For a moment, only Tsunade and Souji remained in the tea room.
The brazier crackled softly, and the kettle gave off a faint hiss.
“In three years, what will happen?” Tsunade suddenly asked, out of nowhere.
Souji’s heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained unchanged.
“What?” “When you were counting the years, your heart rate jumped for 0.3 seconds.” Tsunade snorted, leisurely pouring herself a cup of tea and blowing on the steam before continuing.
“I don’t know what you were calculating, but it looked like something that concerns you.
Or the shinobi world?” “Just some business cycle planning,” Souji replied evenly.
“Whatever you say.” Tsunade drained her tea and set the cup down with a thud.
“But I don’t care what plans you have.
Just remember this one thing.” “Kid, your life was barely snatched back from the Grim Reaper’s hands by me and Shizune.
Don’t go throwing it away again so easily.” “Besides, your bloodline disease just healed.
Use those bones sparingly.” With that, she stood and stretched, her yukata straining as her ample chest rose and fell.
“I’m going to soak.
When the sake arrives, leave it in the room.” She walked out with the soft clatter of her sandals, and the sliding door closed behind her.
Souji finally tore his wandering gaze away and sat alone in the tea parlor, listening to her footsteps gradually fade down the corridor.
He raised his hand and lightly touched the black cloth covering his eyes.
Three years…
Beyond the window, the hot spring town glowed beneath scattered lights.
In the distance, faint laughter and the sound of shamisen drifted from the inns.
Under the tranquil night sky, the river of time flowed onward in silence, carrying the man who knew the future into the distance.
With that thought, he picked up his now-lukewarm tea and drained it in one gulp.
The tea was bitter, leaving a long, lingering aftertaste.
… The merchant vessel remained docked in the Land of Hot Water for two days.
It was loaded with local specialties: sulfur soap, hot spring buns, yukata fabric printed with ukiyo-e designs, and dozens of barrels of hot spring skincare products labeled with secret curative formulas.
The ship’s waterline visibly sank lower under the added weight.
On the morning of the third day, it slowly departed the harbor through the thin mist, heading for its next stop, the Land of Iron.
After half a day at sea, the afternoon sunlight streamed through the portholes into the upper cabin.
The three of them sat around a low table.
Several small side dishes, a flask of sake, and hot spring buns brought aboard from the Land of Hot Water were spread before them.
Meanwhile, Tonton lay beside Shizune’s legs, nibbling away at bun crumbs little by little.
Tsunade’s expression, however, wasn’t looking very good.
Not because of seasickness.
A ninja of her level could hardly tell the difference between rough seas and solid ground.
No, the problem was her finances.
Or, to put it more bluntly, Tsunade had gambled away everything she had.
Again.
“Tsunade-sama…” Shizune spoke cautiously.
“Maybe once we arrive in the Land of Iron, we could first find somewhere to…” “Shut up!” Tsunade gloomily took another swig of sake, her golden eyes narrowing dangerously.
“Let me be.” Souji simply raised his teacup, hiding the faint smile at the corner of his lips behind it.
Although the Six Eyes’ active insight was disabled, everything happening inside the cabin remained clearly perceptible to him.
Tsunade’s frustration after losing everything and Shizune’s despair at having to endure another stretch of hard times intertwined into a subtle awkwardness.
Two days.
Just two days.
Not only had Tsunade lost all the emergency funds Souji had given her, but she had also borrowed a huge sum from an underground exchange house in the Land of Hot Water.
The interest was said to be astronomical.
At this point, she probably couldn’t even produce a single ten-ryō coin.
Souji cleared his throat, set down his teacup, and spoke calmly.
“Tsunade-sama, you don’t need to worry about the ship fare or meals.
As agreed, I’ll cover all of them.
However…” “However, what?” Tsunade looked up at him.
Her blonde hair was slightly disheveled in the afternoon sunlight, and the collar of her yukata hung loosely open, revealing part of her delicate collarbone.
“I’m just a little curious.” Souji raised an eyebrow, carefully choosing his words.
“Given your status and strength, making money shouldn’t be difficult for you.
So why is it always…” “Always losing everything?” Tsunade finished his sentence with a scoff.
“Kid, you don’t get it.
In a gambling hall, winning and losing isn’t the point.
It’s that feeling in that single instant.” She leaned back, lazily lifting her sake cup between her fingers.
The afternoon sun slanted through the cabin, casting dappled patterns of light across her face.
Her golden eyes reflected the glimmer of the sake, giving them an unexpectedly intoxicating allure.
“Put everything on the line.
Your heart pounds.
The instant the dice landed, that feeling of not knowing whether you’ll win or lose is enough to make you forget a lot of things.” She took another sip, her tongue lightly brushing away the drop of sake lingering at the corner of her lips.
Even her voice grew much quieter.
“Enough to make you…
forget the things you don’t want to remember.” The cabin fell silent for a moment.
Shizune lowered her head, absentmindedly stroking Tonton’s back.
She knew exactly what Tsunade-sama was talking about.
Souji also remained silent.
He looked at Tsunade.
Although the Six Eyes beneath the black cloth weren’t operating at full capacity, they still caught every subtle fluctuation.
When she mentioned the word “forget,” the immense Yang Release chakra deep within her body momentarily faltered, as though something had become lodged inside it, obstructing its smooth flow.
“Lord Nawaki…
and Lord Dan.” Shizune spoke softly, partly explaining it to Souji and partly continuing a familiar subject.
“Tsunade-sama has always…” “Shizune!” Tsunade cut her off.
Her voice remained flat.
“Don’t bring up those old memories in front of someone who has nothing to do with them.” Shizune pressed her lips together and fell silent.
But Souji already knew.
He knew about Nawaki, Tsunade’s younger brother and a disciple of the cold-hearted Orochimaru, who died at the age of twelve after triggering an Exploding Tag trap during the Second Great Ninja War.
He also knew about Dan Kato, Tsunade’s former lover, an elite jonin of Konoha and a prodigy of the Spiritualization Technique, who likewise died on the battlefield, right before her eyes.
Despite standing at the pinnacle of medical ninjutsu, she had failed to save the two people most precious to her.
Twice!
He knew all of it because he’d read the original story.
Back then, he hadn’t thought much of it.
But after spending more than a year traveling together, Yamada Souji only gradually came to understand the weight those memories carried.
“So…” “So…” At that moment, Tsunade suddenly leaned forward, bracing her arms against the table.
The sleeve of her yukata slipped down, revealing a section of her fair forearm.
She stared straight at Souji, the corners of her lips curling into a half-smile.
“Kid, since you’re so rich, how about lending me a little more?
We can negotiate the interest.” She deliberately drew out the last words, her voice carrying a deliberately languid, teasing tone.
Her blonde hair slipped over her shoulder, hanging over the edge of the table and swaying gently with the ship’s motion.
Her already-loosened collar slipped open a little wider, revealing the faint curve beneath her collarbone, bathed in an ambiguous glow under the afternoon sun.
Seeing this, Shizune’s face instantly turned red.
“Tsunade-sama…
you’re so bold!” Souji’s hand paused ever so slightly around his teacup.
Although the Six Eyes were covered, his perception was more than enough to clearly sense Tsunade’s posture at that moment.
That uniquely mature feminine allure, carrying an air of absent-minded yet dangerously seductive charm, mixed with the scent of sake and her faint natural fragrance.
To a virgin, it hit with the force of a nuclear bomb.
But he also knew…
It was all an act.
Tsunade-hime, the granddaughter of the First Hokage, the Princess of the Land of Fire, and one of the Legendary Sannin, how could she possibly resort to such tactics against just a kid?
She was testing him, toying with him all the while.
Using this little act to hide the brief moment when she had lost control of her emotions while simultaneously gauging his reaction.
“How much do you need?” Souji asked calmly.