Chapter 458 Should I Just Get Rid of Him Secretly?

During a break, the three sat in the shade of a tree.

Naruto noticed Tsunade's reluctance to engage with him and merely smiled, pulling out his dice and playing by himself, seemingly lost in his own world. From start to finish, he didn't once look in Tsunade's direction.

Once the break was over, Naruto calmly stood up and continued on their journey. This time, they kept on going until nightfall. The three of them were not traveling very fast, and they were just traveling at a normal speed.

The journey from the Land of Wind to the Land of Hot Water is long, and as night approached, they found themselves near a forest.

"Let's find a river and camp there." Tsunade said.

"Okay." Shizune agreed, and her small body skillfully jumped onto the treetops, squinting her eyes to see the direction of the river clearly.

Naruto had no objection to this.

His clothes were clean, and he hadn't carried anything with him. He is ate relying on others for food and lodging, but he was shameless and didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

However, although he failed to bring all the supplies in the seal space, fortunately he still had the buff of catching fish with 100% success. Seeing Shizune about to pull out some dry rations again, Naruto looked at the river not far away and volunteered to catch some fish for dinner.

"Fishing?" Shizune looked a little confused, scratched her face and said, "Doesn't that sound troublesome? Although I brought salt, Tsunade-sama is probably already hungry."

"It won't take long. I won't need even half a minute." Naruto waved his hand and ran enthusiastically towards the river.

"Where's he going?" Tsunade looked at Naruto who disappeared into the night, walked over and asked curiously.

"No idea. He said he was going to catch some fish." Shizune replied.

"Huh? Fishing?" Tsunade asked with a question mark on her face, frowned and said, "It won't take long to wait for him to come back, right?"

And just after she finished speaking, a dark figure returned from the distance.

Shizune muttered with dumbfounded expression, "Tsunade-sama, you're right. How can he come back so soon? He must have come back empty-handed."

"Well, duh! Have you ever seen anyone catch fish in under ten minutes?" Tsunade curled her lips. She already had some resentment towards Naruto, so she took this opportunity to vent her frustration.

But just then, a strong fishy smell hit them. Tsunade and Shizune looked at Naruto in disbelief, and their eyes drifted down to see the four freshly caught and cleaned fish he was carrying.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked curiously, holding the fish, "What were you talking about just now? Do you want to eat fish?"

Shizune and Tsunade looked at each other with complicated expressions.

"Yes." The two women replied in unison.

They weren't worried about Naruto trying to trick them. After all, when it came to medical knowledge and poisons, Tsunade and Shizune were at the very top in the Shinobi World. They couldn't imagine Naruto having any ill intentions towards them.

In Shizune's eyes, Naruto was a poor fool who is about to be trapped by Tsunade. And in Tsunade's eyes, Naruto was merely a subject of her research.

However, her study of his vitality had made no real progress so far due to certain entertainment factors.

After eating the fish, Tsunade's impression of Naruto seemed to improve. At least, she wasn't as irritated by him anymore.

The crackling of the fire filled the air as they relaxed.

Sensing that the timing was right, Naruto pulled out his dice and quietly began to play by himself near the fire.

Across from him, Tsunade, who had just eaten her fill, watched him play. The flickering firelight danced in her eyes, and seeing Naruto immersed in his own little game, she squinted, feeling a familiar itch in her heart.

The moment Naruto looked up, he caught a glimpse of her expression. There was no expression on his face, but he wanted to laugh in his heart. He wondered how long Tsunade would be able to hold out.

The sound of soft footsteps came closer. Surprisingly, Shizune was the first to approach. Her small face was flushed red from the firelight as she curiously looked at the dice in Naruto's hand.

"Is that really so fun? I've seen you playing with it a lot recently."

"Not bad, just something to pass the time." Naruto replied casually, though he was about to say more when he suddenly felt someone blocking the firelight. Looking up, he saw Tsunade standing there, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Move aside, kid. Don't play this, this is a game for adults." Tsunade said, picking Shizune up with one hand and setting her down on the other side, "Go to sleep!"

"Ah?" Shizune was a little disappointed, but Tsunade's authority left no room for argument. She mumbled an 'oh' and obediently went off to sleep.

Now, only Naruto and Tsunade were left by the fire. cleared her throat deliberately and, without showing any emotion, sat down in the spot Shizune had just vacated.

'She clearly wanted to play, but she insisted on acting aloof.'

"Cough, is it even fun playing that all by yourself?"

"Not really." Naruto shook his head, thinking it was about time to stop pretending to be clueless. If he continued to play dumb, he would end up making things worse, "Tsunade-sama, are you interested in joining me for a couple of rounds?"

Hearing this, Tsunade was obviously pleased, but she still put on an air of indifference.

"Alright, just a couple of rounds. I still need to sleep afterward."

Naruto saw through it but didn't call her out on it. He simply smiled without saying anything, 'Sleep? Staying up late was the path to temptation. If you can sleep tonight, I will kneel down and call you mom.'

"I won!!"

"I lost!!!"

"I won again!!!"

"Ugh, I've lost too much, This is boring. We agreed that this is the last round, then I'm going to sleep after we're done."

"I won again? Huh, okay, let's play a little more."

"How is your luck so good?! This is fun, hee hee."

"What? You're tired? No way! You can't rest yet! Keep playing, no breaks!!"

The next morning, the sun was already high in the sky.

Shizune, the early riser, got up to wash up. She vaguely remembered hearing loud noises outside last night, but she had been too sleepy, so she didn't pay attention to it.

Just as she was about to wake up Tsunade, she noticed that there was no one around.

After a moment of confusion, she stumbled out and found both Tsunade and Naruto asleep by the fire, practically collapsed on the ground.

A pair of dice lay scattered on the ground, standing out starkly in the morning light.

Seeing this, Shizune gulped nervously. As she walked closer, she was relieved to feel the warmth still coming from the fire. Otherwise, Tsunade might freeze to death if she slept in the wild.

"Tsunade-sama, wake up." Shizune gently shook Tsunade awake, trying to get her to move to a sleeping bag near the trees.

"Hmm?" Tsunade woke up in a daze. She only remembered that she played dice with Naruto until very late yesterday, and it was not until dawn that they both couldn't bear it anymore and collapsed beside the fire.

She couldn't remember how many rounds she had won or lost. At some point, Naruto had stopped keeping score, and the stakes had become irrelevant.

The thrill of it all had kept Tsunade hooked, deeply immersed in the endless gamble with Naruto. But it was only limited to Naruto. When she thought of the pachinko and the usual games in a casino, she suddenly lost interest entirely.

She glanced over at the still-sleeping Naruto and frowned slightly. She couldn't help but think that something was wrong. She then spoke hoarsely, "Shizune, next time, remind me not to play with him."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama!" Shizune nodded eagerly, feeling a sense of relief.

'Finally, Tsunade-sama realized the danger of this man. Maybe it was time to ditch him. No need to go to the Land of Hot Water anymore… anywhere else would be better.'

However…

In the evening, in a small town.

Shizune stood at the inn's doorway, gripping the edge of the door tightly, looking at the backs of Naruto and Tsunade as they walk off together, laughing and heading out to have fun.

Her heart was filled with humiliation.

'Tsunade-sama has fallen!!!'

'What should I do? What should I do? Should I just get rid of him secretly and not tell Tsunade-sama?'