109 Naruto Mobile Game

Sister...

Sister...

Tsunade, reeking of alcohol, lay sprawled over the table. For no clear reason, she tugged at the corner of her mouth and revealed a bleak smile.

She really must be getting old. Drinking by herself and already getting drunk, even hearing things that weren't there.

She had sent Shizune away, wanting to drink alone. Who would have thought—who would have thought she'd still hear someone calling her "sister." Wasn't that ridiculous?

"Sister!! I found you!"

Crash—

Tsunade sprang up violently. The table, almost covered with wine bottles, was knocked over, the bottles crashing to the ground and shattering everywhere.

She didn't care about any of that. Her mind had gone blank.

Beyond the horizon, a blazing sun had just risen. Chasing it from behind was a boy running toward her with all his strength.

She blinked, and the distance between them suddenly compressed. In the blink of an eye, that person was right in front of her.

Huff—

He took a breath, looked at the stunned Tsunade, scratched the back of his head, and smiled.

"Um, sister hasn't changed at all over these years. You're just as beautiful as before."

Sister...

This time it was unmistakable. That title was called out naturally and skillfully by the person before her.

It was a way of addressing her that Tsunade hadn't heard in many years… no, that wasn't quite right.

But—

" Nawaki?"

Only heaven knew how much strength Tsunade used to speak that name, so careful it sounded.

"It's me..."

Nawaki's vision suddenly plunged into darkness, his words cut off midway.

But he could feel the body holding him trembling, and something warm fell onto the top of his head—like dripping tears.

"I'm sorry. I never thought… no, actually, I did think about it, but it was so hard. Even when the First World Season ended, I still couldn't do it."

"When I saw you appear on the public screen, so many times I wanted to speak, but… I was afraid."

"Just talking isn't enough. Being separated by a screen can never satisfy that."

"What I wanted was to hold you tight like this, never letting go… yes, I'll never let go again!"

Tsunade seemed to be pouring out her heart, or perhaps it was just a release of pent-up emotion. Only after a long while did she let go of Nawaki, and his vision finally returned.

"Whew~ Sister, I just got back not long ago, and I almost had my soul smothered out by you!" Nawaki complained.

In his heart, he couldn't help but marvel—she really was his sister. After all these years, that scale was still just as magnificent as ever.

Tsunade smiled, wiped the corner of her eye, and only then, after the joy hit her all at once, did she remember to ask about the important things.

"How did you come back to life? Jiraiya? No, that guy would never spend Coupons on this. Who else was it? Could it be someone from a village?"

"It was indeed someone from a village, but not Konoha. It was the Sound Village."

"What?! You mean… Orochimaru?"

"Sigh, being dead for so long, I really didn't know how much reality had changed. Orochimaru-sensei even defected and founded his own ninja village."

"..."

Inside Tsunade, enormous waves were already surging, and it took a long time for them to settle.

Orochimaru? That guy actually did something like this? Why? To show sincerity?

But even so, she could never truly help Orochimaru with his work.

The granddaughter of the First Hokage, going to assist a rogue ninja who would murder the Hokage in the future.

That was a line Tsunade couldn't cross in her own heart.

Yet Tsunade looked again at Nawaki. His height, appearance, and personality were completely unchanged from back then.

This wasn't Edo Tensei. It was true resurrection. That warm body told Tsunade everything.

"What happened?" Tsunade calmed herself.

"I was still talking in the channel, and then in the blink of an eye, I appeared in Orochimaru-sensei's laboratory," Nawaki said.

"Laboratory? What did that bastard do? Did he revive you just to study you?!"

"Hey, don't have such hostility toward Orochimaru-sensei. He didn't do anything. He just checked my body and then let me come find you."

That sentence carried a lot of information.

Orochimaru's goal was definitely not as simple as reviving Nawaki. And Nawaki finding Tsunade was absolutely not due to bloodline resonance.

It had to be that Orochimaru had long since investigated and confirmed that Tsunade was here. Only then could Nawaki find her.

Tsunade's expression wavered. She couldn't quite grasp the situation anymore.

Did she want Nawaki to be revived?

Of course she did. Nawaki had only been in his teens when he died. His life was still long, with so much he hadn't experienced yet.

But was resurrecting the dead really acceptable? Didn't it count as destroying the laws of nature?

Tsunade's thoughts were in chaos. She even suspected that Nawaki wasn't the only one revived. At this very moment, on this land of the ninja world, many people might be silently walking out of the Pure Land.

They just might not be powerful individuals. And before large-scale revival of the strong ran rampant, the ninja world could probably still barely maintain stability.

"Nawaki, do you want to live?" Tsunade asked.

"I… do! I want to live!" Nawaki hesitated for a moment, then quickly firmed his resolve. "I died in my last life without knowing why, did nothing, and only made people worry for nothing… at the very least, birth, aging, sickness, and death! I want to experience a complete life!"

A complete life—this was truly a luxury in the ninja world. Dying young was considered good luck, and dying before maturity was the norm.

Hearing Nawaki's answer, Tsunade slowly exhaled, her heart finally settling.

Since a second chance had already been placed in her hands, being overly hesitant would be far too unworthy.

Tsunade looked at Nawaki, this younger brother whose face was still far too youthful, and her gaze softened.

"Welcome back to reality, Nawaki."

"Yeah, I'm back!"

The siblings chatted properly for a while. But when Nawaki saw the wine bottles scattered across the table and floor, he couldn't help but scold his sister.

There actually wasn't much they could talk about—mostly what Tsunade had been doing all these years.

As for Nawaki?

Well, aside from the hazy confusion inside the Pure Land, all he could talk about was that unforgettable incident of accidentally stumbling into an exploding tag trap and getting blown to death.

As they talked, Nawaki suddenly stretched out his little finger and showed a slightly lecherous expression.

"Sister, you're already over fifty, right? So how is it—have you found me a brother-in-law?"

"I have. But he was also a guy with luck just as bad as yours—died miserably in the war."

"Eh! It wasn't Jiraiya?!"

"Huh? Don't joke around. That guy… hmph~ let's give him another chance in the next life!"

Old friends being reunited didn't happen in just this one place. And so-called reunions weren't only about the dead meeting the living.

The living meeting the living counted too.

...

And the Jiraiya mentioned by Tsunade and Nawaki was now standing before a village drenched in rain.

He took only a few steps forward before stopping, standing at the village entrance, bathing in the drizzle that seemed like it would never end.

No one knew how much time passed before six figures wearing black cloaks with red clouds suddenly appeared before him.

Jiraiya looked at the line of people before him and the biting chill rushing toward him. Not only was he unafraid, he even revealed a bright, hearty smile.

"It really has been a long time, Nagato."