Building the Naruto World

Naruto, whose survival instincts were extremely strong, let out a breath. If he had said those words, that certain old lady who was clearly very old yet still pretended to be a seventeen-year-old girl would definitely have punched him to death. Tsunade's fist had the power to crack Madara's Susanoo. His small frame definitely couldn't take it.

"Her... she's Konoha's princess, the granddaughter of the First Hokage - Tsunade," Jiraiya said nostalgically.

"Oh." Naruto nodded, saying nothing, afraid of being hit.

"Jiraiya, who's this brat?" Tsunade poured herself another cup of sake.

"My new disciple, Uzumaki Naruto." The moment Naruto signed the summoning scroll on the road, their master-disciple relationship was officially confirmed.

"Uzumaki, huh..." Tsunade picked up her sake cup and downed it in one gulp. "Jiraiya, what do you want from me?"

"Tsunade, the village has appointed you as the Fifth Hokage." Jiraiya put down his sake cup, his tone very solemn.

Tsunade was stunned.

"Lord Third, he...?" Tsunade also put down her sake cup.

"Died in battle."

"Who did it?" Tsunade asked.

Meanwhile, in a certain base.

Orochimaru lay on a bed, various tubes inserted into his two arms. Kabuto bustled about beside him, and Kimimaro stood at the head of the bed.

"Kabuto, is it ready?" Orochimaru stared at the ceiling. He needed to perform his reincarnation; this body was completely useless now. That brick Naruto hit him with was way too hard.

Initially, it didn't seem like a big deal, but after returning to the base, Orochimaru could no longer feel the stinging pain in his hands. Then, his legs lost sensation. The fragments from the fractured bone at the back of his head had pierced his brain, puncturing blood vessels. Blood gushed out, accumulating massively around the small bone fragments, compressing his nerves. This symptom was commonly known in Naruto's world as a cerebral thrombosis.

With Orochimaru's condition – bone fragments mixed with blood compressing his brain nerves – if he were taken to any hospital, the attending physician would look at the X-rays, frown, shake their head, and tactfully suggest he try another hospital. Orochimaru, however, would just say, "It's fine, doctor. I'll switch to a new body and come back. Then you can see if my hands can still be saved."

With his body immobilized, he couldn't go find Tsunade to treat the soul-severing injury to his arms; he could only wait until he changed bodies. Otherwise, why would they say bricks cure intractable diseases? The burning, stinging pain from that soul severing, like having his heart dug out and bones gnawed – even Tsunade couldn't treat it. But one brick from Naruto, and Orochimaru immediately stopped feeling the pain.

Kabuto glanced at the clock on the wall and said, "Soon. It'll be ready before twelve." Kabuto believed he could treat the blood clot in Orochimaru's brain. Even if he couldn't cure it, it wouldn't be worse than now. But Orochimaru didn't trust him and wouldn't let him perform a craniotomy. This was evident from Kimimaro standing by the bed.

"Hurry. I need to find Tsunade to treat these hands as soon as possible."

"Yes."

————

"Esteemed guests, your order." The shopkeeper's words broke the silence at the dining table.

Jiraiya downed a cup of sake. "Orochimaru."

"Oh, it was him." The atmosphere grew even heavier.

"Will you go back and become Hokage?"

"I refuse." Tsunade smiled sweetly.

"That tone of refusal is exactly the same as when you rejected my confession," Jiraiya chuckled.

"Tch..." Tsunade knew Jiraiya liked her, and she had some favorable feelings for him too, but she just couldn't accept him. She also knew Jiraiya traveled the shinobi world for his ideals and pursuits, but that wasn't an excuse for him to frequent Kabukicho districts, peep into women's bathhouses, and not send a single message for so many years.

A person in the shinobi world, already whoring to the point of being unreachable – this was the image Jiraiya had left her with. You've whored yourself to the point of being out of contact, and you still want this old lady to agree to you? Dream on!

"Think about it again," Jiraiya persuaded.

Tsunade, to Naruto's astonishment, pulled out a deck of poker cards from her ample bosom. "How about this, if I win, I'll go back."

Naruto quickly turned his head, took out an apple to tease Tonton, and distracted himself. Come, let me teach you how to raise pigs. How can you raise pigs like this? Look how skinny this pig is, it's not even as good as my foxy lady.

Jiraiya gave a wry smile. If Tsunade could win, she wouldn't have the nickname "Legendary Sucker."

"Come on then." Hope was slim, but he still had to try.

Tsunade began to shuffle the cards, her eyes hazy from drink. "Brat, want to join?"

Clack. The apple in his hand fell onto the table and was snatched away by Tonton.

Naruto glanced down at the sword tucked into his belt, his heart filled with horror. This can also be judged by you as a condition for entering the 'game'!? Naruto remembered that in the original story, only Jiraiya and Tsunade played cards; no one else was involved.

"Not playing," Naruto refused outright. Mom told me when I was born that I shouldn't gamble. Even if you judge this as a condition to enter, I can still forfeit, right?

"Uninteresting brat." Tsunade began to deal the cards.

Jiraiya flipped over his card. The value was medium, not too big, not too small.

Tsunade slowly reached for her card, then... slumped onto the table, asleep. She wasn't ready yet, didn't know how to face the result of this card, so she chose to feign sleep. Such little willfulness was a woman's prerogative. Even if this woman wasn't young, someone would still indulge her.

"Really now... you can't hold your liquor already? Your tolerance is really poor," Jiraiya played along.

"Shizune, help Tsunade back first."

"Yes, Lord Jiraiya." Shizune supported Tsunade, leading Tonton, who kept looking back every three steps, away.

Jiraiya drank a few more cups. "Naruto, let's go back too."

"Oh."

As they left, Tsunade's card remained face down on the table.

————

The next morning, Jiraiya and Tsunade sat on the city wall, continuing to drink.

"I've investigated a very dangerous organization. Their target is Naruto."

"Oh? That brat?" Tsunade looked at the yellow-haired figure running laps on the distant mountaintop.

"I will continue to investigate that organization. And during this time, I'm afraid Orochimaru will attack Konoha again."

"So..."

"Only you and I, as fellow Sannin, can stop Orochimaru."

Tsunade poured another cup and said, "You know, my illness."

"Maybe it'll get better if you become Hokage?" Jiraiya chuckled. He knew about Tsunade's hemophobia, but it was a mental block; he couldn't help her with it.

"I doubt it."

"Besides, you won that game yesterday."

"Did I?" Tsunade looked sideways at Jiraiya.

"Yeah, just a little bigger than mine."

"Since I won, then there's no helping it." Tsunade knew Jiraiya was lying to her, just as she had lied to him last night.

"Then it's settled, Fifth Hokage."

"Mm, Fifth Hokage." Tsunade looked up at the clouds. Those clouds, no matter how she looked at them, resembled the two people from before who had told her they wanted to become Hokage. A self-deprecating smile appeared. The person who never thought of becoming Hokage became Hokage. And the people who wanted to become Hokage...

"Naruto, come back and pack up, prepare to leave!" Jiraiya shouted.

Naruto opened a portal at the bottom of the city wall and jumped onto it. Old man, are you crazy? You have a portal and you're not using it, choosing to walk instead?

In the end, the group still decided to walk back to the village. Naruto didn't understand politics, so he didn't know Jiraiya was walking back to give the villagers some time to wash away their sorrow and welcome the arrival of the new Hokage.

Before setting off, Naruto was still wondering why Uncle Snake hadn't shown up yet. I've prepared several 'pills' I wanted to treat you to.

Two days later, Kabuto, asking passersby for information: "Damn it, am I too late?"

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