The sun had set, leaving a streak of orange-red on the horizon.
Kitahara Kaede walked back, carrying a paper bag of snacks.
Training ended early today; Hiruzen went to the Hokage Building for a meeting, and the three of them were dismissed on the spot.
He was just planning to head home when he caught a glimpse of something at the corner of the street.
Orochimaru.
That guy, who usually wore all white, was covered in a large black cloak today, hugging the wall as he walked toward the edge of the Village.
His steps were quick, and his head was bowed low.
Kitahara Kaede bit into a dumpling.
What was the difference between this disguise and having “I’m up to no good” written on his face?
He chewed a couple of times and followed him.
He was idle anyway.
With his current sensory perception, Orochimaru wouldn’t notice him from twenty or thirty meters away.
The two of them passed the Village entrance one after the other and arrived at the river outside the Village.
Before he even got close, he heard the voice of Tsunade.
“Five thousand ryo!
Five whole thousand ryo!”
Tsunade was squatting by the river, clutching a flattened wallet in her hand, her face scrunched up like a bitter melon.
“It was gone before I even saw a splash—those people running the gambling dens are definitely cheating!”
She picked up a pebble and smashed it fiercely into the middle of the river.
A splash erupted, but her anger did not dissipate.
Kitahara Kaede found a suitable tree, vaulted up, and sat on a branch.
He tore open the paper bag, took a senbei, and watched while chewing.
On the other side of the river, Orochimaru was squatting behind a pile of rocks, looking down at a piece of paper to confirm something.
The next moment, Orochimaru put on a black hood and pulled a smoke bomb from his Ninja tool pouch.
The aura around him changed instantly.
Kitahara Kaede paused his chewing of the senbei.
Acting?
Boom.
A dense cloud of smoke exploded by the river.
“Who?!” Tsunade sprang up, instinctively taking two steps back.
“Hehe, little girl, it’s not safe to be daydreaming here all alone.”
Orochimaru emerged from the smoke, his voice lowered by two octaves, his steps deliberately frivolous, a Kunai spinning at his fingertips.
Such acting.
Kitahara Kaede gave an evaluation in his heart—it could score eight points.
The voice, posture, and control of killing intent were all not bad.
The only problem was that he had chosen the wrong target.
The person in front of him had just lost five thousand ryo and had nowhere to vent an entire afternoon’s worth of anger.
Tsunade stared at this “Rogue Ninja” in front of her, stunned for a second.
Then she smiled.
It wasn’t a normal smile.
It was the smile of someone who had just been owed money by the whole world, suddenly seeing someone proactively offering their face up to be hit.
“You’ve come at just the right time.”
Tsunade clenched her fists, and the pebbles beneath her feet cracked.
“I’ll use you to make up for the money I lost today.”
Orochimaru’s brow twitched.
The script wasn’t written like this.
According to Jiraiya’s plan, he was supposed to create a sense of suppression first, putting Tsunade at a disadvantage, and then that white-haired idiot would descend from the sky to save the damsel—
Tsunade was already charging over.
No opening stance, no wasted movements.
Just a punch, with unreasonable speed.
The ground beneath him didn’t escape.
Boom—
Earth and stone exploded, debris flying half a meter high.
Orochimaru was blown back three or four meters by the shockwave, sliding a distance while supporting himself with one hand before stopping.
He looked back at the crater.
Half a meter deep.
He looked at Tsunade again.
Tsunade was looking down, her shoulders slightly heaving, the aura around her seemingly heavy enough to press the river water down by three inches.
Orochimaru revised his prediction for tonight in his mind.
Something was wrong, very wrong.
“You dodged fast.”
Tsunade started again, lifting her right leg, her heel charged with power, bringing it down with the momentum to split mountains and rocks.
Orochimaru dared not hold back anymore.
He shunshinned to the side, and Tsunade’s heel smashed into the rocky beach, causing the entire riverbank to shake.
She turned and pursued again.
Orochimaru dodged continuously among the gravel; his movement technique was beautiful, but his composure was no longer there.
Kitahara Kaede, in the tree, finished the senbei and switched to a rice cracker.
He saw a white, flashy figure in the distance, rushing over here in a hurry.
Jiraiya had arrived, holding a bouquet of wildflowers in his hands.
“Stop!
Do not dare hurt my companion!”
His voice was loud enough to send ripples across the river surface.
When he charged onto the scene, the scene he saw was significantly different from his expectations.
Tsunade was chasing.
Orochimaru was running.
Every time a punch landed, the ground shook.
Orochimaru brushed past Jiraiya.
In the moment they passed each other, Orochimaru didn’t even stop his feet, only dropping three words.
“You’re done for.”
Then, with a shunshin, he disappeared into the night.
Only two people remained on the riverbank.
Jiraiya was still holding that bouquet of wildflowers, which had been blown askew by the wind.
Tsunade slowly turned around.
She didn’t attack immediately.
She just looked at Jiraiya, then at the direction where Orochimaru had disappeared, and then at Jiraiya’s attire—floral shirt, new hairstyle, holding wildflowers, and that idiot face written with “Plan Success.”
“Ji——rai——ya——”
“Tsunade, listen to me explain…”
“Explain what?”
Tsunade snatched the wildflowers from his hand and shoved them, stems and leaves included, into his nostrils.
“Letting Orochimaru play a Rogue Ninja so you could be the hero?”
Jiraiya’s face turned pale.
“Do you think I’m stupid?”
Tsunade threw a punch.
A direct hit.
Jiraiya went airborne, tracing a beautiful parabola in the night.
He hung from the branch of a tree.
It was less than ten meters away from the tree where Kitahara Kaede was hiding.
Kitahara Kaede looked at Jiraiya, who was hanging upside down in the tree opposite. The source of this chapter is g.com.
Jiraiya still had two wildflowers stuck in his nostrils, his white hair hanging down, and two lines of tears sliding down silently.
Kitahara Kaede lowered his head to finish the rice cracker, patting the crumbs off his hands.
That’s about enough.
He dropped down from the tree.
Tsunade was still standing by the river, panting, her fists clenched tight, her chest heaving.
Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned around sharply—seeing it was him, the killing intent on her face faded for the most part, replaced by the embarrassment of being caught in a humiliating moment.
“Kaede?
You…
when did you…”
“Just arrived.”
Kitahara Kaede stepped closer and looked at her hand.
The knuckles on her right hand were scraped, not deep, but oozing blood.
The force used in those punches against Orochimaru was too strong; she hadn’t controlled it well.
He didn’t speak, taking a handkerchief from his pocket and handing it over.
Tsunade looked down, only then noticing her hand.
She took the handkerchief, wiped it hastily a couple of times, and muttered, “Two idiots…”
The voice was much quieter than before.
Kitahara Kaede walked to the riverbank and bent down to pick something up.
A wallet.
Jiraiya’s.
That punch just now had sent him and his belongings flying, and the wallet had landed in the pile of rocks.
Kitahara Kaede opened it and took a look.
It was stuffed full.
He weighed it in his hand and turned back.
“How much did you lose today?”
“Five thousand ryo.” Tsunade’s tone was still resentful, “Why?”
Kitahara Kaede tossed the wallet to her.
Tsunade caught it instinctively, opened it, and looked; her expression changed.
“This is—”
“His.” Kitahara Kaede tilted his chin toward the direction of the tree, “Probably saved up for tonight.”
Tsunade counted it; it was far more than five thousand ryo.
She was silent for two seconds.
Then she decisively shoved the wallet into her own pocket.
“Consider it compensation for my emotional damages.”
Kitahara Kaede couldn’t help it; the corners of his mouth curved up slightly.
Tsunade caught a glimpse of it.
“What are you smiling at?”
“Not smiling.”
“You are clearly smiling.”
“Let’s go, let’s go eat.” Kitahara Kaede turned and walked toward the Village, “Your treat.”
“Why should I pay?”
“You just came into a windfall.”
Tsunade glared at him, but she couldn’t suppress the corners of her mouth anymore.
She took two quick steps to catch up and walked side by side with him.
The streetlights lit up one by one, reflecting the shimmering light on the river.
A wail came from far behind.
“Hey…
at least let me down…”