The girl cheerfully walked away from the platform, completely carefree.
Akaba and Tsunade followed behind. They exchanged glances before almost imperceptibly sighing.
"Oh right, I haven't asked yet—what's your name?"
"Tch, why would I tell you!"
As soon as she left the stand, her demeanor completely transformed.
If previously she was a sweet and well-behaved princess, now she resembled a rebellious troublemaker, arrogant and domineering.
Excitedly approaching, she asked, "So you're Brother Akaba?"
"Uh..."
Akaba wasn't sure what to say — clearly caught between a rock and a hard place.
Because at this moment, Tsunade was visibly struggling to suppress her anger.
"I always thought people who draw and publish books were either old men or bald guys—you know, because they must think about all sorts of problems every day. But surprisingly, you're actually so handsome!"
The girl kept chatting nonstop, practically bouncing with excitement as she walked.
Suddenly—
BOOM!
A deafening explosion sounded. The girl, Akaba, and many guards on the stand all froze in shock.
Everyone saw Tsunade clenching her fist, with a nearby large tree snapped into two pieces, surrounded by countless wood splinters.
The girl immediately shivered, her eyelid twitching uncontrollably.
"No worries," Tsunade smiled sweetly, raising her head, "Just now a bug suddenly flew past and scared me, so I punched it dead."
"Eh... no problem! Really, none at all!"
The girl stuttered slightly while speaking.
She was genuinely terrified. How could such a delicate and fragile body possibly unleash such terrifying power?
"That's right, what's your name?"
Tsunade's smile hadn't faded; instead, it had become even warmer.
"Erika Hui. Just call me Erika."
Seeing that smile again, her body involuntarily shrunk back slightly.
So scary!
My Lord, I want to go home...
"It seems like they're getting along pretty well."
Mito Uzumaki chuckled, covering her mouth as she stopped paying attention to the farce below.
After all, Tsunade definitely wouldn't come out worse for wear.
"The strength of the Senju clan remains astonishing as ever."
The Daimyo softly sighed.
He had already witnessed the might of the Senju clan firsthand. He never expected that even after Hashirama and Tobirama's deaths, Tsunade would still be equally extraordinary.
Not to mention those ninja...
"Ninja heritage isn't about bloodline."
Homura Danjō implied something deeper.
Actually, the Daimyo held a straightforward opinion—he believed Konoha was strong because of the Senju and Uchiha clans. Yet he didn't realize that today's Konoha village even common ninja possessed formidable abilities.
Homura had summoned him here primarily for negotiations, secondarily to demonstrate power.
"Yes indeed. Though they've departed, the Will of Fire has been passed down."
The Daimyo sighed complexly.
"Konoha belongs to the Land of Fire. Only when it thrives will foreign powers dare not lay their eyes upon it."
Mito remarked.
The three began to engage in idle banter, while on the road leading down from the mountain, Erika waited endlessly for the Daimyo to stop her departure. Her heart dropped like a stone.
With such commotion, she refused to believe the Daimyo hadn't heard anything.
"Come on, Erika," Tsunade said smilingly. "Let me show you around. There are lots of fun places over here."
"Okay, okay, okay."
Hearing that, Erika hurriedly moved ahead without so much as a pause.
Throughout everything, Akaba maintained a passive observer role.
Clearly,
this little girl knew Tsunade's identity and intentionally challenged her.
They say brute force beats technique every time. No matter how cunning she was, against Tsunade's raw strength, she could only obey.
Compared to that, what surprised him more was Tsunade's performance.
Although her approach had been simple and rough, it had worked—neither the Third Hokage nor the Daimyo had interfered.
This had been a carefully calculated move by Tsunade, not just an impulsive or emotional reaction.
"This must be her battle wisdom," Akaba mused silently.
What he looked forward to even more, though, was how Tsunade would deal with this scheming princess next.
After heading downhill,
Looking at the route ahead, Akaba felt Erika might need to spend some money today to ward off bad luck.
Sure enough, their next stop was Yuhi Shinku.
Yuhi Shinku's niche was fan art. He didn't have Jiraiya's smoothness or trickery—he simply picked a spot and started drawing.
Without Tsunade bringing them here, most people probably wouldn't have come to his area.
"Oh! There's someone else drawing here!"
Erika said in genuine surprise.
"See? I'll make sure you enjoy yourself."
Tsunade beamed.
Yuhi Shinku had been focused on drawing but had just finished one piece, so he lifted his head for a look. A flash of surprise crossed his face.
He didn't recognize the person next to Tsunade and Akaba, but from their outfit and demeanor, he had a good idea—it must be the princess.
"Shinku, this is Princess Erika. She wants to buy your artwork. Just pick out a few good ones."
Tsunade introduced.
"Huh? Mine are just gifts…"
Yuhi hesitated—he hadn't planned to profit from this at all.
"No no no, payment is necessary. Payment must be made."
Erika managed a smile, then pulled out a random bill and handed it over.
"Uh… I don't have any change."
Yuhi's face flushed with embarrassment.
"It's fine. Keep it."
Princess Erika replied coolly.
It was obvious that maintaining her image came at a cost—her wallet was full of high-denomination notes.
But when she saw Yuhi Shinku's fan art, her expression lit up with pure delight.
She'd assumed Tsunade was overcharging her—but the artwork was shockingly good, nearly as good as the originals!
"Shinku's skill ranks second among everyone I've met. His painting abilities are nothing short of excellent," Akaba smiled.
"Second?"
"Brother Akaba, who's first?"
Yuhi Shinku and Princess Erika asked at the same time, both filled with curiosity.
"Hmm… Grandma Mito."
Akaba replied.
Uzumaki Mito's talent could only be described as terrifying.
In just a few short days, she achieved remarkable mastery in drawing, design, instruction, and planning alike.
"Huh?"
Yuhi Shinku froze, while Erika became even more intrigued.
However, knowing Uzumaki Mito was currently occupied above, she could only sigh in disappointment.
"Come on, I'll take you somewhere else. This MangaCon has many wonderful performances today," Tsunade chuckled, preparing to lead her onward.
Akaba glanced in that direction—the next stop seemed to be Jiraiya.
Looks like the women are teaming up again. They're truly terrifying...
"I see someone drawing again up ahead."
"That guy's called Jiraiya."
Tsunade replied casually.
"Jiraiya, huh? Sounds like a really strong guy…"
Erika had a hopeful look on her face. Konoha was truly full of hidden talents—besides Akaba, there were so many other skilled illustrators here.
Tsunade smirked to herself, then straightened her expression and said, "Go take a look. Buy whatever you like."
"Okay okay okay!"
Erika was somewhat pleased. At least this time they weren't forcing anything on her—finally respecting the customer's wishes.
She pushed into the crowd and found it was mostly rough guys around.
She didn't dwell on it and quickly squeezed her way inside.
"Is this really okay?"
"So what? There aren't many decent guys in the Daimyo's mansion anyway."
Tsunade flipped her hand dismissively, showing no sympathy at all.
"No, I meant Jiraiya. Don't you think illustrating is hard enough for him as it is?"
Akaba sighed.
He could already picture what would happen next—the destruction of Jiraiya's artwork.
Sure enough!
"Hey! What are you doing? Put it down, put it down! No! My paintings, my paintings!"
"Who told you to draw all this junk? Here, take the money as compensation. You're not allowed to draw anymore!"
With that, Erika burst through the crowd, her face twisted in rage.
"You flying head again! Do you even know how hard it is for me to draw these things?"
"It has nothing to do with me. Don't falsely accuse me."
Tsunade waved her off carelessly.
Jiraiya glanced at Erika and instantly lost his nerve.
Judging by her clothes, she must be some kind of princess.
"Move along, move along. Don't block my view."
Jiraiya waved them off with disinterest, clearly unwilling to see them any longer.
Looking at the scattered paper scraps on the ground, Akaba genuinely felt for Jiraiya—the path of an artist was indeed strewn with obstacles.
A thousand words swirled in his mind, yet in the end he could only say one thing:
"Good luck."
Akaba let out a soft sigh.
Jiraiya didn't think much of it at first, but hearing that one word—"Good luck"—nearly brought him to tears.
Tsunade patted his shoulder, flipped her hair back, and signaled Erika to follow.
Jiraiya gritted his teeth in fury.
This guy now looked just like a man walking a snarling dog around, letting it bite recklessly—and yet, he couldn't even let out a squeak of complaint.
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