"Shizune! The wine is gone! Hurry up and get me some more!"

"Hey! Shizune, why are you lying on the floor? Wake up! I'm out of wine!"

"Seriously? How can you be passed out already after just a few drinks? Bartender! Bring me another bottle!"

Inside the bustling izakaya, Tsunade rattled an empty wine bottle, her voice a boisterous shout. Shizune, her apprentice, was already dead to the world, sleeping soundly under the table with the small pink pig, Tonton, clutched in her arms, a small puddle of drool forming on the floor beneath her.

Seeing that no one was bringing her more wine, Tsunade stopped calling out and leaned back against the wall, a melancholy expression on her face. Her thoughts drifted to the two people she had cherished most in her life: her younger brother, Nawaki, and her beloved, Dan.

"I truly hope you're still alive somewhere," she murmured to herself, her voice thick with a sadness that the wine could not wash away. "It would be so wonderful if I could just see you again."

Suddenly, a strange voice pulled her from her memories. "I recognize you. You are one of Konoha's legendary Sannin, Lady Tsunade. I have a favor to ask of you. Please, I beg you, you must agree!"

Tsunade raised her eyes slightly to see a woman in the uniform of a Hidden Cloud shinobi kneeling respectfully before her.

"Who are you?"

"I am Samui, a jonin from the Hidden Cloud Village. My companion has suffered a strange and terrible injury. Please, Lady Tsunade, use your world-renowned medical skills to save him!"

"...Are you a medical ninja?"

"I… yes, I am."

"Heh… then why don't you just save him yourself? Why come to me?"

"With my own abilities… it is beyond my power. I'm afraid you are the only one in this world who can save my companion."

"Hmph. I refuse."

"Wh-why, Lady Tsunade?!"

"You, from the Hidden Cloud, have the audacity to come to Konoha for help?! You are nothing but a pack of bandits who tried to steal the Byakugan from the Hyuga clan!"

"Lady Tsunade, that matter has already been settled between our two villages. Was it not resolved amicably?"

"Tsk! You call that amicable? What shameless words from someone on the winning side of that 'dispute'!"

"This… My lady! Please, forget the past. A life is at stake, and time is running out! If you don't come, my companion will surely…!"

"Get lost! Stop wasting my time. You're ruining my mood for drinking!"

"Please! Lady Tsunade, I truly…!"

"That's enough, Samui!"

Raikage A walked up behind his subordinate, his expression stern as he looked at Tsunade. "Tsunade," he said, his voice a low growl, "I knew from the start you wouldn't help us willingly."

The aura of this newcomer was completely different from that of the jonin. Tsunade's expression turned serious. "And who are you?" she asked, her voice low and dangerous.

Samui immediately introduced him. "This is the leader of our village, the Fourth Raikage."

"Oh?" Tsunade was startled at first, then adopted a nonchalant air. "Well, well. A truly remarkable figure has arrived."

The Raikage replied, "If you will not come willingly, then I will use force to make you come."

"Hah! How interesting," Tsunade said, her voice dripping with scorn as she met his threat with one of her own. "Who do you think you're talking to?! You are just a Raikage. I will make you regret ever crossing me!"

Just as the Raikage was about to respond, a middle-aged man with long, dark hair walked into the izakaya. He was holding a bottle of wine and sat down at the table next to Tsunade. "Hmph. What terrible wine," he muttered. "It's so difficult to drink. Far worse than what my clan used to brew. Time truly does fly, Tsunade. You've grown so big."

After his complaint, the man raised his head, his eyes a blazing, blood-red. He turned his gaze to the Raikage. "I do not have much time. Give me the secret scroll of the Land of Sugi, and I… may spare your life."

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