Really, the Last Time

Over the course of three days, the four of them had eliminated five outposts.

The mission had gone quite well. They had wiped out a total of twenty-seven Kumogakure ninja.

Most had been Genin and Chunin, with only two Jonin among them.

But for a squad on its first mission, it was already a miraculous achievement.

Night fell.

There was no light at all.

The four of them lay wrapped in sleeping bags, but none of them were asleep.

They were setting a trap.

Around dusk, Tsunade had noticed someone tracking them.

But the tracker was skilled, and she had been unable to locate them.

Natsume and the others had been active in the area for three days. No matter how foolish Kumogakure was, they would have noticed something.

So no one was surprised that they had been discovered.

Instead, Tsunade was confident in her abilities and bold enough to give them an opportunity to launch a sneak attack.

Natsume glanced at Kabuto Yakushi and Shizune, who were not far away.

The four of them were inside a large tent, spread out around its edges.

He shifted over beside Tsunade.

"What is it?"

Tsunade opened her eyes and asked.

"Nothing."

Natsume whispered, "I just wanted to be close to my big sister."

As he spoke, he leaned against her shoulder, pressing his cheek to hers.

Tsunade was slightly startled. Her gaze instinctively went to Kabuto Yakushi and Shizune as she said, "They'll notice."

"They won't. The two of them have their eyes closed and are pretending to sleep. As long as we don't make too much noise, it'll be fine."

Natsume moved even closer instead.

Tsunade sighed inwardly, somewhat helpless, but said nothing more. She quietly enjoyed this moment of peace.

Along with the tension and thrill of possibly being discovered at any moment.

Because of that, she stayed on guard almost the entire time.

She was wary not only of an enemy attack, but also of Kabuto Yakushi and Shizune noticing.

Tsunade felt that she had never been this focused even when facing Hanzō of the Salamander, the demigod of Amegakure.

No, that wasn't right!

She had clearly intended to keep her distance from Natsume, so how had things turned out like this?

Tsunade, Tsunade, how could you fall so far?

He was just a child and didn't understand, yet you were going along with his nonsense.

Looking at Natsume's delicate little face in the darkness, Tsunade could not bring herself to push him away.

Forget it. Just one last time. This really would be the last time.

Next time, she absolutely could not be so intimate with him.

Otherwise, what would happen in the future?

Natsume would eventually grow up, get married, and have children.

And she was only his adoptive mother and older sister.

As Tsunade thought about it, she reached out as if possessed and stroked Natsume's cheek.

Since it was the last time, could she be a little more indulgent?

Just then, lightning flashed across the sky.

Tsunade's expression turned ugly.

Natsume immediately rose and formed hand seals.

Water Style: Water Wall!

Chakra surged into the ground, and a wall of water rose up moments later.

The lightning struck, illuminating the surroundings as it pierced through the water wall.

"Careful."

Natsume retreated.

Though the water wall had not lasted even a second, it was enough for them to react.

Kabuto Yakushi immediately tossed down a smoke bomb, concealing the figures of all four of them.

But in the next instant, Tsunade launched herself forward and charged out.

Under the moonlight, Natsume saw the expression on her face. She seemed extremely angry.

He froze for a moment, somewhat unable to understand why.

"There are eight of them. Two of their chakra signatures are rather unusual—they should be jonin."

After finishing his reconnaissance, Kabuto Yakushi immediately spoke.

"It seems Kumogakure still doesn't know Lady Tsunade's identity."

As Shizune revealed the hidden weapons on her right arm, she analyzed, "If they did, there would be more people."

The moment she finished speaking, a tremendous roar came from outside.

Those familiar with Tsunade understood that it was Monster Strength.

"Sensei has already engaged them."

Chakra blades lit up in Kabuto Yakushi's hands as he said, "Sensei seems a little irritable today."

Natsume raised an eyebrow without speaking and had already rushed out.

Not far away, Tsunade was fighting two opponents alone and held the upper hand.

The other six had formed an encirclement.

Because of the smoke bomb, they could not see their targets clearly for the moment, but that did not hinder their actions.

The instant Natsume appeared, their ninjutsu took shape once more.

Lightning flickered and spread rapidly.

Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!

After Natsume formed hand seals, a water dragon appeared out of thin air and flew into the lightning, immediately scattering it in all directions.

Shizune raised her right arm, and several poisoned needles shot toward the enemies through the night.

With Natsume drawing their attention from the front, almost no one noticed her movements.

A few seconds later, a scream rang out.

The poisoned needles had struck.

One Kumogakure ninja had almost no time to react. The poison killed him the instant it entered his blood.

As the saying went, masters of antidotes were often masters of poison.

Tsunade was the same.

Very few people could cure the poisons she prepared.

"Be careful, these aren't ordinary genin!"

The remaining Kumogakure ninja immediately became vigilant.

As ninja, they all carried Antidote Pills on them.

But the chunin who had just died had not even had time to take his medicine before collapsing.

That showed this poison was anything but ordinary.

The smoke slowly began to disperse.

Kabuto Yakushi tossed out another black pellet, identical to the previous smoke bomb.

Naturally, the Kumogakure ninja were no pushovers either.

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!

A chunin spat out a gust of wind, intending to blow away the smoke.

But when the pellet exploded, it was not smoke, but explosive tags.

Boom!

Flames flickered in the night.

"You despicable bastards!"

The furious cries of the Kumogakure ninja were drowned out by the explosion.

Kabuto Yakushi paid it no mind as his body vanished.

The explosive tags had already thrown the Kumogakure ninja's formation into disarray.

He quickly appeared behind one of them.

The Chakra Scalpel, a Medical Ninjutsu meant to save lives, became a deadly weapon in his hands.

And it was far more precise than ordinary ninjutsu.

It took lives in an instant, leaving no room for resistance.

Natsume was not idle either.

Water Style: Water Bullet Barrage!

Water streams like bullets burst from his hands, suppressing the Kumogakure ninja one wave after another.

During the gaps, Shizune also hurled poisoned needles in coordination.

If they managed to evade them all, Kabuto Yakushi would make his move.

This was the tacit understanding the three had developed—or rather, their squad's method of coordinated combat.

In less than a few minutes, all six Kumogakure ninja had been eliminated.

Of course, the main reason was that they were simply too weak. Not one of them was a jonin.

Meanwhile, the two jonin from Kumogakure were fighting in utter frustration.

Each of the Five Great Villages had its own distinctive ninjutsu.

Kumogakure's specialty was Nintaijutsu.

In particular, the Lightning Release Chakra Mode of the Raikage lineage was unrivaled in the Shinobi World.

The Fourth Raikage had even relied on it to rival Minato Namikaze's godlike speed, evade Sasuke Uchiha's Amaterasu, and was known as the second-fastest man in the Shinobi World.

Though these two jonin could not compare to the Fourth Raikage, they were not far behind.

Whether in speed or strength, empowered by Nintaijutsu, they could instantly kill ordinary jonin before they had time to react.

But they had encountered Tsunade.

She was no slower than them, while her strength surpassed theirs by far.

Her attacks came one after another. They could only dodge, utterly unable to fight back.

Tsunade was in a terrible mood. These bastards had ruined her good time.

She clenched her fist as a massive amount of chakra gathered within it.

Weaving through the fists whistling toward her from every direction, she accurately struck the ninja on the left in the abdomen.

The overwhelming force tore him apart on the spot.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

"What?!"

The surviving Kumogakure ninja was horrified.

She could actually become even faster and stronger?

But Tsunade did not hesitate. Her second punch came crashing down.

No matter how strong his physique was, he could not withstand this punch filled with her fury.

Natsume hurried out and froze when he saw the grisly scene.

As expected of Tsunade.

Aside from Medical Ninjutsu, her taijutsu was incredibly formidable as well.

Tsunade's anger subsided, and she noticed her surroundings. She had gone a bit too far.

Then she saw Natsume and felt a sudden panic in her heart.

He doesn't think I'm a brutal person, does he?

Tsunade instinctively wiped her hands, but there had been too much blood spraying everywhere just now. Her clothes were covered in it, so wiping was pointless.

"Big sister, the battle is already over."

Natsume walked over. Seeing what she was doing, he said, "We have time now. Go find somewhere to take a bath and change your clothes."

His tone was fairly calm.

Tsunade let out a breath of relief and nodded. "Let's leave first."