In the hotel room, Jiraiya lay on the floor in a depressed mood, resting his hands on his head and staring at the ceiling. Perhaps he was too absorbed in thinking about things, and he didn't react until there was a knock on the door for a long time.

He walked to the door, opened the bedroom door, glanced at the visitor, and showed surprise.

"Please forgive me for this unexpected visit, Jiraiya-sama."

Shizune, who was standing outside the door, bowed apologetically to Jiraiya to express her abruptness.

"It's Shizune, it's okay, what do you want from me?"

Jiraiya asked, scratching his head.

He originally thought that Naruto came to him and asked about his training, but he didn't expect that it was Shizune who came to him.

To be honest, although he knew Shizune and knew that she was the niece of the late Konoha Jonin Kato Dan, she was a very important relative to Tsunade... but he himself had not been with Shizune for long and had rarely communicated with her.

.For a moment, I was also wondering what the other party’s purpose was in coming to see me.

"I have something to tell you, and I brought you a dinner by the way."

Speaking of dinner, Jiraiya touched Kong Kong's stomach, which was making a growling sound, and said with some embarrassment: "Is it already dinner time? I didn't expect that I'd lie here all afternoon."

Immediately, Jiraiya turned sideways.

"Okay, come in."

At Jiraiya's invitation, Shizune walked into the room and placed the lunch box containing dinner on the table nearby.

Jiraiya sat down and glanced at Shizune, who seemed to be worried.

"Tell me, what do you want from me?"

After some hesitation, Shizune said to Jiraiya: "Actually, this has something to do with Tsunade-sama..."

"Tsunade?"

When Jiraiya heard this, his expression immediately became serious, and his sitting posture suddenly became serious and dignified.

"Yes. I think Jiraiya-sama should have discussed it with Tsunade-sama in private, but I think Tsunade-sama should have rejected your proposal, Jiraiya-sama."

Shizune stared at Jiraiya's face.

"You are right. No matter what methods I tried, I could not get Tsunade to change her mind and return to the village to succeed the Fifth Hokage."

Jiraiya nodded.

Then he looked at Shizune with hopeful eyes.

Tsunade's stubbornness and stubbornness made it impossible for him to start at this moment.

But if there is Shizune, the help of people around Tsunade, maybe things can turn around.

"I actually guessed this result from the beginning."

Shizune said as expected.

"How to say?"

Jiraiya remained calm.

He knew that Tsunade was extremely hesitant about succeeding as the Fifth Hokage, and it must be because of some things that interfered with her decision-making and judgment.

Just because he lacked important information, he didn't know the reason for Tsunade's hesitation.

"About four years ago, not long after the Five Shadows Conference ended, that person specifically came to see Tsunade-sama once."

Shizune revealed this important information.

Jiraiya knew who 'that person' was referring to, and it must be Chiba Shiraishi.

He just didn't expect that at that time, the other party would find Tsunade alone.

At this time, Jiraiya also recalled that he had looked for Tsunade once at that time... But at that time, Tsunade became very irritable, making him wonder what happened, making Tsunade feel irritable.

.

Thinking about it now, it was probably because of Chiba Shiraishi that Tsunade had some wrong perceptions in her heart.

"Shizune, could you please reveal the content of their conversation at that time?"

Jiraiya asked seriously.

Shizune shook her head and said: "It's not that I don't want to reveal it, but I don't know what they talked about. In short, after that incident, Tsunade-sama's mood became erratic for a period of time. I

I think Jiraiya-sama can investigate from this aspect."

Jiraiya said helplessly: "Even if you say so, now is not the time to investigate this kind of thing. The village is in urgent need of a new Hokage, but there is no time to mess around here."

"Is that so? That would be difficult... However, I believe that Tsunade-sama always loves Konoha. Please rest assured, Jiraiya-sama."

Shizune also knew that this seemed a bit embarrassing, but in order to reassure Jiraiya, she told him that Tsunade's position on the issue had not changed in any way.

"Of course I know this kind of thing..."

But Jiraiya was still worried about the original problem.

We can't waste time in a place like this now.

Normally, he would still have enough patience to wait here for Tsunade's reply, but now time does not allow him to take any steps.

The situation Konoha is facing at this time is urgent.

The deadline he set for himself was one week.

If it exceeds this time, we can only take drastic measures to promote Tsunade to return to Konoha and succeed to the position of the Fifth Hokage.

However, Jiraiya was still confused as to how to act specifically and did not have a complete implementation plan.

"Anyway, I hope you can keep a close eye on Tsunade. It's best not to let her come into contact with Chiba Shiraishi alone. If there is any situation, report it to me immediately and I can go there and rescue her in time."

Jiraiya rubbed his forehead with a headache and ordered Shizune.

"Yes, I understand. Then Master Jiraiya, I'll take my leave now. You can go to bed early today."

Shizune bowed to Jiraiya and left the room.

Before leaving, she took a special look at the box lunch left behind for dinner.

In this way, Master Jiraiya will not be able to disturb Master Tsunade's actions tomorrow. Shizune thought to herself.

After all, this Sannin is watching personally, and once Tsunade takes action privately, she will definitely be blocked by him.

◎

The next morning, it was about ten o'clock.

Compared to the ice and snow outside, the interior of the hotel is filled with a warm atmosphere because of the fireplace installed.

The samurai Satokaku patrolled the corridor, with a serious smile on his face, and a sharp light flashed from time to time in his eyes. He inadvertently swept towards the blind corners of the patrol area, not sparing any corner where he could hide, so as to prevent his protection target from being attacked by criminals.

intrusion.

Although he didn't understand why Shiraishi, as the Minister of Military Affairs of the Kingdom of Demons, suddenly came to the Kingdom of Iron, and he visited for personal reasons. But obviously, this kind of thing was not something that he, a little samurai, could handle.

His mission is to protect the personal safety of Shiraishi, the Minister of Military Affairs of the Kingdom of Demons, during his stay in the Kingdom of Iron.

This is undoubtedly a hard job, and even if you are not careful, you may be demoted by your superiors. Therefore, the person who received this task took up the job of guard here with the belief that he must die.

Fortunately, Shiraishi is one of the few powerful ninjas in the ninja world. Under normal circumstances, there will be no unreasonable people coming to assassinate him. Even if he is assassinated, it will be difficult to succeed.

It would be great if he could get through it safely... Samurai Rikkaku thought to himself, hoping that the other party would not stay in the Iron Country for too long and leave here as soon as possible after finishing the work, so that he would not be so frightened.

Suddenly, his nose with a keen sense of smell moved, as if he smelled an unusual smell, causing Samurai Rikkaku to subconsciously raise his head and focus his eyes on the front of the corridor.

A woman strolled from the other end of the corridor.

She has long light yellow hair and brown eyes. She is in her twenties, but has snow-white and smooth skin that is comparable to that of a girl. On the outside, she is also wearing a tea-green long gown.

This image seemed very familiar to Samurai Rikkaku, but for a while he couldn't figure out where or when he had seen the other person's portrait.

Judging from the opponent's walking posture that did not reveal any flaws, Samurai Rikkaku immediately felt the pressure doubled.

His intuition told him that this woman's strength was probably not weaker than Jiraiya who came here to visit yesterday and was rejected.

Thinking of Jiraiya, a thought flashed through Samurai Rikkaku's mind, he stepped forward to intercept and asked, "Is this Tsunade-dono?"

Although his tone was polite, Samurai Rikaku still kept a certain distance from Tsunade so that when the other party suddenly attacked, he would have enough space to retreat and counterattack.

Tsunade nodded and said, "I need to talk to the person inside. You can report it."

"Yes, please wait a moment."

Yesterday, Jiraiya, one of the three ninjas, came to visit. Today, another one of the three ninjas also appeared here for unknown reasons. These Konoha ninjas don't regard the Kingdom of Iron as their own backyard, right? Samurai Rikaku

I couldn't help but curse in my heart.

It seems that it is necessary to pay attention to the issue of reporting the entry and exit of outsiders.

If something goes wrong with such uninvited behavior, it may lead to diplomatic conflicts without the Iron Kingdom knowing anything about it.

Asking Shiraishi for instructions, Satokaku didn't take too long and returned quickly. True to Tsunade's prediction, Satokaku turned sideways and got out of the way after returning, making a respectful gesture of invitation.

"Please, Tsunade-dono, Shiraishi-dono has agreed to meet with you. It is your duty, so I won't send you there."

"Thank you, sorry for bothering you."
To be continued...