The stall owner lay sprawled on the ground, trembling and speechless.
Tsunade's anger still burned, but seeing the owner's state, she realized she had gone too far.
No matter what, she shouldn't have taken her frustration out on him.
But she was broke.
Tsunade had lost all her money gambling.
Today's trip to the casino had been a desperate attempt to recoup her losses.
After a moment's thought, she said, "Wait here. I'll go gamble at the casino..."
"Lady Tsunade, please don't gamble anymore! You haven't won in years. If you gamble again, we won't even be able to afford food!"
Shizune clung to Tsunade's leg.
'Still thinking about making a comeback? You must be dreaming.'
"Tsunade... are you... are you Lady Tsunade?"
"Hmm? Shizune, I told you... never mind. Owner, take this money to Green Light Publishing. Tell them to deduct it from Jiraiya's royalties. If they refuse, tell them it's on my authority-Tsunade's. I'm taking this book with me."
Tsunade's expression darkened.
After a cold laugh, she said, "Shizune, you were worried about money, right? Let's go make a fortune right now!"
The way she emphasized "make a fortune" was particularly harsh, making the ten-year-old Shizune tremble and dare not reply.
With that, Tsunade turned and left, abandoning her plans for the casino.
Compared to gambling, she now had a far more pressing matter to attend to: beating up Jiraiya.
"That damn Black Cat should be thanking me. All it did was think up a simple idea, and it's raking in so much money-it's a guaranteed win-win deal! Meanwhile, I'm slaving away writing, and I only get sixty percent..."
The white-haired ninja held the sample copy that had arrived a few days earlier, feeling both heartache and pride.
The publishing house had replied four days ago, saying his book was selling exceptionally well.
The promotional tagline "Based on True Events" was a stroke of genius, boosting sales several times over.
There was just one regret.
Due to Raj's interference, he had to change the golden hair to black.
He felt golden hair would've been more striking, but at least he managed to keep that one crucial detail.
'A youthful face... Hehehehe.'
Just imagining that appearance and those features sent a thrill through him.
He wished the character from his book could materialize before his eyes.
Although Jiraiya subconsciously modeled the character after Tsunade, he saw her as slightly different.
The character in the book was, of course, more idealized.
She was beautiful, gentle, non-violent, and sweet-natured.
Apart from a superficial resemblance, their essences were completely different.
But some people didn't see it that way.
"Lady Tsunade, where are we going?" Shizune asked, her voice trembling.
Shizune had never seen Tsunade so emotionally agitated.
More importantly...
'What exactly did this book say?'
Even when Tsunade had lost everything at the casino, she hadn't raised a fist.
Yet after reading only three or four pages of this novel, she was so enraged that she smashed the entire stall.
This was utterly absurd.
"To beat someone up and make money," Tsunade growled, her face dark as she charged forward.
'Lord Jiraiya is doomed.'
Shizune could already imagine the scene: Lord Jiraiya, half-dead and hospitalized, forced to hand over the novel's earnings with trembling hands.
'Tsk, how pathetic.'
Still, only Lord Jiraiya could truly anger Lady Tsunade.
That was a kind of talent in itself.
'But if we're going to beat him up, does that mean we're returning to Konoha?'
Tsunade was furious.
'Using character tropes as hints was one thing, and changing my hair to black, though clumsy, was somewhat understandable. But what's with the river bathing scene and the childlike appearance? Can't afford a hot spring resort? Looking down on my figure from when I was young? If I don't beat this pervert half to death, I'm not Hashirama Senju's granddaughter!'
'From now on, call me by my name spelled backward-no, I'll just change my name to match the heroine in Jiraiya's books!'
Poor Shizune had no idea what was going on.
She wanted to ask Tsunade to see the book, but considering Tsunade's murderous mood...
'I want to live!'
Shizune suppressed her curiosity and humbly followed Tsunade.
It was fortunate that her physical conditioning had remained strong from years of fleeing debt with Tsunade; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to keep up with Tsunade's pace.
Having spent recent months evading creditors and deliberately avoiding areas with ninja, Tsunade was unaware of Konoha's current situation, let alone Jiraiya's deployment to the front lines.
It wasn't until they encountered several ninja heading to the front that she learned Jiraiya was on the Northern Front.
After a moment's hesitation, she pressed on toward the front lines, leaving Shizune with the Konoha ninja to speed things up.
There were advantages to being outside Konoha.
Raj, Kakashi, and their group were training in a mountainous area near the village, not far from the main road leading to the Northern Front.
This allowed Tsunade to sense their presence as she passed by.
'Someone's here?'
'This used to be a training ground. Who's training here now?'
In the end, curiosity won out.
'It's not far anyway...'
Tsunade hurried toward Raj's location and soon arrived at the mountain hollow.
This used to be a training ground, but back then, it was only used for basic exercises like tree climbing, water walking, and mountain climbing.
Nothing like this.
'What kind of Ninja Tool is that? I've never seen anything like it before. A tumbler? It must have a counterattack mechanism. Otherwise, Kakashi wouldn't be so cautious. Interesting...'
Initially, Tsunade had only come out of curiosity, but now she was genuinely intrigued and wanted to observe the training session more closely.
Just as she was pondering this, Kakashi was predictably sent flying.
After a dozen attempts, he had become quite adept at being thrown through the air with a certain grace.
'The counterattack effect is that strong?'
Tsunade's eyes widened, her interest piqued.
'This thing must accumulate force-the greater the force, the stronger the counterattack.'
'What a fascinating toy...'
"Can I borrow it for a bit?"
"Who's there?"
Hearing the voice, Obito immediately activated his Sharingan, positioning himself protectively in front of Kakashi.
He glared sternly in the direction of the voice, knowing that in the ninja world, one could never underestimate an opponent, regardless of gender.
"Little brat, your eyes are impressive, but your skills are no match for me. Besides... I'm just curious about this toy and want to test it out."
Tsunade emerged from her hiding spot, her striking golden hair drawing immediate attention.
Obito might not have recognized Tsunade, but Kakashi certainly did.
The moment he saw her, he forgot all about his pain, rubbing his eyes in disbelief before falling speechless in shock.
Just then, Tsunade sensed a sudden surge of chakra.
In an instant, a black cat materialized in the air.
"Meow! What do you think you're doing to my teammate...?"