And so, the entire scene fell deathly silent.
"J-J-Jiraiya, how did you get that 'Sannin' title? How much did you pay?"
After a long while, Garp came back to his senses and blurted out those words, sending Jiraiya into a rage.
"Shut up, Garp! I never paid a damn thing!"
Jiraiya glared at Garp, his eyes wide with fury.
"Then how come you, well..."
Garp pointed at Jiraiya, then at Tsunade. He no longer knew what to say.
Words were feeble; actions were lethal.
Without another word, Jiraiya rolled up his sleeves and went straight for Garp, ready to pin him to the ground and beat him senseless.
Tsunade stood to the side, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly, seemingly enjoying the scene.
But she did not simply stand there watching. Instead, she grabbed Jiraiya in time.
Once Tsunade stopped him, Jiraiya lost the desire to fight.
He found himself a corner, faced the walls, and slowly crouched down with his hands over his head.
Everyone else watched in astonishment, completely at a loss.
With just a few simple gestures, Garp had successfully sent Jiraiya into a state of withdrawal.
"We really were about equal in strength before. He just fell behind later because of a certain incident, which led to the situation now," Tsunade explained on Jiraiya's behalf.
"Because of that thing where he offended your Uchiha Empire's emperor?" Garp craned his head forward and asked with some curiosity.
During this time, he had learned bits and pieces about them, including that their profession was ninja.
But what he knew was a jumble of assorted information, far from comprehensive-merely scratching the surface. This had greatly piqued Garp's curiosity.
"Ahem..."
Only when he heard Sengoku cough did Garp snap out of it.
"Oh, right, we still have business to