"Chizan, aren't we going to keep fighting? We finally came out here."
"Fight what? Is your sensory ability blind or what? Just now, people have already started closing in from all directions. You want Chizan to take on a hundred by himself?"
"Exactly! I really don't get why Chizan made a contract with you first. All red in the face and apparently lost your brain too?"
Flying through the air, Tagitsuhime was being jointly disciplined by Tagorihime and Ichikishimahime.
The three-colored lights intertwined above, and their bickering made Gekko Chizan shake his head helplessly.
He finally understood Jiraiya's pain. Sage Mode might be powerful, but having three voices constantly chattering by your ears—yeah, that was a headache.
"Alright, the three of you, stop arguing. My head's pounding."
With Chizan's words, the chaotic skirmish finally came to an end—or rather, it wasn't much of a skirmish. It was two against one.
"Chizan, what are you planning to do next?"
"Why don't the three of us just stay with you? With the Coiling Serpent Technique, we can condense senjutsu energy ourselves anyway."
Tagorihime made it clear—they weren't planning to leave!
Why hang around in the dark and gloomy Ryūchi Cave when they could follow Gekko Chizan around, see the scenery, fight when they wanted, eat well? It was the perfect deal.
Tagitsuhime rolled her eyes, but before she could say anything, Tagorihime and Ichikishimahime each gave her a punch.
"Yeah, stay. With you around, I'll have an easier time explaining things."
"If anything comes up, we'll just blame it on Ryūchi Cave. You three just need to cooperate with me when the time comes."
"Otherwise, I'm afraid Tsunade might actually kill me."
The thought of Tsunade's lion-like roar and those fists capable of smashing half a mountain with one punch sent shivers down his spine. Terrifying.
Under the three serpent princesses' sensory perception, Gekko Chizan quickly located Konoha's main forces.
They weren't far from where the previous battle had taken place, but the camp was already gone—everyone had scattered into the surrounding forest.
Seeing this, Chizan frowned.
The situation was even worse than he'd imagined. The base had been destroyed, and they'd started spreading out to stall Iwagakure's advance?
And judging from the large-scale damage he saw on the way here, the Four-Tails and Five-Tails had certainly been busy.
He dispelled his invisibility and entered the forest. The nearby sentries immediately went on alert, but once they saw it was Gekko Chizan, they relaxed and returned to their posts.
"Yo, why's everyone looking so down? Hey, hey, hey—Tsunade! What are you doing?!"
"Minato, save me!"
Big mouth, big trouble—Chizan was immediately greeted by Tsunade's fist.
The ground cracked beneath her feet, and she came at him so fast that Chizan could only let out a strangled cry before flickering behind Minato for cover.
That movement was fast—had to be, or else he'd be eating her fist right now.
"You bastard, where the hell have you been?!"
"Leaving the battlefield without authorization—I could have you thrown in prison, you believe that?!"
"You've got some nerve! A situation this big, and you disappear? You bastard!"
"Come here, I promise I won't kill you!"
Under normal circumstances, Jiraiya and Minato would have tried to mediate, but this time, Chizan really had crossed a line.
Leaving the battlefield without orders—there wasn't much difference between that and desertion.
"Chizan, you'd better have an explanation. Otherwise, I think letting Tsunade-sama beat you up a bit would be fair."
Minato grabbed Chizan from behind and pushed him forward, his face deadly serious.
But karma came quick—no, it came in the form of three serpent princesses' malice.
Three serpentine jaws suddenly lunged toward Minato, but his reflexes were incredible.
In an instant, he shot backward, moving as fast as lightning.
Tsunade and Jiraiya both frowned slightly. They saw everything clearly—three massive serpents, each glowing with a different light.
Tsunade had seen Chizan's Sage Mode before, so she immediately recognized what those lights meant.
"Sage Mode? Why'd you suddenly activate that out of nowhere?"
At the words "Sage Mode," Jiraiya's jaw dropped.
What the hell? Sage Mode? That's exactly what he's been training to learn!
Snakes—so, Ryūchi Cave then?
"Hmph, Gekko Chizan was summoned back by Ryūchi Cave itself. The White Snake Sage personally called him."
"What's wrong with that? He may be a Konoha shinobi, but he's also a successor of Ryūchi Cave's legacy. You think he needs your permission to answer a summon from the Holy Land?"
Tagorihime's tone turned uncharacteristically stern, green light forming her human shape as her expression hardened.
Ichikishimahime and Tagitsuhime also transformed into their human forms, equally serious.
With all three serpent princesses standing on his side, Tsunade's expression became priceless. Her anger vanished instantly, replaced by sheer astonishment.
As for Jiraiya—he stepped forward to back Chizan up.
"No wonder you suddenly disappeared. A summon from a Holy Land can't be refused—that's the duty of every contract holder."
"Tsunade, you can't blame the kid. If I suddenly got summoned by Mount Myōboku, I'd have to go too."
He shouldn't have said that.
The moment he opened his mouth, all three serpent princesses turned their slit-pupiled eyes on him. Jiraiya immediately felt uncomfortable under their gaze.
"Hmph, smells like a filthy toad."
"Don't speak. You reek of toad."
"Not worth our time."
The trio's venomous tongues left Jiraiya speechless, and he instinctively stepped back. Minato tried to step forward—but got roasted too.
"Same toad stink."
"Blond toad."
"Annoying."
The master and disciple duo were instantly KO'd by three serpent princesses and exchanged helpless looks.
"You all heard them. I didn't run away."
"After the battle, I got summoned to Ryūchi Cave and only just came back. When I did, I got surrounded."
"The fight you just heard earlier—that was me and Hanzō going at it."
Chizan was an actor worthy of an award—pulling off that pitiful look with ease.
And the distant echoes of battle still rumbling in the background, along with the distinctive smell of Hanzō's poison, only made his story more believable.
In no time, Tsunade and the others bought it completely.
[Ding! Detected that the host cleverly used the three serpent princesses to clear his name and successfully fooled Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Namikaze Minato. Well done!]
[Special Reward: Genjutsu +1+1+1. Three people deceived, +3 total. Please keep up the good work, host.]
Hearing the familiar voice in his head, Gekko Chizan barely suppressed the grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.
He thought smugly, See? That's how it's done. Trying to hold me accountable? Hah! Dream on!
No one manipulates Gekko Chizan. Not happening. Absolutely not happening.