Jiraiya had originally let her come along because he wanted to see Naruto and Kano date. As it turned out, except for that one day of dating, the two of them just did their own thing, without any of that romantic feeling at all.
Furthermore, Kano was indeed too outstanding, making Jiraiya feel a bit redundant. So, Jiraiya wanted to shoo Kano away so that his tall and mighty image in Naruto's eyes could be maintained.
"You don't need to worry about that. I've already been home several times."
In reality, she was also afraid her family would worry if she didn't go home for so many days, so during this training period, Kano would occasionally use Shadow Exchange to go home.
A shadow bug was always left at home, which served as a sort of respawn point for Kano. In case she encountered an enemy she couldn't defeat one day, she could return home at any time.
Besides, with only a thirty-minute cooldown, it would be a waste not to use it.
Her family also knew she had this Space-Time Ninjutsu. After all, when Shikaku analyzed the Shadow Deer Technique long ago, he had deconstructed it and subsequently set it aside.
As a side note, before Sasuke's injuries had even healed, Kano went and stuffed the bill under his pillow. He'd probably have to do high-intensity missions while still injured once he woke up.
Who told him to spend all his money on item matches?
Seeing that he couldn't drive Kano away, Jiraiya had no choice but to take her along. He resolved to perform well later when convincing Tsunade to return to the village and inherit the mess—the position of Hokage—so that Kano wouldn't look down on him.
While traveling, Naruto performed the third stage of his training as the three of them moved at a leisurely pace. Kano sat on a Shadow Deer, playing the zither with her white-stockinged feet dangling.
Her swaying little feet made it impossible for Naruto to train properly. Even Jiraiya would peek from time to time, secretly commenting that lolis weren't bad either.
At the same time, he lamented: why would a little loli like you be a lolicon?
The three arrived at Tanzaku Quarters. Since they weren't sure of Tsunade's exact location, Jiraiya confidently headed to the casinos to find her.
Besides Kano's group, two others had also arrived at Tanzaku Quarters.
"Lord Orochimaru, according to existing witness reports, this is the place she is most likely to head to."
"Now my hands can be saved. Argh..."
"Lord Orochimaru."
The intense pain in his hands made Orochimaru's body unsteady, and Kabuto quickly supported him.
"Hurry inside and find her, even if you have to use slightly rougher methods."
On the other side, Jiraiya had run through all the casinos but couldn't find Tsunade, which left him quite shocked.
"That shouldn't be right. If Tsunade isn't at the casino, where else would she be?"
Kano was on the side, covering her mouth and laughing.
"You can't even find your own former teammate? You're such a small fry~"
Hearing Kano's mesugaki-like mockery, Jiraiya's fists clenched.
"Dammit, if you have a way, then you do it! I don't believe you can find her!"
If she couldn't be found in the casinos where she was most likely to appear, how could she be found in the remaining places?
"If I—"
Kano had her own way of finding Tsunade, but before she could speak, a loud noise echoed from the town.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sound of collapsing buildings carried over along with clouds of dust.
"Let's go see what happened over there!"
Naruto was the first to run over; he always prioritized action over thinking. Kano followed suit, thinking that Orochimaru and Tsunade must have crossed paths.
When Kano arrived, she didn't see Tsunade. Instead, Orochimaru was standing atop a giant snake, his golden snake-like pupils fixed intensely on Kano, a long-absent smile appearing on his face.
"I've finally found you."}]
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