"Jiraiya, are you sure you want to talk to me about this?"
Tsunade sat behind her desk, calmly flipping through documents as she spoke.
"What's wrong?"
Jiraiya shook the bottle in his hand and said vaguely, "Do you pity me?"
Tsunade raised her eyelids slightly but did not respond. She continued handling official business, signed a document, and tossed it aside. Sunagakure's first installment of reparations had already arrived.
Jiraiya took a swig of liquor and grumbled, "That kid is barely how old? You've known him for at most one, two—" He began counting on his fingers. "How many years could it have been? Or has it only been a few months? Tsunade, how did it come to this?"
"How did it come to what?"
Tsunade tossed her pen aside, folded her arms, and said flatly, "Jiraiya, don't come whining to me! What happens between Nakamori Wu Yu and me has nothing to do with you."
"I accepted losing to Dan Katō!" Jiraiya reeked of alcohol as he gestured wildly, splashing some liquor from the bottle. "But—but—this makes no sense, does it? Tsunade, are you really that easy to win over? You were obviously so fierce! And besides—"
He did not finish. Frustrated, he tried to take another huge drink, only to realize the bottle was nearly empty. Disappointed, he tossed it aside and slumped onto the sofa.
Besides, after Dan Katō's death, after her younger brother Nawaki's sacrifice, Tsunade had closed off her heart. She had clearly become even harder to approach than before! How could she suddenly just—
"Lost to Dan?" Tsunade said. "Jiraiya, don't get this wrong! I said there was no need to discuss this with you because I have nothing to say to you on this subject."
Her heart hardened, and she decided to make