Chapter 91 (Patreon)

On the streets of Konoha, Yujiro and Jiraiya walked side by side toward the village gates.

After traveling for a short distance, Yujiro suddenly stopped and let out a helpless sigh.

“You can come out now.”

Jiraiya glanced around in confusion.

A moment later, Terumi Mei emerged from an alley farther down the street. She approached them with an awkward expression, clearly having been caught while trying to follow them unnoticed.

Yujiro turned to face her.

“Why are you following me?”

“It’s because...” Mei hesitated, her cheeks gradually turning red. “Because of you...”

“Oh?” Jiraiya’s eyes immediately lit up. “Now this looks interesting.”

He quickly pulled a small notebook and pen from his ninja pouch.

“Because of me?” Yujiro asked.

He genuinely had no idea what Mei was talking about.

“Because of what you left inside my body!” Mei snapped, her face growing even redder.

Yujiro froze.

“What did I do?”

Jiraiya’s pen stopped in midair.

He slowly looked Yujiro up and down before raising a thumb in admiration.

“Yujiro... I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Yujiro, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten!” Mei exclaimed anxiously. “It happened the last time we were together in the forest!”

“Stop.” Yujiro raised a hand before she could continue. “Just tell me exactly what you’re talking about.”

If she kept describing it that way, there would be no clearing up the misunderstanding.

“The curse mark you placed on me!” Mei answered quickly. “I overheard you that day. You said that if I moved more than five hundred meters away from you, my entire body would explode!”

Yujiro stared at her for a moment before the corner of his mouth twitched.

So that was what this was about.

“All right. I’ll remove it.”

He reached out and lightly tapped Mei’s forehead with one finger.

“There. It’s gone.”

Mei blinked.

“Really?”

“Really. When have I ever lied to anyone?”

Yujiro gave her a perfectly calm smile.

Mei continued staring at him suspiciously, but she eventually nodded.

“Fine. Then I’m going back.”

“Go ahead.”

Mei turned around and quickly left the street.

Jiraiya watched her disappear before looking at Yujiro.

“What kind of sealing technique was that? I’ve never heard of a curse mark with such a condition.”

“I created it myself,” Yujiro replied casually. “Come on. We should get moving.”

The two soon passed through Konoha’s gates and left the village behind.

Their destination was wherever Tsunade happened to be hiding.

Tsunade was the granddaughter of the First Hokage and a descendant of both the Senju and Uzumaki clans. Although the Senju clan no longer existed as a unified clan within Konoha, much of its bloodline had likely been dispersed among the village’s ordinary shinobi families over the years.

Yujiro could not confirm whether that theory was true.

In the end, it was not particularly important.

Konoha had already entered a period of rapid development. Yujiro had plans for the village’s financial and material resources, and once those arrangements were completed, Konoha would have more than enough supplies to sustain its growth.

For the time being, there was no need to worry about military strength either.

The only major weakness remaining was medical care.

Yujiro intended to bring Tsunade back and place her in charge of every medical operation in Konoha, from the hospital and medical training to the village’s entire system of medical-nin.

Only then could Konoha’s development truly be considered complete.

That was the sole purpose of this journey.

“Yujiro, I’m warning you now,” Jiraiya said as they traveled. “Tsunade is not an easy woman to deal with. She’s stubborn, violent, and completely unreasonable.”

He paused before adding seriously:

“If she refuses, we may have to give up.”

“Understood.”

Yujiro nodded without arguing.

In truth, he did not believe persuading Tsunade would be difficult.

As long as they managed to find her, Yujiro was certain he could bring her back to Konoha.

Jiraiya pulled a map from inside his clothes. It showed the smaller nations surrounding the Land of Fire.

Although Tsunade had left Konoha years ago, she usually wandered between the neighboring countries rather than traveling particularly far away.

With a careful search, they should be able to locate her within a month at most.

Their search eventually brought them to a prosperous town near the border of the Land of Fire, situated where the routes between two countries converged.

Because the town served as an important transportation hub, merchants, travelers, and shinobi passed through its streets in a seemingly endless stream.

At that very moment, two women were hurrying down one of those crowded streets.

The woman in front wore a green haori over her gray clothes. Her long blonde hair was tied into two loose tails, and a violet diamond-shaped mark rested in the center of her forehead.

She marched toward the far end of the street with two black cases in her hands.

Shizune followed close behind her, looking utterly miserable.

“Tsunade-sama, we can’t keep doing this!” Shizune pleaded. “That was the last of our money!”

“What are you worried about, Shizune?” Tsunade replied dismissively. “This time, I’m going to win everything back. We’ll leave with even more than we started with.”

Shizune’s mouth twitched.

She had heard those exact words far too many times.

Whenever Tsunade declared that she would win everything back, they usually ended up fleeing the town soon afterward.

The reason was always the same.

They had lost every last ryō.

Half a day later, Tsunade emerged from the gambling hall with a dark expression.

Both cases were now completely empty.

Not only had she lost all their remaining money, but she had also gambled away the funds they had set aside for dinner.

“Tsunade-sama...” Shizune approached her with a strained expression. “What are we supposed to do now?”

“It’ll be fine.” Tsunade patted her shoulder. “We can worry about dinner later. Let’s return to the inn and get some rest first.”

“We don’t have enough money to pay for the room either,” Shizune reminded her.

Tsunade gave a quiet chuckle.

“The innkeeper doesn’t know that yet.”

“Tsunade-sama...”

Shizune could only stare at her in disbelief.

“Come on, Shizune.” Tsunade smiled without the slightest trace of shame. “It’s time for us to leave town before anyone notices.”

Shizune sighed helplessly.

They would have to return to the inn, gather their belongings, and slip away before the owner demanded payment.

“Well, well. Is that really Tsunade-hime, one of the Legendary Sannin?”

A familiar voice came from behind them.

“And here I thought the famous Slug Princess would have enough money to pay her lodging bill.”

Tsunade’s expression immediately stiffened.

There was no mistaking that voice.

She turned around and saw Jiraiya approaching with Yujiro beside him.

“Jiraiya,” she said irritably. “What are you doing here?”

“I may have helped find you, but I’m not the one who needs something.” Jiraiya took a cautious step backward when he noticed the dangerous look in her eyes. “He does.”

“Him?”

Tsunade tilted her head and examined Yujiro.

He wore a black martial outfit, and a black sword rested at his waist. Although his expression was calm, a faint and incredibly sharp presence seemed to radiate from him.

There was only one person in the shinobi world who matched that description.

Yujiro—the shinobi who had risen to fame during the Third Shinobi World War and later stood at the center of Konoha’s transformation.

Tsunade did not pay close attention to the village’s everyday affairs, but she still followed major changes throughout the shinobi world.

She was also aware of what had happened inside Konoha.

When Tsunade learned about the many crimes committed under her former teacher’s rule, she had been so furious that she had nearly returned to the village to confront Hiruzen Sarutobi herself.

Tsunade’s irritation faded as she looked Yujiro over.

“Well, aren’t you handsome?” she said with an amused smile. “What do you want with me?”

“Return to Konoha and take charge of every medical operation in the village.”

Yujiro stated his purpose without hesitation.

He had no interest in wasting time or hiding his intentions behind polite conversation.

“Return to Konoha...”

Tsunade released a quiet sigh. A trace of resistance appeared in her eyes.

“Don’t refuse immediately,” Yujiro continued. “You left because Konoha was becoming increasingly corrupt under Hiruzen Sarutobi’s rule.”

Tsunade’s eyes narrowed, but Yujiro did not give her an opportunity to interrupt.

“There’s no point denying it. I suspect that was also one of the reasons Jiraiya spent so much time away from the village.”

Jiraiya remained silent.

“But the Konoha of today is different,” Yujiro said. “The village is united under a single command. The corruption and internal divisions that drove you away are gone.”

He met Tsunade’s gaze directly.

“Come back and see it for yourself. If you still believe Konoha is corrupt after witnessing the changes with your own eyes, I won’t force you to stay.”

His words left Tsunade with no easy excuse to dismiss him.

A major reason she had abandoned the village was her disgust with Konoha’s leadership.

Hiruzen had been her teacher, which had made openly opposing him difficult. Instead of remaining in the village and watching it continue to decline, she had chosen to leave.

“Do you have another reason?” Tsunade asked, narrowing her eyes with a smile. “That alone isn’t enough to convince me.”

“There is another method.”

Yujiro considered the matter for a moment before looking at her seriously.

“What method?” Tsunade asked curiously.

“I’ll beat you until you agree to return.”

Shizune’s eyes widened.

Beat Tsunade?

Until she agreed?

Jiraiya stared at Yujiro in disbelief.

So this was the method Yujiro had been so confident about?

Was he deliberately trying to get himself killed?

For a moment, Tsunade said nothing.

Then she threw back her head and burst into laughter.

“Hahahaha! Yujiro, you’re the first person who has ever dared to speak to me like that.”

Her laughter faded, and a challenging grin appeared on her face.

“Do you really think you can take one of my punches?”

“I’m more worried about accidentally hurting you,” Yujiro answered honestly.

Tsunade’s eyebrow twitched.

“Heh... Is that so?”

She handed the empty cases to Shizune and stepped forward.

“Then I’ll make the first move.”

The moment she finished speaking, Tsunade launched herself toward Yujiro.

She also wanted to discover whether he was truly as powerful as the rumors claimed.

Tsunade concentrated chakra into her fist, but she used only thirty percent of her full strength.

Her punch tore through the air as it rushed toward Yujiro.

From Yujiro’s perspective, however, it was far too slow.

He calmly raised one hand and caught Tsunade’s fist with his open palm.

Boom!

A powerful gust erupted from the impact, sweeping dust across the surrounding street.

Tsunade was forced two steps backward.

Surprise flashed through her eyes.

She had not expected Yujiro to block the punch so casually.

This time, Tsunade stopped holding back.

She surged forward and threw another punch, pouring all her strength into the blow.

Yujiro responded with a light punch of his own.

He truly did not dare to use any real force.

If he became careless, he might cripple Tsunade.

After unlocking the third stage of his Limiter, every part of Yujiro’s body had undergone another complete enhancement.

Even if he stood still and allowed Tsunade to strike him with everything she possessed, she would not be able to injure him.

Tsunade’s full-powered, chakra-enhanced fist collided with Yujiro’s seemingly casual punch.

Boom!

A figure was violently thrown backward.

“Tsunade-sama!”

Shizune rushed forward and caught Tsunade, sliding several meters before she finally managed to stop their momentum.

For several seconds, Tsunade remained completely silent.

Her eyes were filled with shock.

That second punch had contained the full force of her monstrous strength.

Yet Yujiro had overpowered her as though it were nothing.

He was far stronger than she had imagined.