From the day she was born, Tsunade had only ever won against two people in a bet.
The first was her grandfather, Senju Hashirama.
Later, she found out he had lost to her on purpose, just so he could secretly give her pocket money. What he didn't expect was that his adorable granddaughter, little Tsunade, would develop a gambling addiction and become the biggest sucker in the ninja world.
And the second person?
That's right—this idiot, Jiraiya.
Tsunade still remembered the time this fool had brought Naruto to find her. That bet… For someone who had never held a good hand in her life, she had somehow drawn a royal flush.
What were the odds…
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"If only we were at a gambling table..."
Thinking this, Tsunade took a deep breath and said, "I won once, don't you remember?"
Jiraiya, unaware of Tsunade's complex feelings, could only helplessly touch his cheek. "That time was a fluke. Even you can win sometimes. I just happened to be unlucky."
"And this time?" Tsunade turned to look at Jiraiya, her expression serious. "This time... do you really think you'll win? What if something unexpected happens? What if you happen to lose again? What if... you die?"
Jiraiya was stunned, unsure how to respond.
Tsunade ignored him and continued, "I don't mind betting against you, but I don't want the bet to be your life. We can do it, but there's no need. Whether I win or lose, I won't be happy. This kind of gamble... it's pointless."
Strangely, Jiraiya felt a strange emotion in his heart, like he was suddenly wrapped in warm sunlight, feeling comfort and peace in the cold of winter.
He was at a loss for words, unable to think of anything to say.
So, as he had done before, he chose to avoid the situation. With a casual attitude, he laughed and said, "Are you really that afraid I'll die? Tsunade, you wouldn't have fallen in love with me, would you?"
Then, Tsunade's answer left him speechless.
"Maybe," Tsunade smiled, looking completely normal.
Without looking at Jiraiya, who was frozen in shock, Tsunade turned her head to the sky and spoke softly, "Maybe it's because I think of Nawaki, maybe it's because I think of Dan, or maybe I just can't bear to lose you. Or maybe... I've really fallen in love with you... It's hard to say."
"But in the end, I don't want you to die, especially when... you really don't need to die."
When Nawaki died, she wasn't there. When Dan died, she arrived too late. And now, Jiraiya was right in front of her. She wouldn't leave. It took time to get there, and two instances of that kind of sadness were enough.
"I will never stumble on the same mistake three times," Tsunade said gently, her voice filled with determination. "Jiraiya, if you die too, then the only thing that will keep me alive is the words 'Hokage.'"
"So, I won't let you die. I won't give you the chance to die."
Jiraiya opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, no words came out.
His mind buzzed, as though countless words were swirling in his head. When he finally spoke, they were just meaningless sounds.
He rubbed his forehead. "Wait a second, let me catch my breath and sort the words in my head."
Seeing his silly expression, Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Take your time. The fight isn't over yet. We'll have plenty of time later."
Yes, later there would be plenty of time.
...
At the Hokage Building, Obito looked at the countless bugs in front of him. His movement to charge forward immediately froze. He narrowed his eyes and saw two figures jump out from the left and right. The distinctive Byakugan eyes met his gaze.
"Eight Trigrams Air Palm!" x2
As expected, the two attacks passed straight through Obito's body, causing no damage at all.
Obito snorted coldly, forming hand seals and preparing to move, when two gusts of wind suddenly descended from the sky, charging directly at him.
"Beast Mimicry Technique: Tooth for a Tooth!"
"Eight Gates Release: Primary Lotus!"
Obito frowned and instinctively retreated to avoid the attacks. He jumped back, landing at the farthest edge of the Hokage Building. Meanwhile, the Anbu ninjas moved forward and surrounded him. The lead purple-haired ninja blocked Sakura again, looking surprised at the people behind him.
Shino, with his hands in his pockets, stood next to Sakura. The black bugs gradually scattered, revealing Sakura inside.
Neji and Hinata stood on either side, Byakugan activated, and took stances facing Obito. Kiba, Akamaru, and Lee were at the front, wearing broad smiles on their faces. Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji came last. Chouji stood next to Kiba, while Shikamaru and Ino stood behind Shino.
The Twelve Strong of Konoha, except for Naruto and Sasuke, were all present!
The purple-haired Anbu, though grateful to these people for coming to their aid, immediately scolded, "Chunin's job is to protect the people! What are you doing here?!"
---
Everyone fell silent for a moment and then instinctively looked at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes, but he still stood up and gave an awkward smile. "Uh, we were sent by a jonin to provide support for the medical team."
The purple-haired Anbu paused for a moment. "Which jonin sent you?"
Shikamaru didn't answer directly and instead turned to look at Neji.
Yes, among their group, there were two jonin. One was Sakura, a medical ninja jonin, and though she was a jonin, she had no authority over them. The second, however, was a genuine jonin—Neji, the eldest brother.
Well, isn't that a coincidence!
The purple-haired Anbu also turned to Neji. Neji looked a bit awkward, but his usual cold expression came in handy at that moment.
His face didn't change at all as he coldly explained, "I am Konohagakure's jonin Hyuga Neji, leading the eight Chunin here to provide support for the medical team."
The purple-haired Anbu was speechless.
But honestly, there was no issue with what they were doing, because during war or other special times, higher-ranked ninjas could assign lower-ranked ninjas to temporary teams for missions.
The same thing happened during the Chunin Exams when Chunin Shiranui Genma assigned lower-ranked ninjas to form temporary teams for interception missions. This was a special measure that completely followed the rules of Konohagakure.
But how did a jonin end up mixed in with a bunch of Chunin?
Neji didn't know how to answer. It wouldn't be appropriate to say that he had just recently been promoted to jonin, and the other jonin didn't recognize him yet. When the assignments were made, they had forgotten about him, thinking he was still a Chunin, and ended up assigning him to the protection squad by mistake.
That wasn't going to happen; Neji still cared about his image.
Maybe it was Neji's 'cold' appearance that made the purple-haired ninja feel a little more at ease. She nodded, seemingly acknowledging the group.
Turning back to Obito, she explained, "We don't have any intelligence on the enemy's abilities. Based on the recent encounter, it seems like the enemy has some kind of intangibility ability similar to the phase-shifting technique. But phase-shifting is just a Kekkei Genkai that distorts vision, and the enemy seems to have more than that."
Shikamaru nodded, looking at Neji and Hinata. "Can you two figure anything out?"
Neji spoke up first. "When he tried to attack Sakura at the beginning, there were chakra traces on him, but after Shino used his bugs to protect Sakura, the chakra traces suddenly disappeared, as if they weren't there at all."
"And then, he maintained that state and dodged the attacks from me and the lady."
"But when he made hand signs, his chakra traces appeared again." Hinata continued Neji's explanation. "This time, he chose to jump back to avoid, instead of taking the hit directly." (Note)
Shikamaru stroked his chin and looked at Obito, then suddenly spoke. "What about now?"
"We can see it," Hinata nodded. The veins around her Byakugan were more prominent. "We can clearly see the chakra flow."
"Is that so..." Shikamaru nodded. "I think I understand now, but we need to verify it."
Upon hearing this, everyone from the Twelve Shinobi Squad instantly became more alert.
The purple-haired Anbu: "…"
Wait, which of you is the jonin?
——
P.S. About the issue with Kamui and Byakugan—whether the Byakugan can see Kamui's teleportation, I don't know. The original work doesn't specify, so I'm assuming it can see it, since the Byakugan can see chakra in the human body. However, after Obito phases out, his real body is moved to a different dimension, so it's not visible.
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