Chapter 143: Trouble on the Way Back

Jiraiya had a really bad feeling when he saw the look in Tsunade’s eyes. Right now, he was already regretting this mission.

‘Now that I think about it, making Tsunade the next Hokage was a really bad idea. It isn’t exactly a secret that she has a gambling problem, it is a really stupid idea to make her responsible for Konoha. Should I try to convince her that becoming Hokage is a bad idea? My mission is to bring her back to BECOME Hokage though. What am I supposed to do?’

Tsunade, meanwhile, finished thinking about the offer, and a slightly greedy smile appeared on her face.

“Hehe, sure, I will become Hokage, but there is no way I will take the job for long. Two, maybe three years is all I am willing to do.”

‘That should be enough time to pay back my debt.’

“Well, you can just push the job on Kakashi or maybe start preparing a successor for the job as soon as you return to Konoha. Just spout some nonsense about you filling the spot until someone better is found and that you are only taking it temporarily and it should work out smoothly.”

Tsunade eagerly nodded her head and looked at Naruto with some appreciation.

“Not bad, brat. How about you become the Ho…”

“No, thanks. I’m fine.”

She glared at Naruto and then her eyes landed on Yuna, who could only roll her eyes.

“Don’t even think about it.”

Jiraiya, meanwhile, really didn’t know what to make out of this situation. The prestigious position of Hokage was currently being pushed around like it was a hot potato. Although Jiraiya wanted to argue that handling the title like this was inappropriate, considering he didn’t want it either, he really had no ground to stand on. He has seen the mountains of paperwork Hiruzen has to deal with and really didn’t want anything to do with that. He could only hope that Konoha will survive Tsunade’s reign and that someone appears that actually wants the position.

Since no one in the group had anything left to do in the city, they decided to make their way back to Konoha and while doing so, Jiraiya told Tsunade what had been happening in Konoha up until now.

Tsunade couldn’t help but look at Yuna and Naruto in disbelief when she heard about what happened during the chunin exam. She especially couldn’t help but look at Yuna with suspicion in her gaze when Jiraiya mentioned that Yuna could use ice jutsu.

“How in the world do you have an ice Kekkei Genkai? No matter how I look at it, that is completely impossible. Neither Minato nor Kushina had even the slightest bit of shared blood with the Yuki clan. You being able to use ice is impossible.”

Yuna, however, only snorted at that statement with disdain.

“If I couldn’t use ice, then no one could. I don’t know why people are always bringing up the Yuki clan when they see my ice, but I guarantee you that I have nothing to do with them. My ice is special and only I can use it.”

Jiraiya nodded his head when he heard that.

“Yeah, that seems to be the case. From the reports I have heard, it almost seems to be alive and actively trying to freeze more ground without any input from your side.”

“My ice is, indeed, rather gluttonous.”

Seeing the confused look on Jiraiya’s and Tsunade’s faces, Yuna couldn’t help but chuckle. She wouldn’t tell them anything concrete about how her ice worked, but dropping a few hints here and there was rather amusing to her. She was just about to continue teasing them when her head snapped into a certain direction and a wide smile appeared on her face.

“Seems like this mission isn’t over yet. Ambush ahead. A total of six people. One of them is probably Orochimaru.”

The other people in the group widened their eyes when they heard that and got ready for battle. Moments later, Jiraiya’s and Tsunade’s eyes widened in surprise and wanted to push Yuna away, but she only dodged their attempts, while ice started to cover her right hand. It shot forward and grabbed a huge golden arrow, just when it was about to pierce her shoulder, with her ice-coated hand.

“That is quite the impressive attack distance. This material is rather interesting as well. Looks like something an insect would use to build its nest. How curious.”

Yuna crushed the arrow with her hand, and moments later, Orochimaru and three other people appeared in front of the group, while two more people stayed hidden in the surroundings. Yuna couldn’t help but raise her eyebrow a little when she saw the person with grey hair and black glasses who was part of the group.

‘I don’t really remember his name, but shouldn’t that guy be in Konoha’s prison? I guess he got out during the invasion but is it really that easy to get out of Konoha’s prison? Maybe I should make an offer to Konoha for the Uzumaki clan to upgrade the seals around the prison? Thoughts for later, I guess.’

The other two men were one huge guy with three patches of orange hair on his head and one guy with long, light-blue hair that was covering one of his eyes. Yuna noticed, with some interest, that the second guy actually had two slightly different chakra signatures, which was not something she has felt before.

Orochimaru approached Yuna and her group with confident steps and eyed every single one of them like they were his prey, which Yuna found slightly amusing.

‘He already got his ass kicked twice; I really wonder where all this confidence is coming from. Well, seems like he, at least, managed to heal his arms which, considering that weird self-birth technique, isn’t too surprising, I guess.’

“Kukuku, so we meet again, Jiraiya, Tsunade. Although I expected Jiraiya, I wasn’t expecting to see you as well, Tsunade. Oh well, this just makes it easier for me. “Two birds with one stone”, I believe it was called.”

Tsunade frowned when she heard what Orochimaru just said. Although she didn’t fully understand the situation, it seems like he wanted her for something, which she wasn’t too happy about. Jiraiya had already told her what Orochimaru tried to do with Konoha and although she certainly didn’t have any good feelings for the village, that didn’t mean that she would help someone to destroy it.

“What do you want, Orochimaru? We might have been in the same team a long time ago, but don’t think that I am not willing to kill you here and now.”

Orochimaru, however, only chuckled when he heard that.

“Now, now, no need to be so aggressive. I actually have quite a good offer for you, but you are not the main reason why I am here.”

Orochimaru’s eyes wandered over the whole group, before coming to a stop on Yuna.

“You! I want you! You are the reason why I am here today. No matter how much I think about it, I just can’t understand how you are capable of using ice jutsu. That is why I need the person itself to solve that mystery.”

Before anyone could say anything more, Yuna stepped forward and did a minuscule bow towards Orochimaru.

“I am happy that you managed to gather the courage to confess your feeling to me, but, unfortunately, I have to reject your confession. Although I am not entirely sure about your gender, I am really not fond of your personality, so I guess that doesn’t really matter anyway. Sorry about that.”

An awkward silence descended onto the battlefield, which was only interrupted by the weird noises Naruto was making while trying to suppress his laughter…