Hokage Office X Jiraiya

"Right now, in the Ninja World, the ones who could truly fight me and might have a chance of taking me down with them were..."

"The fully manifested Nine-Tails, Nagato with his Rinnegan mastered..."

"Or Madara Uchiha on his deathbed."

Nara Dan knew exactly where he stood. He was probably on Nagato's level, with enough power to suppress an ordinary Kage,

but he still lacked the experience to measure up to those truly overpowered monsters who could command the Nine-Tails.

Still, Nara Dan wasn't worried. He was young—and willing to spend. That was his greatest asset.

"That's good."

Satisfied with the answer, the Third nodded.

"Then feel free to do as you see fit on the Land of Wind battlefield."

"I'll arrange for Tsunade, who has experience on the front lines, to guide you."

The Third spoke vaguely, never explaining why Tsunade couldn't go to the front lines and could only support someone else.

But even without having seen the story, Nara Dan could guess why.

It was an open secret among Konoha High Command, after all.

Why would Konoha have one of the Ninja World's top Medical Ninjas on hand, yet never send her on missions or have her treat anyone?

Even Princess Tsunade couldn't be allowed to waste such a valuable resource. Did she think Konoha wasn't a military organization?

Nara Dan didn't say anything more. He had a rough idea of the Third's plans.

Perhaps he even wanted Tsunade to keep Nara Dan's authority or influence in check.

But the Third had no choice but to select him.

He was the only one who could take White Fang's place.

Konoha Tavern.

The tavern had a history as long as the Senju.

That was one reason Tsunade often came here.

She had just left the Hokage Office and was walking unsteadily toward the tavern.

But the one waiting for her today wasn't a fine drink. It was a white-haired ninja.

"Tsunade, long time no see."

Jiraiya smiled brightly. As soon as he'd returned to Konoha, he'd come to visit the friend he worried about most.

"Yeah."

"Long time no drink."

Tsunade gave him a cool glance, sat down, and filled her cup to the brim.

"Ah..."

Jiraiya sighed at the sight.

"You really should drink a little less."

"The numbing effect of alcohol only lasts for a while."

But Jiraiya knew such words were useless. For someone who had given up on life, even a brief escape was a blessing.

Tsunade ignored him and drank on her own.

Years of acting as her lovesick admirer had established Jiraiya's place in her life. It was clearly a very low one.

"War is about to break out."

"What are you planning to do?"

Jiraiya asked her with concern.

"Or perhaps our teacher has already made arrangements for you."

Though carefree by nature, Jiraiya's many years of traveling the Ninja World had given him a keen eye for the signs.

The air was thick with the stench of war, and it made him uneasy.

"That old geezer assigned me to the rear."

Tsunade downed a mouthful of liquor and answered flatly.

"On the Land of Wind front."

"I see."

Jiraiya nodded. He understood his teacher's decision. Konoha was in dire straits this time, and even with Tsunade's Hemophobia, she had to be put to use.

A support role was just right. It kept her off the front lines while making good use of a Kage's wartime experience.

"Then the one in charge of the Land of Wind front..."

"Must be that kid from the Nara House, right?"

Jiraiya wasn't often in the village. Most of the time, he was busy gathering material or searching for the Child of Prophecy.

But he still kept in touch with the village, including his student Minato and the Third.

He also knew the village had an "unusual" ninja: a member of the Nara House who trained only in Taijutsu, yet was astonishingly powerful.

Both the Third and Minato Namikaze had mentioned Nara Dan in their letters.

Their assessments had mostly been positive: an unprecedented Taijutsu prodigy, White Fang's successor, and so on.

So Jiraiya had formed a strong impression of Nara Dan.

The Land of Wind battlefield really did need a ninja with the right qualities to take White Fang's place.

Besides... Jiraiya glanced at Tsunade's flushed cheeks.

He knew Nara Dan and Tsunade had some history, and that they had nearly become teacher and student.

Of course, from Tsunade's or Nara Dan's point of view, "nearly" still meant they'd been nowhere close.

Seeing that Tsunade wasn't responding, Jiraiya paused, then tried to lighten the mood.

"He really is remarkably similar."

"Just as young, just as talented, and even with 'Dan' in his name."

If anyone wondered how Jiraiya had earned his place as a lifelong lovesick fool, this was why. He really knew how to put his foot in his mouth.

He'd brought up the one thing he shouldn't have.

" Tch."

Tsunade snorted, reminded of how she'd always been the one losing out.

"He's nothing like him. That snot-nosed brat..."

"He's completely different from Dan."

"He's got all sorts of dark thoughts in his head."

Dan Katō had been a perfect, Minato-like hero of a ninja: handsome, young, gentle, and strong.

If he hadn't stayed behind to cover his teammates' retreat, Dan Katō might still be alive—and could even have become Minato Namikaze's rival.

With Tsunade's support, he would have had a good chance of becoming Hokage.

Unfortunately, the jutsu he practiced had an obvious flaw. But the flaw was bad enough on its own; he still had to go and stay behind to cover his teammates.

It was like lighting a lamp in the bathroom.

Nara Dan's opinion of that, naturally, was that Dan Katō had been foolish—a tool brainwashed by the Will of Fire.

But then Tsunade reconsidered.

If Dan had been as devious as that brat...

Maybe he wouldn't have died.

Jiraiya realized he'd said the wrong thing. He couldn't begin to imagine how deeply women held grudges.

"Whatever happens..."

"The most important thing is to keep moving forward."

"Dwelling on the past is unfair to those who've passed away, too."

Jiraiya knew he wasn't good at offering ordinary words of comfort, so he could only feed Tsunade the sort of platitudes he was used to.

But he was searching for the Child of Prophecy, not the Child of Prophecy himself. He didn't have a Talk-no-Jutsu.

So his words only made her resent him more.

"That's enough!"

Tsunade waved impatiently, spilling the liquor in her cup across the floor.

"If you came back just to say this..."

"Then you can leave."

"Konoha has plenty of things that need you right now."

"You don't need to waste your time on a useless person like me."

"..."

Jiraiya wasn't about to make a nuisance of himself after that. Besides, now that he was back in Konoha, he needed to report to the Hokage first.

This wasn't the first time things had ended like this.

He was used to it. Before leaving, he even paid off Tsunade's tab.

"..."

After Jiraiya left, Tsunade continued drinking recklessly for a while.

At last, even a ninja's body had its limits—and Tsunade hadn't used Chakra to ward off the effects of the alcohol.

Finally, she slumped onto the table in a drunken haze, and a cup toppled to the floor.

As her vision blurred, the gentle figure she couldn't forget, day or night, seemed to overlap with another tall figure of the opposite temperament.

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