Tanzaku Town, in the Land of Fire.
This was no ordinary street, but a bustling area with every kind of establishment imaginable, comparable to a commercial district and not too far from Konoha.
If there was one thing this place had in abundance, it was gambling houses. Aboveground or underground, gamblers could be found everywhere.
Late at night, a middle-aged woman sporting enormous breasts and a young woman carrying a little pig walked one behind the other along a woodland path, hurrying toward Tanzaku Town.
"Lady Tsunade, please slow down and wait a moment... I can barely keep up!"
"Shut up! Shizune, the next round of gambling is about to start! Uh, no, if we don't hurry, there won't be any inns left!"
"Lady Tsunade, the inns aren't going to grow legs and run away. You're being far too...!"
Before she could finish, rustling suddenly came from the nearby woods. The next moment, several figures darted between the trees and vanished in the blink of an eye.
Holding Tonton, Shizune guarded Tsunade's side warily and warned her in a low voice, "Lady Tsunade, those people just now looked like..."
Tsunade's expression turned grave. Watching their retreating figures, she replied, "I know who they are. Forget it. Let's stay out of other people's business. We have something more important to do. Come on!"
"..." Seeing that Tsunade had no intention of getting involved, Shizune said nothing more, and the two continued hurrying toward Tanzaku Town.
Early the next morning, dawn had barely broken.
"Haaah~"
A gambling house employee yawned as he opened the doors, then took a broom and swept the rubbish outside, preparing to open for business.
Just then, a ray of early sunlight shone through the entrance to Tanzaku Town. For some reason, today's sunlight seemed especially dazzling.