Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

Tsunade is not only the granddaughter of Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage who founded Konoha, but she also made great contributions in the previous Shinobi World Wars.

He is also one of the few medical ninjas who is renowned in the ninja world not for his methods of killing, but for saving the lives of other ninjas.

She is widely recognized as the pinnacle of female ninjas.

"I mentioned before that you have the talent to become a medical ninja. Anyway, I'm going to bring Tsunade back, so I thought I'd recommend you to her as well."

Jiraiya was telling the truth.

However, he only touched on the "truth" with Sakura and didn't finish his story.

Jiraiya knew very well that if he approached Tsunade alone and asked her to succeed him as the Fifth Hokage, he would only be met with a closed door.

That's why Sakura was brought along.

Sakura is now just like Tsunade... feeling lost about herself.

Confused and lost, Tsunade chose to give up and left Konoha.

But Sakura hasn't made a choice yet.

That's perfect—Tsunade, who loves gambling, would be happy to bet on Sakura's choice.

Jiraiya was very confident about this.

……

"I refuse!"

Tanzaku Street is a popular izakaya (Japanese pub) with a large number of customers.

Tsunade, who was already completely drunk before Jiraiya found her, slammed her sake glass on the table.

His face flushed red, he shouted, "Hokage! And this little girl! I refuse them both!"

"...That was a real miscalculation."

Jiraiya gently comforted the drunken Tsunade, sighing helplessly in his heart.

Sakura simply watched Tsunade quietly.

The three legendary Sannin of Konoha were of similar age, but Tsunade looked quite young.

He looks to be in his early thirties.

Moreover, Tsunade's youthfulness is not just about her appearance not looking old.

Her figure and the elasticity of her skin—these are all typical of a woman's most mature and voluptuous age.

She had long, light yellow hair styled into two straight braids, and a very healthy, fair face with a angular mark in the center of her forehead and light-colored lipstick on her lips.

But what's most eye-catching is probably the bold bosom that sways and trembles with her movements beneath her green coat...

"Tsunade-sama... Tsunade-sama..."

Beside Tsunade, a woman with short black hair and a black kimono was also trying to calm the emotionally agitated Tsunade down.

The woman who followed Tsunade was named Shizune, and she had already introduced herself.

Shizune was also holding a pink pig named Tun Tun in her arms.

"Pfft—"

Tonton, in a very human way, frowned and, together with Shizune, "persuaded" Tsunade.

"Tsunade, I just told you about the current crisis in Konoha, right? No one is more suitable to succeed you as the Fifth Hokage."

"Enough! Only guys like you would treasure something like the Naruto series!"

Tsunade squinted at Jiraiya: "I actually admire the Fourth Hokage's son, who pretends to want to become Hokage but actually makes you all look foolish—at least he won't die young for some empty fame like his father."

"Tsunade, being drunk is no excuse for your reckless speech—the pain Naruto inflicted on Konoha cannot be healed in a short time!"

"Didn't you just say that if Sarutobi-sensei hadn't just given that child some insignificant favors, but had truly been determined to protect him, Konoha's pain could have been avoided?"

Tsunade completely ignored Jiraiya's warning.

"In the end, those who become Hokage all become arrogant and conceited, looking down on others from a superior perspective, thinking that everyone should live according to their own wishful thinking—Grandpa was like that, as were Tobirama, the Second Hokage, and Sarutobi-sensei."

"Even your most prized disciple, the Fourth Hokage, unilaterally sealed the Nine-Tails inside his own child. The hero who protected the village ultimately destroyed it with his own hands in another way. Jiraiya—what exactly is the Hokage?"

"The Hokage is there to protect the village..."

"Use this kind of official rhetoric to fool the young girls around you—Uchiha Madara, the Kinkaku and Ginkaku of Kumogakure, the Nine-Tails, Orochimaru—how many disasters have the Hokage throughout history caused, whether intentionally or unintentionally?"

"Heh, who knows, maybe Konoha will face another crisis after I become Hokage."

Tsunade interrupted Jiraiya's prepared response to her question.

Her life experiences were no less than Jiraiya's, filled with joy, pain, and sorrow.

Everything is available.

"What do you mean by protecting the village? I think Naruto itself is a curse, making the village never have peace."

"And those who wanted to become Hokage, and those who already became Hokage, all ended up with a tragic end!"

In the end, Tsunade suddenly stopped arguing with Jiraiya.

She shook the empty wine jug and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Boss! Bring on the wine!"

"what……"

Jiraiya let out a long breath, feeling inexplicably haggard: "You've changed a lot, Tsunade."

“You haven’t changed at all. You’d rather listen to a toad than trust a person—‘The disciple will be the child of prophecy,’ ha!”

Tsunade and Orochimaru, who had already defected, both knew that Jiraiya was following the prophecy of the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku and searching for a prophesied child who could reform the ninja world.

The former Nagato;

The Fourth Hokage;

And Naruto.

Of his three disciples, the first two have become wandering ghosts with no remains.

The last one—Naruto Uzumaki, as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, is obviously strong enough to bring about change in the ninja world, but considering what he did to Konoha—this change will definitely not be what Jiraiya hoped for.

The hotel waiter brought a wine jug filled with wine to Tsunade, and Tsunade poured herself a glass of wine.

Tsunade drank the sake in one gulp, then picked up the sake bottle again and poured herself another cup.

Then he filled Jiraiya's glass with wine and said, "Go back, Jiraiya, you can't convince me."

"I know better than you that I can't convince you."

Jiraiya also raised his wine glass, but unlike Tsunade's hearty drinking, he only took a small sip of the wine.

Jiraiya looked at Sakura, and Tsunade also stared at Sakura with her drunken, hazy eyes.

The little girl hadn't uttered a word since entering the izakaya, and Sakura, who had been listening to Tsunade and Jiraiya's argument about "Hokage," remained completely silent.

This is unlike the behavior of those Konoha ninjas who revere the Hokage.

"So you found this girl as your ally to persuade me—Sakura Haruno, you just mentioned she is..."

I don't know if she blacked out from drinking, or if Tsunade simply didn't care about Sakura.

Of all the names Jiraiya gave Sakura, Tsunade only remembered one.

"She's a ninja teammate of Naruto's—like you, or unlike you, who lost Dan. I bet she can convince you."

Jiraiya's words made Tsunade fall into deep thought.

She continued to refill her drink.

"...So that's how it is. The young girl, just beginning to experience love, has fallen for a traitor. You really don't have any taste in men."

In the blink of an eye, the sake jug that Tsunade had just filled was emptied once again.

Tsunade's words became increasingly nonsensical: "Give up on that guy. I can use my past connections to get you into some outstanding young talents in Konoha's elite families."

"Tsunade!"

Jiraiya frowned and interrupted Tsunade's rambling.

He still couldn't stand Tsunade's self-destructive attitude.

Before Jiraiya could say anything more.

Sakura spoke up at this moment: "So in Tsunade's eyes, the Hokage is not fair, right?"

"Is the Hokage fair in your eyes?"

How could Tsunade possibly hand over the right to speak to a little girl? She repeated Sakura's question and asked Sakura in return.

The little girl that Jiraiya brought must have the same thoughts as Jiraiya.

Most likely, it will be another answer like, "As the Hokage, I have to endure the pain and make a choice," which won't convince anyone.

“I feel it’s unfair.”

Sakura's answer, however, leaned more towards Tsunade's idea.

"Jiraiya, the foreign aid you had high hopes for has now won the bet for me, making it 2-1."

Tsunade rested her elbows on the table, bent her wrists, and shook the sake pot while pinching the spout with her five fingers.

Seeing Jiraiya speechless, Tsunade said jokingly, "That's why I said, nobody wants to be Hokage..."

"So I want to become Hokage."

Sakura made a surprising remark.

Not only Tsunade, but even Jiraiya was surprised that Sakura would say such a thing.

"It is precisely because of injustice that change is needed—"

Sakura looked directly into Tsunade's eyes and suddenly asked:

"Does Lady Tsunade cry easily?"

Why do you ask that?

"Because the person named Haruno Sakura—that is, me—is a person who cries a lot. Through crying time and time again, I discovered the fact that I am a weak person."

"As long as you cry, you can accept your weakness with a clear conscience and enjoy the protection of others at will."