Chapter 152

"That damn Takeshi should be thanking me, he can make so much money just by virtue of being in my presence." the White-haired Sanin mused to himself, a smug grin playing on his lips as he admired the newly published manuscript in his hands. A complex blend of emotions swirled within him – a mixture of heartbreak and immense pride.

He felt a swell of pride, a genuine sense of accomplishment, because the publisher had recently informed him that his book was a resounding success. It was selling exceptionally well, they had said, especially since it was "adapted from personal experience." This single detail had propelled sales several times over. The mere suggestion of a peek into the life of one of the world's strongest ninjas had ignited a fire of curiosity in readers, and they were buying his book in droves.

Yet, a pang of heartbreak pierced through his elation. It was all due to Takeshi's meddling. He'd been forced to alter the love interest's perfect blonde hair, changing it to a more mundane black. He knew, in his heart, that blonde would have been simply, unequivocally perfect for her. Fortunately, though, he had stood firm on one crucial aspect. "Hehehe. Big breasts are non-negotiable," he chuckled to himself, a gleam of determination in his eye. "No matter what anyone said, I would never, ever change that!"

Jiraiya started daydreaming about being in the life of his protagonist and meeting the beautiful heroine, he wished he could meet her in person.

Such strong was his inner desire that the world deemed it into reality in its unique way.

Unconsciously, Jiraiya had used Tsunade as a template for his heroine. However, in his mind, the love interest was subtly different, a perfected version of his longtime teammate.

The heroine in the book was an idealized representation, with even more pronounced curves, bigger breasts, a face that was undeniably cute, a disposition that was undeniably gentle, and a nature that was decidedly non-violent.

Aside from a fleeting resemblance, the book's heroine and Tsunade were almost completely different. But some people didn't see it that way.

---

"Tsunade-sama, where are we going?" Shizune asked, her voice filled with concern. She had never witnessed Tsunade in such a state of barely controlled fury.

She couldn't resist being curious..'what was this book about?', Tsunade had previously lost all her money at the casino, and now, after reading only couple pages of a novel, she was furious enough to smash the store. This was quite strange.

"Beating idiots and making money," Tsunade declared, her voice disturbingly calm, as she stormed forward. The statement did nothing to ease Shizune's apprehension.

'Beating idiots and making money? Lord Jiraiya is finished.' Shizune could already imagine the scene in her mind. Jiraiya being beaten so badly that only one who can heal him would be Tsunade, then he had to offer the money he made from the novel with trembling hands just to get healed... 'So sad, I feel pity for him.'

However, the only one who could really make Tsunade so angry was probably Jiraiya. This is his special skill.

'But if she's going to beat Lord Jiraiya,' Shizune pondered, 'doesn't that mean she's going back to Konoha? Maybe Lady Tsunade is too angry to even realize it.'

As Tsunade continued her march forward, her anger seemed to grow with each step, manifesting in cracks that snaked across the ground beneath her feet.

---

A few hours later, a rabbit father returned to his burrow, a collection of fresh greens clutched in his mouth, only to find his entire family tragically squashed by an unseen force. He cried out in despair, his mournful squeals filling the air as he swore vengeance on the being that had taken his family from him.

---

|Back to Tsunade|

'That bastard Jiraiya!' Tsunade fumed inwardly, her fists clenched tight. 'While changing the girl's hair to black was a clumsy, transparent attempt at deflection, why in the world is she bathing in a river? Can't she afford the luxury of a hot spring? Is he reliving those past fantasies of when I caught him peeping on me!' She lashed out at a nearby tree, her fist connecting with booming force, splintering the bark. 'You will pay for this, Jiraiya! I swear on the name of my grandfather, I will beat some respect into you! If I fail to accomplish that, then I will take the name of the heroine in your damn book and I will will live in shame for the rest of your days.'

Poor Shizune, utterly bewildered, didn't have the slightest idea of what was going on. She desperately wanted to ask Tsunade about the infuriating content of the book, but considering Tsunade's murderous aura, she decided that her curiosity was not worth risking her life.

She wisely suppressed her questions and followed Tsunade humbly. Fortunately, years of dodging debt collectors alongside Tsunade had left her in decent physical condition. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to keep up with Tsunade's rapid pace.

Though, due to Tsunade deliberately avoiding places frequented by ninjas to avoid being found by debt collectors, she hadn't caught wind of recent events in Konoha, let alone Jiraiya being stationed at the border.

It wasn't until they encountered some ninjas on their way to the border that she found out that Jiraiya was the commander of the northern border camp.

That discovery caused her to hesitate for a few minutes, a conflict evident on her face. But ultimately, she decided that vengeance was far more important and quickly threw Shizune towards the Konoha ninjas, ordering them to take care of her since she was too slow.

Being outside the camp turned out to be advantageous for her current mission, as Takeshi and the low-ranked minions he was training were on the direct path to the border camp. Tsunade sensed their chakra signature along the way as she was passing by their training area.

"Is there anyone here?"

'This is the old training ground,' she mused. 'Who could be training here? Perhaps it's someone I know?'

In the end, her curiosity prevailed.

'Anyway, it's not that far off my path,' she reasoned.

Tsunade moved towards the source of the chakra, and soon arrived at the training forest.

She had visited this training ground before, usually to perform chakra control exercises. 'What kind of ninja tool is that? I've never seen this device.'

'It looks somewhat like a Daruma doll,' she thought, squinting to see better through the trees. 'It should possess some sort of counterattack ability, or that brat Kakashi wouldn't be so cautious. Interesting…'

As she watched, her curiosity intensified, and she decided to stay and observe for a little while longer.

However, her observation was cut short by Kakashi collapsing from exhaustion, the accumulated concussion damage finally taking its toll.

'The counterattack is quite strong?' Tsunade's eyes widened slightly, piqued by the sight of an elite Chunin falling prey to a training tool. 'This device must have a method of accumulating kinetic energy from the attacks it receives,' she mused, 'and the stronger the attack, the more powerful the counterattack. It's a very interesting toy indeed...'

"Let me give this toy a try, kid, take a break." Tsunade said, her voice carrying a note of playful challenge.

"Who is it?" Obito immediately activated his Sharingan, his body instantly positioning itself in front of Kakashi, lightly kicking him to wake him up, his eyes fixed on the direction of the voice, never allowing his guard to drop just because of her gender. Obito believes in true gender equality.

"Kid, your eyes are quite good, but your strength won't be enough to stop me," Tsunade said, stepping out of her hiding spot, the sunlight glinting off her golden hair, "Besides… I am simply curious about this toy and want to try it for myself."

Obito had never seen Tsunade before, but Kakashi had. Seeing her, he didn't care about the throbbing pain in his head and wiped his eyes in disbelief to confirm that he wasn't hallucinating, and then, he remained frozen in surprise.

At this moment, Tsunade suddenly sensed a chakra fluctuation, and then a black cat appeared nearby in an instant.

"Meow! You are going to regret messing with my team members!" Takeshi said, his tone sharper than normal.

Takeshi sensed a powerful threat, and so he quickly abandoned caution and used his Flying Thunder God to instantly arrive at the training ground.

He feared it might be an enemy ambush, but when he looked closer, he saw golden hair and those two familiar mountain peaks. 'Those mountains look familiar! Isn't this Tsunade?'

'Why is she here? Did Jiraiya make me his scapegoat? That ungrateful pervert!' he thought, his tail swishing in annoyance. 'I merely gave him some ideas and general directions, and yet he still throws the blame on me! He will pay for this! First Orochimaru and now Tsunade, he keeps throwing these people at this poor innocent cat. His heart is blacker than my fur.'

"Lady Tsunade, why are you here?" Takeshi asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

Tsunade had been away from Konoha for many years, and numerous Konoha ninjas had been sent to try and persuade her to return, all of which had proven futile. No… 'I recall hearing that a few of the more aggressive ones required immediate medical treatment,' Takeshi thought, the possibility of ending up like that sending a shiver down his spine.

Just looking into Tsunade's beautiful eyes, Takeshi couldn't help but tremble slightly. 'No, I won't die without a fight! Think, brain, think!'

While Takeshi was internally debating his survival plan, Tsunade smiled at him, her face radiating false sweetness. "Oh, it's nothing important. I've been missing my teammate Jiraiya, so I decided to pay him a visit. On the way, I noticed that someone was training here, so I just came by for a look."

'Looking for Jiraiya? Huh? So she came here before she found Jiraiya? That's great!' Takeshi let out a silent sigh of relief. If Jiraiya had met her first, the situation would definitely be disadvantageous for him.

But now, he at least had the opportunity to throw Jiraiya under the carriage. 'How could I not win since I have the first move?'

"By the way, I want to give this toy a try." Tsunade added, her gaze now focused on the counter-attacking Daruma.

"This..." Takeshi hesitated, a bead of sweat forming on his brow.

"Is that a no?" Tsunade's smile widened, making her seem more threatening than ever.

"Yes, of course, you can use it. How could I refuse Lady Tsunade?" Takeshi replied with forced cheerfulness. He had originally wanted to refuse, knowing full well how terrifying Tsunade's punch was.

If she were to hit it with her full strength, the Daruma would probably turn into dust.

But after a moment's thought, he decided to let Tsunade break it. Perhaps she would feel a little guilty, a situation that he could most certainly take advantage of.

'Between you and me, my buddy Daruma, I choose myself,' he thought, immediately abandoning any thought of refusing.

"Very good, then I'll give it a try," Tsunade said eagerly, walking up to the Daruma and standing directly in front of it.

She wanted to unleash her full power, but she was worried about scaring the children and the interesting ninja cat. So, she consciously limited herself to about 30% of her maximum strength.

*Boom!*

With a single, earth-shattering punch, the Daruma's head was hammered into the ground and failed to bounce back.

'What a terrifying woman!' Obito and Kakashi stood there frozen in shock, but Takeshi was the most afraid.

He knew that this punch was not a full-strength attack, which allowed him to make a pretty accurate estimation of her full power, concluding that it would very likely kill him instantly.

As Takeshi realized this, his admiration for Jiraiya grew by a considerable amount. Even if Jiraiya were hit by a full-force blow, he would at most be severely injured but would likely still survive. That's the insane power of the three Sanins.

Tsunade turned around, her face showing a hint of awkwardness. She scratched her chin and said, "So, it seems there's an upper limit to what it can withstand..."

"Takeshi, is it broken?" Obito was a little worried, but also a little happy. After all, if it broke, he wouldn't have to be beaten again.

"I..."

"Wait, your name is Takeshi?" Tsunade's head shot to the side when she heard his name.

'What the hell? Obito, I will kill you!' Takeshi cursed Obito internally, promising to make his training even harsher if he managed to survive this.

He still nodded to Tsunade, his cat features attempting to look as innocent as possible. "Meow~"

"Takeshi... Um, Kakashi, is there another Special Jonin named Takeshi in the village?" Tsunade asked, her mind flashing back to the cat's immediate appearance. She knew that he was definitely above the Chunin level in chakra capacity, and her face was now starting to redden in anger.

'Think, brain, think!' Takeshi's mind raced, and he quickly formulated a solution.

Before Kakashi could respond, Takeshi said: "If you're looking for a Special Jonin named Takeshi, then it must be me, meow!"

Hearing him Tsunade gave him a sweet gentle smile, "Hehehe, so it is you!".

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