Figures… At least this saves time' The transformed Sumoku couldn't help but mentally comment on the situation playing out in front of him.
"I'll place 200,000 Ryo on black." A nasally tenor voice came from behind the crowd, startling a handful of people.
With one glance, most people lost interest in the young noble instantly. They all thought the same thing:
'This fool must be new here'
The woman seated at the table, however, kept her fierce eyes on the new addition to the table. Within them were an array of emotions, but the most prominent one was annoyance.
*tch* Tsunade glanced away from the foolish young noble and closed her eyes to wait for the next roulette results.
The roulette table employee breathed a sigh of relief at the development and began the next round of roulette.
As the ball began to slow down from its rotation, something unbelievable happened in front of the entire room. It landed… on black.
Every single person's face went sour with regret, but Tsunade's went pale with concern. She frantically locked her eyes onto the once forgettable noble brat. As she studied his face more, she instantly locked in on the 'cigarette' held gently between his lips.
Another *tch* escaped Tsunade's mouth, this time much more pronounced.
"Come on, Suzune. We're leaving." The Senju princess stood up without ceremony and headed straight for the exit. The teenage shinobi beside her was still awestruck at the recent win, lagging behind by a few steps.
As the two passed by the young noble with incredible 'luck', Tsunade spoke barely above a whisper.
"Outside. Now."
Sumoku, still in disguise, calmly ignored the message without a single expression slipping and collected his rightful winnings from the table before continuing on his way.
'Well, can't complain about doubling my pocket change while I was here'
He shrugged to himself and made his way outside with his winnings tucked away in his breast pocket.
Once more locking eyes with the Senju princess from a distance, he quietly followed the two women.
Only after all three of them were a good distance away from the town's entrance did Tsunade finally speak. Or rather, erupt.
"You damn, brat! You think you can hide behind some half-assed transformation jutsu and I wouldn't notice??!" Grabbing Sumoku by the collar, Tsunade unleashed her fury and frustration, shaking him violently.
"Please. You know I wanted you to identify me from the moment we locked eyes. Now, can we get past the circus act to talk about serious stuff like adults, or do we need to wait for the intermission?" Sumoku exasperatedly asked while enduring the violent whirlwind of movement.
"*Tch* You're no fun anymore, Sumoku-kun. Fine," The aura around Tsunade turned a bit feeble, "but tell me one thing right now: did you influence the roulette board when we were in there?" There was a soft tone of vulnerability that leaked out of Tsunade's voice. Clearly she couldn't calm herself until she had a clear answer.
Sumoku's face was completely deadpan as he responded: "No shit. You think you could win a single Ryo with your luck?"
Tsunade was relieved for a moment, then immediately aggravated as indicated by a furious tick mark.
"Haa? What was that, brat? There must have been something stuck in my ear, so I didn't hear you properly." She released one hand from his collar, only to curl it into a fist with concerning force.
"Jeez, Tsunade-sensei… You'd really hurt your favorite pupil just because of a few words? Wait, this is a marketing opportunity! How about trying some of my newly crafted indica strains!? I've just finished developing a strain that's guaranteed to have you chilled out for hours!" Sumoku's disguise went away as he spoke, finally revealing his figure.
"Sumoku-senpai… Lady Tsunade… can we please discuss the important topic now?..." Suzune looked exhausted at having to be the 'adult' in this situation. Behind the exhaustion, though, lay a quiet sense of happiness at the group's reunion.
"Suzune-chan is right, sensei. We can spar later if you'd like, but I have a mission to complete, and cute little disciples to tortu- I mean teach when I get back." Sumoku effortlessly detached himself from Tsunade's grip, though she wasn't trying too hard it seemed.
"Whatever. Now out with it, brat."
"*ahem* As I'm sure you are aware, Lord Third has stepped down and given the mantle of Fourth Hokage to Minato. Old news. My reason for being here, though, is because of this." A scroll appeared in a poof within Sumoku's hands, which he extended towards the Senju.
"All of this nonsense for a single scroll? You can't seriously have come all this way just to-" Tsunade's voice stopped abruptly as she began to properly read it.
"Is this all true?" Tsunade said conflictedly after a moment.
"All of what you read in the scroll is 100% supported by Minato, myself, and Lord Third. Though, you can place most of the credit on Minato and me. That old bag has been hitting my stash a bit too frequently to be reliable in these instances as of late…" Sumoku acted with faux disappointment.
Silence returned to the three shinobi as Tsunade grappled with what was on the scroll.
"Lady Tsunade… is something wrong with the village?" Suzune couldn't hold herself back as the tense silence began to make her feel anxious.
"Trouble? Hah. If it were that, I wouldn't have even bothered reading this whole damn thing." Tsunade gulped a breath of fresh air before continuing. "No. What's written on this scroll is something that changes everything…"
Tsunade glanced once more at the title that hung above the world-shaking proposal below it.
'Konoha Medical and Psychological Methodology: A Restructuring Guide'
"Sumoku-kun… you didn't come here just to inform me about this, did you." Tsunade didn't glance up from the scroll, but the intensity in her eyes gave away the battle going on inside her head.
"Sharp as always, sensei. You're correct. While it's true that Minato and I are capable of initiating this plan alone, the true legwork can only be completed by the best." Sumoku didn't hide his gaze, looking directly at Tsunade. "You are the best, Tsunade-sensei, and we need you."
A moment of pause pulled Tsunade's eyes to meet Sumoku's.
*sigh* "I need you, Tsunade-sensei."
Suzune, who had been watching this whole development from the sidelines, immediately went red in the face.
"S-sumoku-san, shouldn't you maybe rephrase that…"
"Huh? Oh I guess that can come off a bit wrong, can't it?" Rather than be embarrassed, Sumoku simply sidestepped the implication with his textbook aloofness.
"Fine…" Ignoring the childish antics between her disciples, Tsunade's voice quietly interrupted the impromptu comedy duo.
Sumoku's eyes widened slightly, caught off guard by the quick and easy acceptance. To be completely honest with himself, he expected he'd have to go on a wild chase around the Land of Fire's borders over a few weeks before she relented.
"Suzune, pack everything… we're going home." Tsunade didn't look up from the scroll, clearly engrossed in its technical analysis of the once-mythical branch of medicine.
"Tsunade-san… We're already packed and ready to move."
"Huh? Yeah yeah, whatever…"
"It seems like the great Tsunade of the Sannin has finally perked up a bit." A genuine warm smile was on Sumoku's face as he spoke quietly with Suzune, not truly worried about being overheard.
Without replying, Suzune shook her head with a helpless smile. Of all people, she knew just how hard every day was for the Senju princess. Seeing her engage with something with such passion again, that filled her heart with warmth.
Their journey back to Konoha was leisurely, even taking an extra two days to not exhaust poor Suzune-chan. At her current age, she barely qualified as an Elite Chunin when it came to physical fitness. Sumoku mentally made a note to help his junior get stronger in the future.
Eventually, the party of three stood before the hulking gates of Konoha.
Tsunade's eyes flickered between fear, resentment, fury, calm, and excitement. Sensing the storm inside his teacher, Sumoku simply placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.
"Don't worry, sensei. Things have been a lot brighter in recent years for Konoha."
Before Tsunade could even respond to the implication, a shadow flickered in front of them. Now kneeling in front of the two was a rather short ANBU member.
"Tsunade-sama. Sumoku-sama. Lord Hokage has summoned you." The ANBU agent wearing a Crow mask flickered away just as fast as he appeared.
"Well, that's our cue." Having said that, Sumoku casually flickered away, one hand each on Tsunade and Suzune's shoulders.