He shouted in disbelief, "Tsunade?"
At that moment, Tsunade, who had been torn up over whether or not to accept Orochimaru's offer, looked up at the sound of his voice. What she saw was that familiar white-haired figure.
"Jiraiya?"
A flicker of surprise crossed her face, and she rose from her seat without thinking.
Naruto, standing behind him, was seeing the legendary Tsunade for the first time, and he was completely stunned. That beautiful lady is Granny Tsunade?
She looks that young, and she's really over fifty?
A smile tugged at Jiraiya's mouth as he strode over and sat down across from the two women.
Shizune, sitting to one side, was just as stunned and murmured, "Jiraiya-sama? I never imagined that in a single day, we'd run into two of the Legendary Sannin."
A woman's intuition told Shizune that something big was bound to happen tonight.
Naruto copied Jiraiya and plopped down across from them too.
Tsunade sat back down, poured herself another drink, and ignored Jiraiya completely, as though he were air. She did not know why he had come, but her instincts told her it had to be connected to Konoha's recent collapse.
Looking at Tsunade's face, Jiraiya said with feeling, "Finally caught up with you."
Naruto leaned over and cut in, "Pervy Sage, shouldn't we let Akira know?"
Jiraiya waved a hand calmly. "The second I saw her, I already sent a messenger toad."
Only then did Naruto relax and nod.
Tsunade had never heard the name Akira before, but she could guess he was one of their companions.
She did not care. She remained absorbed in her drink.
Jiraiya lifted his own cup in silence. Since Tsunade was not speaking, he stayed quiet too. Only Naruto, utterly oblivious to the tension, kept eating happily at the side.
After a long while, Tsunade finally spoke.
"So today's the day for running into old ghosts."
Jiraiya filled her cup again and calmly cut to the heart of it. "You met Orochimaru, didn't you?"
Tsunade did not deny it. The silence was answer enough.
Jiraiya's expression turned serious in an instant. Looking straight at her, he said, "Orochimaru attacked Konoha. Lord Third... Sarutobi-sensei... died in battle."
Shizune's eyes widened at once. She had heard bits and pieces of the rumors already, but hearing it confirmed out loud still hit her like a blow. "So the rumors were true..."
In Shizune's mind, the Third Hokage had not only been a powerful leader, but also a responsible elder.
A man like that had died on the battlefield, and the one accused of killing him was his own most gifted student, Orochimaru.
It was an atrocity beyond words, a disciple murdering his teacher.
And if Orochimaru had still managed to walk away alive, then the damage Konoha suffered in that attack had to be catastrophic.
On the surface, Tsunade appeared calm, merely draining one cup after another, but inside, rage simmered over what had happened to Konoha.
She was simply too used to hiding her emotions to let any of it show.
Jiraiya stared into her eyes and said, one word at a time, "The village has no leader now. The higher-ups want you to return and become the Fifth Hokage."
Naruto, who had been focused on demolishing a fish, nearly choked to death on a bone the second he heard that.
After finally swallowing, he jumped to his feet and blurted out, "Pervy Sage, why should she be Hokage? Weren't we here to get her to heal Kakashi-sensei?"
To him, a woman who drank like that and looked so unreliable had no business becoming Hokage. He refused to accept it.
He would have been more willing to accept Akira as Hokage than this woman. Akira was powerful, smart, and actually dependable.
Even if Naruto knew, rationally, that Akira was way too young, he still could not swallow this.
Naruto jutted out his chin and shouted, "I'd accept Akira as Hokage before I'd accept her! No way!"
Tsunade gave Naruto a sideways look, clearly baffled. "Who's the loud little brat?"
Jiraiya grabbed Naruto and shoved him back into his seat, frowning. "Quiet, Naruto. Enough."
Forced back down, Naruto still muttered stubbornly, "But..."
Jiraiya cut him off on the spot. "I said enough."
Hearing the steel in Jiraiya's voice, Naruto could only cross his arms, lean back in his chair, and sulk.
Jiraiya turned to Tsunade and introduced him. "This is Uzumaki Naruto."
Tsunade paused for a second, then thought to herself, So this is the Nine-Tails jinchuriki. No wonder he's got that bright blond hair.
But there had also been another unfamiliar name in that outburst, Akira. Just who was that supposed to be?
Naruto clearly thought this Akira was even more fit to be Hokage than she was.
That alone said his trust in the person was incredibly high.
And more than that, Jiraiya had not even bothered to refute the claim.
Curiosity sparked in Tsunade's eyes. "Who exactly is this Akira? Is he that impressive?"
Jiraiya considered for a moment, then gave an extremely high evaluation. "Yeah. Very. He's only thirteen, but he already has Kage-level strength."
His tone was calm, but to Tsunade, it landed like thunder out of a clear sky. Even Shizune stared in shock. "What? Kage-level at thirteen? That can't be human."
Tsunade had seen more than her share of prodigies, people like Minato and Kakashi, but never anything this absurd.
She frowned and said flatly, "You're joking. There's no way a monster like that exists."
If such a powerhouse had really been in Konoha, then how could the old man have died at Orochimaru's hands?
Before Jiraiya could explain, Naruto jumped in first, practically glowing with pride.
"Of course he's real! Akira is ridiculously strong. Even Kakashi-sensei can't beat him. That guy from Kirigakure, Zabuza, Akira took him down!"
Shizune gasped. "Zabuza? You mean Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist? One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen? He died at Akira's hands?"
Naruto nodded hard. "That's right. Even Kakashi-sensei was having a hard time until Akira stepped in and ended it."
"Akira is the goal I'm chasing. Someday, I'm going to reach his level too."
Shizune barely heard Naruto's grand declaration. Her mind was stuck on the fact that Akira had killed Zabuza. Zabuza was an elite jonin, the real thing, and not someone to take lightly.
As Tsunade's assistant, Shizune handled intelligence gathering. She knew exactly how dangerous Zabuza had been.
And yet a thirteen-year-old boy had killed him.
That feat was even more terrifying than Kakashi's accomplishments had been at the same age.
Kakashi becoming a jonin at twelve had already been a Konoha legend, a record nobody had broken. And now apparently someone even more outrageous had appeared.
Jiraiya did not know the exact details of the Zabuza fight, but he knew what Akira was capable of. Anyone who could subdue a powerful and violent summon like Shinra and make it behave had to be well above Kage-level.
Jiraiya added, "Truth be told, the old man had intended to raise Akira as a candidate for the Sixth Hokage... maybe even the Fifth. But everything happened too suddenly, and he's still too young."
Tsunade's eyes sharpened. "If he's really that absurdly strong, then why did the Third still die?"
Jiraiya hesitated. Considering Tsunade's personality, he decided honesty was the better choice. "Because when it happened, Akira was in Ryūchi Cave training in Sage Arts. He couldn't get back in time."
Tsunade looked like she had just been hit in the head again. "Training in Sage Arts? You sent a thirteen-year-old to learn something that dangerous? Have you lost your mind?"
Sage Arts were not something to play around with. One mistake could doom a person completely. At Mount Myoboku, failure turned you to stone. At Ryūchi Cave, failure meant being eaten.
The barrier to Sage Arts was absurdly high. Even among the Sannin, only Jiraiya had managed to grasp it at all.
To Tsunade, this sounded like Jiraiya was gambling with a child's life.
Even after leaving Konoha, Tsunade still cared, at least a little, about the talented younger generation the village produced.
Jiraiya gave a bitter smile. "Don't take it out on me. I didn't force him. He went and subdued one of Ryūchi Cave's great snakes himself, then had it take him there."
"I tried to stop him. Didn't matter."
"The important part is, he actually pulled it off."
Tsunade was left speechless.
A strange chill ran down her spine at the thought of this boy she had not even met yet. Thirteen years old. Kage-level strength. Sage Arts on top of that.
That kind of talent had crossed out of the human realm entirely. Tsunade had never heard of anything like it.
Jiraiya pulled the conversation back where it belonged. "Back to the point. The village needs you to return and take command. What's your answer?"
His expression had never been more serious.
Naruto was still annoyed, but this time he had learned his lesson and did not interrupt.
Tsunade fell silent for a moment.
Then, coldly, she said, "Only fools would want to be Hokage."
Naruto exploded on the spot. If Jiraiya had not grabbed him, he would already have lunged at her.
"You old hag! How dare you call the Hokage a fool!"
Tsunade turned her head aside, a faint flush of wine on her face, her expression as arrogant as ever.
At that moment, Naruto wanted nothing more than to fight her to the death.
In the end, after Jiraiya tried to smooth things over, Tsunade gave a contemptuous smile. "Brat, not many people talk to me like that. Come outside. I'll give you one chance to challenge me."
Naruto was so blinded by anger that he completely forgot the massive gap in strength between them.
Then again, with Naruto's way of thinking, he probably had never considered that gap in the first place.
Jiraiya rubbed his forehead helplessly. "How did this spiral into this? And where is Akira? With his speed, he should've been here already. Unless he's hiding somewhere watching the show."
Jiraiya had guessed exactly right.
Akira had arrived long ago. He was hidden nearby, quietly watching, and finding the whole farce painfully dull.
It was nothing more than Naruto and Tsunade's little wager playing out.
What really annoyed him was that Jiraiya had aired practically all his secrets.
Sure, Akira knew that once Tsunade returned to the village, none of it would stay hidden for long anyway.
But that did not mean he wanted Tsunade's attention this early. He knew all too well how Tsunade worked Kakashi into the ground.
That kind of backbreaking workload was not something Akira wanted anywhere near him.
Standing on the roof of the tavern, Akira looked up at the sky and sighed. "Well... there goes my quiet life."
With his senses and hearing, every word spoken below came through perfectly clearly.
By then, Naruto and Tsunade had already gone outside. Standing in the middle of the street, Tsunade crooked a finger at him.
"I am one of the Sannin, after all. Going all out against you would be bullying. So let's make it simple. I'll use one finger, and I'll still knock you flat."
Hearing such blatant contempt, Naruto flew into a rage. "Quit looking down on me!"
With a roar, he charged like a cannonball, fist swinging.
Akira watched the so-called fight from above. This was no battle. It was just Tsunade amusing herself.
Naruto, on the other hand, was taking it dead seriously. The moment he got close, he threw a full-force punch.
Just as the wind from his fist was about to touch Tsunade, she casually flicked a finger and struck his forehead protector.
A terrifying burst of monstrous strength exploded from that single touch, launching Naruto more than thirty feet through the air.
He was not badly hurt, but in that instant he fully understood just how horrifying Tsunade's strength really was.
One finger had sent him flying that far.
It was ridiculous.
Naruto climbed back to his feet and thought, So normal attacks won't work. I've got to use that move.
He cupped his hands, and chakra began gathering wildly between them, gradually forming a blue sphere of light.
The teasing look on Tsunade's face faded slightly when she saw the Rasengan in Naruto's hands. Her brow tightened.
"How does this kid know that jutsu?"
"That's an A-rank jutsu. Since when can a brat like him use it?"
The truth was that Naruto had not fully mastered it yet. He still needed both hands to stabilize it. But he ignored that and charged ahead anyway with the unstable Rasengan raised.
Watching from the rooftop, Akira shook his head. "This idiot really has a death wish. He's bringing out a half-finished jutsu in a real fight."
If an unstable Rasengan spun out of control, the backlash alone could be devastating.
That chaotic mass of chakra did not care who it tore apart.
Naruto rushed in with the Rasengan cradled in both hands, closing on Tsunade.
Even Jiraiya felt his nerves tighten. "Naruto's being reckless. That thing's still incomplete."
Blinded by anger, Naruto had already lost his head. He reached Tsunade and slammed the Rasengan down.
But experience won out. Tsunade moved faster.
With one finger, she jabbed the ground and altered the terrain directly, forcing Naruto's attack off course.
His balance gave way, and both hands slammed into the earth.
"Boom!"
The Rasengan exploded at Tsunade's feet, blasting a scorched crater more than three feet deep into the ground.
But even more terrifying was the effect of Tsunade's single finger. It cracked the earth open into a savage trench nearly fifty feet long.
Even Akira's eyelid twitched at the sight. "She really is a human tyrannosaur. One finger, and she can split the ground."
He could do the same, but seeing that kind of pure physical strength with his own eyes was still something else entirely.
Looking down at Naruto sprawled in the trench, Tsunade gave a cold judgment.
"It has the shape, but not the spirit. This isn't the Fourth's jutsu."
"So it's just an imitation. This kid's got some nerve, bringing an unfinished jutsu into a fight."
To Tsunade, Naruto's behavior was suicidal enough on its own, let alone for a mere genin.
She turned and glared at Jiraiya. "Only you and the Fourth knew that jutsu. You taught him, didn't you? Teaching a genin something this dangerous, what is wrong with you?"
Jiraiya laughed awkwardly. "Come on, don't say it like that. I think he's got the potential. I tested him first."
"Besides, I'm not the only one who knows it. Akira can use it too."
On the roof, Akira, who had been enjoying the show until then, rolled his eyes helplessly when Jiraiya used him as a shield again. "Jiraiya-sama, I'm not even there, and you still can't stop bringing me up."
Before the words had even finished echoing, Akira flashed into existence beside Jiraiya, hands in his pockets. The lazy posture looked so much like Kakashi that it was probably a bad habit he had picked up from constant exposure.
The instant Tsunade saw him appear out of nowhere, her gaze sharpened. "So this is Akira? When did he get here?"
Akira had concealed his presence completely while on the rooftop. Even Jiraiya had not sensed him.
Jiraiya looked at the suddenly appearing Akira and grinned. "You got here ages ago, didn't you? Having fun watching from above?"
Akira lied without changing expression. "Not at all. I just got here."
Jiraiya chuckled. "Sure you did. Anyway, this is Tsunade. Weren't you always saying you wanted to meet her?"
Akira shot him a glance and corrected him. "I said I wanted to ask Tsunade-hime about medical ninjutsu. I never said I particularly wanted to meet her."
Tsunade stepped forward and looked him up and down.
She found it hard to believe this tall boy was really only thirteen. He looked about five foot nine, and standing in front of her, at barely five foot four, he gave off real pressure.
"So you're the famous Akira?"
Akira smiled politely and gave a slight bow. "An honor to meet you, Tsunade-hime."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes as she studied him. He was handsome enough, certainly, but no matter how she looked, she could not see Kage-level strength in him. His appearance was deceiving.
More strangely still, she could not sense any powerful aura from him at all. He felt no different from an ordinary passerby.
"Jiraiya says you have Kage-level strength?"
Akira shot Jiraiya a helpless glance, then answered sincerely, "Please don't listen to him. I'm just a freshly graduated genin. Where would Kage-level strength even come from?"
Jiraiya clapped him hard on the shoulder and promptly ruined the performance. "Too much humility is just another form of arrogance, kid."
Akira had the sudden urge to throw Jiraiya over his shoulder and into the street. He was doing everything he could to stay low-key around Tsunade so she would not draft him into hard labor later.
"Jiraiya-sama really ought to work on that habit of exaggerating."
Jiraiya blinked, then quickly realized Akira seemed deeply opposed to showing off his strength in front of Tsunade.
Thinking of Akira's personality, though, he was not surprised.
Without mercy, Jiraiya tore down the cover story. "Naruto knows. Kakashi knows. Anko knows. Who exactly do you think you're fooling? Guy knows, Kurenai knows, Asuma knows. How much longer were you planning to keep pretending?"
Hearing that list of names, most of Tsunade's doubts melted away.
Those were all core figures in Konoha. If they all recognized Akira's strength, then this could not be empty talk.
Curiosity shone in her eyes. "How exactly did you train? Jiraiya said you can use the Rasengan too?"
Akira gave a dry smile. "I can. It's not that special. Naruto will learn it too, sooner or later. He just needs time."
Jiraiya, apparently determined to sell out his teammate completely, cut in again.
"Tsunade, do you know why I decided to teach Akira the Rasengan in the first place?"
Akira frantically tried to signal Jiraiya to shut up.
Jiraiya, naturally, went blind at exactly the right moment and kept talking.
"Because he had already mastered the Fourth's Flying Raijin Jutsu. And to complement that, the kid also learned Kakashi's Chidori. Add Rasengan on top of that, and he's practically a walking library of jutsu."
The way Tsunade looked at Akira changed instantly, from skepticism to open admiration.
Flying Raijin. Rasengan. Chidori.
Any one of those jutsus alone was already beyond the reach of ordinary prodigies. No wonder Akira could possess Kage-level strength at thirteen.