Chapter 155

"Dying from eating delicious food, huh? Well, I don't know about delicious, but you'll definitely be eating something, and I promise it'll be something you'll remember for the rest of your life." Tsunade's voice dripped with a playful menace.

"Meow~ I am sorry, I was just trying to joke around," Takeshi quickly responded, his feline form shrinking slightly under Tsunade's gaze.

Tsunade raised a skeptical eyebrow, scooping Takeshi into her hand and staring directly into his eyes. Even after witnessing Jiraiya in such a pitiful state, this cat still had the audacity to joke around. It was…almost admirable.

Almost.

She pulled the kitten closer, carefully stroking his soft fur. "You're just a kitten, aren't you?" she finally said, her tone softening slightly. "Forget it. You'll owe me for now, and I'll settle the score with you later."

"Meow?" Takeshi was taken aback.

At first, Takeshi was merely surprised, but the reality of owing someone like Tsunade a debt soon filled him with dread. He could easily envision his future being far worse than Jiraiya's current predicament. However, Takeshi lacked the courage to demand a beating, 'I am not a masochist like Obito!' he thought with a shudder.

Deciding that the best course of action was to simply go with the flow, he resolved not to damage his own reputation, unlike Jiraiya who seemed unbothered by any kind of humiliation. Despite the beatings he endured, Jiraiya was still their Commander and a respected Sannin.

"Carry him on your back and return to camp," Tsunade ordered, clapping her hands together. But as she glanced down at the tiny cat, she paused. 'How could this small cat possibly carry Jiraiya? Never mind, I'll carry him myself.'

She dragged Jiraiya along with one hand, as an experienced medical professional her hands were steady, so Jiraiya's injuries didn't increase but he received some sprains.

"Tsunade-sama, would you like me to assist...?" a Jonin nearby offered, hesitant to intervene.

"No, I can manage," Tsunade replied, her voice clipped. "Prepare a tent for me. I intend to keep him confined for a few days. While he's not afraid of being physically beaten, he certainly fears solitary confinement." Tsunade ordered in cold tone to a Jonin nearby.

Tsunade and Orochimaru were the two people who understood Jiraiya best. However, their approaches were different. Orochimaru, as both a friend and rival, rarely acted brutally toward Jiraiya. Tsunade, on the other hand, had no such reservations.

Jiraiya was dragged all the way back to the camp, and was thrown into the tent like a broken doll in full view of everyone, without any care for his dignity.

Takeshi felt sorry for Jiraiya, but what impressed him most was that even though she gave Jiraiya so many times strong punches, Jiraiya didn't bleed. Well, he likely had internal bleeding before Tsunade healed him, but having such control over her strength is amazing!

"Yes, Tsunade-sama!" the Jonin replied, scrambling to fulfil her request.

Minato glanced at the scene, while sad on seeing his Sensei is being treated, a small part of him still found it humorous. Though he did find his Sensei's durability and Tsunade-sama's strength admirable.

---

News of Tsunade-hime's return spread like wildfire through the camp… and beyond. It even reached Konoha itself.

In the Konoha Hokage building, the Third Hokage listened to the report from his Anbu about Tsunade visiting Jiraiya's border camp. Which surprised him so much that his pipe fell and burnt couple civilian request documents on the table. (Which was definitely not intentional!)

After a moment, curiosity got the better of him, "Which book was Shizune talking about?"

"I'm not certain, Hokage-sama. She wanted to read it, but Tsunade-sama destroyed the bookstore after reading just a few pages." The Anbu reported, keeping her tone even.

'This keeps getting more and more interesting! Now should I pursue this curiosity or continue with my paperwork' Third Hokage stared at the piles of paper near him, 'This is matter of Konoha's security!' he reasoned, 'I must get to the bottom of this matter! And it is Jiraiya's book, after all. It might prove to be…interesting'.

Third Hokage deciding on that ordered another Anbu to purchase this book for him and bring it over immediately...

---

In the border camp, the only person who has read Jiraiya's book is Gekko Naoki, and he is the only one who understands why Tsunade came back with such fury.

Although the heroine of the book is distinct in some manner, it was easy to tell that she is based on Tsunade-sama. With Tsunade-sama's personality, it would be surprising if she didn't beat up Jiraiya-sama for this.

Before returning to the camp from patrol duty, Naoki had been wrestling with what to do. He decided the wisest course of action was silence.

As long as Jiraiya and Takeshi didn't say anything, no one would suspect he had read the book. Yet, the legends surrounding Tsunade's immense power still made him feel uneasy.

"No point in worrying about it anymore," he muttered, trying to reassure himself. "The book is already published. Whether I read it or not makes no difference at this point."

"Don't worry, Tsunade-sama only punished the main culprit."

A voice suddenly sounded, startling Naoki. He shuddered and turned around, and saw Aburame Shibi standing there in a robe.

"What the hell, man! Can you stop scaring me like that?!" Naoki exclaimed, with a higher pitch in his voice.

Shibi simply turned and silently walked away. Naoki shuddered. The encounter had sparked some unpleasant memories; he had been utterly outperformed by Takeshi during their last mission, and now, Shibi's stealth abilities seemed to surpass his own.

'When will I have my time to shine? When will the Gekko clan become one of the stronger clans in the village... I'm afraid this dream won't ever become a reality.' Naoki sighed internally.

'But what about Takeshi? He was there when I was reviewing the novel. Perhaps he also took some beatings?' A small, vindictive grin crept across Naoki's lips. "Hehehe…" He chuckled, eager to catch a glimpse of Takeshi's suffering.

Alas, his hopes were quickly dashed when he saw Takeshi being nestled safely in Tsunade's cleavage.

While he was stuck in cozy confinement, it was quite cramped, but that is still better than being beaten. That's not even mentioning how many points Takeshi is gaining... 'These idiots are jealous, but can't they understand I am not stuck here by choice!?'

Takeshi was a ninja cat, not a pet cat. He couldn't stand being restricted for an extended period.

"Your name is Rin, right? Are you his owner?" Tsunade asked, turning her attention to a young woman.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama." Rin replied, meeting her idol for the first time face to face. She could barely contain her excitement at meeting the legendary Tsunade, a figure who had inspired countless young girls in Konoha.

Tsunade smiled and looked at her little fan girl.

She asked curiously, "How difficult is it to raise a cat as a civilian?"

"Well, before I adopted him, I thought it would be costly, but Takeshi seems to be able to take care of himself. Actually, he's looked after me quite a bit. So, rather than being his owner, we're more like friends," Rin explained, her voice brimming with affection. Not to mention Takeshi was now independent and even held a rank higher than her.

Even if Takeshi was just an ordinary ninja beast, Rin would always treat him as a cherished friend.

"You're right," Tsunade said with a thoughtful nod. "Since we're both medical ninjas, how about I borrow him for a couple of days? As long as he agrees, there shouldn't be any problems for you, right?" Tsunade stroked Takeshi's fur with a kind smile.

The smile was rather menacing to Takeshi, but to Rin it was absolutely enchanting. This was the smile of her idol! 'So beautiful!...' she thought, nodding unconsciously.

"Thank you, I will look after him don't worry." Tsunade thanked her, then tilted the cat's head towards her, narrowed her eyes, and raised the corners of her mouth slightly. Asking her silent question, if Takeshi dared to argue against her.

"Meow~" Takeshi nodded immediately. 

Takeshi stayed with Tsunade and felt abit nervous, but after Rin left, Tsunade took out a scroll, which recorded Rin's information in the medical corp.

"Meow?"

"Rin is a good child. It's not easy raising you, you know? Do you know why I'm taking you?" Tsunade flipped through Rin's information and grabbed another scroll.

It was Takeshi's information scroll. Although there was no mention of the Flying Thunder God technique, his abilities included the Multi-Size jutsu and fur manipulation techniques. She speculated that the Flying Thunder God technique had been learned recently, rather than being an inherited ninjutsu.

'This cat can learn ninjutsu… This is remarkable!' It was because of this that Tsunade wanted to borrow Takeshi from Rin for a while.

"Do you want to learn new ninjutsu?" she asked him.

"Meow?" Takeshi's eyes lit up. Tsunade could teach him some techniques, and her legendary super strength would be incredibly useful... "Meow!" (Yes!) nodding as fast as he could.

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