Destiny!

Events were already moving toward a situation they could no longer control.

Faced with more and more Rock Village ninja, Tsunade and Orochimaru knew things had become troublesome.

Because the Slug clone that had come was small, it did not have much deterrent force, and it was too slow! On top of that, its abilities were mainly focused on healing and support.

It could only spit the few offensive ninjutsu it had, Corrosive Slime, at the enemy, dealing damage that was not particularly high.

It was not that it had no effect, but its effect was indeed limited.

Orochimaru's snakes were still decent and did help the situation somewhat, but in terms of strength and damage, they were far inferior to Manda and could not crush the battlefield.

"Whoosh!" A bright red flare shot into the sky. This was Konohagakure's highest-grade Signal Flare for Reinforcements.

Its main function was to reveal their position and notify nearby Konohagakure ninja on missions to come provide support.

All Konohagakure ninja who saw it would abandon every mission and rush to reinforce them.

Orochimaru had fired it. He sensed something was wrong, felt that something was off, and made a wise decision.

The eight Rock Village Jonin did everything they could to hold them back, which also made things troublesome for Tsunade and Orochimaru, who were only a short distance away.

Under normal circumstances, even facing this many Jonin, the two of them were confident they could defeat or even kill them, but that would require time!

And right now, time was exactly what they lacked most!

Nawaki and the others were being surrounded and killed by three elite squads, and who knew how many more Rock Village ninja nearby were coming to support them.

Although most of them came to join the effort to block the two of them, there were still some charging toward Nawaki and the others.

For a time, a distance of barely more than a hundred meters formed two battlefields.

The few short minutes of fighting were exceptionally intense!

"There's no time, Orochimaru! Buy me an opening. I'll charge through, or it'll be too late!"

Seeing Nawaki injured again from afar, Tsunade tried to force her way through the blockade, but was once more blocked back by the Rock Village ninja.

"Summoning: Dense Python Technique!" Orochimaru also knew the situation was critical. He quickly formed hand seals, slapped both hands to the ground, and released surging Chakra.

Hundreds of thousands of snakes were summoned out, sweeping toward the Rock Village ninja like a tide!

The endless snake tide was not only vast in number, but every one of them was venomous!

It was currently one of Orochimaru's trump cards, and was best suited to provide cover for Tsunade.

The Rock Village ninja were also caught off guard by this move. Its range was too large!

Many weaker support ninja died, and the eight Rock Village Jonin were also left in a sorry state.

Tsunade seized the opportunity to break through the blockade and quickly rushed toward Nawaki not far away.

"Water Style, Water Dragon Bullet!" After closing the distance, Tsunade formed hand seals with both hands and unleashed a water dragon several dozen meters long, sending it straight at the Rock Village ninja surrounding and attacking Nawaki.

Seeing that Nawaki and the others were about to fail to hold out under the Rock Village ninja's assault, while her Taijutsu could not reach them in time, Tsunade immediately released a long-range offensive ninjutsu.

Tsunade did know ninjutsu. It was just that most of the time, she fought enemies with Taijutsu, which made people think she was not skilled at it.

The Rock Village ninja could only dodge, giving Nawaki, Kazuya, and the others a chance to catch their breath.

Fortunately, Tsunade had arrived. Otherwise, in less than ten seconds, all of them would have died!

Every one of them was covered in wounds. Nawaki's body in particular was smeared with blood, one arm was crippled, his back had been cut, and there was also a penetrating wound in the left side of his chest.

Thankfully, his vitals had not been hit.

Seeing everyone's injuries, Tsunade did not dare delay. She hurriedly had the palm-sized Slug clones that had come along on her shoulders treat them.

If this dragged on any longer, the bleeding alone could kill them.

Including the Jonin captain Kazuya, their squad was basically unable to fight anymore. Their injuries were too severe!

If not for their willpower supporting them, they might not have lasted until Tsunade's reinforcements arrived.

However, even after Tsunade arrived, the situation did not improve. Instead, it became even worse!

The Rock Village ninja who had dodged the ninjutsu attack surrounded them again and attacked, giving Tsunade no chance to heal them at all.

Because Nawaki and the others, who had lost their fighting strength, had already become a burden to Tsunade. She not only had to deal with the Rock Village ninja's attacks, but also had to split her attention to protect them.

On top of that, the Rock Village ninja who had been blocking them earlier also split off two Jonin, leading the teams that had come to support them into the encirclement and killing assault!

Orochimaru could not get away for the time being either. Six Rock Village Jonin were still leading teams to block him.

The situation became even more severe!

Once a person had a weakness, they became easier to attack.

For Nawaki's sake, Tsunade could only make a decision that went against her principles.

She would give up protecting the other few Konohagakure ninja so she could deal with the difficult situation that followed.

The Rock Village Jonin had not expected that this hunt would actually draw in two big fish!

Earlier, when they accepted the mission, they had found it strange. To kill just one young man, eight Jonin had actually been mobilized together.

Now, they understood.

If they could eliminate two of the Sannin here, it would be an enormous benefit to the village, and they would gain supreme glory as well!

So they fought especially desperately.

More than twelve Rock Village squads had already appeared on the battlefield, along with another eight Jonin!

Although some ninja had died beneath Orochimaru's Manda Array, most of them had been weaker ninja.

Several Jonin had also been injured during the fighting, but none of their wounds were fatal.

Taken together, there might have been more than ten Rock Village Jonin on the battlefield!

Even Tsunade and Orochimaru, fighting with everything they had, were in extreme danger on a battlefield like this.

If they wanted to flee, the enemy might not be able to stop them.

But if it became a fight to the death, that was another matter—especially with burdens in tow.

Less than five minutes had passed since the Rock Village had closed the net and opened battle, yet so many ninja reinforcements had already arrived!

It almost made Orochimaru and Tsunade think this was a trap set specifically for them.

"We have to regroup with Tsunade. Their teamwork is flawless. Once they're separated, they risk being picked off one by one."

"And Tsunade probably can't protect Nawaki on her own."

Orochimaru's analysis of the situation was extremely clear.

He only hoped the Konohagakure ninja who saw the signal could arrive in time to support them.

Otherwise, today would likely be dangerous!

Tsunade would never abandon her younger brother, even at the cost of her own life!

Orochimaru understood her too well. Nawaki was her fatal weakness.

Fighting to the death was not wise! Finding a way to escape as soon as possible was what mattered most!

The fierce battle was still raging, but Tsunade was far too passive, and wounds had begun appearing on her body!

Because Tsunade had abandoned them, Kazuya, Chiku, and Yuta were killed one after another.

Seeing his comrades die, and seeing his sister injured and pushed into crisis because she was protecting him, Nawaki only now gained a deeper understanding of war.

"Sis, leave me behind. Otherwise, you won't be able to get away either." He did not want to become his sister's burden.

As a ninja, he had that resolve.

In truth, if Nawaki had been able to form a contract with the Wet Slime Forest, he could have used the Reverse Summoning Technique to escape. Unfortunately, the Great Slug Sage had not accepted him.

Tsunade did not know why either.

She had once asked the Great Slug Sage about it, but had received no answer.

As for Ryūchi Cave, he was still in the testing period.

Because of that, Nawaki had no way to use the Reverse Summoning Technique to run.

If he forced it, he would most likely die. Not everyone was Jiraiya.

"What nonsense are you saying? You're my little brother. How could I possibly abandon you!" Tsunade punched a Rock Village ninja back, her tone utterly resolute!

Tsunade had also realized that she could not protect Nawaki by herself, so during the battle, she kept bringing Nawaki closer to regroup with Orochimaru.

But in the end, she was still one step too late!

The Rock Village ninja saw through their plan and attacked Nawaki like madmen.

Tsunade failed to block one of them, and a Kunai carrying an Explosive Tag lodged itself in Nawaki's chest!

Boom! The Explosive Tag exploded instantly.

"Nawaki!" Tsunade's heart-rending cry spread across the entire battlefield.

Senju Nawaki had still ended up walking the old path.

"I'll make you all die!" Tsunade gave up on all defense and began trading injury for life indiscriminately, instantly inflicting heavy damage on the Rock Village ninja.

Orochimaru also unleashed his full strength, trading wounds for lives as he killed three Rock Village Jonin.

At the critical moment, two nearby Konohagakure squads out on missions arrived to reinforce them!

Seeing the out-of-control Tsunade and the vicious Orochimaru, the Rock Village ninja found them even harder to deal with now that there were no longer any restraints.

Added to the Konohagakure ninja who had come to support them, they saw that the situation was no longer workable and promptly retreated.

"Nawaki! You have to be okay!" After the Rock Village ninja withdrew, Tsunade immediately dragged her blood-soaked body over, trembling and covered in tears, constantly using Medical Ninjutsu on Nawaki, whose Internal Organs had already been blown out.

Orochimaru hurried over as well. In his view, Nawaki was basically beyond saving!

"Cough, cough... Sis! Stop. I'm done for. Teach... teacher, please take more care of my sister from now on. I... I hope she can live happily."

At the final moment of his life, Nawaki spoke his last words.

"Tsunade, hurry and take out the scroll Elder Shin gave you!" Orochimaru suddenly thought of something and spoke.

Tsunade also remembered what Hyuga Shin had said back then and hurriedly took out the scroll and opened it.

This was her last hope.

Poof! A cloud of smoke rose, and Hyuga Shin made a dazzling entrance!