Jiraiya glanced at Naruto and silently gave a thumbs up.
"Arrived."
In Tanzaku Town's hotel room, the windows were closed, and the heavy curtains blocked the afternoon sun, making the whole space dark and depressing. Jiraiya stood at the door, not knowing where to put his feet for a moment.
Empty wine bottles were scattered on the ground. A blond woman was lying on the table, drunk and mumbling something vaguely. Beside her, Shizune with short hair looked haggard and was trying hard to help her up. She was holding a pig in a pink vest in her arms.
"Tsunade..." Jiraiya smiled and shook his head.
The lying woman moved and slowly raised her head. Her bright face was filled with despair and impatience. She squinted her drunken eyes and looked for a long time before she recognized the person.
"Hey, isn't this Jiraiya?" Tsunade gave a sarcastic smile, his voice hoarse, "Why, you were caught peeping in a women's bathhouse and you came to me to take refuge?"
"Do you think this is a place of refuge for you?"
Jiraiya curled his lips, cleared his throat, and tried to get the topic back on track. "The village needs you, Tsunade. Teacher, he..."
"Ha!" Tsunade seemed to have heard a big joke, laughing so hard that the wine bottle was knocked to the ground by her, and rolled to the feet of Jiraiya, "Village? Hokage? Don't say innocent words to me, Jiraiya. What do you think that seat is? Those who say they want to become Hokage..."
Tsunade stopped talking for a moment, frowned, then relaxed it with a drunken giggle.
"Hokage, whoever likes to be fooled, I won't, I just look at the kid next to you. Come on, Jiraiya, have a drink with me, have a drink, don't you love drinking with me the most?"
Shizune was so anxious that he was about to cry, "Lady Tsunade, please stop talking..."
Jiraiya pushed away the wine glass handed over by Tsunade with a sullen face. He knew that Tsunade was trying to make her angry.
"I'll wait until you wake up and talk to you again."
But Tsunade ignored it completely. She stood up with support on the table and pointed at Jiraiya's nose unsteadily. "Stop with your rhetoric. Konoha has been rotten for a long time, from the root. I will not go back and be a stepping stone for those old guys."
Naruto quietly placed a thick stack of IOUs arranged like works of art on the corner of the table.
Bang!
The movement was very light, but the sound it made was like thunder, which focused the attention of everyone in the room.
It was a stack of debt certificates. Each piece was carefully smoothed, and a small slip of paper was pinned with a brand new paper clip. On the paper, the source of the debt, principal, interest, and the precise total amount were clearly marked in a neat, almost printed handwriting.
Tsunade and Shizune's eyes were glued to the pile of documents as if they were attracted by a magnet.
"This... this is..." Shizune's face instantly turned pale. She stretched out her hand tremblingly, wanting to look through it, but she didn't dare. She just glanced at the top few, and her brain began to buzz. There were ones from Chengdong Casino, black street loan sharks, and even a few private IOUs signed with local officials...
Those numbers add up to form a huge number, constructing Tsunade's miserable gambler's career.
"First meeting, Ms. Tsunade."
Naruto spoke calmly, his voice was not loud, but it had a strange penetrating power that clearly overcame Tsunade's chaotic drunkenness.
"From today on, I am your largest creditor. Now, I need to conduct a comprehensive value assessment of the current status of your assets." He paused and glanced at Tsunade. "Of course, I don't think the result will be too good. Follow me back to Konoha and take over as Fifth Hokage. This is the only way for you to repay your debts."
His tone was as plain as if he was reporting the weather, but his content was undeniably tough.
"Of course, you can also choose to refuse. Then my 'collection team' will use more traditional methods to collect debts from you to every corner of the world."
Tsunade was completely ignited by these words. The remaining drunkenness in her mind was instantly burned away by the furious flames.
"Kid, you are looking for death!"
She slammed the table, and under her terrifying force, the solid wooden table turned into a sky full of sawdust with a "boom" without even letting out a groan.
The strong murderous aura was as real as the substance, instantly filling the entire room.
Shizune was so frightened that he quickly stood between the two of them and pushed Tonton forward in his arms. "This creditor! Look... Do you think it's okay to use Tonton to pay off the debt? It... it's very cute!"
Tonton seemed to have sensed the crisis and tried his best to put on a business-like, naive smile.
Naruto only glanced at the shivering little pig.
"I don't like pork."
In one sentence, all Shizune's efforts were in vain.
Even Tonton herself lowered her head in disappointment - she was denied.
Tsunade saw that Naruto was not getting enough, and she laughed angrily. She glanced sarcastically at Jiraiya who was at a loss next to her. "You want me to go back with you? Sure, let's make a bet."
She changed the topic and locked her eyes on Naruto again. "Jiraiya, your proud Rasengan, can this little brat know it?"
Jiraiya was stunned for a moment, not understanding what she meant, and just shook his head.
"He doesn't know it yet, I'm about to teach him."
"That's perfect! That's Minato's technique, he... should know it."
Tsunade was drunk but not confused. The moment Naruto entered the door, she recognized him as Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
After that, she pulled off the green necklace around her neck. It was First Hokage's relic, and it was also a treasure she had never pawned off after losing everything. She slapped the necklace on the broken table with a "snap" sound.
"One week." She stared at Naruto and said word by word, "If this kid can learn Rasengan in one week, I will recognize your qualifications and return to Konoha with you. If he can't learn it..."
She sneered, "Just take this pile of waste paper and disappear from me forever!"
"Tsunade, don't be ridiculous!" Jiraiya's face changed drastically, and he immediately objected, "Rasengan, you don't know how difficult it is! It is a technique that requires extremely high talent and chakra control! Let alone a week, ordinary people may not be able to get started in a year!"
He knew very well that this was Tsunade deliberately making things difficult. There was no possibility of winning this bet from the beginning.
However, Naruto interrupted him.
Naruto's eyes moved away from the necklace and returned to Tsunade's face. There was still absolute calm in those blue eyes.
"I accept your conditions."
Jiraiya looked at Naruto in disbelief as if struck by lightning.
Naruto ignored him and continued to say to Tsunade:
"Correct the terms of the agreement. Within a week, I will learn Rasengan. At that time, you will return to the Konoha battle sequence as Hokage and a 'high-value medical unit' to perform your duties and repay the debt."
He paused and added.
"If I fail, I will leave as agreed and cancel all your debts."
He redefined a seemingly absurd gamble into a cold, rigorous agreement with clear rights and responsibilities.
The sneer on Tsunade's face froze. For the first time, she discovered that the strength and aura she was so proud of had no effect in front of this brat.
The room fell into a deathly silence, leaving only Jiraiya holding his forehead and sighing. He looked at Naruto's calm side face, and felt an absurd feeling in his heart.
This kid, does he know what he is talking about?