Chapter 43: Arrival at Tanzaku Town
For the past two days, Nan had been training the Flying Thunder God Technique alone at home. He didn't take advantage of the free time to rest at all.
The concept of "balancing work and rest" didn't exist in Nan's dictionary.
Whether in his past life or this one, he was always the same—if there was something unfinished, he would feel an unbearable sense of unease. That urgency pushed him to get it done as soon as possible.
He simply couldn't stop until he had fully mastered the technique. It was precisely this "flaw" that had driven him to spend 12 years at MIT in his previous life, earning eight PhDs.
Thanks to Minato's experience, Nan had made much faster progress these last two days compared to when he was blindly fumbling through the training himself. But he was still far from truly mastering the technique—there was much left to refine.
Yesterday, Kakashi had informed him that Shizune had returned. Today, their team would regroup and set out.
When Nan arrived at the gathering point—the main gate of Konoha—he wasn't surprised. It seemed that Konoha ninja always met at the front gate. It made sense, after all; time was precious for shinobi. Gathering at the village entrance meant they could set off immediately.
Everyone else was already there, waiting for him. As Nan approached, Captain Minato introduced him to Shizune.
Kakashi and Shizune were former classmates, and Minato had known her for years. Only Nan and Shizune weren't familiar with each other.
Minato briefly explained the mission objective:
They were to locate and bring back Lady Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin.
According to intel from Jiraiya, Tsunade was currently in Tanzaku Town, located to the east of Konoha.
Their first goal was to find her—and then try to convince her to return to the village.
With the mission now underway, the group departed. To reach Tanzaku Town, they would have to pass through the Forest of Death, just outside Konoha.
Nan couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic. This forest was the first place he'd awakened after arriving in the ninja world.
It was also where he'd obtained Han's Mangekyō Sharingan, and eventually evolved it into the Eternal Mangekyō.
Back then, whether it was Han sneaking him out, or Nan sneaking back into the village on his own, they had both climbed over the wall to avoid being recognized.
Coincidentally, as they traveled, they passed by the very spot where Uchiha Nan had been gravely injured by Han—the place where Nan had first regained consciousness. That tree still stood there, unchanged.
Looking at it, Nan recalled that the only time he had used his right eye's Mangekyō was on that very tree.
Now, more than half a year had passed, and the tree looked no different. Nan could still faintly sense traces of his chakra in it, but aside from that, it was just an ordinary tree.
Just then, Minato's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Nan, I heard your mother was Lady Tsunade's junior. Do you know much about her?"
Nan blinked, snapped out of his memory, still feeling a bit regretful about wasting that one Mangekyō usage.
"My mother knew Lady Tsunade? I didn't know that…
She rarely talked about her life before she got married.
As for Lady Tsunade herself—I only know of her as a legendary medical ninja. Like most others, I've always admired her."
Apparently, Nan had no idea he had any personal connection to Tsunade. If his mother had never spoken about it, maybe their relationship hadn't been very close.
Minato nodded thoughtfully at his answer, then turned to ask Shizune:
"What about you, Shizune? Do you know much about Lady Tsunade?"
When Tsunade had left the village, Shizune had been just a baby, so logically, they shouldn't be familiar with each other.
But to Minato's surprise, Shizune's answer caught him off guard—in a good way.
From her response, they learned that Tsunade hadn't completely cut ties with Konoha after leaving. She would occasionally return to pay respects at the graves of her younger brother and lover, and she would often come back to visit Shizune as well.
Tsunade had taught Shizune many powerful techniques. In fact, Shizune becoming a chūnin at such a young age was largely thanks to Tsunade's guidance. The two of them were actually quite close.
"In that case," Minato said with a smile, "Shizune, I'll leave the task of persuading Lady Tsunade to you."
Shizune immediately nodded and promised to do her best.
Because the mission was urgent, they were traveling at a hurried pace. Shizune had just returned to the village and barely had time to rest before setting out again.
Unlike the original storyline, where Jiraiya took Naruto to find Tsunade and they trained along the way, this team had no time for breaks. They were moving non-stop.
Eventually, everyone began to feel worn out, and night had fallen.
Minato suggested they make camp for the night and continue their journey the next morning.
---
By dawn, they were back on the road. As they set out, Nan couldn't help but complain:
"Minato-sensei, couldn't you just use the Flying Thunder God Technique to whoosh—teleport us straight to Tanzaku Town?"
Minato gave an apologetic smile.
"Unfortunately, I've never been to Tanzaku Town, and I haven't left any teleportation markers nearby.
This mission is urgent—many of our comrades are still suffering from Suna's poison. Finding Lady Tsunade quickly is our top priority. I'm afraid we'll just have to endure the travel."
Hearing that, the group had no choice but to push on with renewed determination.
Fortunately, Tanzaku Town wasn't too far from Konoha. By traveling at full speed, the team arrived by mid-afternoon on the second day, taking less than two days in total.
Once they arrived, Minato gathered the group to discuss the next step.
"Shizune, where do you think Lady Tsunade is most likely to be? We should split up to search more efficiently."
Nan already knew the answer—finding Tsunade was never difficult. Just visit the local gambling dens and someone would have seen her.
Sure enough, Shizune replied:
"Since Lady Tsunade enjoys gambling, we should split up and check the casinos. Someone's bound to have seen her."
Minato and Kakashi were both visibly surprised.
The great Lady Tsunade… a gambling addict?
That was hard to believe.
Noticing Nan's calm expression, Kakashi asked:
"Nan, did you already know Lady Tsunade has a habit of gambling?"
Nan pretended to be surprised:
"I'd never heard that before. But I did hear the First Hokage himself was a notorious gambler. Terrible luck, too—rumor has it he almost gambled away the entire Senju clan's fortune."
Minato and Kakashi were stunned.
They had never heard this side of the God of Shinobi, the legendary Hashirama Senju. To imagine someone of his stature being an awful gambler was almost… disappointing.
But it also made sense—maybe Tsunade inherited it.
---
With a clear direction, the team of four split up and began asking around in the various gambling halls.
And just as expected, Tsunade had already earned a local nickname: "The Fat Sheep."
Everywhere they went, casino staff immediately knew who they were talking about when they heard those words.
There was no doubt Tsunade had been to these places. But no one could say where she was now.
It made sense. With all her gambling debts, she was probably deliberately hiding her whereabouts to avoid being found.
---
By late afternoon, their search had turned up nothing. That's when Nan made a suggestion:
"Looks like we're not going to find Lady Tsunade so easily. How about you treat us to dinner, Minato-sensei?"
Minato considered it and agreed. After all, they'd been traveling nonstop for over a day and had spent the whole afternoon searching. He was hungry too.
"Let's eat first. We'll continue the search tomorrow."
Kakashi and Shizune both cheered at the idea of a free meal.
But Nan had another thought in mind.
"We've already searched all the gambling halls without success. If I had to guess, Tsunade probably lost all her money and is now drowning her sorrows in some tavern."
In Tanzaku Town, restaurants and taverns were usually located in the same areas. There was a good chance they might run into Tsunade there.
---