Tsunade's Decision

"Tsunade Sis, if you want, I can go to the casino with you tomorrow."

Takizawa Dan's heart stirred, and then he said with a smile.

"Really?" Tsunade looked delighted, then eyed him suspiciously. "No way. You know how to gamble, Takizawa Dan?"

"I've watched people gamble before, so I picked up a couple of tricks."

Takizawa Dan said with a smile.

In his previous life, he'd loved watching movies, especially the God of Gamblers series.

He'd even specifically learned some of those card tricks from people, and had gotten pretty good at them.

Of course, in this world of ninjas, gambling skills probably hadn't advanced very far. He might actually be able to become the king of the table!

Hearing this, Tsunade took another look at Takizawa Dan, seeing how confident he was.

"Fine. Let's go inside first. If you really are that good, then I suppose I can let you win back the money tomorrow."

Then Tsunade took Takizawa Dan by the hand and headed for the house. It was only about a hundred meters away, anyway.

"You've been waiting outside this whole time? You didn't go in?"

"Haha... Partly because I was shy and didn't know how to greet Shizune Sis. Besides, I thought I'd wait for you. It'd have been rude to go in by myself."

"You silly boy... Don't do that again."

After a brief exchange, the two set off.

But as they approached the site of the recent battle, Tsunade furrowed her brow.

She sniffed around, then crouched to scrape at the dirt a few times, looking puzzled.

"Tsunade Sis, what's wrong?"

Seeing her like this, Takizawa Dan's heart skipped a beat.

Had Tsunade noticed the traces of his fight?

"I don't know why, but I have this strange feeling..." Tsunade glanced at Takizawa Dan, then said sheepishly, "Dan... You can laugh if you want, but I think I can sense the presence my grandfather, the First, left behind."

As expected, she'd noticed!

No wonder it was Tsunade. As a medical ninja, she was incredibly observant.

On top of that, she was Senju Hashirama's granddaughter. It wasn't all that strange that their blood connection let her somehow sense the traces of "Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence."

"That can't be... The First passed away many years ago. How could there still be traces of him here? Tsunade Sis, are you sure you didn't imagine it?"

Though he was nervous inside, Takizawa Dan kept his expression perfectly calm.

"True... Grandpa's been dead for so many years, and here I am still missing him. That's hardly befitting a Hokage."

At Takizawa Dan's reminder, Tsunade came to her senses and shook her head with a bitter smile.

"I'm sorry, Takizawa Dan. I must look ridiculous."

Subconsciously, Tsunade still thought of Takizawa Dan as a little kid. No matter how mature he was or how capable, in her eyes he was still a pure-hearted boy.

She would never have imagined that Takizawa Dan dared to kill people, or that he'd caused the commotion just now.

"Right. The dead are gone, and there's no point in grieving too much. What matters is carrying on the First's Will of Fire." Takizawa Dan nodded. "Tsunade Sis, you only returned to Konoha a few months ago, right? Maybe being here brought back memories."

"That must be it. I'm just being too sensitive." Tsunade accepted Takizawa Dan's explanation.

After all, she had no solid evidence. It was just a faint, elusive feeling.

It wouldn't be strange if it was only her imagination.

Tsunade gently took Takizawa Dan's hand and led him away from the battlefield. Takizawa Dan also breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

He'd gotten away with it!

The two walked side by side to the door of the wooden house where Tsunade lived.

Takizawa Dan was about to knock, but Tsunade stopped him with a smile.

"No need to hurry. They'll come out to greet us."

Sure enough, the moment Tsunade finished speaking, the door flew open!

"Lady Tsunade! You're back!"

A pretty girl in a black blouse, with black hair, opened the door and looked at Tsunade, beaming with excitement.

It was Shizune, Tsunade's most senior disciple!

Oink... Oink...

In Shizune's arms was a tiny pink piglet in a red outfit, with a string of pearls around her neck. She looked adorable. It had to be her pet, Tonton.

"Lady Tsunade, Tonton smelled you from ten meters away, so she sent me out to greet you!" Shizune looked so excited she seemed ready to pounce. "Lady Tsunade, you've been working all day. You must be tired, right? Was it hard? Should I cook you something? Boil some water for you? Or would you like a hot bath...?"

Watching her most senior disciple looking so eager to serve, Tsunade helplessly pressed a hand to her forehead.

She'd taken Shizune on as a disciple because she admired her composure and level-headedness. When problems came up, she never panicked or got flustered, and could always think of a way to solve them. That mindset was undoubtedly the most important quality for a doctor.

In fact, Shizune was exactly like that most of the time. But whenever she was around Tsunade, she acted as if she had a split personality...

And Tonton in her arms seemed to have caught the same bug, letting out a string of enthusiastic little snorts.

"Shizune, don't fuss over me yet. Look who I brought back!"

Tsunade sighed helplessly, then nudged Takizawa Dan in front of Shizune.

Only then did Shizune notice that Lady Tsunade had brought someone home.

But the moment she recognized Takizawa Dan, her mouth opened into a huge "O"!

"L-Lady Tsunade! You brought a man with you! You actually brought a man home!"

As Shizune cried out, Tonton let out a string of squeals. Even without understanding pig language, Takizawa Dan could tell she was more astonished than ever!

Takizawa Dan could only look helplessly at Tsunade.

Tsunade was in her fifties, after all. Surely this was easy enough to explain?

"What's wrong? I'm a woman, aren't I? Why can't I bring a man home?"

The moment Tsunade said that, Takizawa Dan covered his face.

Fine, he'd just pretend he hadn't said anything!

Not only had that failed to get him out of this awkward situation, but it had made things visibly worse!

"Ah?!" Shizune looked like she was about to bash her head against the wall. She wailed, "No, Lady Tsunade! He's still a child!"

"Let him go! I'll handle this!"