Scene: Konoha – Senju Residence
Anyway, after spending some time with Kushina and realizing she could now safely enter Version 2 Cloak with no problem at all—and I do mean zero problem—going up to six tails with the bones and all was her limit for now.
But that was great progress for her. That was a lot of chakra and power she now had under her control.
Good for her. She even... willingly offered him a tail. How nice of her.
Anyway, he now needed to find his sensei. He had brought the high-quality wine she had been bitching about for a long, long time now.
So yeah, that was why he was in front of the casino right now, because where else would his sensei be, if not here?
As he entered... he saw her. She was playing a game... and losing... badly.
"HA!" the man across from her barked, flipping over a flush. "Lady Luck's got a new man tonight!"
Tsunade's eye twitched as she stared at her own hand—two pairs. Weak. Pathetic.
"...You gotta be kidding me," she muttered, facepalming as the dealer swept away the last of her chips. Again. That was her fifth loss in a row.
"Lady Tsunade, I believe that brings your tab to... 5.6 million yen," the pit boss said with the tone of someone who'd recited that line way too many times this month.
She was mid-eye twitch when she saw her student.
And the second she saw him, she grinned... Seijuro's blood ran cold.
No... Tsunade... no.
"Seijuro~!" she practically sang, waving with drunken grace. "My darling student! My most reliable, handsome, talented student!"
He sighed through his nose. Long and suffering.
"You're still here?"
"Don't be like that." She gave him a mock pout, arms crossed under her ample chest. "Shouldn't a good student support his hard-working teacher in her time of need?"
"I've supported your 'time of need' more than the Land of Fire's economy does your sake addiction."
"Aw~ don't be stingy!" she slurred, eyes gleaming. "Besides, you're loaded."
Another sigh. He walked up to the desk, pulled out his mission card, and transferred 5 million yen without blinking. The manager's jaw dropped slightly.
"You're lucky I'm on a salary," Seijuro muttered.
"Oh, but wait," Tsunade hiccupped, as he pulled out a lacquered wooden case. "What's this?"
She reached for it before he even opened it. He popped the seal, revealing a bottle of Kanzaki Year 52 – a legendary 10-million yen bottle of Uzushio vintage wine.
Her eyes sparkled.
"You brought me my baby," she gasped, dramatically clutching her chest like she'd just received a marriage proposal.
"You've been whining about it for three years."
"Because it's liquid happiness!" she yelled, already uncorking it and drinking straight from the bottle. "Mmmmm, tastes heavenly," she said, sipping it.
This wine was expensive because it was an Uzumaki special... and well, the Uzumaki were squad-wiped, so it was quite hard to gather them. Anyway, so... yeah.
As to how he got it... well, you see, Aizen had a bunch of them just laying around, virtue of him gathering up Uzumaki and, so far, letting them rest safely in Iwa—you know, before he finished rebuilding a new barrier and new home for them back in Uzushiogakure.
Though last he checked, his other self was planning on invading Kumo soon. Apparently, Konoha had hired him to get the Byakugan back, for a hefty sum... of 50 billion yen. The Hyuga clan offered up like 30 billion out of that 50 billion total, so yeah, there was that.
As for why Konoha couldn't get it themselves... one, war was ending, and while trying to reclaim their Dōjutsu is a valid reaction, muscle-head Raikage would see this as an act of war and may use this chance to get more Byakugan.
Two... Konoha is currently hella divided due to Danzo's shenanigans and also the comic floating around—which, mind you, was still above Makeout Paradise and was still the top-selling book in the Land of Fire... no... in the shinobi world.
Anyway, back to Tsunade bribing her student.
"Best. Student. Ever." Tsunade declared, eyes glossy and cheeks red as she hiccupped and swayed in place. "I love you. I'm gonna promote you to... to... Supreme Ninja Chancellor of Handsomeness or some shit."
Seijuro stared blankly.
"This is why I don't visit."
"Liar! You love visiting your drunk, brilliant, absolutely amazing mentor!"
She tried to hug him. He dodged.
She passed out mid-hug.
He caught her with one hand, sighing again.
"...How are you still stronger than me even while unconscious?"
He paid the staff extra to make sure she didn't gamble again that night. Though he knew deep down—he was just buying time until the next bottle.
For fuck's sake, why did her ass gamble this much? There was nothing fun about it.
So yeah, he had to carry his drunk teacher back to the Senju clan compound. He felt sorry for whoever her husband would be—his ass would not have a good time at all.
May his soul rest in peace.
A/N.....tomorow chapters would be fun.