Call Me Big Sister [Seeking Recommendation Votes]

Chapter 46: Call Me Big Sister [Seeking Recommendation Votes]

"Are you full? Want me to treat you to a late-night snack?"

Strutting along with an utterly arrogant gait, Toneri led Minato and Kushina out of the gambling house.

They had already divided the spoils.

Today, Tsunade had brought a total of twenty million Ryo. Without a single twist or turn, she had lost every last bit of it to the gambling house.

However, for the gambling house, this fat sheep had not been devoured perfectly, because someone had secretly taken a small bite out of it.

Aside from the regular gamblers in the gambling house, who had taken a very small share, the second-biggest winners were the three little ones led by Toneri.

A full 3.2 million Ryo!

If this gambling house in Konoha had not been so legitimate, the three of them probably would not have made it out after winning that much.

After returning the initial 200,000 Ryo to Minato and Kushina, they split the remaining three million evenly—one million Ryo each. There was no need to argue over it.

Kushina, holding her one million Ryo, had seen plenty in her time and was not too surprised. Minato, however, still had not recovered. His initial stake had clearly only been 30,000 Ryo, so how had he ended up making one million?

This... felt way too good.

In Minato's eyes, this meant that for quite some time to come, he could focus on training and improving his strength.

He would no longer have to take on tedious, time-consuming little missions with poor pay just to make a living.

It was only because Minato and Kushina were genuinely full that they did not seize the chance to fleece Toneri, this rich guy.

"Since neither of you is hungry, let's leave it at that for today. Tomorrow, in the little woods, we'll... see... each other..."

By the time he said the word "each other," he could no longer be heard clearly.

Minato: "???"

Kushina: "???"

Minato and Kushina exchanged a glance.

Even if they were not hungry, it was not like they could not eat a little. Why had he run off before even waiting for their answer?

Toneri only had one thought right now.

He had to hurry home and hide the "huge sum" on him.

This really was a huge sum this time. One million Ryo was equivalent to the reward for an S-rank mission. It might have been the most ordinary kind of S-rank mission, but it was still S-rank.

S-rank missions involved opponents with the combat power of jonin.

More importantly, one million Ryo was equivalent to a thousand servings of pork cutlet rice!

For Toneri, who did a massive amount of taijutsu training every day and needed huge quantities of food to replenish himself, this was enough rations to last him a long time!

Come to think of it, one Asuma was equivalent to 35,000 servings of pork cutlet rice. Looking at it that way, didn't Asuma's value seem absurdly high?

Ahem...

However, things rarely developed so simply.

Toneri was stopped again.

To get home faster, he had already forced himself to ignore his terrible sense of direction to some extent. But someone had long since set their sights on him and followed behind him the entire way.

That familiar figure.

Tsunade!

Toneri's expression changed. He had run so fast precisely because he was worried Tsunade would come looking for him. After all, the three of them had been the happiest winners at the end, and they had also been the most animated little brats.

Although after noticing Tsunade's gaze, he had suppressed his excitement as well as Minato and Kushina's jubilation, but...

Tsunade had still noticed them.

"Kid, you're the disciple the old man had Orochimaru take in, right?" Tsunade crossed her arms and looked at him with interest.

When she and Orochimaru had returned together back then, Hiruzen Sarutobi had asked whether either of them was interested in taking on a disciple—a clever little kid with extraordinary potential, who was also the Two-Tails Jinchuriki.

Tsunade had refused immediately. She did not like taking disciples in the first place, and with her younger brother Nawaki having died on the battlefield, she certainly had no mindset for it.

Orochimaru had not been interested at first either, but he knew Hiruzen Sarutobi definitely hoped one of the two of them would take this kid in. Out of guilt toward Tsunade, as well as his interest in the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Orochimaru agreed.

Later, Orochimaru also came to feel that although Toneri was not particularly strong, he was a decent enough person, and the Two-Tails was quite interesting too.

More importantly, ever since that day, Toneri had gone to Orochimaru's laboratory every night to help out, and there were quite a few things he could do.

When Orochimaru and Tsunade got together, he had mentioned it in passing.

"Lady... Lady Tsu... Sister Tsunade..." Toneri had originally wanted to call her "Lady," but after thinking about it, she probably preferred being called big sister at this point.

Tsunade froze for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Hahahaha—just like Orochimaru said, you really are an interesting little guy."

Toneri smiled ingratiatingly. If he did not handle this properly, today's fat sheep might have been slaughtered for nothing.

But gradually, he felt that there was something strange about Tsunade's laughter. As she laughed, why did tears start streaming down her face?

Was it really that funny?

Did Tsunade not like being called big sister? Did she prefer being called "my lady"?

Just as he was about to correct himself, Tsunade vanished from before his eyes.

Then, pain suddenly shot through his temple. His head was abruptly pressed into an incredibly soft area, while an arm as smooth as silk hooked around his neck.

Toneri's first reaction was...

Damn, fate had me by the neck.

His second reaction was...

So soft...

Tsunade, who had been standing in front of him, had somehow appeared behind Toneri and pressed tightly against him.

Half-crouching behind him, Tsunade drilled her fist into his temple.

This was probably what they meant by painful yet pleasurable.

"Brat, you may be small, but you've got plenty of tricks. Was it Orochimaru who told you about my love of gambling?

But he doesn't seem like the type to tell others about that sort of thing. Looks like he thinks rather highly of you, huh?"

No one understood Orochimaru's personality better than Tsunade did.

He was someone who kept everything buried in his heart and carried everything on his shoulders. He was also a companion worthy of entrusting one's back to.

Though he never said it aloud, Tsunade could tell that Nawaki's death had left him deeply guilty as well. It had even changed his state of mind to a certain degree.

Tsunade did not blame Orochimaru for Nawaki's death. After all, anyone could die on the battlefield—even them, let alone Nawaki, who had only possessed genin-level strength.

"Tsunade, my—" Toneri had just begun to speak when pain exploded in his head again.

"My what? Call me big sister!" Tsunade viciously pressed harder against Toneri's temple.

"Tsunade... big sister..."

Wasn't this forcing a man into submission?

Naturally, Toneri resisted with every fiber of his being...

Really!

But resistance could not overcome tyranny. For the sake of his life, he could only "reluctantly" go along with her wishes.

"Come on! Drink with me!" With that, Tsunade grabbed Toneri by the neck of fate and headed for the nearest tavern.

Besides feeling deeply disappointed as that soft mass moved away from him, Toneri also felt as though he had truly become a cat, being carried around by the scruff of the neck.

And it was Tsunade, a monster-strength freak—there was no way he could break free.

One wrong move, and his little life might be in danger!

So Toneri obediently gave up struggling.

Sigh, you might not believe it, but I actually want to write longer chapters too. Short chapters really don't feel satisfying. A complete plot has to be split across so many chapters—it's no fun for you to read, and it's no fun for me to write. What can I say? I'm a very long person.

But the new-book period is about halfway over, so hang in there a little longer. We'll save our "length" for after it goes premium.

It's time for the daily request for recommendation votes again. This time, I'll listen to you—do you want me to go ying ying ying, or should I stay cool and aloof?