The Orphanage Director's Daughter, Karin, in the Land of Hot Springs

The Land of Hot Springs.

This is a magical country.

Because the Land of Hot Springs is dotted with hot springs, it has become a resort paradise for Shinobi World and is considered a Shinobi World, which has allowed them to avoid war for a time.

This country faces few dangers.

When Shirou Emiya in the Land of Hot Springs, he noticed that the number of ninjas from Hidden Hot Springs Village, who were responsible for protecting the Land of Hot Springs, was not many, a stark contrast to the number of ninjas from Hidden Rain Village.

It looks like...

This place is really safe.

As a man dedicated to helping others, Kakuzu also established the largest Orphanage and nursing home in the Shinobi World in this peaceful and safe country, sending many orphans who had left their hometowns and Kunai elderly people here.

Certainly.

Kakuzu is under a lot of pressure.

Fortunately, Kakuzu's lifespan was long enough that the children in the Orphanage grew up and were able to give back to him. He also made a lot of money by constantly killing people.

This is also the place with the largest number of descendants of the Uzumaki.

These descendants of the Uzumaki no longer bear the Uzumaki surname; instead, they serve as caregivers and administrators in Kakuzu's Orphanage.

With the Five Great Nations ninja villages mastering the Tailed Beast sealing techniques for Jinchuriki, these descendants of the Uzumaki clan were finally no longer vulnerable. Furthermore, the Kakuzu, an immortal and powerful missing-nin, made it impossible for ordinary small ninja villages to provoke them.

They can barely manage to protect themselves.

During this period of time

There were some disturbances, though.

A blonde woman and her apprentice moved to live near the Orphanage.

While treating patients during the day with her disciples, the blonde woman noticed that the patients in the vicinity always spoke highly of the Medical Ninjutsu of the Orphanage director and her daughter Karin.

As luck would have it, she met a little girl named Karin and discovered that the girl was very talented. So she taught the child some Medical Ninjutsu. Unexpectedly, she met Karin's mother, who came to the inn to express her gratitude, this morning.

"I am Karin's mother."

The director of the Orphanage in the Land of Hot Springs was an extremely gentle red-haired woman with a temper that was not at all irritable. She came to visit with her daughter and quietly explained the purpose of her visit, "I heard that Karin mentioned that a very powerful medical ninja has come to the vicinity."

"That should be me."

The blonde woman was anything but modest.

Although she was holding a bottle of liquor early in the morning and didn't look like a proper medical ninja at all, she immediately gained the other person's trust when she mentioned her name.

"I am Tsunade."

The blonde woman looked at the Orphanage's red-haired director and asked curiously, "Are you from the Uzumaki Clan? We should have been distant relatives in the past."

"It really is Lady Tsunade!"

The Orphanage director looked at Tsunade with some surprise, then quickly explained, "I'm sorry, we no longer use the Uzumaki surname."

She truly hadn't expected that this blonde woman was actually Tsunade!

Even though the descendants of the Uzumaki Clan lived in the remote Land of Hot Springs, they had heard of Tsunade's name and even knew that she was the granddaughter of the First Hokage, Konoha's Sannin Hashirama Senju. In addition to being one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, she also had the title of "Princess," which was highly respected by ninjas.

"So you're no longer using the surname 'Uzumaki'?"

When Tsunade talked about this, she couldn't help but take a swig of her drink.

"Yes."

The red-haired woman nodded, somewhat reluctant to discuss the past. "The Land of Whirlpools has long been destroyed, and the surname Uzumaki always brings disaster to everyone—."

Tsunade knew that Konoha hadn't been able to help much when Whirlpool Village was destroyed, so she could only continue drinking her sake, casually replying, "As distant relatives from the past, we can no longer use the Senju surname..."

"Never mind."

Let's not talk about the past.

Tsunade immediately changed the subject, casually asking, "I'm going to a medical outreach program later, should I take Karin with me?"

Over the years, Tsunade's activities have always been very regular.

In the morning, Tsunade would take her disciple Shizune out to provide free medical care. In the afternoon, she would go to the casino and lose a lot of money. In the evening, she would go to a tavern, get drunk, and go back to sleep.

"I still have to manage the Orphanage."

The red-haired woman declined Tsunade's offer somewhat shyly, carefully taking out her gift as a token of gratitude, and said softly, "Actually, besides coming today to thank Lady Tsunade for teaching Karin Medical Ninjutsu,..."

"I have come under orders because a certain lord has heard that Lady Tsunade Land of Hot Springs and wishes to see you."

"Who is it, sir?"

Tsunade continued drinking her wine with some curiosity.

"It's Kakuzu- sama."

The red-haired woman's expression became even more apologetic. She seemed embarrassed to bring up the matter, but even more embarrassed to ignore Kakuzu's words.

After all.

There is no Kakuzu.

There would be no Orphanage as we know them today.

"Puff!"

Tsunade couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of sake, immediately guessing that Kakuzu wanted to see her. She quickly urged Shizune to leave, "Shizune, let's go, let's go, we need to get busy. Don't let me miss my chance to earn money at the casino this afternoon!"

"Lady Tsunade— "

Shizune, feeling a bit out of place, quickly followed.

"Tell Kakuzu I'm going to see him!"

As Tsunade strode towards the hotel exit, she shouted to the red-haired woman, "I'll pay him back the money I owe him if I win this afternoon!"

"No.."

The red-haired woman looked at Tsunade with some guilt.

Because Kakuzu sent her to see Tsunade, it was indeed to collect a debt from Tsunade.

Karin, clinging to her mother's arm, curiously looked up at Tsunade's retreating figure and whispered, "Mom, does Lady Tsunade owe Kakuzu a lot of money?"

"A lot of."

The red-haired woman recalled the astronomical figure Kakuzu had mentioned.

As a gambling addict with debts piled up everywhere, Tsunade actually borrowed money from Kakuzu, and Kakuzu even helped her pay off her debts once when she was being chased by creditors.

After all, Kakuzu was very helpful, and Tsunade's behavior in the Shinobi World was very similar to that of Shirou Emiya. In addition, the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, had once given Kakuzu a sum of money, so Kakuzu could not turn a blind eye to the poor life of the First Hokage's granddaughter.

However, this act of kindness did not bring any good reward.

Because Tsunade wasn't very kind back then, she immediately realized that a wealthy man like Kakuzu was a real "fat sheep," and without any hesitation, she borrowed a large sum of money from Kakuzu. As a result, she lost it all at the casino that very day, and now she had one more creditor to hide from.

"I never expected this—"

"Kakuzu is also in the Land of Hot Springs."

When Tsunade left, she seemed a bit like a wolf, and didn't even dare to look the mother and daughter in the eye. She guessed that the mother and daughter must know that she owed Kakuzu money.

"Throat·-""

"I really shouldn't have lent that guy money in the first place—"

Tsunade knew that Kakuzu's hard work in earning money was all to help people in need, and she felt bad about not paying back the money.

Unfortunately...

Her luck with gambling has never been very good.

A few months ago, Tsunade suddenly had a stroke of good luck and won a lot of money in a gamble, but she quickly lost it all.

"Hopefully, my luck will be better today—"

Tsunade shook her empty bottle, a blush creeping across her face, and swayed as she tossed the empty bottle into the trash can.

As a result, she was in a bad mood and didn't even manage to throw an empty bottle in; instead, it fell outside the trash can and shattered on the ground.

"Are you going to treat patients again today?"

Shizune looked at Tsunade, who was walking unsteadily, with some concern.

"Isn't there still you?"

Tsunade looked at her disciple with a grin, a hint of teasing in her eyes, and said, "If you don't know how to treat illnesses, just copy that guy's Medical Record Scroll a few more times."

"What if it's a disease we've never seen before—"

"Impossible-""

Tsunade quickly waved her hand, she was even a little too superstitious about the Medical Record Scroll left behind by Shirou Emiya: "That guy left behind so many Medical Record Scroll, and I've saved so many people in the Shinobi World, but I've never seen any illnesses outside of those scrolls."

Shizune could only follow along.

Fortunately.

Tsunade was lucky.

Even though the patient who invited Tsunade to treat her this time was still very difficult, it was still within Shizune's ability range, which made Tsunade very proud of her premonition.

However··

The situation seems a bit strange.

Tsunade is having a really good day.

As a legendary easy target, Tsunade's name and image are renowned throughout the gambling world. Today, her incredible luck caused the gamblers who had planned to make a fortune off her to lose everything. Tsunade was still winning until the very last hand when she left the casino that night.

"My luck is strangely good today—"

Tsunade's fingers moved deftly, savoring the thrill of her victory at the casino. But as she glanced back at Shizune clutching her purse, a flicker of unease crept into her heart. "Won't something bad happen?"

The last time we won, news came from Konoha that the Uchiha Clan had been wiped out.

Winning even more this time than before made Tsunade nervous again, fearing that her good luck at the casino might bring some terrible misfortune.

"Could it be—"

"Is it Kakuzu coming to collect a debt?"

Tsunade pondered her recent troubles, and could only guess that her misfortune might stem from Kakuzu: "After Kakuzu is a killer who makes money by killing people for bounties. Could it be that he can't pay me back, so he wants to kill me? I wonder how much my corpse is worth at the Exchange House— "

"Don't talk about such scary things!"

Startled, Shizune clutched the bulging money pouch in her arms and quickly reminded him, "Besides, this money should be enough to pay off Mr. Kakuzu's debt, right?"

"Yes-"

"What could happen?"

Tsunade looked up at the moon in the night sky, deciding not to let her mind wander any further. She wanted to numb herself with alcohol again. "Forget it, Shizune, come with me to a bar for a drink. The worst that can happen is that someone comes and robs me, right—"