The Postponed War

Qingguang calmly placed two Jokers on the coffee table. Tsunade's smile froze for a moment, and then her eyes locked onto the remaining cards in Qingguang's hand.

"Seventeen cards, and you have fifteen left. I refuse to believe it."

"You don't mean you can beat me with those, do you?"

Tsunade sat down with confidence, arms crossed, though her heart was churning.

Impossible, absolutely impossible. What kind of luck would it take to play fifteen cards all at once?

I definitely don't believe it!

Orochimaru and Jiraiya lowered their heads and sighed.

It seemed Qingguang's luck was even worse than Tsunade's. Tsunade only had two cards left, likely a pair.

It looked like they were destined to lose this round.

"Airplane."

Under their watchful eyes, Qingguang played all fifteen of his remaining cards in one go.

Tsunade stiffened, turning to stone, utterly disbelieving. After checking three or four times, she glared at Qingguang and demanded, "If you had those cards, why didn't you play them sooner?"

This kid, why is he so devious? Was he doing this on purpose?

Qingguang clasped his hands together, a look of apology on his face. "Sorry, sorry. But if I wait until you've played most of your cards, wouldn't the multiplier be higher?"

"Tch~ You sly brat."

"Here, take it." Tsunade pushed all the remaining paper money in front of her towards Qingguang.

"This is all I have left. I'll pay you the rest when I have the money."

Although she always lost when gambling, Tsunade had good sportsmanship and never defaulted on her debts, though her repayment periods could be quite long.

Just as Qingguang was about to collect the money, Orochimaru grabbed his wrist, a smile in his eyes. "Qingguang-kun, if I recall correctly, you're not an adult yet, are you?"

Qingguang blinked in surprise and nodded. "Soon, in about half a year."

A bad feeling immediately washed over him.

Tsunade, who had been dejected from losing all her money, quickly snatched the bills and stuffed them into her money pouch.

"Ahem~ Since you're underage, you naturally can't gamble. If Teacher Sarutobi finds out, he'll definitely say we're corrupting a child."

Jiraiya wiped the cold sweat from his brow. Based on the multiplier from that last round, he would have lost quite a bit of money too.

Just then, a "knock-knock-knock" echoed from the doorway.

"Guest, the noodles and toppings you ordered have arrived."

Qingguang stepped forward to open the door. The person standing there was the same one who had greeted him downstairs earlier.

As he handed over the tray of food, Qingguang took a small note from the person.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

After the person left and the door closed, Tsunade snatched the noodles and began eating them greedily.

"As expected of Qingguang, always so thoughtful. How did you know I was hungry?"

Qingguang nodded and opened the note in his hand.

"Qingguang, what does the note say?" Jiraiya asked curiously.

"The Hokage wants you to go to Kusagakure and try to forge an alliance. It seems we're not needed for this." Qingguang passed the note to Jiraiya.

After reading it, Jiraiya lit the note with a candle flame and complained, "Why do I always have to do all the dirty work?"

Despite his words, Jiraiya understood that he was the most suitable person for this task.

After all, he had been the one responsible for previous dealings with Kusagakure. While Tsunade possessed considerable combat abilities, her primary role was that of a medical ninja.

As for Orochimaru, he likely had many research projects back at the village that required his attention.

He then stood up and walked to the window. "In that case, I'll be taking my leave."

"Jiraiya~"

With that, he crouched on the windowsill, struck a pose he thought was cool, waved goodbye, and leaped out.

Tsunade, mid-meal, saw Jiraiya's greasy expression as he bid farewell, which almost ruined her appetite. She quickly finished her noodles and wiped her mouth.

"Since there are no other missions, let's head back to the village as soon as possible."

Two days later, the three arrived in Konoha.

In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi listened to Orochimaru's mission report, his expression softening considerably.

Combined with the message from Uchiha a few days prior, which was delivered by Qingguang's summoning beast.

He had a general idea of Amegakure's current situation, but he still turned his gaze to Orochimaru and Tsunade.

"The two of you, what do you think Amegakure is plotting?"

As soon as Tsunade heard the question, her mouth turned down, and she turned to leave. "Don't ask me about this kind of thing. I still have things to do when I get back."

The plan for reforming medical ninjas was not yet complete, with nearly a third of the finishing work left. Not only did she have to write it down, but she also had to personally ask some other medical ninjas in the village for their opinions as a reference.

It was also an extremely time-consuming and laborious task.

Seeing Tsunade leave without hesitation, Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head helplessly.

Tsunade had always been like this, never caring about his questions. How could she be a descendant of Lord Hashirama, yet so different from Nawaki?

Did she really have no regard for the Hokage's thoughts?

"Orochimaru, what do you think?"

Orochimaru's eyes flickered, reminding Hiruzen Sarutobi that Qingguang was still present.

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and raised his hand to stroke the small tuft of beard under his chin. "Feel free to speak your mind. Since Qingguang is here, it's a good thing for him to learn more from you."

Qingguang looked at Orochimaru with a serious expression.

At this moment, Orochimaru began to speak. "There are two possibilities. Either Amegakure is hoarding food to prevent Sunagakure from starting a war, delaying as much as possible and accumulating more supplies."

"Or, Amegakure has a greater scheme in mind."

Sunagakure, as the only village that did not participate in the First Great Ninja War, had, through the diligent governance of the First and Second Kazekage, not only pioneered the Puppet Master system but also developed Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai by studying the chakra of the One-Tailed Shukaku.

The current Third Kazekage wielded this power.

Kirigakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure had not yet fully recovered from the losses of the First Great Ninja War, so they were unlikely to initiate a war.

Therefore, the instigators of war could only be Ame and Suna, and both were possibilities.

Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed with this assessment.

"You are right, but with Hanzō's apology letter this time, the seeds of war have been temporarily suppressed, delaying its arrival."

"This gives Konoha more time to prepare."

"Qingguang, I'll leave the Uchiha matter to you. It would be best to resolve the current situation within the clan before the war arrives."

In response to Hiruzen Sarutobi's command, Qingguang immediately replied, "Don't worry, Hokage-sama. I have now successfully gained the trust of Fugaku, the head of the Police Department. This mission to gather intelligence in the Land of Rain was also a result of the elders' collective decision."

"It will take at most half a year to reconcile the clan and the village."