"Huh! Who are you guys?"

Izuna tilts his head in confusion and looks at them. ​​

"We have no homeland nor a master."

"People seek us out, and we fulfill their wishes."

The group starts their monologue.

"So, you bunch are mercenary ninjas." Izuna looks at them prancing around.

'I can see you alright. There is no need to jump around here and there. Your technique can't hide you from my Sharingan.'

Izuna spots five Mercenary Ninjas wearing sashes that resembled the tails of monkeys. They had painted faces and wore outfits that stripes on one side, while the other stripe had a solid color.

'Is this a Dragon ball Reference? Why all of them look like a bunch of Saiyan with all that tail and color strips?'

"We are the wandering phantoms of the forest."

The bunch of mercenary ninjas continues their introduction.

"I had enough of your bullshit."

'Lightning Release: Chidori Senbon'

Izuna fires multiple Chidori senbons at them.

Whoosh��� whoosh… whoosh…

Multiple senbons pierces through the smoke, dispersing it in the process.

"Hiding in Water" One of the ninjas appears from a puddle of water near Izuna.

"Hiding in Shadow" Another member pops out from the shadow of Water member.

"Hiding in Fire" Another ninja appears in a swathe of flames.

"Don't leave me behind." Rimushi jumps down from a tree.

"Silent Shinigami, this is the end?" Himushi tunnels out from Earth.

'Are they pretending or something?' Izuna tilts his head in confusion.

"Now explode." Rimushi makes some hand signs to blow Izuna.

Nothing happens. Rimushi makes more hand signs.

"Explode."

Still, nothing happens.

"…"

Izuna silently stares at them.

'They are depleting my brain cells. If I wasted even a second with them, I will turn into a retard because of these clowns.'

"Genjutsu: Sharingan"

Izuna casts a powerful genjutsu on them and restrains them. He reads their memories.

"Interesting, these bunch of clown made the unruly A of Kumogakure run for his money. They have stolen some kind of secret jutsu from Kumogakure."

Izuna searches their body and finds a sealed scroll.

'Release'

He removes the seal from the scroll and checks its contents.

"Hmm… secrets of Black Lightning. No wonder Kumogakure is so desperate to retrieve this scroll."

Izuna rolls the scroll and pocket it.

"I don't have any need for this scroll since I already mastered Black Lightning. But I can use this scroll to make him fork out some resources.

I am planning on forming an organization after all. I need lots of resources in the process. Kumo is quite rich with that haul they made after the Second Shinobi War."

Argh…

Izuna hears a groan and notices the members of the Nokizaru group.

'They are not pleasing to the eye, but I can trade them with Kumo.'

Izuna walks up to them and places his hand in front of them.

'Kamui'

He seals their chakra and sucks them in his alternate dimension.

Fufu… fufu…

Izuna whistles and walks towards Tsunade's direction.

------------------

Inside a gambling den,

"Alright! Place your bets!"

The dealer hypes up the crowd.

"Even!"

"Even!"

"Even!"

Three people bets on even.

"Odd!"

Tsunade forks out a Million Ryo from her purse and slaps them on the table.

"But… but Tsunade-sama, that's our last sum of money. We won't be able to afford the inn and food expenditure after you lose it in gambling." Shizune tries to convince Tsunade nervously.

"It's fine… it's fine…" Tsunade waves her palm and continues the bet.

The dealer places two dices in a cup and shakes it vigorously before rolling.

"It's even ladies and gentlemen." The dealer shouts in excitement.

"I lost." Tsunade hangs down her head and depressingly forks out the money.

"But… but Tsunade-sama, they are obviously cheating. The dealer is in cahoots with these people." Shizune flusters while pointing at the people.

"What are you talking about, Ojou-sama! Honesty is our policy. We won't rip-off our customers." The dealer turns serious.

"But… earlier I saw you rigging with the dice…" Shizune retorts.

"It's fine, Shizune. Let's get back to the inn."

Tsunade walks out of the gambling den.

"Hai! Tsunade-sama."

Shizune picks up a pink piglet and hurriedly follows Tsunade.

"Wait for me, Tsunade-sama."

"-Thanks for your patronage."

"-Thanks for your patronage."

---------------------

Later, inside the inn,

"That was a refreshing bath."

Tsunade fills a cup with sake and chugs it down.

Gulp… gulp… Haah…

"The taste of Sake never turns old. But I would prefer Izuna's special wine imported from the Land of Honey."

"Tsunade-sama, what on earth are you doing? You can't go into debt to make more money anymore!" Shizune yells at Tsunade.

Oink… oink…

The pink piglet squeals with her.

"It's fine… it's fine. I can always borrow some money from Izuna. He won't say no to me." Tsunade waves her hand.

"Well, that is true." Shizune drops down her head.

"Yo! Did someone mention me?" Izuna hangs upside down from the window right in front of Tsunade.

"…"

Slam…

Tsunade immediately closes the window.

"What was that? I think I saw a ghost for a while." Tsunade mutters to herself.

"Tsunade, I won't lend you any more money."

Swish… slam…

Tsunade immediately opens up the window.

"I was… I was just joking, Izuna. Don't take it to heart. Come inside." Tsunade gestures to Izuna.

Izuna enters the room and looks at Tsunade.

"You reek of alcohol." Izuna pinches his nose.

"Yes, Izuna. Tsunade-sama has been chugging down sake for a while now."

Hicc...

"It's fine. Let's celebrate Izuna-kun. Where is my gift? I want to see it."

Tsunade stretches out her hand.

Sigh…

Izuna sighs and forks out the premium wine bottle.

"It is the last one in my collection. I have to visit the Land of Honey to restock. So, don't drink too much."

"Alright… Alright… I heard you." Tsunade pours out a cup from the bottle and chugs it down.

Gulp… gulp… Haaah…

"Nothing beats the taste of this wine."

Izuna ignores Tsunade and looks at Shizune.

"Shizune, how is your training going on?"

"I have learned and progressed a lot in these few months. It's a hard task to become the successor of one of the Legendary Sannin after all." Shizune sighs.

Oink… Oink…

The pink piglet jumps out from her lap.

"Oh! Is this our dinner, Shizune? It looks quite juicy." Izuna looks at the pink piglet and takes out a fork and knife from his storage scroll.

"It will take me a few minutes to make a delicious dish out of it. I have all the ingredients ready with me."

Izuna takes out all the ingredients with pepper, salt, and cumin.

OINK… OINK…

The pink piglet squeals in fear and hide behind Shizune.

Gulp…

Tsunade wipes drool from her mouth and gulps.

"It will be a fine dish if you are the one making it Izuna-kun. I really like your boar dish."

Tsunade looks at the pork.

OINK… OINK… OINK…

The pink piglet squeals even more and hides in a closet.

"Stop joking around you two. Tonton is not food." Shizune rebukes them.

"Oh! Such a waste of a fine ingredient."

Izuna places all the ingredients back into his storage scroll. He turns towards Shizune and questions her,

"Where did you find this pink piglet?"

"Tonton is a gift from the lady of Land of Medicine's Daimyo. Tsunade-san cured her severe illness and as gratitude, she rewarded us with 50 million Ryo and Tonton."

Shizune picks up the still cowering pig in her arms.

Sigh…

"Tsunade-sama lost all that money in gambling. We are almost broke again."

Shizune narrates her experience with Izuna.

"It's fine, Shizune. You had it hard." Izuna pats Shizune's back.

"Let me book another room in this inn. We will travel together for the next couple of days."

Izuna informs Shizune and starts to walk out of the room.

Thunk… Thunk…

Izuna feels a pull on his clothes. He turns around and notices Tsunade pulling his clothes.

Hicc…

"Don't go, Izuna. Stay with me."

Swish…

Tsunade applies some force and pulls Izuna in her embrace.

Boing… boing…

Her massive jugs jiggle. She hugs him tightly and presses his head in her chest.

Squish… Squish…

Izuna is pressed in between her massive jugs.

"Don't… don't leave me alone."

Tsunade murmur before hugging him tightly.

'Hah!... I can't even complain, Can I? I guess I will enjoy this feeling.'

Izuna stops resisting, and Tsunade falls asleep while hugging him tightly.

Izuna slowly turns to Shizune and asks her.

"Did something happen recently? Tsunade looks a tad bit sad."

Shizune nods her slowly before replying.

"The Lady of Land of Medicine's Daimyo had a similar past to Tsunade-sama. She too lost her brother and lover in the past.

Due to political circumstances, her family forced her to marry the Daimyo. This reminded Tsunade-sama of her past and her mood was a little off in these past few days." Shizune narrates the story of Lady Daimyo.

"So, that's the reason behind her gloomy mood. Thank god, I met her on time."

"Mmm… don't leave me alone, Izuna."

Tsunade mumbles in her sleep.

Sigh…

Izuna sighs and helplessly looks at Shizune.

"It can't be helped. Izuna you sleep in this corner with Tsunade-sama, I will sleep in the other corner."

Shizune prepares the bed.

Knock… Knock…

Someone knocks on the door of their room. Izuna raises his head and activates his X-Ray vision.

'It's the Raikage A. Damn! he is disturbing my pleasant time.'

Izuna makes some hand signs and places a silencing seal in the room. The noise of the knocking dies down.

'Let me throw some reinforcement seals in the mix. That A is hot-blooded, he won't hesitate to barge in through the wall.'

Izuna places a bunch of reinforcement seals around the room and makes it as strong as a castle wall.

'Now, no one will disturb us.'

Shizune raises her head and question Izuna.

"What was that Izuna-kun? Someone is knocking on the door."

"It's nothing Shizune. The debt collectors are chasing after Tsunade. I have placed some seals to keep them at bay. They won't disturb us anymore." Izuna replies to her.

"Thank you, Izuna. That's a relief to hear."

Shizune rolls over her blanket and falls asleep. Izuna also falls asleep while pressed in between two giant mounds.

'This is heaven.'