Land of Fire, Konoha, Hokage Building.
Inside the office, the two advisors, Tsunade and Jiraiya, were glaring at each other. The air between them was heavy, filled with a grim, murderous tension.
"Jiraiya! You bastard! If anything happens to Naruto, you'll bear full responsibility!" Tsunade gritted her teeth and glared at Jiraiya.
After Minato Namikaze took Houka to the Five Kage Summit, Tsunade had assigned Anbu to keep watch over Naruto. But not long ago, Naruto had slipped out of the village on his own. The Anbu had been caught off guard, and by the time they tried to pursue him, it was already too late.
"Sasuke left the village. As his companion, Naruto went after him to bring him back. Were we supposed to stop him?" Jiraiya said softly.
He seemed to have recalled the past. More than ten years ago, Orochimaru had defected from Konoha. Just like Naruto today, Jiraiya had rushed out of the village without a second thought to chase after him.
So when Jiraiya and Tsunade learned of this, they had disagreed.
Tsunade had wanted to immediately send someone to bring Naruto back, while Jiraiya had wanted to give Naruto some time. Even if he ultimately failed to bring Sasuke back, Jiraiya wanted to let him see it through.
"If Naruto runs into Akatsuki, have you considered the consequences?" Seeing Jiraiya still acting this way, Tsunade was so furious she wanted to hit someone.
And she did.
With one punch, she sent Jiraiya crashing straight through the office wall.
"Hiss... Ow, ow, ow, ow..." Jiraiya clutched his face and cried out. "Tsunade, even if we disagree, there's no need to start hitting me."
"Sorry. Force of habit."
Tsunade spoke with a straight face, but the anger in her eyes had not diminished in the slightest.