Chapter 118: Another one bites the dust

A village along the southern border of the Land of Steam

A group of ruffians that looked particularly tough and lawless, blocked the entrance to a hotel.

They were a bunch of thugs hired by the casino's in the nearby vicinity, that had found the trail of the Legendary Sucker.

The Legendary Sucker owed a huge amount well of over 100 million ryo, in the country of steam alone. That was in a short two years since she had ran from the Land of Fire.

Unlikely as it was to happen, they had been promised a large tip if they managed to get the fat sheep to pay her debts.

With conviction they encouraged themselves and drooled slightly at the thought of all the money they could earn.

Thump!

The door of the hotel finally opened but before the ruffians could swarm in, they realised that it was only an immature, blond girl that looked to be no more than ten years old.

One of the leaders approached her as she began to tremble.

She let out an, "Eek!"

As the thug slowly walked up to her intimidatingly and looked down at her.

"You seen, any old blond women kid?"

The young girl stuttered and replied with tears in her eyes.

"N-no..."

"Oh, is that so? Then how about-"

Before he could threaten her into investigating from the inside, the girl jumped to the side and ran away at an astonishing speed leaving them to look at the dust arose as a trail behind her.

"Hey!"

One of the younger men in the surrounding perimeter tried to get in the way, the little girl ran at an even faster speed and leapt, causing her to headbutt him in the face.

"Oww!"

The younger man fell to the ground with foam coming out of his mouth and blood streaming down from his nose.

The blond girl landed on the ground and rubbed her head before scrambling to her feet and continuing her sprint.

One of the male's companions poked him on the cheek and said, "Dude. You so, did not just get floored by a twelve year old girl... Hey? You there?"

After that brief intermission they carried on guarding the hotel attentively waiting for their big fat sheep that should have been around 25 years old with two massive watermelons.

They waited from noon until sunset and still there was no sign of anyone entering or leaving the hotel.

One of the roguish looking thugs, angrily mumbled to himself before walking into the hotel in strides.

"Damn woman! Isn't she too patient? I can't stand this anymore, I'm going in!"

The others looked at him strangely.

Even if he finds the Legendary Sucker, what if he provoked her by trespassing on her personal space?

She was still one of the Legendary Sannin even if that was hard to believe.

The fat pig would be returning beaten black and blue from bruises.

A few minutes later, the overweight ruffian's scream could be heard from the entrance of the hotel.

"What do you mean no one is left in this hell hole!?

The rest of them rushed into the building one after another.

Without even asking for permission, they turned every room inside the building upside down in an effort to find the old lady.

Where the hell has that old hag escaped too?!

A fire desiring vengeance was lit in the eyes of the thugs.

...

...

On a road, a few miles away from the village.

A big, busty, blond grinned and uttered a line from somewhere, "Another one bites the dust!"

The gambling addict then released a wild laugh as she praised herself. "Hahaha! Trying to catch this princess? Try again in another 100 years!"

After five minutes of trying to calm down, she touched her thin purse and noticed that it was lacking in thickness.

She mumbled and rubbed the back of her head.

"I've offended nearly all the casinos in the Land of Steam. I'll have to change gambling spots."

Shizune helplessly shrugged her shoulders, while following her teacher around with her pet pig, Tonton in her arms.

She was used to it at this point.

Suddenly, the ears of the two picked up a conversation being held by a group of passing travellers.

"I can't believe the Third Hokage died just like that, and not to mention that the new leader of the Leaf is some little girl that's not even 13 years old."

"Well, I told you Kumogakure was the strongest village."

"Didn't Sunagakure also participate in the attack? Who killed the Kazekage? I heard some guy back in Kuoko village say it was the Third Hokage. Apparently, he tried to pull a suicide attack in the middle of the village."

"Who knows, I did hear that a confidant of the Kazekage called Baki was going to be taking over though."

The expressions of the female duo changed dramatically as the gambling princess grabbed onto the collar of one of them and shouted in his face.

"What did you say!? Tell me all the details!"

The intimidating presence of the female tyrannosaurus frightened the several travellers, as they tried not make a mess of their pants.

They nodded out of fear before spitting out the rumours they had heard.

When she finally dropped the traveller in her hand, they ran as if they had been pardoned from hell.

"Sensei..."

Shizune squeezed Tonton and caused the pig to squeal as she waited for her teacher to make a decision.

With a dark expression, she spat out the words. "Let's go."

___________

Huh, I wonder where this is going...