A small town in the Land of Fire
"What? How could this happen?"
Jiraiya said, unable to believe the information he had just received from the Anbu.
"Don't the four great ninja villages need time to recover? If this keeps up, are they trying to wipe each other out?"
After pondering for a while, Jiraiya made up his mind.
"No, I have to convince Tsunade to return to the village as soon as possible."
"Even the old man has decided to go to war. Konoha is in too much danger without any powerful ninja guarding it."
Thinking this, Jiraiya headed back toward the town's casino.
He left Naruto in the care of Shizune, who had just finished eating.
Shizune was happy to play with Uzumaki Naruto. After all, for years she had been wandering around with Tsunade.
They never knew where their next meal was coming from, and whatever money they managed to earn was immediately gambled away by Tsunade.
Casino
Tsunade stared at the dice on the table, her eyes bloodshot.
She screamed in her mind, Big, big, big!
I've bet all my savings this time!
When the dice cup was lifted, two ones and a three lay beneath it.
Small—
Tsunade immediately went limp. She had lost again, while everyone else happily began dividing up the winnings.
The payout wasn't much, but it was guaranteed money.
Over the past few days, they had all figured out that betting against this woman with the Great Omen was a sure win.
And once again, Tsunade had earned herself the title of "Big Fat Sheep."
This time, Tsunade had finally lost every last bit of the money she had just gotten from Jiraiya.
Just then, a short, lecherous man sidled up to Tsunade, rubbing his hands together.
"Big Fat Sheep, when are you going to pay me back?"
Having lost everything, Tsunade had no money to repay him. Lacking confidence, she could only say, "I'll pay you back next time," and try to slip out.
But halfway to the door, she was stopped by one of the short man's companions.
The lecherous little man then drew a short knife from his waist and said,
"Listen, now that I've caught you, don't even think about sneaking off."
"Today, you either pay me back, or..."
As he spoke, the little man looked at Tsunade's chest and made a few suggestive gestures, then leered.
Tsunade understood exactly what he had in mind, but she didn't take any of them seriously. After all, she was Tsunade, one of the Sannin! Why would she be afraid of a bunch of thugs who weren't even ninja?
Seeing that Tsunade still looked unconcerned, the man immediately realized she didn't take him seriously.
The lecherous little man then ordered his men to attack. As far as he was concerned, she was just a woman. How could his whole gang fail to take down one woman?
His underlings thought the same way. Without a care in the world, one of them said,
"Boss, this chick's hot. After you're done with her, how about letting us brothers have a turn too..."
Hearing this, the lecherous man they called Boss snapped angrily,
"You're always thinking about having fun! Catch her first. If she gets away again, you can forget about having any fun."
"I'll deal with you when we get back."
The man who had spoken replied, unconcerned,
"Last time, we were outside, with alleys everywhere. She was hard to catch. There's no way she'll get away this time."
"If she does, I'll eat—"
Before he could finish, there was a bang, and Tsunade punched him flying.
Tsunade was a woman too, and hearing them talk about her like that had already filled her with rage.
Watching this, the short man's legs went limp.
"A n-ninja?"
Regret flooded the lecherous little man.
Don't ninja never come to casinos? Why am I so unlucky that I run into one today?
The lecherous little man began wildly swinging the short knife he had used to threaten Tsunade, afraid she would come closer and punch him too.
After all, one of his companions was already dead or dying.
Tsunade glanced at the short man, frozen with fear, and snorted.
"When the tiger doesn't show its claws, do you really think I'm Hello Kitty?"
But the next second, a wave of dizziness and weakness swept over Tsunade.
Blood!
No, I'm having an attack of hemophobia!
The short man had just been flailing his knife around and accidentally cut his own arm. Tsunade had caught sight of the blood that spilled from the wound.
Hemophobia taking hold, Tsunade forced herself to stay upright and headed for the exit, trying to flee.
Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have been afraid. She usually had Shizune with her, and Shizune could take on a hundred thugs like these.
But Shizune wasn't here. If Tsunade collapsed from hemophobia now, she could imagine what would happen to her.
Just then, the lecherous little man noticed something was wrong with Tsunade.
What is she afraid of?
Is there something on me that scares her? Thinking this, the lecherous little man grew bold again. In their line of work, you had to be fearless. Otherwise, how could you collect debts if someone bluffed you?
The little man hurried over and blocked Tsunade again. Unable to use any of her strength because of her hemophobia, she could only watch helplessly as he stopped her.
What should I do? Tsunade's mind raced. She silently cursed Jiraiya. If it weren't for him, she would have brought Shizune along, and this never would have happened.
Facing the lecherous little man in front of her, Tsunade could only turn her head away again, to keep from fainting after staring at the blood for too long.
The lecherous little man had also keenly realized that Tsunade was afraid of blood. He turned to another of his men and said,
"This woman's afraid of blood. Make her bleed."
"Take her down. Today we'll find out what it's like to have a ninja woman."
Hearing his boss's words, the other man, who hadn't been hit, immediately grew excited.
After all, this was a ninja! A high-and-mighty ninja!
He was just an ordinary man. If he could get a taste of a ninja woman today—especially one as beautiful as her—he'd be willing to die for it.
Thinking this, the man steeled himself, sliced a gash in his palm, and smeared the blood across his face.
Then the two of them closed in on Tsunade.
As the two men drew nearer, Tsunade could only dodge helplessly, unable to fight back. In the end, they cornered her and she sank down, powerless, in a corner.
Tsunade felt frustrated and regretful. Why did I have to look at the blood?
If only I'd just left right away.