[Eight!]
[...]
[Three!]
[Two!]
[One!]
As the countdown pop-up in the chat hit zero—
The semi-transparent screen in front of the scroll switched to the interior of the "competition room."
At the same time—
In the Mizukage's office in the Hidden Mist Village—
A beam of golden light enveloped Mei Terumi. Before she could react, her entire body vanished on the spot.
Chōjūrō, standing beside her, was utterly shocked.
Because—
Mei had literally disappeared into thin air.
The same thing happened—
At an inn next to a casino.
A beam of golden light suddenly wrapped around Tsunade.
Then—
She vanished right in front of Shizune's eyes.
Group chat.
[Rock Lee: Everyone look! Lady Tsunade and the Fifth Mizukage are in the competition room!]
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju @ Tsunade: Little Tsunade, are you going to throw the match or not?]
[Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki @ Tsunade: Come on, say something—are you going to let Mei win on purpose or not?]
[Chiyo @ Tsunade: There's only 30 seconds left to bet! Who are we supposed to back?!]
[Fourth Raikage A @ Tsunade: Answer already!]
[Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi @ Tsunade: My student, should your teacher bet on you, or listen to Madara and bet on Mei?]
[...]
Everyone in the chat spammed @Tsunade, staring at the countdown as it ticked toward the end of betting.
They all hoped Tsunade would give them an answer.
Unfortunately, they didn't know that—
Both Tsunade and Mei, once summoned to the competition room, temporarily lost access to the chat. They couldn't see any messages or respond.
However—
Everything they said in the competition room could be heard clearly by everyone in both the ninja world and the Pure Land.
Competition Room.
After Tsunade and Mei Terumi were summoned in—
They immediately glared at each other, neither willing to back down.
Mei eyed Tsunade's very revealing neckline. "Old woman, you really do love pretending to be young, huh?"
Tsunade glanced at the fishnet stockings on Mei's thighs. "Childish brat, what's the point of those hole-riddled stockings? Trying to seduce men?"
Mei: "I like wearing them. What's it to you, old woman?"
Tsunade: "And I like dressing this way. What's it to you, brat?"
Mei: "Old woman, dare you dispel that jutsu of yours and let everyone see what you really look like?"
Tsunade: "Brat, are those hole-filled stockings to hide some flaw in your legs? Dare to take them off right here?"
...
Across the ninja world and the Pure Land—
Everyone anxiously waiting for Tsunade's answer now had a row of metaphorical black lines over their heads.
They were agonizing over who to bet on—
Meanwhile Tsunade and Mei…
Didn't seem to care about the match at all, happily roasting each other instead.
With only 5 seconds left to bet—
Everyone had no choice but to go with their gut and pick one.
Five seconds later—
Everyone except Tsunade and Mei received a pop-up saying the betting window had closed.
To their surprise, the support rate was almost evenly split.
47% of people had bet on Mei.
53% had bet on Tsunade.
In the competition room—
Tsunade and Mei were still going at it, determined not to lose the argument.
Back in the chat…
[Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki @ Madara Uchiha: Sigh, what was a sure-win bet is now up in the air.]
[Chiyo: Yeah… by the way, who did you bet on? @ Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki]
[Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki: You first—who did you bet on?]
[Chiyo: Naturally, I support Konoha. I bet on Tsunade.]
[Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki: I went with Madara's suggestion and bet on Mei.]
[Madara Uchiha: Hahaha! Now this is interesting, isn't it, Hashirama?]
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: It is, Madara. What was basically a guaranteed-reward question just turned into a real gamble.]
[Kushina Uzumaki @ Naruto Uzumaki: Son, who'd you bet on?]
[Naruto Uzumaki: Of course I bet on Granny Tsunade. Keeping my word is my ninja way!]
[Hinata Hyuga: Naruto-kun, I bet on Tsunade too… because you said you would, so… so…]
[Kushina Uzumaki: Good job, daughter-in-law. Standing by your man—big thumbs up.]
While people chatted, and Tsunade and Mei kept arguing in the competition room—
A mechanical voice suddenly echoed in the room.
[Both contestants must begin the arm-wrestling match immediately. Failure to comply will result in a random punishment for both.]
Tsunade and Mei knew the scroll wasn't kidding.
If it said there'd be a punishment, there would be.
The fact they'd been forcibly teleported from where they were to this room had already proven that.
So both of them moved to the table prepared for the match and sat down.
Mei clasped Tsunade's… single finger with both of her hands.
Mei: "Old woman, I admit—even with just one finger, I might still not be able to beat you."
Tsunade: "Brat, are you surrendering already? Hahaha! Then you'll be stuck as 'the childish brat who can't compare to Lady Tsunade.'"
Mei: "I may lose in raw strength, but in ninjutsu, I definitely won't lose to you."
Tsunade: "This is an arm-wrestling match. Are you ready or not? Once we start, that's it."
Mei: "You're really not going to consider what Madara said? Even your grandpa, Hashirama, agreed. For all you know, every Konoha shinobi—and maybe everyone—bet on me."
Tsunade: "So, you want me to throw the match for you?"
Mei: "Don't you want the Konoha crowd to get the large chakra pack? You're the future Fifth Hokage. For your village, you're not even willing to sacrifice something as small as your nickname?"
Tsunade hesitated.
For herself, she absolutely refused to throw the match.
But for the sake of Konoha…
If it had been before she'd seen that future footage of Naruto talking to her—
She wouldn't have thought twice, and would've chosen herself without hesitation.
Mei: "Ah, that's right—I forgot. The current you still thinks 'Hokage is trash, only trash want to be Hokage,' right?"
Mei looked at Tsunade with open mockery.
The hesitation in Tsunade's heart evaporated.
"I'm ready. Are you, brat?"
"I'm ready too, old woman!"
Mei hadn't gotten a clear verbal answer from Tsunade—
But it didn't matter.
If Tsunade refused to throw the match, knowing wouldn't help her anyway.
If Tsunade did throw the match, she could win even without a confirmation.
Once both sides said they were ready—
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