Tsunade had been weak and helpless because of her hemophobia. Shizune had carried her on her back for a long time, limping all the while, before she finally came to her senses.
She could sacrifice herself to see her late Dan Katō and Nawaki, giving up on herself and throwing her life away. But the truth was, someone was risking everything to save her, and she was dragging down the people who cared about her.
She couldn't drag others into this for her own selfish reasons.
Especially when the last one left fighting was Naruto, the child Minato and Kushina had left behind.
Tsunade couldn't imagine, much less bear, Naruto getting hurt while protecting her.
So she had come back, her eyes covered by a black cloth.
She'd covered her eyes to keep her hemophobia from paralyzing her again.
Shizune, now healed, clung to her back with her legs around Tsunade's chest, guiding her.
Tsunade dropped from the sky, her clothes fluttering around her.
"Naruto, let me treat you." Shizune landed and, looking deeply concerned, took Naruto's bloodied left hand in hers and used the Mystical Palm Technique.
Naruto still looked fierce as he stared straight at Yakushi Kabuto. He managed to keep his voice gentle as he thanked her.
He tensed his arm and slowly pulled his hand away, letting it hang at his side. "My battle isn't over."
"It's over." Tsunade removed her coat with an imposing air, leaving only her gray cardigan. Her voluptuous figure, all curves and muscle, displayed a distinctive beauty born of strength.
She raised her leg and stamped her sandal into the earth. The ground shattered at once, and a lightning-fast fissure shot toward Yakushi Kabuto.
There was nothing flashy about it—just a direct display of terrifying power.
Yakushi Kabuto hopped aside. He knew Tsunade's kick had only been a warning, meant to frighten him into leaving.
He smiled gently. "Lord Tsunade, have you returned to accept our offer?"
As he spoke, his eyes flickered as he studied her.
As far as he knew, Tsunade hadn't fought once since leaving Konoha. Even if she still had her strength and Chakra, she wouldn't be able to bring much of it to bear.
If he could just unwrap her blindfold and cut his wrist, splashing blood across her face, he should be able to render her helpless.
The only ones left would be the weakened Naruto and the maid. They were no threat.
But while Yakushi Kabuto was thinking about how to deal with Tsunade, Naruto, clad in the crimson cloak of the fox demon, had already leaped into the moonlit sky and swung a blood-red Chakra claw down at him.
His eyes were still clear and rational, but beneath his restraint, madness lurked.
Yakushi Kabuto was smashed to pieces, exploding into wood chips. His real body was hidden behind a boulder. "Why are you still so ferocious? Has the fox demon lost control?"
Before he could contact Orochimaru over the radio, Naruto's nose twitched. He instantly pinpointed Kabuto's direction and lunged at him again.
Kabuto hurriedly formed Hand Seals and used the Body Flicker Technique to evade just before the claw split the boulder. Without hesitation, he fled toward Orochimaru.
But Naruto was faster. His speed was sheer, heedless of his exhaustion. "Why are you running? Why are you running! Get back here and keep fighting me!"
The fox's cloak grew larger and larger, until a tail even emerged from it.
As Yakushi Kabuto ran, he tried every trick at his disposal—substitution, the Body Flicker Technique, clones—but Naruto kept his eyes fixed on his real body.
Thud!
Yakushi Kabuto was tackled to the ground. Naruto's clawed cloak pressed down on his back, pinning him so firmly he couldn't get up.
He poured all his Chakra into Yin Healing Wound Destruction, protecting the target of Naruto's next attack: his heart.
But the fierce, merciless crimson claw cloak was too sharp and powerful for his growing cells and flesh to keep up with. It pierced through the Chakra defense and crushed his heart in one squeeze.
Blood streamed across the wild grass among the trees.
His consciousness faded into darkness.
Just then, Orochimaru finally broke free of Jiraiya and arrived beside his corpse.
"Shadow Snake Hand."
Dozens of thick, mottled giant snakes shot from Orochimaru's sleeves and coiled toward Naruto.
Boom!
Blindfolded, Tsunade flashed between them.
With a sweeping punch, she leaned her whole body forward and unleashed tremendous Super Strength, blasting the snake swarm into a spray of poisonous blood and shredded flesh.
Orochimaru's expression was so cold he barely looked human, like a corpse crawling out of a grave. "Tsunade, you'll regret this."
Tsunade fell silent.
Amid swirling smoke, Orochimaru grabbed Yakushi Kabuto's corpse and sank into the earth as if slipping into a pond. "Uzumaki Naruto, I don't want to kill you just yet. Wait..."
A growl-like laugh came from Naruto's throat. "Clown!"
Orochimaru was used to frightening people with his sinister threats, used to seeing fear on their faces. But Naruto had never shown it—not once.
Even back during the Chunin Ninja Exams in the Forest of Death, when he had been pitifully weak as an insect, he had still been so insolent that Orochimaru had ground his teeth.
Only Orochimaru's eyes and black hair above a pale forehead remained above ground. "I'll make you feel real fear. I hope you can keep up the act then."
"Act?" Naruto's face had turned completely black, but he bared all his white teeth in a deeply mocking grin. "What a pathetic prejudice."
Blood vessels bulged in Orochimaru's slit-pupiled eyes as he sank into the earth and fled at full speed. He didn't want to see the little brat for another second.
Until he figured out how to make Naruto suffer and respect him, he absolutely would not speak to that fox brat again. Absolutely!
Shizune cried out anxiously, "Lord Tsunade, check on Naruto!"
Tsunade removed her blindfold. The gore and blood left behind by Yakushi Kabuto filled her vision, making her dizzy again.
She bit her red lip, braced herself against her knees, and turned to Naruto. He looked almost like a black-lined fox wrapped in blood-red Chakra.
She took off the green crystal pendant at her chest, worth three mountains of gold. It was a keepsake from her grandfather, the First Hokage, and contained his special Wood Release Chakra, which could suppress a Tailed Beast.
She'd had a mountain of gambling debts and still hadn't sold it. Now, though, Tsunade approached Naruto without hesitation, meaning to fasten it around his neck.
Naruto instinctively felt repulsed and raised a claw to block her. "Grandma Tsunade, there's no need. I'll be fine once I recover a little."
Inside his mind, the Nine-Tails was roaring furiously, using Naruto's negative emotions to erode his consciousness.
But aside from making him a little less clear-headed and occasionally leaving him wanting to slaughter an entire village, it had no other ill effects.
As a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Naruto could use about seven Kakashis' worth of Chakra, according to Jiraiya's calculations.
But his actual total was a hundred Kakashis' worth. The remaining ninety-three were passively used to suppress the Nine-Tails' seal.
It was like having money in a checking account and a fixed-term deposit.
Naruto had just used up the money in his checking account, then forcibly drawn out too much from the fixed-term deposit, which had caused the Nine-Tails to rampage.
But this level of corruption still couldn't control his body. At most, it left him in an extremely foul mood.
"Put it on if I'm telling you to!" Tsunade pulled Naruto into her arms and squeezed him tightly with her Super Strength, pressing the pendant against his chest as she forcibly fastened the necklace around his neck.
Jiraiya watched with his eyes wide, especially when Naruto struggled in displeasure: the way Tsunade's curves pressed against him, and how quickly they sprang back when she let go.
His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, and his hands even instinctively made a grabbing motion.
The pendant looked like jade, but felt like wood against his skin. A cool sensation seeped into his heart and lungs, then slowly rose toward his brain.
The Nine-Tails' energy weakened. Sleepiness and pain struck at the same time, and Naruto crouched down.
Both his palms were bright red, covered in countless tiny red spots—the marks left behind when Chakra had desperately forced its way through his skin.
Shizune took Naruto's right hand of her own accord and treated it with the Mystical Palm Technique, calm and gentle.
Naruto studied Shizune carefully. "Shizune, you're actually really pretty. Why don't you dress more brightly like Grandma Tsunade? Those clothes and that hairstyle are ruining your looks."
Hearing Naruto's sincere words and seeing the clarity in his bright eyes, Shizune blushed and nodded. "Mm."
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes slightly and weakly walked up to Tsunade. "Tsunade, cough, cough... help me..."
Tsunade looked thoroughly disgusted, but took Jiraiya's wrist and released Chakra.
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