Chapter 154

With a barely perceptible rustle of leaves, Tsunade descended from the tree, cradling Takeshi securely in her arms. 

Takeshi remained didn't move while trembling in fear, looked around nervously.

"Who's there?" Jiraiya's head snapped around at the sound, his eyes widening in disbelief. He froze, rooted to the spot, his gaze fixated on the woman who held the trembling cat. A single thought, a frantic loop of disbelief, hammered in his mind, 'How could Tsunade be here?'

"Jiraiya," Tsunade's voice was a low growl, her teeth gritted in fury. She clutched the cat in one hand, her other fist clenched so tightly that her knuckles were white. With each deliberate stride toward him, the ground seemed to tremble and crack beneath her feet. "How do you want to die?"

"I am one of the legendary Sannin, after all," Jiraiya boasted. "Takeshi same tricks wont work on me twice, Release the transformation or you can kiss a chunk of your royalties goodbye. Though I do commend your trick, holding your clone, that looks quite real. Or did you have clone transform into Tsunade ?..."

*Boom!*

Damn it, she's really here! was the last coherent thought to cross Jiraiya's mind before he was launched into the air by a devastating punch from Tsunade. He crashed through the soft earth and plunged into the river with a tremendous splash, sending a wave of water erupting skyward.

The next instant, Tsunade was standing beside the spot where he was slowly floating back up to the surface. Takeshi hid between the two "mountains" and kept trembling, thinking of ways to escape this mess.

Though the punch had been delivered with considerable force, it was far from fatal. Several of Jiraiya's ribs had cracked, but most of the impact had been absorbed by the earth and water. He knew, however, that this would only prolong his suffering.

"You like to write by this river, don't you?" Tsunade's voice was laced with dark amusement. She grabbed Jiraiya by the front of his shirt, hauling him out of the water with surprising ease. "Let me punch your chest with my little fist again."

Jiraiya was in so much pain that he was a little breathless, but he soon found his broken bones being healed by the demon, preparing him for round 2.

Jiraiya started getting flashbacks of the time he almost died at her hands. His mind soon started thinking of ways to escape this circumstance life threw him in, thinking about how to save himself just like Takeshi before.

"No, it wasn't my story!" he yelled suddenly, his voice cracking with panic. "This story was created by that blasted cat! I only helped him write and publish it!"

"Oh really? I know you Jiraiya, you cannot lie to me!" She flung Takeshi away, the cat landing with a soft thud. Then, with one hand, she gripped Jiraiya tightly, preventing any escape. Her other hand, almost as an afterthought, patted him down, checking for any hidden weapons, only because she didn't want to thrust metal shards into Jiraiya's organs. 'It would be no fun if he bled to death.'

Takeshi scrambled to his paws, his fur bristling with anxiety. He darted towards the nearest tree, watching from the sidelines, while he wished he could escape he had to make sure Jiraiya somehow didn't dump this mess on him.

Fortunately, he was smart, otherwise, he would've been beaten like Jiraiya currently is.

"It's that cat's fault, princess! This is his story! You have to believe me!" Jiraiya pleaded, his voice rising in desperation.

*Thud*

Another sickening thud echoed as he was propelled back into the river, only to be promptly yanked out for another brutal session of healing.

The scene was so tragic that, even Takeshi was finding it difficult to look at.

The sound of huge splash of water and a Jiraiya's scream kept repeating one after another. Damaging Jiraiya's reputation as border commander.

Of course, these injuries were not life-threatening—Jiraiya was still one of the Sannin, after all. But the kid from the Yamanaka clan who usually patrolled this area had likely heard the commotion long ago. He, with good sense, knew not to meddle in something that clearly had nothing to do with him.

After nearly ten minutes of this brutal treatment, Jiraiya was hauled out of the water yet again. His speech was now slurred and unintelligible, a series of broken pleas for mercy escaping his lips: "Merty... Merty, pleath I- I juth..." (Mercy... Mercy, please, I, I just...)

"Just what?" Tsunade raised her eyebrow. If it weren't for her hemophobia (Hemophobia is an intense fear or anxiety specifically related to blood.), she would have injured Jiraiya more brutally. 'He is lucky, with how gentle I am being.'

She was mainly focused on inflicting pain rather than inflicting permanent damage. She couldn't risk Sensei transferring the border commander title to her because she went too far with Jiraiya.

Jiraiya, his mind fogged with pain, blurted out the first thing that came to mind, hoping to appease her wrath, "I juth wanthed to write, tho..." ("I just, just wanted to write, so, so...")

*Thud!*

Jiraiya received another punch.

Tsunade stretched her fingers. She hadn't trained for awhile, her body was still a little stiff.

'This is all this damn pervert's fault. Why did he have to write such a stupid perverted novel? While I wouldn't have minded if I was mentioned in a novel, but writing about me in such perverted manner and writing instances of our childhood in it into the novel, and even add that it's adapted from their personal experience.'

She glanced at the river, her eyes following Jiraiya's slowly floating body, 'Had he gotten dumber from lack of my beatings?' After he floated to the surface, Tsunade healed him again and unceremoniously dropped his broken body back onto the ground. Jiraiya, his eyes filled with utter despair, begged: "I wath throng, I am thorry, I am really thory..." ("I was wrong, I am sorry, I was really sorry...")

"Tell me, who is at fault?" Tsunade's asked in coldly voice.

"That da-..."

*Thud!*

And Jiraiya was pummeled again.

Observing Jiraiya's tenacity, Takeshi felt a mix of sympathy and grudging admiration. The sage seemed to have learned how to handle Tsunade's rage with experience: don't resist, don't refute, just take the beating and wait for the storm to pass.

But it was likely Jiraiya hadn't expected Tsunade's anger to endure for so long, and this method of repeated beatings and healings was more vicious than anything he'd encountered before.

While her anger had somewhat cooled on her way here, it had reignited tenfold the moment she saw Jiraiya. Though, Jiraiya had probably worsened his situation by shifting the blame onto Takeshi.

Minato, who had been hiding beside Takeshi in the trees, had rushed over when he heard the commotion, only to freeze upon witnessing the scene. He found many Jonin's similarly hidden amongst the trees observing the spectacle before quickly dispersing.

As he looked at Tsunade his eyes lit up. 'Tsunade-sama? She is back?' Several years had passed since Tsunade left the village, and since then, nearly no ninja had heard a single thing about her.

The war is about to start, and many people in the village have discussed looking for Tsunade, but since Tsunade has appeared.

'This is great news! But Sensei...'

Jiraiya's beating looked quite miserable, even Minato didn't dare to get close to such a horrible scene, and could only watch from a distance.

He even went to the return back like others who dispersed and returned to the camp. Since Tsunade is here, Jiraiya must not be in danger of life.

At most, he will be beaten badly, and he will be healed afterwards.

While Minato would not usually abandon his Sensei to suffer, he had to admit that sometimes Jiraiya deserved what he got.

 "Oh, thop hitthing mee, or thomeone will thie..." ("Oh, stop hitting me, or someone will die...") Jiraiya's screams could be heard 'Likely me' part was unsaid, and Takeshi couldn't bear to watch anymore.

The worse Jiraiya was beaten, the greater the possibility of Takeshi suffering from Jiraiya's revenge. However, he couldn't deny a sense of satisfaction as he saw the points earned from this ordeal increase.

He had spent 2,000 on the Gacha earlier, not making a significant return from Kakashi and the others. But now, his points had jumped to around 18,000. All thanks to Jiraiya and Tsunade. The risk had been substantial, but the rewards were undeniably worth it.

"Ugh! goh~" Jiraiya was beaten so hard that he couldn't speak at this point lay on the ground incoherently babbling. Leading Tsunade to decide she had punished him enough. Setting him free.

He couldn't even pass out from his injuries and pain without Tsunade's permission, so after being free Jiraiya let his consciousness drift off.

After the long beating of Jiraiya, Tsunade's gaze landed on Takeshi, still perched on the tree. With a single curl of her finger, Takeshi immediately jumped down, running towards her. There was no escape and so, he chose to face the music, he had gained too many points for him to complain too much.

"How do you want to die?" She asked in a voice that promised no mercy.

"Meow~ From eating a lot of delicious food?" He replied, trying to lighten the mood.

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