Land of Stone, Oiwa Town. (Big Rock Town)
The Land of Stone is a small nation situated between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth, to the west of the Land of Birds. Oiwa Town is one of its more prosperous hubs.
At this moment, on a gambling street in Oiwa Town, a woman with pale blonde hair and an incredibly striking figure was strolling along.
How should one describe her?
In a word: Massive!
In two words: Simply peerless!
Not only was her physique explosive, but her beauty was breathtaking. Her face was refined, with features so perfectly balanced they held no flaws. Her lip color, in particular, was so beautiful it made one want to steal a kiss. Perhaps because she was a natural beauty, she wore no makeup at all; yet even with a bare face, she outshone everyone around her.
Her gaze carried a deep, intense confidence. Between her brows sat a diamond-shaped mark, identical to the one Diarmuid displayed in Sage Mode, serving as the sole "ornament" on her face. Her light brown pupils seemed ordinary, yet on her face, they became singularly captivating.
Though no one on the street seemed to recognize her, this woman was world-famous within the shinobi world.
She was one of Konoha's Sannin, the granddaughter of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. She was the Hime (Princess) officially titled by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, the strongest of the Five Great Nations.
The woman known as the greatest Medical Ninja in the world: Tsunade!
Tsunade's outfit was practically eternal: a grey-and-white striped inner shirt, opened wide at the chest in a way that forced one's eyes to linger, topped with a green coat with the kanji for "Gamble" (賭, Kake) printed large on the back. To be honest, anyone else wearing this outfit would look like a disaster. But on her, it looked perfectly natural. She mastered the plain style entirely, turning it into her own iconic look.
At this moment, Tsunade was carrying a briefcase. Unsurprisingly, it was stuffed with cash. As for the source? It was almost certainly borrowed from a loan shark. In other words, it was a high-interest loan.
However, she felt absolutely zero psychological pressure about borrowing from usurers. Perhaps it was because she was already so buried in debt that more didn't matter, or perhaps because from the moment she borrowed it, she never intended to pay it back.
As a child, Tsunade had picked up some bad habits from her grandfather, Hashirama Senju, namely, a love for gambling. It was a miracle that the vast Senju estate hadn't been completely squandered by these two "skilled" gamblers who loved the game despite being terrible at it.
However, after Tsunade left Konoha to wander the world, she could no longer draw funds from her family to waste. Thus, she turned to loan sharks. This led to a cyclical pattern: borrow, lose, find a new lender, and lose in a new place. Over the years, she had made a massive name for herself in the gambling world: The Legendary Sucker!
Of course, those loan sharks weren't exactly benevolent. Normally, if a beautiful woman like Tsunade failed to pay back a debt, she would likely be harassed or worse. The problem was that as one of the Sannin, Tsunade was immensely powerful. With the Monster Strength techniques of the Senju clan alone, she could dominate the shinobi world. For her, loan sharks were just places to fleece money in a roundabout way. Paying them back was out of the question.
And so, having fleeced some unfortunate loan shark for a large sum, Tsunade clutched her briefcase and walked into a gambling parlor with the confident swagger of a God of Gamblers.
Thirty minutes later, the parlor staff were rolling out a red carpet at the entrance, with waiters in suits lined up on either side. The doors swung open, and Tsunade walked out, her expression looking slightly awkward.
The waiters on both sides bowed deeply in unison, lowering their heads as they shouted: "Onee-sama, we look forward to your next visit!"
Tourists on the street stared in shock at this movie-like scene, assuming some legendary VIP had graced the establishment. Under the respectful send-off of the casino boss, Tsunade managed to maintain her composure, walking down the red carpet like a victorious general.
However, once she turned the corner, her expression instantly collapsed. She gritted her teeth and hissed, "Dammit! I'm never betting that big again! I thought I could at least kill a day with that much, but I lost it all in thirty minutes!"
Just then, her stomach let out a loud gurgle.
Tsunade's face flushed. She looked left and right to ensure no one was around before sighing in relief. Then she cursed under her breath, "I spent so much in your casino and you didn't even offer me a meal? I'm never going back..."
Muttering to herself, she rummaged through her pockets and counted the coins in her palm. She had exactly enough for one meal.
"After this meal, I'll have to rely on Shizune for help again," Tsunade grumbled. She found a yakiniku restaurant along the street and walked in.
It was a self-service spot. As she grilled her meat, Tsunade hummed a little tune, seemingly having already moved on from her loss at the casino. Then again, she almost never won; if she stayed depressed every time she lost, she would have succumbed to clinical depression years ago. Since she was essentially gambling with "free" money anyway, she didn't place much value on the currency itself.
Suddenly, Tsunade overheard a group of people chatting at a nearby table. They looked like shinobi from the Land of Stone. There were three of them, huddled together, looking as though they had just finished a mission and were celebrating with their reward money.
Looking at the three-man cell, a smile touched Tsunade's lips, and her gaze softened.
So many years had passed...
She wondered how those two guys, Jiraiya and Orochimaru, were doing. Apparently, Jiraiya was some kind of best-selling author now? He must be loaded. If she ran into him, she'd have to blackmail him for a hefty sum!
As for Orochimaru, that gloomy bastard was surely still conducting his bizarre research.
"The Third Shinobi World War is finally over..." Tsunade murmured softly. Her voice was distinctive, carrying a gentle warmth beneath a mature, commanding "big sister" aura.
Naturally, Tsunade possessed a natural authority, especially now in her prime. She didn't even need the Yin Seal to maintain her youthful beauty.
She popped a piece of grilled meat into her mouth, a satisfied smile blooming on her face. She glanced at the crowds passing by outside the window, her eyes turning nostalgic. She whispered with a smile, "I wonder what Konoha is like now?"
She hadn't left Konoha because of the village itself; she had simply grown weary of war and wanted to leave that place of sorrow behind. She still held deep feelings for the hidden village her grandfather had built. If she didn't, she would never have eventually become the Fifth Hokage.
She had heard that Minato Namikaze, Jiraiya's student, had become the new leader, the Fourth Hokage.
But she didn't yet know that her old teammate, Orochimaru, had defected from the village. Orochimaru's defection was a disgrace, and Konoha wouldn't broadcast it everywhere; it was a sensational event only within shinobi circles.
Unfortunately, Tsunade had effectively "left the circle." She hadn't associated with the shinobi world in years, spending all her time in the gambling world. And in the gambling world... who the hell cared if Orochimaru defected? What did that have to do with them?
Combined with Tsunade's deliberate avoidance of shinobi-related news, she truly had no idea Orochimaru had fled the village.
As Tsunade lost herself in the scenery outside, she caught another snippet of conversation.
"Hey, did you guys hear?"
"Hear what?"
"That S-rank rogue ninja Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin who fled Konoha, apparently got involved in the civil war in the Land of Rain. He fought Hanzo of the Salamander and died there. His body is still in the Land of Rain; Amegakure is supposedly asking Konoha to come identify it..."
"For real? That's one of the Sannin!"
"So what if he's a Sannin? Don't forget how they got that title in the first place..."
"Yeah... he's a 'Demigod' after all... Hanzo of the Salamander."
"What was Orochimaru thinking, going to the Land of Rain to pick a fight with Hanzo?"
"Who knows?"
Tsunade, who had been spacing out, whipped her head around toward the speakers. It was indeed those three shinobi. Her expression was thunderous, but she wasn't the type to throw a tantrum without cause. She didn't jump up to beat them just for gossiping.
But her heart was racing with unease...
Orochimaru... dead?
Killed by Hanzo of the Salamander?
And since when had that bastard become a rogue ninja?
What the hell happened?
If it were anyone else, she wouldn't have bothered to ask, even if they were from Konoha. When the White Fang, Sakumo Hatake, committed suicide after the war, Tsunade hadn't shown much interest.
But Orochimaru was different. He was the friend, partner, and comrade she had grown up with. He and Jiraiya occupied a massive space in her heart. Hearing of his sudden death left her mind in a state of chaos.
Right then, a figure rushed into the yakiniku shop, looking panicked. It was a young girl in her teens with short black hair and a quiet, refined appearance. She was clutching a small piglet the size of a palm – Tonton.
This girl was Shizune, the niece of Dan Kato. She was also the assistant who had stayed by Tsunade's side all these years.
"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune cried out when she spotted her, running over quickly.
Before Tsunade could speak, Shizune's expression wavered with grief. "Tsunade-sama... Orochimaru-sama has fallen in battle..."
As Orochimaru had once told Diarmuid, they had all been on good terms with Dan Kato. It was natural; they were Tsunade's best friends, and when she found a partner, Jiraiya and Orochimaru wouldn't have been hostile toward him, even if Jiraiya did have a crush on her. Consequently, Shizune had been on good terms with both Orochimaru and Jiraiya since she was small.
Hearing the news of Orochimaru's death, Shizune was naturally devastated.
Tsunade froze in place, allowing the beef on the grill to turn black and charred.
If she could have doubted the words of those three random ninjas, the fact that Shizune was reporting this meant the news had been confirmed multiple times.
Orochimaru... dead?
Her eyes grew slightly moist as a pang of grief struck her heart, but it lasted only an instant. Her gaze suddenly turned sharp and piercing, transforming her back into the "Valkyrie" who had once dominated the battlefields of the Second Shinobi World War.
"Impossible. That guy Orochimaru wouldn't die that easily!" Tsunade said, her voice low and heavy.
She didn't know if she was saying it to Shizune or to herself. But she had already experienced the pain of losing those important to her twice; she had no intention of experiencing it a third time. She refused to believe it.
Slamming her hands onto the table, Tsunade stood up.
"Let's go. To the Land of Rain. We're going to see what's really going on!"