Minato! You're Disgusting!

Tanzaku Street, in the southwestern part of the Land of Fire.

Minato Namikaze moved quickly and soon found Tsunade, who had just finished treating a minor noble from the Land of Fire, collected her payment, and was preparing to go for another round of Show Hand.

To be honest, Minato Namikaze's current appearance was indeed rather frightening.

The moment Tsunade saw him, she assumed he had come to collect a debt.

She immediately shouted about winning her money back and tried to slip past Minato Namikaze.

Seeing this, Minato Namikaze had no choice but to explain that he had come to find Tsunade to treat someone and that she would be richly rewarded afterward.

Only then did Tsunade follow Minato Namikaze to the inn where Kushina was staying.

The instant she entered the room, Tsunade shot Minato Namikaze a fierce glare.

"Who are you? What did you do to Kushina?"

Clearly, she had recognized the person lying on the Tatami as Kushina Uzumaki.

Anju immediately transmitted his voice to Minato Namikaze.

"Tell her that you are Lady Kushina's subordinate. Lady Kushina was ambushed and needs Princess Tsunade's help."

But Minato Namikaze ignored Anju's transmission entirely and directly released Scarface Man's Transformation Technique, returning to the appearance of Kushina's Shadow Clone.

Anju felt somewhat awkward. He had forgotten that Minato Namikaze had originally been using Kushina's Shadow Clone body.

It had to be said that Minato Namikaze's move made Anju give him a thumbs-up.

No amount of disguise or explanation could be more flawless than a Shadow Clone coming to save its original body.

Tsunade was also speechless. She had long sensed that Scarface Man's appearance was merely a Transformation Technique.

She had originally followed Scarface Man because she wanted to see who needed a ninja to disguise himself before coming to find her.

When she discovered that the person lying there was Kushina, Tsunade had become extremely nervous.

She had thought that ninjas from another village had ambushed Kushina and, upon realizing that Kushina was on the verge of death, had come to find her to save her.

But after Minato Namikaze released the Transformation Technique, Tsunade discovered that Scarface Man was actually Kushina's Shadow Clone. Hadn't this all been one huge misunderstanding?

"Lady Tsunade." Minato Namikaze cupped his hands toward Tsunade. "I was ambushed while carrying out a Rank A Mission, so I hope Lady Tsunade can lend me a hand."

Tsunade frowned at that.

Ambushed?

Weren't missions involving a Jinchuriki personally assigned by the Hokage?

Not long after Tsunade began examining her, she suddenly looked up at Shadow Clone Kushina.

"That's not right! Kushina has been like this for three days. Why do you, as a Shadow Clone, still exist?"

Minato Namikaze nodded. "Lady Tsunade, I've been able to maintain myself until now by borrowing Nine-Tails Chakra."

Tsunade nodded, and her doubts were completely dispelled.

"Kushina, your original body's condition is very poor. This poison should be from Sunagakure's side. I don't have the corresponding herbs on hand for now, so I'll need to check the market for them." Tsunade found it rather troublesome. It was not incurable, but it would take time.

"Shizune! Go to the market and look for these herbs." She casually grabbed a sheet of paper and wrote down a list of herb names.

"Yes!" Shizune, dressed in black, took the slip of paper, glanced at it, and hurried out.

Minato Namikaze took a purse from Kushina's Sealing Scroll, then pulled out a Ten Thousand Ryo note from it. "Lady Tsunade, I'll go give her the medical fee."

The moment Tsunade saw Kushina Uzumaki's bulging purse, her expression immediately turned stern. "Please hurry. I'm afraid Shizune doesn't have enough money."

Minato Namikaze did not suspect a thing and immediately ran after Shizune.

By the time he found Shizune, she had already reached the edge of the market.

"Lady Kushina, there's no need. Lady Tsunade just treated a patient, so she has enough funds. I'm only worried that the medicinal ingredients here may be incomplete."

Minato Namikaze did not insist and followed Shizune into the market.

Very soon, Shizune bought several of the herbs listed on the paper, but two were unavailable because they were truly scarce in the Land of Fire and had limited uses.

After memorizing those two herbs, Minato Namikaze bid Shizune farewell, found a secluded corner, and sensed the Flying Thunder God marks he had inscribed in Sunagakure when he had ambushed Gaara.

Because those marks were temporary and quite a long time had passed, most of them had already deteriorated.

Minato Namikaze sensed two relatively intact marks and consumed Chakra to teleport directly to them.

If Minato Namikaze had not had Anju's Chakra supporting him, he would never have dared to use Flying Thunder God like this.

When Shizune returned to the inn with the herbs, she saw Lady Tsunade with a face full of joy.

"Lady Tsunade, is Lady Kushina Uzumaki all right?"

Shizune looked at Tsunade with delight.

After all, Tsunade had looked as though Kushina had awakened just now.

"No, I didn't take it! Cough, cough... Oh, Shizune. You're back so soon?"

After panicking for a moment, Tsunade coughed twice and looked at Shizune.

Shizune saw Kushina still lying there and looked at Tsunade in confusion. "Lady Tsunade, what happened just now?"

"It's fine. Did you buy all the medicinal ingredients?"

"Lady Tsunade, we're still missing two herbs."

Just then, the inn door opened, and Kushina's Shadow Clone returned.

"Here are the two missing herbs."

Minato Namikaze took out a bag from behind him. Inside were the two medicines Shizune had been unable to find, exactly as Tsunade had written down.

Shizune looked at Kushina's Shadow Clone in surprise.

"How did you find a merchant selling these two herbs?"

Minato Namikaze had no idea how to answer when Anju immediately transmitted his voice to him.

"Minato, tell her it's a secret."

"Oh, th-this is a secret."

Minato Namikaze said that in an extremely feminine manner. Tsunade and Shizune might not have thought much of it, but Anju, inside Kushina's Sealing Space, covered his face.

(σ;Д)σ Death sentence!

Anju: Minato pretending to be a woman is too disgusting!

Anju: I don't even want to see Minato Namikaze around me anymore!

Minato Namikaze: Is that my fault?

Tsunade's treatment still required time. During that period, Minato Namikaze made several trips to stake out River Country. Unfortunately, those ninjas had likely caught wind of things and fled, so Minato Namikaze never found anyone.

And because Minato Namikaze had appeared on Tanzaku Street under Kushina's identity, the Hokage faction in Konoha held another small meeting.

"Advisor Danzō, Kushina appeared on Tanzaku Street, and Tsunade was spotted there as well. That proves your Sand poison did not kill Kushina." Utatane Koharu looked at Shimura Danzō with some reproach.

Clearly, Shimura Danzō had sworn at the time that Kushina had been poisoned. Yet now Kushina had appeared at the Tanzaku Street market without showing any signs of poisoning at all.

"That shouldn't be possible. My subordinates clearly reported that Kushina was poisoned." Shimura Danzō found it hard to believe, but he quickly stopped dwelling on it.

"Hiruzen, I've discovered something strange."

"Danzō, so have I."

The two spoke at the same time. "The Masked Man is gone."

Mitokado Homura interrupted, "Forget the Masked Man for now. The most urgent matter is bringing Kushina back to Konoha. Once that is done, the Masked Man problem will naturally be resolved as well."

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded. "I will send the Anbu."

Shimura Danzō's gaze darkened. "I will be going into seclusion soon, so Hiruzen, don't come looking for me unless it's necessary."

Sarutobi Hiruzen: Pah! That old bastard wants to hide?

Shimura Danzō: Hmph! A wise man does not stand beneath a dangerous wall. I'll return once the Masked Man problem is gone!