The next day.
Just as expected, Tsunade lost everything.
Uchiha Sōgetsu helplessly covered the shopping expenses and made Tsunade sign an IOU, telling her to repay him after they returned.
However, considering Tsunade's personality, the chances of her actually paying him back were slim to none.
The two changed their appearance again. Uchiha Sōgetsu wore white robes, with tousled black hair, sharp brows, and bright eyes—a handsome young man. Tsunade had changed as well, wearing a white tube top, a dark blue outer robe, and loose wide-legged pants, her long golden hair tied into twin ponytails.
To avoid being recognized, they also used Transformation Jutsu.
From an outsider's perspective, they looked just like a pair of siblings traveling together, without even a hint of being ninjas.
Following the scroll's directions, they finally arrived at the Forest of the Dead near dusk.
Uchiha Sōgetsu stood at the edge of a cliff and looked out. At the bottom of a colossal basin dozens of kilometers wide lay a primeval forest. Towering ancient trees rose from the ground, growing with almost savage abandon. Their lush branches and leaves intertwined, forming a vast green wilderness like a great canopy.
"I never thought I'd return here one day."
As the evening breeze blew against her, a trace of remembrance surfaced in Tsunade's eyes, leaving her quietly sorrowful.
"You've been here before?"
Uchiha Sōgetsu asked.
"Mm, something like that."
Tsunade seemed unwilling to explain. She leaped straight off the cliff.
"Fine." Uchiha Sōgetsu shrugged and jumped after her.
The moment they entered the primeval forest and his feet touched the ground, he was stunned.
"What astonishing life energy!"
Uchiha Sōgetsu said in surprise.
That incomparably vigorous life energy was continuously spilling outward.
It was like a powerful, beating heart. With every forceful pulse, it released astonishing life energy, which then flowed through the earth veins like blood through vessels, delivering nourishment to every corner of the forest.
No wonder the plants and trees here could grow so enormous.
But with such vigorous life energy, there was something strange about this place. Uchiha Sōgetsu fell into thought as he gazed at Tsunade's back ahead of him.
"Hurry up."
Noticing that the person behind her had not followed, Tsunade stopped without turning around. "Don't ask. I don't want to talk right now. Once we reach the sealing site, you'll understand why."
At that moment, the aura of her Ether Body had taken on the deep blue that symbolized melancholy, filled with intense grief.
If I keep asking, I'll probably get punched. Uchiha Sōgetsu temporarily suppressed his doubts and followed Tsunade deeper inside.
As the two gradually advanced, the vegetation and trees became sparse.
In their place were mounds of raised earth, with neither names nor gravestones.
As far as the eye could see, there were at least a hundred such mounds. Those buried within them slept silently in the deepest part of this primeval forest.
And the life energy sustaining the entire forest came from those graves.
It was only then that Uchiha Sōgetsu finally understood.
Why this place had left Tsunade sorrowful and unwilling to explain.
His gaze passed over the raised graves. Amid the silent stillness, he saw a clan crest carved into the cave wall.
Two whirlpool-shaped hollyhock emblems resembled the spreading branches and leaves of a tree.
"The Senju Clan of the Forest's crest."
The moment he saw that crest, Uchiha Sōgetsu understood everything.
No wonder the life energy in this forest was so dense. With so many members of the Senju Clan buried here, how could it not be abundant?
"Sorry. Every time I come here, I'm not in a very good mood." Tsunade's eyelids were lowered, her long lashes trembling as she lightly bit her lips, immersed in an atmosphere of sorrow.
The people buried here had once all been her elders.
Her great-grandfather, second great-grandfather, the uncles who had doted on her, and even her beloved younger brother.
"Lady Tsunade, would you like me to treat you?" Uchiha Sōgetsu adjusted his glasses and asked in the gentlest tone he could manage.
"No need. It's all in the past."
Tsunade took a deep breath, planted her hands on her hips, and put on an indifferent expression. "Besides, kid, do I look like such a fragile woman?"
"Mm, you don't."
He was not flattering her. Uchiha Sōgetsu sincerely believed it.
After all, she had lost her clan, her elders, her family, and her lover one after another, yet she had still stubbornly become one of the Sannin. That alone was enough to prove how strong she was.
"So you can say nice things after all. I thought you only knew how to annoy me." Tsunade was slightly surprised, and her low spirits vanished completely. She shot him a charming glance, her smile radiant as she exuded the allure of a mature woman. "Come on, kid. The sealing site is in there."
The candles along the walls ignited automatically as they entered, illuminating the cave.
By their light, Uchiha Sōgetsu saw an altar-like structure inside, with the pattern of the Eight Trigrams Seal arranged around it.
"Whew, looks like the seal is fine."
Tsunade swept her eyes over it and sighed in relief. Then she turned and teased him, "Come to think of it, the person sealed inside has a bit of a connection to you."
"A connection to me?" Uchiha Sōgetsu frowned.
"Do you know who was sealed in the forbidden grounds of the Senju Clan?" Tsunade looked at the young man with a half-smile, her red lips curving into a seductive arc.
"Could it be someone from the Uchiha Clan?" Uchiha Sōgetsu asked.
Someone connected to him and sealed in the forbidden grounds of the Senju Clan—aside from the Uchiha Clan, he could not think of any other possibility.
"Hahaha, you're pretty smart, kid." Tsunade covered her mouth and chuckled, confirming his answer. "I once heard my great-grandfather mention the person sealed in here. He was a member of the Uchiha Clan and was said to have helped the Uchiha achieve many victories on the battlefield."
"So he was sealed by the Senju Clan?"
Uchiha Sōgetsu asked.
"No, you're wrong, kid."
Hearing this, Tsunade shook her head and said in a low voice, "This person was sealed by the Uchiha Clan. After Konoha was founded, they voluntarily handed him over to the Senju Clan and requested that the Uzumaki Clan's sealing techniques be used to seal him away forever."
"Sealed by the Uchiha Clan?"
For a moment, Uchiha Sōgetsu could not wrap his head around it, his eyes full of confusion. "If he helped the Uchiha win so many battles, why was he sealed? And why was he specifically handed over to the Senju and Uzumaki Clans? It feels like they were..."
"Afraid of that person's power, right?"
Tsunade smoothly finished the rest of his sentence. Gazing at the altar, a trace of confusion also flashed through her eyes. "Actually, I can't be sure either. I asked my great-grandfather when I was little, but he said it was nothing. That person was merely a little troublesome."
That sounds like something the First Hokage would say. Uchiha Sōgetsu's mouth twitched. The man had conquered the world with Wood Release—who had he ever feared?
When in doubt, make a wood clone; clap your hands, and whatever you wanted would come.
Even the Nine-Tails had been like a little chick in his hands, let alone some mere Uchiha.
It wasn't as if he had never beaten one up before, right, Uchiha Madara?
"Since the seal is intact, can we leave now?" Uchiha Sōgetsu said. After all, there were still more than a dozen left.
"Mm, let's go—wait."
Tsunade had been about to say they could leave, but her gaze fell on a spot on the altar. Her delicate brows furrowed. "The Eight Trigrams Seal seems slightly damaged. It's probably because it's so old. I'll go repair it."
As she spoke, she stepped onto the altar, intending to repair the damaged portion of the seal.
Buzz!
Suddenly, his spirit body gave a violent warning.
Uchiha Sōgetsu's Sharingan seemed to sense danger and activated instinctively.
Three black tomoe spun rapidly within his blood-red eyes, clearly reflecting a dark and profound Chakra on the altar. It contained countless grudges and vicious hatred, struggling like a malicious ghost as it surged out through the damaged section of the Eight Trigrams Seal.
"Tsunade, get away from there!"
Thanks to 'Eight Parts Only Supreme' for the tip. Begging for recommendations, Moon Tickets, investments, and bookmarks! I'm short on everything—anything is welcome!
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