Good Girl

Training Ground.

“Kakashi, let me take you to the hospital.”

After the battle ended, Might Guy hurried over, clearly anxious to help his dear friend up.

“Don’t move!”

Kakashi grabbed Guy’s wrist, sucking in a sharp breath through his teeth. His backside burned with pain so intense he nearly lost consciousness.

“Kakashi, are you… crying?”

Guy looked at his friend in astonishment and noticed two trails of tears streaming down Kakashi’s face. It was unclear whether the tears came from the pain or from a wounded spirit—perhaps both.

“I… lost,” Kakashi murmured.

He had always been hailed as the rare genius of the Hidden Leaf Village. From the time he could remember, despite the shadow of losing both parents, his path as a shinobi had been smooth and unimpeded—he had never suffered defeat.

He was leagues ahead of his peers.

Many believed that, at the pace Kakashi was growing, the Third Hokage would likely make an exception and promote him, breaking the village record for the youngest jōnin in history. Previously, that record belonged to the renowned Legendary Sannin, all of whom became jōnin at the age of fourteen.

Kakashi’s future had always been bright.

Until today. Today, he suffered his first crushing defeat—a complete, merciless humiliation. The pride and dignity of a prodigy were ground to dust.

That man called Kisame Hoshigaki was his nightmare.

And yet—

It only ignited his fighting spirit all the more!

After leaving the training ground, Kisame made his way to Ichiraku Ramen with practiced ease and downed several bowls of beef ramen.

“Boss, that Kakashi fellow had your ramen yesterday and ended up with a stomachache so bad he could hardly stand. He asked me to tell you to pay more attention to food hygiene in the future.”

As Kisame devoured chunks of beef, he relayed the message to Teuchi.

“Really? Oh my goodness!” Teuchi was shocked, bowing repeatedly to Kisame. “Thank you for the reminder—I’ll make sure to be more careful from now on.”

Kisame nodded in acknowledgment, and after finishing his meal, set down his chopsticks and walked back toward his inn.

As he strolled down Ichiraku Avenue, a commotion suddenly arose ahead in the crowd. Someone was surrounded by villagers, the spectacle akin to a celebrity making an entrance.

Kisame glanced over and saw that it truly was one of the village’s stars.

At the center stood a strikingly beautiful woman. Her stunning blonde hair was styled into two ponytails draped casually behind her head, and a purple diamond-shaped mark adorned her forehead, lending her an air of mystery and nobility.

Her skin was fair and delicate. Despite wearing a loose gray top, it couldn’t conceal her voluptuous figure—her generous chest was especially hard to ignore.

Lady Tsunade.

One of the fabled Legendary Sannin, now thirty-four years old—the prime of a woman’s life.

A few years prior, not long after the Second Great Ninja War ended, Tsunade had left the village to roam the world, rarely returning to the Leaf. So, whenever she did come back, she drew a great deal of attention.

Today, she wore a tea-green overcoat and walked with a commanding presence. Her high heels struck the ground with rhythmic clicks.

By her side, a short middle-aged man struggled to keep pace. He wore a hat and glasses, a dark vest, and carried a thick stack of scripts in his hands.

“Lady Tsunade, this is the latest draft of the film script. Please take it and familiarize yourself with your lines.”

The man bowed low, sweat pouring from his forehead, clearly flustered.

“Director, it’s rare for me to return to the Leaf. In a couple of days, I’ll be meeting up with Jiraiya and Orochimaru, and I also want to watch this year’s Chunin Exams. Let’s talk after all that, shall we?”

Tsunade frowned impatiently, but still took the script and gave a perfunctory promise, “I’ll look it over later.”

She quickened her pace, leaving the director trailing behind.

The director could only sigh helplessly as he watched her go. Most of her fee had already been paid in advance, and the whole crew was waiting to start, yet Lady Tsunade kept putting things off. Still, there was little he could do—she was the beautiful and noble Princess Tsunade, after all; whatever she did was easily forgiven.

A fragrant breeze swept past.

Tsunade strode by Kisame, full of energy and excitement, clearly eager to reach her destination—she didn’t even notice Kisame’s gaze. After all, men staring at her was nothing new; Tsunade had long grown accustomed to it.

And as for where she was headed, the prominent “Gamble” character on the back of her coat was clue enough.

Making a movie?

Kisame genuinely couldn’t recall Tsunade ever acting in a film.

Though the Hidden Leaf Village was nestled deep in the forests of the Land of Fire, it had become thoroughly modern over the years—computers, televisions, refrigerators, and the like were all commonplace now. In peacetime, the entertainment industry across the ninja world had developed rapidly. Even in the original story, Koyuki Kazahana from the Land of Snow was a famous movie star.

So, Tsunade making a movie was most likely just a way to earn gambling money—or perhaps to pay off her debts.

As for the film’s genre, wasn’t it obvious? Beautiful, blonde, and busty—clearly the heroine of a disaster or horror film.

At that, Kisame shook his head.

He knew that Tsunade’s hemophobia was the result of losing her lover and younger brother in war, leaving her unable to serve as a medical ninja, let alone fight on the battlefield.

So, in recent years, she wandered from country to country, drowning herself in gambling and drink to numb the pain.

Tsunade smoked, drank, gambled, lied, conned people, and even got into fights, but at heart, she truly was a good woman.

Just as Kisame considered himself a good shinobi.

Just then, Kisame noticed the director who had accompanied Tsunade was staring at him intently, muttering under his breath.

Kisame ignored him and went straight back to his hotel.

“That man seems perfect…”

The director had been instantly captivated by Kisame’s appearance and bearing. He was currently preparing to shoot a disaster romance film—the leads had been cast, but he still hadn’t found a suitable actor for the villain.

This guy who looked like a shark clearly didn’t seem the heroic type, and, more importantly, his appearance perfectly matched the antagonist in the script.

But by the time the director snapped out of his thoughts and wanted to talk to Kisame, the man had vanished into the crowd. All he remembered was the Kirigakure forehead protector—he must have been a Hidden Mist ninja.

After returning to the hotel, Kisame didn’t go out again. He rested up, waiting for the Chunin Exams to begin.

A day passed.

At eight in the morning, all the participating Genin from Kirigakure left the hotel on time, heading in groups toward the Chunin Exam arena.

The Chunin Exams had been held for many years and the format was well established. According to the information Kisame had gathered, the rules were almost identical to those in the original story:

The first round was a written test to assess intelligence gathering skills; the second round took place in the Forest of Death, where teams fought for scrolls; and the final round saw the top sixteen compete one-on-one until a champion was decided.

However, only the champion wasn’t guaranteed a promotion—anyone who performed exceptionally or ranked highly during the exams could be chosen to become a Chunin.