The Shepherd

"It was just a shadow clone..."

Kakashi, who had finally recovered from the shock, was once again taken aback.

After witnessing the battle between the two, he already felt it was eye-opening and well worth the experience. But to his surprise, the Lady Tsunade he had been watching all along was nothing but a shadow clone!

Although a shadow clone is almost identical to the original body, except for its durability, the need to conserve chakra and avoid getting hit would naturally lower its combat effectiveness in a real battle.

Therefore, that astonishing performance Kakashi had just seen was merely a tiny display of Tsunade's power—she hadn't even gone all out.

Is this the true strength of Tsunade, the lone female among the Three Legendary Sannin?

Kakashi pondered this, and another thought crossed his mind.

If Tsunade, whom the Three Sannins deeply admire, has such power, how terrifying must the man they all respect even more be?

Feeling somewhat complacent after his early graduation, Kakashi realised once again that he still had a long way to go...

For now, though, he set that thought aside and refocused on the task at hand.

"Uncle Ben," Kakashi looked down and asked, "Can you still locate Lady Tsunade?"

Squatting on the ground, Ben shook his head.

"Just now, Lady Tsunade's shadow clone ran all over Tanzaku Town, so it's impossible to pinpoint her actual body by scent alone."

"Tsunade probably planned it this way from the start, which is why she spent time running around the streets with those people."

"After all, tracking someone by scent isn't unusual for a ninja, so she would have taken precautions."

Kakashi frowned slightly at this.

Now they had a problem.

Without Ben's help, would they really have to do, as Teacher Natsuhiko suggested earlier, checking each inn and gambling den one by one?

The problem was, they weren't even sure if Lady Tsunade was still in Tanzaku Town.

Fortunately, at that moment, he heard Natsuhiko-sensei speak up.

"Don't worry, since I realised that Tsunade was a shadow clone, I've already made preparations..."

Natsuhiko chuckled, telling Kakashi to remain calm as he raised his hand and unfolded an interface in front of them.

Curious, Kakashi leaned in to take a look and saw a map displayed on the screen. From the labels, it was clear that they depicted the area around Tanzaku Town, where they were currently.

The map also showed numerous glowing dots, like stars in the night sky. What especially caught Kakashi's attention was one exceptionally bright dot speeding toward the north.

"Sensei, what is this...?" Kakashi asked instinctively.

Natsuhiko casually explained, "It's a map I made based on the principles of a sensory array. It shows all objects and people around me that possess chakra as glowing dots."

Although Natsuhiko explained it lightly, Kakashi could easily imagine how useful such a device would be on the battlefield.

However, Kakashi had grown somewhat numb to Natsuhiko's constant stream of inventions, so he wasn't too surprised. Instead, he quickly grasped the purpose of the map.

"I see; although Lady Tsunade's shadow clone has disappeared, the chakra it contained wouldn't vanish—it would return to the original body."

"So you're using this map to track that chakra and locate Lady Tsunade."

As he spoke, Kakashi's tone gradually took on a note of admiration.

He had never thought of using a shadow clone to track down the original body like this.

Truly impressive, Teacher Natsuhiko.

But the tool wasn't as effective as Kakashi had imagined.

Natsuhiko sighed and said, "Unfortunately, due to portability constraints, this map's detection range isn't large."

"And Lady Tsunade isn't currently within its range, so all we can do is estimate her current position based on the direction the shadow clone's chakra went."

As he spoke, he zoomed out the map and followed the line where the glowing dot had disappeared. After a moment of contemplation, he said:

"It seems Lady Tsunade has already left Tanzaku Town."

"She probably caused that commotion with her shadow clone to cover her real escape without anyone noticing."

"And her next destination should be the town in this direction..."

Meanwhile, in the countryside outside Tanzaku Town.

Tsunade, carrying a suitcase in one hand and Shizune in the other, was moving swiftly toward the next town.

Suddenly, her pace faltered for a moment, then she continued running while quietly muttering with a smile:

"Amou Natsuhiko, huh..."

"It seems Grandma found herself an interesting disciple this time."

"Now I can relax and take a break for a bit longer..."

"Lady Tsunade, are you talking to me?" a voice suddenly asked from beside her.

"No, I just thought of an interesting guy," Tsunade replied, snapping back to reality. She addressed the tall man dressed in black and fully covered beside her:

"By the way, Uncle Ryoma, thank you for the heads-up earlier. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy for me to slip away this time."

The man she called Uncle Ryoma spoke in a weathered, deep voice: "No need to thank me. Honestly, with your strength, Lady Tsunade, you would've easily escaped regardless."

"Haha, you flatter me, Uncle Ryoma."

Even in front of the friendly Uncle Ryoma, Tsunade couldn't admit that her hemophobia had severely weakened her combat ability. So, she simply laughed it off and added:

"Who would've thought those debt collectors would team up to chase me down? Was that really necessary?"

"I told them I'd pay them back once I had a winning streak, but they didn't believe me. How ridiculous."

Of course, they wouldn't believe you. Who knows how long they'd have to wait for you to win back that money?

Both Shizune and Ryoma inwardly sighed.

Tsunade suddenly remembered that Ryoma was one of her creditors too, and quickly added:

"But don't worry, Uncle Ryoma. As soon as I win, I'll pay you back first."

"I have a feeling I'm about to hit it big."

At this, little Shizune rolled her eyes slightly, thinking:

That doesn't sound reassuring at all, Lady Tsunade.

Uncle Ryoma's lips twitched beneath his mask, and he said, "No rush. How could I not trust the granddaughter of the First Hokage?"

Tsunade's eyes lit up at that, and she responded:

"As expected from someone who once fought against my grandfather. You're truly generous."

"In that case, I actually have one more small request..."

A short while later, Ryoma and Tsunade parted ways.

Watching her gleefully wave goodbye with the money she had borrowed from him, Ryoma's eyes gleamed with a mysterious light.

Now, those loan sharks wouldn't so easily lend money to Tsunade again.

Good.

After all, lending money to Tsunade and then betting against her in gambling dens to recoup most of the cost—followed by taking her IOUs to the Senju Clan to demand repayment—was a money-making scheme he had developed and intended to keep secret.

Indeed, Ryoma's willingness to lend money to Tsunade wasn't out of respect for her as the First Hokage's granddaughter but because he saw her as an opportunity for profit.

Once he realised the First Hokage's granddaughter had terrible gambling skills but a considerable addiction, he even considered directly betting against her.

But doing so might make her suspicious, so he opted to play the long game, acting like a nice guy while indirectly profiting from her.

In fact, the reason those debt collectors had united against her was due to his secret machinations.

By now, they should have given up on collecting from Tsunade.

That meant he could buy up those IOUs at a discount and then send someone to the Senju Clan to collect the debt...

As he thought about the windfall he was about to earn, a rare smile crept beneath Ryoma's mask.

While everyone else viewed Tsunade as a passing cash cow, looking for ways to fleece her once, Ryoma had mastered the art of shepherding this cash cow for long-term gain, harvesting her wool over and over again.

This method of earning money was far more efficient and less risky than his past career as a bounty hunter.

That's why Ryoma had long since resolved never to let anyone interfere with his plan to keep milking Tsunade...

Never...

(End of chapter)