manynovel Chapter 53 Finding Tsunade
Chapter 53 Finding Tsunade
"One, two, three..." Kisame Hoshigaki, who couldn't help but count the number of fox tails, checked it several times before falling silent again.
He turned to Itachi Uchiha for confirmation and asked, "Mr. Itachi, I think I didn't miscount, there are nine tails, right?"
If it weren't for the need to maintain a certain image, Itachi Uchiha might have given Kisame a disdainful look. Did he really think his overused Sharingan eyes could see any better than Kisame's?
Naruto looked at the two people in front of him, and his attention was immediately drawn to Uchiha Itachi. This person looked so much like Sasuke...
Although it was unclear why a mini version of the Nine-Tails had appeared, Itachi Uchiha decided to proceed with the original plan for now.
"Bring the Jinchuriki and... that Nine-Tails along with you," Itachi Uchiha said to Kisame Hoshigaki.
"Understood." Kisame Hoshigaki grinned, revealing sharp, shark-like teeth.
……
By the time Mavis and Might Guy arrived, the battle was over, and Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki had already left.
Mavis walked over to Naruto and asked worriedly, "Naruto, Kurama-san, are you alright?"
Unlike the others, only Mavis cared for Naruto while also showing equal concern for Kurama. This was something Kurama greatly appreciated.
In particular, Mavis's concern for Naruto and Kurama was equally genuine, which Kurama, who could sense emotions, understood very well.
—It was precisely because of Mavis's attitude of treating Kurama and other humans equally that Kurama and Mavis became closer and closer.
Kurama jumped from Naruto's head into Mavis's arms, its big ears twitching, and said, "Naruto and I are fine, of course, but that Uchiha kid got a really bad beating from his brother."
The Nine-Tails, who had little affection for the Uchiha clan, spoke these words with absolutely no sympathy.
At this moment, Mavis also saw Sasuke lying on the ground at the end of the corridor. She walked over with concern and found Sasuke unconscious on the ground with his arm violently broken and twisted.
"Let's get Sasuke to the hospital as soon as possible!" Mavis said to Might Guy and Jiraiya, who was staring in the direction Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki had left.
……
On the other side, Itachi Uchiha, who had already left, was on his way, and his three-tomoe Sharingan, which he always kept active, had quietly closed.
Itachi Uchiha's black eyes trembled slightly. Using Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu in quick succession had taken a heavy toll on his body.
Kisame Hoshigaki, who was standing nearby, naturally noticed Itachi Uchiha's discomfort. Having a general idea of what was going on, he raised another question: "Itachi-san, do you think that thing next to the Jinchuriki is the Nine-Tails? Its size and power don't match at all."
As Itachi Uchiha continued on his way, he replied, "Even if that really is the Nine-Tails, that little bit of power is useless to us. Besides, since the Jinchuriki is still alive, it proves that the Nine-Tails' power still exists in the Jinchuriki's body."
It can only be said that it is indeed Itachi Uchiha; he has grasped the key points of the matter in such a short time.
Itachi Uchiha had a gut feeling that the unusual damage to Konoha Village might be related to the current anomaly of the Nine-Tails.
Increasingly suspicious, Itachi Uchiha secretly decided to release more crows to observe Sasuke.
……
The arrival of Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki caused quite a stir in Konoha, but it gradually subsided over time.
In a ward at Konoha Hospital, the curtains were gently lifted by the breeze, and the fresh flowers on the bedside table were still glistening with dew, looking delicate and vibrant, clearly carefully selected.
Mavis gently pushed open the door and saw Sakura sitting by Sasuke's bedside.
Sakura heard the door open and turned around to greet her: "Mavis, you've come to see Sasuke too."
Mavis nodded, then went to Sasuke's bedside, placed her hand on Sakura's shoulder, and silently comforted her.
Sakura paused for a moment, looking at Sasuke lying quietly and weakly in the hospital bed, and then thinking of Kakashi, who was also unconscious in the next room, she murmured to herself, "I wonder if Naruto and the others will be able to bring Tsunade back safely."
……
As for Tsunade's return to Konoha, which Sakura was concerned about, it naturally... wasn't so smooth.
Jiraiya and Naruto successfully found Tsunade, but Tsunade was unwilling to return to Konoha to become Hokage.
"Huh? You want me to go back to be Hokage? Are you kidding me? Only a fool would want to be Hokage. I told the old man to retire from the position long ago. He was so stubborn at his age, and he still died in the end." Tsunade, drunk and holding a wine glass, said some words that were quite offensive to the Hokage without any restraint.
Jiraiya was used to Jiraiya looking down on the Hokage position and speaking ill of the Third Hokage, whom he respected. But Naruto, standing to the side, was so angry that his hair stood on end.
"Perverted Sage, why are we choosing this old woman to be Hokage?!" Naruto shouted.
Naruto, who had always dreamed of becoming Hokage, couldn't accept that Tsunade would reject his dream of becoming Hokage.
Jiraiya, with a helpless expression, reached out and pressed down on the excited Naruto, saying, "No one else in the entire Hidden Leaf Village is more qualified to succeed her as Hokage. Whether it's her status or the Hidden Leaf Village medical system she founded..."
Tsunade, who was drunk and holding a wine glass, also spared some attention for the loud and boisterous kid next to Jiraiya.
With blonde hair and at this age, could she be Minato and Kushina's child? Tsunade, who looks drunk, is still quite clear-headed.
So much time has passed, and the child has grown up so much… Tsunade brought the wine glass to her lips, thinking lazily.
Just as she was about to take a sip of the wine, Tsunade caught a glimpse of a small fox in the corner, fiddling with a wine glass.
Oh my, where did this little fox come from? It's quite cute, but it has nine tails...
Tsunade lazily thought to herself, raised her cup and drank, but suddenly choked, "Cough cough cough cough..."
Seeing that Tsunade had suddenly choked on her drink, Shizune quickly patted Tsunade on the back.
Tsunade decisively pushed Shizune's hand away, and after calming her cough slightly, she instantly stared at Kurama in the corner. Then she frowned and looked at Jiraiya, and saw a familiar mockery in Jiraiya's eyes.
Clearly, he knew perfectly well why Tsunade had choked, but perhaps he deliberately didn't mention it, waiting to see her look terrified.
Tsunade's forehead twitched, and the wine glass in her hand was instantly crushed to pieces.
"Here I come!" The vicious voice squeezed out from between Tsunade's clenched teeth.
Upon hearing this voice, Jiraiya, who had been momentarily carried away by his smugness, suddenly snapped back to reality, and cold sweat began to pour from his forehead.
He quickly waved his hand and said, "Let me explain, Tsunade! This is a complicated matter, and I originally intended to tell you from the beginning..."
As it turned out, Jiraiya's explanation was useless.
As Jiraiya watched in horror, Tsunade's figure drew ever closer.
Bang! Thud! —
After a commotion that sounded like a small earthquake, Naruto, like a quail, shivered as he held the leisurely Nine-Tails in his arms and watched Jiraiya, who had been dragged out the door and beaten black and blue, being dragged back in by Tsunade like a corpse.
The lecherous immortal should still be alive, right...?
Naruto swallowed hard, his hand instinctively tightening its grip on Kurama's tail.
Enraged by having its tail grabbed, Kurama raised its hand and delivered another vicious claw strike to Naruto.
Naruto released his grip without changing his expression. It just goes to show how powerful habits can be; Naruto had almost gotten used to being scratched by Kurama these past few days.
In addition, Naruto, who has the Nine-Tails' chakra and the Uzumaki bloodline, is indeed tough and resilient. The wounds scratched by the Nine-Tails can be healed in about half a day with his own self-healing ability.
Looking at the miniature Nine-Tails in Naruto's hand, Tsunade took a deep breath, leaned back on the sofa, and examined the Nine-Tails with a complicated expression. She raised her chin and said, "Tell me, what's going on? I've only been away from Konoha for a few years, and Konoha's sealing techniques have already advanced to this level?"
Once the conversation turned to business, Jiraiya stopped pretending to be dead, jumped up from the ground, and, despite his bruised and swollen face, casually explained, "It's like this..."
……
After hearing Jiraiya's full explanation, even the well-informed Tsunade was stunned; the people and things related to magic were all too unbelievable.
When Tsunade heard Jiraiya mention that the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, Madara Uchiha, and Minato Namikaze had all appeared, she lowered her eyelashes slightly, preventing Jiraiya from seeing the complex expression in her eyes.
In fact, Jiraiya was unaware that Orochimaru and Kabuto had already found Tsunade.
Orochimaru used the promise of letting Tsunade see her former lover again as bait, hoping to get her to help heal his arm that had been sealed by the Third Hokage.
If it were just about the Impure World Reincarnation technique, Tsunade wouldn't actually be that interested.
No matter how much she wanted to see her former lover, the form of being resurrected through the Impure World Reincarnation was itself a defilement of the dead.
However, the effect of the magic "History of Corpses" cast by Zeref, which Jiraiya mentioned, did stir Tsunade's heart for a moment.
However, the next moment, when she thought about the activation conditions of the Corpse History—which could only show enemies she had killed—Tsunade immediately lost interest.
After digesting the information Jiraiya had given her, Tsunade relaxed again, slumped back in her chair, and picked up her wine glass once more.
She said calmly, "There's no way I'd become Hokage. Only a fool would want to be Hokage."
Upon hearing this, Naruto's eyebrows shot up, and he instantly forgot the fear he had just felt when he saw Tsunade beating someone, and was about to continue speaking.
Before Naruto could speak, Kurama, the Nine-Tails in his arms, wagged its tail and agreed, "Indeed, the Hokage are all a bunch of bastards. Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju are despicable and shameless, and the Third and Fourth Hokage weren't any better!"
If Tsunade were to hear anyone else dare to speak ill of her grandfather and great-grandfather like that, she would definitely teach the person who dared to say such things to her a lesson.
However, Tsunade lowered her gaze and glanced at Kurama, but said nothing.
Since it was Kurama who said this, Tsunade decided to temporarily set aside her grudge against this fox, whom her grandfather had defeated.
—After all, it's not unreasonable for the defeated to complain a bit, right?
It's fortunate that Kurama (the Nine-Tails) can't read minds; otherwise, if it had heard Tsunade's thoughts, this proud fox probably wouldn't have let it go so easily.
However, Tsunade did not react, but Naruto shouted first.
He raised his hand and lifted the Nine-Tails in front of him, shaking its body in dissatisfaction, and said, "What nonsense are you talking about, you fox? The First, Second, and Third Hokage, as well as my father, were all the most outstanding ninjas. In the future, I will be as powerful as them!"
As usual, Kurama started by slapping Naruto with its claw, then roared even louder, "As my jinchūriki, what need do you have to worship those guys?! My power is the strongest!"
Naruto turned his head to the side and deliberately mocked, "Even if you're strong, you were still defeated by the First Hokage. I don't think your strength is that great."
Seeing Kurama choke on its own, Naruto became even more smug, raising his chin and laughing, "Oh right, and what about when we fought Acnologia..."
Recalling the scene of being overwhelmed by Hashirama Senju and Acnologia, Kurama, enraged, instantly bristled.
It broke free from Naruto's grasp and angrily lunged straight at Naruto's face, its claws extending, instantly turning Naruto's face into a gruesome mess.
Even though Naruto has gradually gotten used to being hit by Kurama's claw from time to time, he is still flesh and blood after all, and he has not yet adapted to this level of fox claw attack.
The key point is, this fox's scratches really hurt!
Naruto was tackled to the ground by Kurama. Unable to bring himself to harm Naruto, who was now in the form of a weak little fox, he could only cover his face and roll around to avoid it.
"Ouch, ouch, stop scratching me! Waaah—I'm sorry, okay?!"
"Aaaaaaah, you perverted immortal, help me! Aaaaaaah!"
Seeing Naruto being attacked by the Nine-Tails and hearing his desperate cries for help, even Tsunade, who had just met the Nine-Tails, did not stop him, let alone Jiraiya, who had become accustomed to such scenes along the way.
Jiraiya replied dismissively, "Naruto, patience is also a ninja's training. I believe in you!"
Facing the legendary nine-tailed fox, Jiraiya thought lazily, "What's the big deal about getting a few painless claw strikes?"
After all, for a ninja, such superficial injuries are negligible, especially against the power of the Nine-Tails, such scratching is no different from playing around.
At this moment, only the toon in Shizune's arms was trembling with fear because of the Nine-Tails' ferocity. Shizune noticed this and quickly touched the toon in her arms to comfort it.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru and Kabuto, who were nearby waiting for Tsunade's reply, were discussing whether Tsunade would agree to their deal.