Amid the low roar of laughter, the heavy aroma of sake, and the rhythmic tap of ceramic cups, the trio wove through the crowded bar toward the corner table.
Shorai glanced at Naruto, letting the blonde boy pass him as he turned his focus inward. The world blurred at the edges of his vision as he activated the Reality Stone.
'Can't be too careful with his potential emotional outbursts…' Shorai thought, his mind weaving a precise command: 'Create an invisible, undetectable triple-layered shield around my body. First layer: stop and negate any energy from the Mind Stone's signature originating from Naruto's mind—that sickly yellow frequency governing the fundamental laws of existence. Second layer: reprogram any leaked energy into the signature and frequency of this Reality Stone. Third layer: contain the reprogrammed energy, preventing any vestiges from escaping to affect the environment or be detected by others.'
With the mental construct locked into place, Shorai quickened his pace. He caught up to Jiraiya and Naruto just as they reached the table where the two women sat.
"May we sit with you, ladies?" Jiraiya asked, a thin, practiced smile on his lips. He kept his gaze locked on his former teammate, who met him with a drilling frown.
Tsunade blinked, exhaled a long, weary sigh, and slumped back into her seat.
Taking the gesture as a silent invitation, Jiraiya moved in. Naruto followed suit, and Shorai took the final spot. The three of them sat opposite Shizune and Tsunade, the small, strangely dressed pig in Shizune's arms let out a soft oink.
Tsunade cast a lazy, hazy look over the boys. Her eyes lingered on Shorai, sizing up his striking, high-quality attire with a flicker of professional curiosity before her interest returned to her cup.
"L-Lord Jiraiya…" Shizune stammered, standing in haste to offer a bow.
"Stop it. Jiraiya is fine, Shizune." He raised a palm, his expression softening. "You've grown into a fine lady."
"Thank you…" Shizune whispered, still reeling from the sudden encounter.
"So many reunions in such a short time," Tsunade muttered, reaching for the bottle. "What a day."
Jiraiya's brow furrowed. He watched her every movement, looking for the cracks in her composure. "Was it Orochimaru? Did he want something from you?"
Shorai remained silent, observing the shift in the air as the two women shared a brief, sharp glance.
"Just a friendly small-talk before we parted ways," Tsunade said. She reached for the sake, but Jiraiya anticipated the move, grabbing the bottle first and filling her cup for her.
'Mulling over a proposition…' Shorai leaned back against the weathered couch seat. 'Orochimaru must have eluded the details of the 'impure version'—the soul forced to tether to a host body, lacking emotional feedback, a cold puppet of memory. A walking hollow.'
Tsunade's golden-brown eyes fixed on Jiraiya. "Care to explain your presence? And your goal?"
Jiraiya filled his own cup and said simply, "You."
As surprise flickered across the women's faces, Jiraiya slid the filled cup toward Tsunade. His voice dropped into a register of absolute seriousness. "Then let me be direct. I am here because Konoha needs you to be its Fifth Hokage. The decision has already been made by the Elders."
"W-what?" Shizune's eyes widened like saucers.
Naruto nearly choked on his food, coughing violently as he stared at the Sannin. Shorai, however, remained perfectly still, a silent witness to the unfolding drama.
"You searched far and wide just for that?" Tsunade's hand lingered in the air before she nonchalantly took the cup and emptied it in a single swallow. "And just to hear me say no?"
"How cold. Almost like the day you declined me asking you out," Jiraiya replied with a dry, self-deprecating chuckle. "I had to try, didn't I? I'm a hopeless romantic, after all. Besides, it was an opportunity to see a friend I haven't seen in years."
"Huh. Your facade might work on those country-side women, Jiraiya," Tsunade said, her eyes narrowing as she studied his calm face.
'Is she appearing to be drunk, or forcing herself to stay that way?' Shorai analyzed the tension in her jaw, the way her fingers gripped the ceramic.
"A Fifth?" Naruto finally managed to shout. "So that was the reason?"
Shorai tapped Naruto's shoulder, leaning in to whisper sharply, "You're in the way, stupid. Not now. It's serious. Eat and listen."
Tsunade's gaze shifted to the boys, pausing on Shorai again. "I see you still like to play babysitter. What sob story are they carrying for you to bring them along? Or are they part of your journey to self-discovery?"
"At my age? I already completed that part," Jiraiya replied, emptying his own cup.
Silence settled over the table, heavy and suffocating. Tsunade pulled a deck of cards from her robe, her fingers nimble despite the alcohol. "Care to entertain a game? I'm bored."
"Would you want to spice it up? A wager?" Jiraiya tilted his head forward, his face void of any humor.
"What kind?" Tsunade eyed him, her interest piqued despite herself.
"Our old game. Three wins takes it." He raised his eyes to meet hers. "Something big. Something that will actually entertain you."
"I'm all ears."
"Would it be entertaining enough… if the wager was the title of the Fifth?" Jiraiya watched her flinch—a microscopic twitch of the eyelid—before adding, "If I win."
"Hopeless romantic, was it? I didn't take you for the Elders' dog, Jiraiya. Yet I can hear them giving you orders all the way from here." Tsunade's tone shifted, turning spiteful and sharp.
Jiraiya's expression flickered for a split second before he laughed it off, shuffling the deck and splitting the cards between them. Neither touched their hand yet, waiting for the terms to be finalized.
"A high-stakes game," Tsunade noted, raising a brow. "And if I win?"
"Whatever you want."
"Then my wager: you and your party must obey my orders, whatever they may be, until I deem them fulfilled. Otherwise, you leave me in peace. For good."
Shorai caught the look she shared with Shizune—a look of genuine fear.
"Ouch!" Naruto began to protest, but Shorai pinched his side, silencing him with a warning glare.
"Me being your toy is one thing," Jiraiya said with a faint smirk that died quickly. "But the kids? You're that adamant?" He saw the cold resolve in her eyes. "I suppose the Elders can jump off the Hokage Rock for all I care. I can't force you. Leaving you in peace can suffice."
He sighed, his eyes locking with Shorai's for a brief moment.
"I agree to the wager," Shorai said suddenly, his voice cutting through the bar's noise. "I'm in, if Jiraiya-san agrees."
The table went still. Jiraiya gave a slow, measured nod.
"Hey!" Naruto barked, still rubbing his side.
Tsunade's golden eyes bore into Shorai's turquoise gaze, searching for a hidden motive. "Who is this white-haired kid? He doesn't seem like an ordinary brat, Jiraiya."
"Shorai is a unique find. You'd know more if you accepted the title," Jiraiya teased.
"Nice try. If the two of you agree… then it's fine."
The game began. The atmosphere around the table turned cold as they lifted their cards.
"I win," Tsunade said after the first round, revealing a full house against Jiraiya's two pairs.
"First round is yours," Jiraiya commented as he gathered the cards and dealt again.
"Straight," Jiraiya announced in the second round, a hopeful smile tugging at his lips.
"A pair…" Tsunade replied reluctantly.
One win each, Shorai noted, his focus sharpening as the third round began.
"You heard about the Third," Jiraiya said mid-deal, his voice low.
"About him dying at Orochimaru's hand?" Tsunade cut him off. "He told me himself."
"What's going on? Who is this Orochimaru guy?" Naruto asked, his frustration beginning to boil over.
"One of the three of us. The third Sannin," Jiraiya replied, regret heavy in his voice.
"The one who went rogue, Naruto," Shorai added coldly. "You met him in the Forest of Death. The snake."
"Why would one of our own do that? Aren't the Sannin supposed to protect Konoha?" Naruto demanded.
"Who is this noisy shrimp?" Tsunade asked without looking up from her cards.
A moment later, she clicked her tongue and laid down her hand. Jiraiya had taken the round.
"Uzumaki Naruto," Jiraiya replied, a faint smile returning as he gathered the cards.
At the name, Tsunade's expression shifted—not quite surprise, but something tightly restrained.
The fourth round followed. This time, Tsunade won, evening the score once again.
'Two wins each,' Shorai thought as the air around the table grew heavier.
Jiraiya gathered the cards and dealt the deciding hand slowly.
"This is the last round, Tsunade. You will not go back on your word, will you?" His voice carried a trace of desperate hope as he replaced his cards. "The village needs you. It is in great peril. Will you accept the honor…?"
Jiraiya looked at his new hand, and his smile widened.
"Hey! I'm not done yet!" Naruto yelled, ignored. "That Orochimaru guy—if he's one of you, why aren't you two catching him? Why is he still loose?"
Shorai glanced at Naruto. 'Reality Stone: Perception warp. Spiritual signature detection.'
As his vision wove with a crimson tinge, Shorai saw Naruto's head light up like a miniature sun. The Mind Stone's energy began to leak out in a sickly yellowish pulse, still contained but building toward a flashpoint.
"What was that nonsense about her being the Fifth?" Naruto continued. "Her? The Hokage?"
"Shut up, Naruto!" Jiraiya commanded in a low, dangerous tone. "Sit down. Stay quiet."
Shorai nudged the seething boy with an elbow. "Let the adults talk. You can vent your emotions later."
"Your answer, Tsunade?" Jiraiya asked, hiding his confident smile behind his fan of cards. "You understand the gravity. You are needed."
"Needed, eh?" Tsunade's voice was like ice. "Needed here, needed there… the village's needs are currently contrary to mine. As I told you, I am not interested. I decline."
She discarded her entire hand to draw fresh cards, her movements mechanical. Naruto began to erupt again.
"Pull yourself together," Shorai said, patting the blonde boy's back. "Her achievements are too great to be ignored. She is of the Senju clan, after all."
"What achievements?" Naruto barked.
"Lady Tsunade is a revolutionary in the medical field," Shorai said, his eyes locking onto hers. "From the healing methods I use on you, to researching the deepest parts of the physical body and the Yang-nature of chakra. Her work is what I used to survive my own… conditions. It is the foundation of my progress."
Tsunade looked at him with newfound interest. "You know medical ninjutsu, kid? You don't look the part."
"We both know…" Shorai's voice turned cold and detached, drawing the attention of both Shizune and Tsunade. "…how deceiving appearances can be these days."
"Peculiar. You always had a talent for finding strange individuals, Jiraiya," Tsunade remarked, returning to her cards.
"Naruto, listen," Jiraiya added. "Konoha's victory in the Great War was largely due to her. She is a powerhouse and a medic without equal. And as Shorai mentioned, she is a Senju. The granddaughter of the First Hokage. She is the only candidate."
"I still don't believe it!" Naruto crossed his arms. "She doesn't look like anyone worthy of being Hokage! Hmph!"
"What a contradiction you have here, Jiraiya," Tsunade said. "Compared to your bright, charming previous student, this one is a rude idiot. Hardly attractive in character or appearance." She turned to Shorai. "But this one… he is the polar opposite. Is he your student as well?"
"Hehe. No, Shorai isn't," Jiraiya said, noticing Naruto about to explode. "Now, Naruto, the Fourth was a genius. Popular, charming, and talented. Beating him in those aspects is a tall order."
"And he died young for the sake of a village," Tsunade said calmly, revealing her first card. "A cheap waste of a life. A total fool."
The room went cold. Naruto began to tremble.
"Look at what my grandfather and his brother accomplished. Where is the peace? The wars never stopped. They both shared the same fate. In the end, they died for nothing." She revealed the next card, her voice growing harsher.
Jiraiya looked genuinely saddened. "I haven't seen you in a long time, Tsunade. To hear you say such things… I hardly recognize you."
"You thought people don't change? I'm fifty years old, Jiraiya." She revealed her next card, her confidence visibly growing.
"Liar…" Shorai mumbled subconsciously.
Tsunade glanced at him. "Cutie, don't ruin your first impression."
Shorai took a steadying breath, suppressing a spike of anxiety. 'Wait… let me check her hand.'
With his warped perception, he peered at her cards. His brow rose. 'A Royal Flush? Not in my reality.'
He focused on the Stone, editing the final card from a King of Hearts into a useless four of spades just as she spoke again.
"To think Sarutobi-sensei was blind to his own limits, acting young and mighty at his age? Ridiculous." She looked at her final card, and her expression stiffened instantly.
She stared at the hand for a long moment, then tossed the cards onto the table and leaned back. "I quit. This wager was stupid. I don't wish to be next in line with those four fools."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
Naruto erupted. he lunged across the table, but Jiraiya and Shorai caught him, holding him back before he could reach her.
"Easy, Naruto. Not in the bar," Jiraiya said.
"Release me! Nobody disrespects the Old Man or the Fourth!" Naruto roared. "I'll beat you up! I'll clobber your face until you're unrecognized! You hear me?!"
The adrenaline surged through Shorai. With his warped sight, he saw the yellow pulse of the Mind Stone lighting up the room, held back only by his invisible barrier.
Tsunade stood up slowly. "Boy… do you understand who you're talking to? You think you can beat me? You've got guts." She leaned forward, her eyes burning into Naruto's. "Outside. Now. Let's see how strong those guts really are."
"Lady Tsunade…!" Shizune tried to intervene, but Tsunade raised a hand to silence her.
"Lady Tsunade," Shorai said, his voice dropping into a razor-sharp chill.
She shifted her glare to him. "What?"
"I agree with Naruto's sentiment. Whatever tragedy you've endured, it does not give you the right to spit on the resolve of men who gave everything. Their deeds kept your home safe. They made you who you are." Shorai's eyes narrowed into a frown. "Yet you would dance on their graves?"
Tsunade's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before hardening into a mask of pure rage. "You want to test me too, boy? Come out then!"
"Oh, I will," Shorai said, standing up. He met her gaze with a sharp, cold glare that made the Sannin blink in surprise.
Jiraiya felt like he had aged another decade as he watched the trio walk toward the exit. He sighed, finished his drink, and followed them into the moonlight.