"He-heh... He-he-he-heh..."
Jiraiya stuck his butt out, peering through a gap in the wooden fence.
He tried to catch a glimpse of the scenery inside, letting out a sleazy laugh from time to time.
"Disgusting..."
Seeing Jiraiya's sleazy appearance, Nawaki curled his lip.
"Hmm?"
Hearing the voice from behind, Jiraiya turned his head, a lingering look of bliss still on his face.
The moment he saw Tsunade, he was instantly startled.
"A... Eh? Tsunade? Why are you guys here?"
"To catch a peeping tom, of course!"
Tsunade sneered, her knuckles cracking as she clenched her fist.
Her smile carried a cruel undertone no matter how one looked at it.
Then, without waiting for Jiraiya to speak, she threw a punch straight at his face.
"Wait! Wait, wait a second!"
Jiraiya hastily dodged the punch.
Feeling the sharp wind of the fist brush past his ear, cold sweat instantly drenched his back.
If that punch had landed, even if he were lucky enough to survive, his face would probably have been flattened like a pancake...
"I wasn't peeping! It's just... research! That's right, I'm just doing research!"
Upon hearing this, before Tsunade could speak, Minato suddenly tilted his head, his eyes full of innocence.
"If research requires watching girls bathe, then why doesn't Senior Jiraiya ask the female members of his own family for help?"
"Ah, that..."
Jiraiya's expression froze, and he was left speechless.
"Hmph..."
Seeing Jiraiya at a loss for words, Tsunade gave a cold snort and temporarily pulled back her fist.
She looked at Jiraiya calmly, as if waiting to see how he would explain himself.
"If Senior Jiraiya's family were being peeped on by others, how would Senior feel?"
Seeing Jiraiya remain silent, Minato pressed on.
He truly detested peeping.
Among the Sannin, although Tsunade was a gambling addict, she didn't drag others down with her.
At most, she would make those casino owners suffer a bit.
But even against those loan-sharking gangs, she never defaulted on her debts under the banner of justice.
Orochimaru was a villain, but he was clearly evil and never made excuses for his actions.
But Jiraiya's behavior—peeping on women bathing and calling it "gallant"—was simply too much!
Was that gallant?
That was called being a creep!
Minato didn't actually intend to be a moral saint, but he was a normal man and would eventually have a girlfriend.
If this kind of behavior wasn't stopped, who knows when his own woman might be the one to suffer?
Who could tolerate that?
Hearing Minato's words, Jiraiya's face twitched again.
He no longer knew how to answer.
Being asked such a thing by a five-year-old child, no matter how thick-skinned he was, he was too embarrassed to make excuses.
Minato then asked, "As a disciple of the Hokage, won't Senior Jiraiya's actions bring shame to the Hokage's name?"
At the mention of the Hokage, Nawaki immediately perked up.
He pointed a small finger at Jiraiya and said indignantly, "Exactly! Don't you have any self-awareness as the Hokage's disciple?"
Jiraiya really wanted to say that the Third Hokage liked peeping too... but of course, he couldn't say that.
So, facing Nawaki's questioning, he could only raise his hands with a bitter expression.
"Alright, alright, I know I'm wrong! I promise I'll never peep again! Just let me off this once, okay?"
"Hmph, those words coming from your mouth don't have a shred of credibility."
Tsunade sneered.
"You've said similar things many times before, but you always relapse after a short while."
"I think it's better to just beat you into a cripple to prevent you from harming others in the future!"
"Eh... isn't that a bit too cruel?"
Nawaki was stunned; he didn't expect his older sister to want to solve the problem directly at its root.
Tsunade shook her head and didn't speak.
Many people feel that peeping is no big deal, fundamentally because they think it's just a couple of looks and doesn't cause any physical harm.
But peeping is inherently an act of violation.
The reason some people don't go further isn't because they don't want to, but because they don't dare to.
At this thought, the coldness on Tsunade's face grew even more intense.
She turned to look at Minato.
"What do you say, Minato?"
"Hmm—"
Minato thought for a moment and let out a slight sigh of regret.
"I support severe punishment!"
"But... having said that, Senior Jiraiya is Tsunade-sensei's teammate after all, and he has also guided me before."
"Beating him to death for just one instance of peeping would be a bit too heartless."
Hearing this, Jiraiya was instantly shocked.
"Hey, hey! Minato, don't talk nonsense! Tsunade didn't say she was going to beat me to death!"
Looking at Minato's pensive expression, cold sweat dripped from Jiraiya's forehead.
At this moment, he suddenly realized that this boy, who looked gentle and sunny, and even a bit airheaded... was actually quite devious!
Tsunade snorted softly, ignoring Jiraiya, only wanting to hear what kind of answer Minato would give.
"Ah, I've got it!"
Minato punched his open palm and spoke with a look of innocence.
"How about this? Let Senior Jiraiya write a letter of guarantee..."
"Phew..."
Hearing Minato's words, Jiraiya breathed a sigh of relief.
He gave me a scare, this kid is still quite naive...
Tsunade shook her head slightly.
For some reason, she felt a faint sense of disappointment in her heart.
While the two were lost in their own thoughts, Minato gently clapped his hands and continued in a gentle tone.
"We can submit the letter of guarantee to the Konoha Military Police Force."
"If any peeping incidents occur in Konoha in the future, they will all be blamed on Senior Jiraiya!"
"And it will be posted on the village's bulletin board!"
"Eh—?!! No way!!!"
"Hahahaha!! A public execution? That's interesting!"
Jiraiya's face instantly turned pale.
After a brief second of being stunned, Tsunade couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Jiraiya wanted to struggle, but Minato added another blow.
"Also, it must clearly state that the peeper is the Hokage's disciple, Jiraiya!"
"Dammit! You brat! This is slander! You're framing an innocent man!"
Jiraiya completely lost his cool and started shouting frantically.
If it really went as Minato said, he wouldn't be able to show his face in Konoha anymore.
Just as he was about to argue his case, he saw the corner of Minato's lips curl into a gentle, sunny smile.
However, the words that came out made Jiraiya feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar!
"Who cares?"
"When Senior Jiraiya peeps, does he care about the victim's thoughts?"
"!!!"
Jiraiya's pupils trembled.
Minato's words were like a wake-up call, making his head ring as if someone had struck him with a club.
His face instantly turned pale.
Yes, who cares?
The person framing you knows better than anyone that you are being framed.
When he was peeping, had he ever cared about those girls' thoughts?
In this instant, all the excuses he had made for peeping—those high-sounding words—seemed so ironic and laughable when he himself became the victim.
He finally realized that his so-called "unrestrained gallantry" had really just been lecherous perversion all along.
This "perversion" didn't refer to flirtation between men and women, but to a literal distortion and horror...
When the fig leaf of self-deception was torn away and he scrutinized himself from the perspective of a victim, he suddenly found his behavior to be utterly contemptible.
At this moment, facing the girl he had liked for many years, Jiraiya suddenly felt an unspeakable shame.
This shame continuously gnawed at his heart, and even his self-esteem was eroded until it was riddled with holes, forcing him to flee from her gaze in a pathetic state.
Watching Jiraiya's stumbling figure as he left, Minato turned to look at Tsunade.
"Did I speak too harshly?"
"No, it was absolutely perfect!"
Tsunade patted Minato's head with one hand and gave a thumbs-up with the other, laughing heartily.
Nawaki also nodded repeatedly, but in his heart, he silently made a resolution.
In the future, absolutely, definitely... never argue with Minato!