The Shinobi World's Number One Healer

The Land of Grass's hinterland.

On a large bridge, Jiraiya and Orochimaru hid in the surrounding woods, maintaining vigilance and preparing for any unexpected events.

Meanwhile, on the bridge, Tsunade stood with her arms crossed, exuding a heroic and spirited aura. Her expression was calm as she spoke:

"Are you the leader of Kusagakure? We from Konoha received intel that a unit from Iwagakure, disguised as our Konoha ninja, is preparing to attack Kusagakure and frame us for..."

Tsunade spoke calmly, looking at a masked ninja opposite her, while taking out a brown-green intelligence scroll.

The masked leader of Kusagakure remained silent, then said in a hoarse voice:

"You great nations are always full of talk about benevolence and righteousness, yet behind the scenes, you're all about burning, killing, and looting. Konoha and Iwa are setting the Land of Grass ablaze with war, and now you claim to be acting in our best interest?"

Facing these accusations, Orochimaru, hidden in the woods, watched with a cold, unperturbed gaze. Jiraiya, however, fell silent.

Tsunade, who was on the bridge exchanging intelligence, simply snorted coldly:

"Is this your first day living in the Shinobi World? It's like this everywhere. If the great nations bully your Land of Grass, don't you also bully weaker countries?"

"We are all ninja. Even in our great nations, we cannot guarantee our own peace in this Shinobi World. It's hard enough to just manage ourselves!"

Having grown up in a family of Hokage, Tsunade's perspective was far broader than that of ordinary people. The history of the Senju Clan alone was a thick volume of war.

She wasn't a Sage; she could only do what she could do, ensuring the stability and peace of her own country.

The ninja opposite Tsunade let out a hoarse, self-mocking laugh at her stern reprimand.

"Just like Princess Tsunade, this world has always belonged to the strong. So, can this intelligence earn me Princess Tsunade's friendship!"

At the bridge's edge, both threw their scrolls simultaneously, choosing to exchange intelligence.

However, upon opening the scroll, Tsunade's pupils contracted. The next moment, the intelligence scroll spontaneously combusted, turning to ash in the wind.

The leader of the Land of Grass sighed inwardly. Kusagakure didn't want to be a fence-sitter, but they had no choice.

Iwagakure wanted to use them, but he couldn't bear the consequences of angering Konoha.

Therefore, he could only play both sides, just to buy Kusagakure some breathing room.

"I understand."

Tsunade feigned ignorance, letting out a hearty laugh. However, she secretly signaled Orochimaru and Jiraiya.

[Danger! Ambush!]

Just as they were about to turn and leave, over a dozen ninja unique to Iwagakure, with their distinctive half-sleeved red arms, suddenly appeared in the distance.

"Haha, thank you, leader of Kusagakure! We from Iwa have surrounded this place. Let's kill these Konoha ninja together!"

BOOM!

The moment the Iwa ninja appeared, a flicker of shock crossed Tsunade's eyes, while the leader of the Land of Grass was filled with terror.

"Didn't you say it would be three days later!"

As he spoke, the leader of Kusagakure instantly realized everything. He had been tricked by Iwagakure.

From beginning to end, Iwagakure had never trusted him; they were merely using him.

"Withdraw!"

Tsunade reacted faster. The instant the Iwa ninja appeared, she let out a fierce roar and slammed her fist into the bridge.

Monster Strength Punch

RUMBLE!

Under the terrifying monster strength, the solid concrete bridge instantly began to collapse. Tsunade coldly shouted:

"Iwagakure has surrounded this place, break through quickly!"

Just then, the distinct cry of Konoha's messenger hawk echoed from the sky!

Simultaneously, the intelligence fell into the hands of Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya.

"Damn it! The intel is only arriving now!"

Upon seeing the intelligence, Tsunade cursed under her breath, immediately burned it, and fled into the woods without looking back.

Jiraiya and Orochimaru also knew that something major had happened. They immediately adopted a three-man combat formation and began to retreat rapidly.

"There are traps in the woods. We can only delay them for so long; we must break through immediately!"

Orochimaru was the calmest. Since Iwagakure had set all this up, their encirclement was naturally complete. All they had to do was break out as quickly as possible.

As for fighting head-on?

The ninja force Iwagakure had sent this time numbered over a thousand.

"I, the Great Toad Sage, haven't made a name for myself in the Shinobi World yet. How could I possibly fall here?"

Jiraiya, who was sprinting, suddenly let out a hearty laugh. His gaze was resolute as he shouted towards the distance:

"Let me, the Great Toad Sage, lead you through this encirclement and become the heroes of Konoha's new era!"

Looking at the comical Jiraiya, Orochimaru didn't have time to call him an idiot. With the tacit cooperation of the Sannin, Orochimaru had already completed the hand seals.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya, leading the charge, leaped high into the air, forming a tacit understanding with Orochimaru.

Fire Style: Fire Dragon Bullet

Wind Style: Great Breakthrough

Jiraiya and Orochimaru unleashed their ninjutsu simultaneously. Under the terrifying amount of chakra, flames instantly surged like a ferocious fire dragon, its power dramatically increasing under the gale.

Under the terrifying torrent of fire, a large swathe of the forest ahead was instantly engulfed.

"Ah!"

Terrified screams echoed from within the sea of fire, along with the sounds of ninjutsu being released.

As the flames raged, Tsunade, with her calm demeanor, used sound to pinpoint the source of the abnormal ninjutsu release. She then threw kunai, held between her ten fingers, with lightning speed.

Swish! Swish!

Under the dense barrage of kunai, combined with their terrifying force, the air itself seemed to tear. These kunai were also attached with explosive tags.

The next moment, the rumbling explosions of the explosive tags echoed endlessly within the sea of fire.

As the sea of fire dispersed, the kunai and explosive tags were deeply embedded in the unique Earth Style defensive ninjutsu of Iwagakure. The explosive tags detonated.

This blew open a gap in the Earth Style defense, and the terrifying sea of fire poured in. The ninjas inside could only let out terrified screams before being instantly engulfed by the flames, turning into charred corpses.

The combined strength of Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade, along with their seamless cooperation, was terrifying, capable of threatening Kage-level experts.

In just a moment, Iwagakure suffered significant losses. Without any hesitation, the three quickly continued their breakout.

"Damn it, this is a trap!"

Jiraiya, usually so carefree, was now incredibly serious, unleashing terrifying ninjutsu incessantly.

Orochimaru, decisive and cold, shouted:

"Don't hold back on chakra, break through and get out first!"

If they conserved chakra now and were surrounded, even double their chakra wouldn't be enough.

Summoning Technique

Tsunade directly summoned three Katsuyu. Two of them quickly burrowed into the armor of Orochimaru and Jiraiya.

It had to be said, Tsunade truly lived up to her reputation as the ninja world's number one cow! Cough! Healer!

Thank you all for your support. I'll be waiting to see on Friday if we can successfully advance. There are too many strong books debuting at the same time.