Listening to Jiraiya's self-introduction, Tsunade's mouth twitched slightly.
That guy, he's still so unreliable.
"My name is Minato Namikaze, I am Jiraiya-sama's disciple, and Uchiha Yakoto's good friend."
Minato Namikaze put on his signature sunny smile.
"My name is Shizune!" Shizune raised her hand and said loudly.
Uchiha Yakoto's self-introduction was still as concise as ever.
"Uchiha Yakoto."
Seeing everyone introduce themselves, Hyuga Kana spoke timidly.
"My name is Hyuga Kana."
"I probably don't need to introduce myself, everyone should know me," Tsunade said with a rare playful tone.
"It's rare for the Three Ninja to gather today, so we won't go home until we're drunk this afternoon!"
"Boss! Bring the sake!" Tsunade declared boldly.
"To be getting drunk at noon, you really are a drunkard." Uchiha Yakoto, who had no idea when he developed a knack for complaining, sat next to Tsunade and muttered softly, every word of which Tsunade heard clearly.
"What did you say, you brat from the Uchiha Clan?"
"Nothing." Yakoto quickly shut his mouth and silently placed the grilled meat he had cooked into Tsunade's bowl.
Tsunade contentedly popped the grilled meat Yakoto had given her into her mouth.
Kid, you know what's good for you.
Just as Tsunade put the grilled meat in her mouth, she immediately noticed something was off; Jiraiya was looking at her with an expression of disbelief.
Jiraiya's heart was already churning with monstrous waves.
Tsunade, you! You wouldn't be again...
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
Dan had just left her, how could she possibly be with someone else so quickly?
And Uchiha Yakoto, he's just a child!
Although Jiraiya wasn't particularly against an older woman dating a younger man, this was too young!
It must just be a junior showing respect to an elder.
Yes! It must be like that.
Orochimaru's expression also held a hint of strangeness.
Among the children, Shizune was the most innocent, showing no particular expression.
Minato Namikaze still had his sunny expression.
Uchiha Yakoto was expressionless, maintaining his usual calm demeanor.
And Hyuga Kana, who read the most, surprisingly looked up at Tsunade with an expression that clearly said, "I ship it."
Tsunade felt a bit embarrassed by everyone's gazes and was about to speak.
Orochimaru very timely changed the topic, handing a document to Tsunade.
"I just came from Sarutobi-sensei's place; this is what sensei asked me to give you."
Looking at the item Orochimaru handed her, Tsunade asked curiously.
"What is this?"
"A bill, for the training ground you just destroyed," Orochimaru replied blandly.
Upon hearing "bill," Tsunade completely petrified, even her art style turned black and white.
Heaven help her, to commemorate the days when she could stay at home every day and not have to work, which were now gone forever.
Before taking charge of Yakoto and the others, Tsunade had just lost all her possessions gambling at a casino.
Tsunade currently had no money at all, hadn't even eaten breakfast, and was just waiting to have a good lunch.
A bill! Compensation!
No money, but she'd give her life!
For the rest of the time, Tsunade and Jiraiya cried and drank together.
Orochimaru quickly excused himself after eating; after all, he wasn't particularly idle and had many things to do on his rare return trip.
After Uchiha Yakoto finished eating, he prepared to pay. Although Hyuga Kana didn't have a bell, the original plan was for Hyuga Kana to pay.
However, Uchiha Yakoto certainly didn't have the habit of letting a girl pay.
When it came time to settle the bill, the waiter told Uchiha Yakoto that Orochimaru had already paid.
One has to say, it really is Auntie Snake—no, Uncle Snake. Orochimaru is truly generous; he's just after your body.
Literally after your body.
Soon, everyone gradually left. Jiraiya was still foolishly crying with Tsunade, holding his head.
Before long, Tsunade revealed her true intentions.
"Jiraiya, do you have any money? Lend me some, please."
"I haven't taken any missions for so long, so I definitely don't have any money. To be honest, I was just planning to take Minato Namikaze on missions to earn some," Jiraiya replied somewhat awkwardly.
Jiraiya, who had just returned after disappearing, indeed had no money in his pocket at the moment.
"It can't be, can it? You've earned so much from writing novels over the years, you can't possibly have no savings at all," Tsunade said in surprise upon hearing Jiraiya's answer.
"I do have some savings, but..." At this point, Jiraiya felt even more embarrassed.
"But what? Hurry up and tell me!" Tsunade, being impatient, couldn't stand this slow way of speaking.
"But when I just returned to the village, while I was gathering material, I was discovered, and all my money went to compensate the bathhouse owner," Jiraiya's voice grew softer and softer... In the following period, Tsunade went back and forth between the hospital and the clan compound, occasionally sparing time to guide Uchiha Yakoto and the others.
If she couldn't, then she didn't bother.
Although Tsunade now had hemophobia and was almost unable to save people, she was still Tsunade, the legendary Medical Ninja.
Simply giving lectures at the hospital or something similar brought in money very quickly.
However, Uchiha Yakoto's team could only take D-rank missions, which were mostly about finding cats and dogs. Uchiha Yakoto usually dealt with them using Clone Jutsu.
But Tsunade had specifically instructed them to gather at the training ground today, saying she had something important to entrust to them.
Yakoto guessed immediately that Tsunade was probably going to assign them higher-difficulty missions.
The days of catching cats and dogs were finally coming to an end.
However, high-difficulty missions would definitely involve bloodshed, so what about Tsunade's hemophobia?
Forget it, he wouldn't worry about it.
When Uchiha Yakoto arrived at the training ground, he found an unexpected person.
"Minato, why are you here?"
Hearing Uchiha Yakoto's voice, Minato Namikaze, who was diligently practicing close combat, turned around and gave a silly smile.
"Yakoto! Jiraiya-sensei is going to take me out on a mission, and he told me to wait for him here."
"What about you?"
"Same."
With that, the atmosphere became somewhat silent. Since their last farewell at the barbecue restaurant, Uchiha Yakoto and Minato Namikaze hadn't seen each other for a while.
Now that they met again, both of them truly didn't know what to say.
Finally, Minato Namikaze broke the silence.
"Yakoto, long time no see. Want to spar?"
He had been training with Jiraiya during this time and had made incredibly fast progress.
Minato Namikaze was already Innate gifted; basically, the only thing that could hold him back was his background.
His status as a commoner Ninja indeed limited Minato Namikaze too much. He had no source of Ninjutsu and could only learn the basic content taught at the academy.
Lacking resources, he had to conserve his shuriken and kunai in daily use.
He also had no teacher to provide specific guidance, often being unsure where the problem lay.
Although Uchiha Yakoto's help had alleviated some of Minato Namikaze's Innate disadvantages, the problems were ultimately unavoidable.
But after being taken as a disciple by Jiraiya, with a source of Ninjutsu and proper guidance, Minato Namikaze's strength improved by leaps and bounds.
Although he certainly couldn't compare to Uchiha Yakoto, Minato now really wanted to see how big the gap between himself and Uchiha Yakoto truly was.
"Okay."
