Big Fat Sheep Tsunade

"Senior Brother! Senior Brother!"

Li Chuan, who had been preparing to test his next ninjutsu, suddenly heard a familiar voice from nearby. He immediately stopped forming hand seals and vanished from the spot after several leaps.

"Sora, what is it?"

Li Chuan jumped down from a high tree trunk, landing directly in front of the shouting Sora.

Seeing Li Chuan appear, Sora replied somewhat nervously:

"Senior Brother, Sister Kino has come to the temple. She says she has something urgent to discuss with you."

"Alright, I understand. Thanks for making the trip. Next time, I'll have Kino bring you some little snacks."

Li Chuan bent down and patted Sora on the head, smiling gently before bounding away toward the Fire Temple.

Sora remained where he was, watching Li Chuan's departing figure with a trace of admiration in his eyes.

Within the entire temple, apart from Master Chiriku, Senior Brother Chuan was the only one who did not look at him with disgust.

And he was powerful, too. He had studied ninjutsu for less than a year, yet none of the senior brothers could defeat Senior Brother Chuan in their usual sparring sessions.

"Kino, what was so urgent that you had to find me?"

In the Fire Temple's rear courtyard, Li Chuan, who had hurried back, found Kino waiting there.

Kino first gave a respectful bow before replying:

"Your Highness, Madam Shizume's cat, Little Tiger, has gone missing. She is preparing to leave for Konoha Village to post a mission to find it.

"The Bounty Hunter Guild has also posted a bounty for Tazuna of the Land of Waves, and someone has already accepted it."

"Then let's proceed according to plan!"

Li Chuan's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing the news.

Madam Shizume was the Daimyo's wife—his aunt. Her cat, Little Tiger, had gone missing, and coupled with the mission appearing at the Bounty Hunter Guild, it was enough to conclude that Kakashi's Team 7 in Konoha Village would soon be carrying out the Land of Waves mission.

The Land of Waves was a tiny island nation with almost no ninja within its borders. Its economy was poor, its people lived in poverty, and it was currently controlled by the evil shipping merchant Gato.

Because Li Chuan had spent heavily to acquire ninjutsu, his once-abundant funds were gradually dwindling. Though he had established a merchant caravan, it still fell short of his expectations.

Moreover, money was indispensable to his future plans.

Though the Land of Waves was small, it was still a country. If handled properly, allowing his merchant caravan to establish itself there would undoubtedly bring enormous profits.

Controlling a nation's economic lifeline was not all that different from controlling the nation itself.

He could also use this opportunity to gain plenty of experience fighting powerful opponents. Killing two birds with one stone.

After Kino left according to his instructions, Li Chuan went to see Chiriku.

"Master, I want to travel for a while and gain some experience."

"Traveling... Hmm. With your strength, you can indeed go traveling now."

When Chiriku heard Li Chuan bring up the matter of traveling, he was initially taken aback, but then nodded in agreement.

He knew that if one wanted to become a truly powerful ninja, it was impossible to merely remain at the Fire Temple and train tirelessly. The Fire Temple had no mission system, so traveling was a good way to gain experience.

In Chiriku's eyes, Li Chuan's chakra had now barely reached the standard of an ordinary chunin. However, with his Five-Attribute Chakra ninjutsu and his exceptionally capable Body Technique, he was definitely among the best even among chunin.

Therefore, as long as he did not encounter someone with jonin-level strength, his safety would be assured while traveling.

More importantly, Li Chuan was the Prince of the Land of Fire. If he truly faced any great danger, he only needed to openly reveal his identity to receive protection.

This was an age of peace. Li Chuan's noble status as the Prince of the Land of Fire was itself a protective umbrella. If anything happened to him on someone's territory, it would cause considerable trouble.

The Land of Fire lay at the center of the Five Great Nations, situated in the most fertile hilly region and rich in forests. Thanks to its geographical advantages, its economy was also the most developed among the Five Great Nations.

Konoha Village was located below the capital of the Land of Fire, not particularly far away, so that the village's ninja could provide aid at any time should anything happen in the Land of Fire.

The Land of Waves, meanwhile, lay east of Konoha Village.

Li Chuan did not go to Konoha Village. After Chiriku approved his travels, he changed into the standard monk's robes of the Fire Temple, donned a conical hat, took the staff Kino had commissioned at great expense in the capital, and headed straight toward the Land of Waves.

The merchant caravan he had formed also set out at the same time.

Knowing that it would certainly take several days from Madam Shizume posting the mission in Konoha Village to Kakashi's team arriving in the Land of Waves, Li Chuan was in no rush along the way.

He traveled at an unhurried pace, stopping now and then to experience the sights of different towns in the Land of Fire.

The Land of Fire covered a vast area. Besides the capital and Konoha Village, it contained many towns and villages.

"The technological development of this world really is strange."

On the third day after leaving the capital of the Land of Fire, Li Chuan sat at a roadside stall in a town not far from the border, eating snacks as he gazed at the neon lights across the street and sighed.

You could call this a technologically backward world, yet there were neon lights of every color on the streets, coin-operated electronic slot machines, and even advanced items resembling computers.

But if you called it developed, the buildings, people's lives, and practically every other aspect felt more like something from ancient times.

In any case, it was pretty baffling.

"Don't run! Stop right there! Pay me back!"

Just as he ate his snacks and watched a shadow-puppet performance depicting ninja battles by the roadside, a disturbance at the street corner caught his attention.

He leaped onto a rooftop, took out a pair of binoculars from the Mission Space, and quickly figured out what had happened.

It turned out that two women had defaulted on their debts and were being chased by a large group of people wielding clubs.

"Debts unpaid... could it be?"

Li Chuan had not intended to pay attention, but something suddenly occurred to him. He raised his binoculars again and looked over.

Both women appeared quite young. One had long blonde hair, a purple diamond-shaped mark on her forehead, and an exceptionally curvaceous figure.

The other had short black hair and was holding an adorable little pink pig.

"Judging by those features, it really is Tsunade!"

Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin, the strongest medical ninja, granddaughter of First Hokage Hashirama Senju, Princess of the Senju Clan, and the future Fifth Hokage.

She loved gambling, yet had atrocious luck at it, losing nearly every bet she made. In casinos, she was known by the nickname "Big Fat Sheep."

After the deaths of her lover and younger brother in the war dealt her a severe psychological blow, she abandoned her identity as a ninja and left Konoha.

Recalling what he knew of Tsunade, Li Chuan considered it for a moment, then put away his binoculars, jumped to the ground, and ran toward the source of the disturbance.

The future Fifth Hokage—since he had run into her, he definitely needed to make contact.

If he could build a good relationship with her in advance, then when Tsunade was invited back to become Hokage before long, he might be able to gain some benefits through her as well.

According to Kino's hawk message that morning, Madam Shizume had only just returned to the capital with her Little Tiger. That meant Kakashi's team had likely only just set out from Konoha, so delaying a little would be fine.