Tsunade's Sorrow

Countless Konoha ninja charged through the rain in pursuit of the Sand Ninja, and Senju Nawaki was among them. Senju Nawaki had only recently joined the fighting. With Tsunade, Orochimaru, and the others looking after him, Nawaki had never taken part in particularly dangerous battles.

He had only been sent out when Konoha had nearly completely suppressed Sunagakure and was about to defeat them, allowing him to earn some merit, polish his credentials, and gain some experience. Moreover, his teacher, Orochimaru, was never far from him.

Konoha's momentum was overwhelming, while Sunagakure's defeated forces collapsed like a landslide. Nawaki quickly killed two Sand Ninja Genin. Growing braver with every battle, he charged even faster toward the fleeing Sand Ninja.

"Nawaki, slow down. Don't separate from Konoha's forces, or you'll put yourself in danger," Orochimaru warned as he watched Senju Nawaki charge ahead too quickly.

Hearing this, Senju Nawaki slowed down and followed Konoha's forces as they pursued and killed the Sand Ninja. As more and more Sand Ninja fell beneath his blade, Nawaki became increasingly eager to contribute to Konoha and establish his own achievements. Combined with the battlefield's intense atmosphere of slaughter, which could easily influence anyone, Senju Nawaki unknowingly rushed to the very front of the pursuing force, several positions ahead of the others.

Suddenly, Senju Nawaki vanished from Orochimaru's sight. Orochimaru immediately accelerated after him and finally spotted Nawaki still chasing the Sand Ninja as he disappeared around a bend in the forest. Orochimaru breathed a sigh of relief.

Boom! A tremendous explosion rang out from around the forest bend, followed by a burst of firelight. Orochimaru inwardly cursed, Not good, and rushed over. The moment he saw what had happened, his expression turned incomparably grim.

Senju Nawaki had not been Orochimaru's disciple for long, and they could not be said to share a deep bond. Most of Orochimaru's care for him had been out of consideration for Tsunade. Still, with Nawaki dead like this, Orochimaru would have a hard time explaining it to Tsunade.

"Nawaki, why were you so reckless and impulsive? I clearly warned you. Tsunade said that she and Haotian had warned you too, so why couldn't you remember? Perhaps this was simply your fate." Orochimaru's hoarse voice rang out as he sighed in disappointment.

"Tsunade will probably become estranged from me because I failed to look after this brat... Heh, forget it. The things I intend to do in the future are destined to sever my bonds with them anyway. Perhaps this will make it easier." Orochimaru glanced at Nawaki's body, which had been blown beyond recognition by an Explosive Tag, as other thoughts began to form in his mind.

"Someone, properly collect the body," Orochimaru ordered coldly. As soon as he spoke, several Konoha ninja from the pursuing force stopped and began handling Senju Nawaki's corpse with reverent, admiring expressions.

Orochimaru, meanwhile, charged at full speed after the Sand Ninja ahead. Given his strength and accomplishments, he ordinarily disdained competing with lower-ranking ninja for credit. But his disciple had been ambushed and killed. No matter what, a teacher had to avenge his student. Though he did not think highly of this disciple and had accepted him only for Tsunade's sake, Nawaki had formally become his student. Their relationship had been established.

While Orochimaru went to slaughter the Sand Ninja in fury, Beichen Haotian was also pursuing them. He wanted more merit as well, so he could exchange it for the Eight Inner Gates technique.

However, compared to Senju Nawaki, Beichen Haotian was vastly superior not only in strength, but also in mentality and experience. The atmosphere of the battlefield could not affect his mind at all. Such scenes were far too ordinary to him; even he could not count the number of battles he had gone through across three lifetimes.

Beichen Haotian was also highly experienced. He never strayed from the main force and remained roughly three positions behind the leader of the pursuit. Any danger would not target him first, and with the perception and detection of Observation Haki, he had more than enough time to react if danger arose. On top of that, his overall strength was no weaker than that of an ordinary Jonin. His only weakness was his Chakra reserves. Thus, Beichen Haotian was having an extremely satisfying time in the pursuit, reaping abundant results.

Beichen Haotian roughly calculated that nearly six hundred people had died by his hand since coming to this world. He was not far from reaching the second realm of the Sin Forged Blade Technique—the Thousand Man Slayer. Once he reached the Thousand Man Slayer realm, this ordinary Ninja Sword would be tempered until it was no inferior to any blade wielded by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

Then it would be time to gather top-grade forging materials, reforge this blade, and give his personal sword a name. Beichen Haotian already had some ideas regarding the materials. They had to be the finest materials in the Naruto World; otherwise, the blade would not be able to contain its immense killing intent in the future.

The minor completion stage of Beichen Haotian's self-created Sin Forged Blade Technique was the Hundred Man Slayer, while its major completion stage was the Thousand Man Slayer. As for a perfect realm? It did not exist in Beichen Haotian's conception. Once the second realm was surpassed and the third realm was reached, the blade would gain special abilities. The reason the third stage was called Slay All Life was that all living beings were endless and could never be completely slain. Since they could never be completely slain, there would naturally never be a day of perfection, and the blade's potential would be limitless.

The pursuit lasted until dusk the next day. Only after driving Sunagakure out of the Land of Rain and chasing them for another hundred li did Konoha withdraw its forces. Naturally, the defeated side would be extorted, but that was not something Beichen Haotian needed to consider. The higher-ups could worry about it themselves.

Beichen Haotian dragged his exhausted body back to Konoha's camp, where he heard the news of Dan Katō and Senju Nawaki's deaths.

Sure enough, history won't change so easily because of a few words. They still couldn't escape their fate? Beichen Haotian sighed inwardly.

After sighing, Beichen Haotian recovered. His feelings toward the two men were shallow, and his sigh was merely for their deaths at such young ages.

Forget it. I'll hold on a little longer and go see Sister Tsunade. She must be suffering terribly right now. Orochimaru and Jiraiya's ability to comfort people leaves much to be desired.

Having made up his mind, Beichen Haotian dragged his weary body along, asked where Tsunade and the others were, and headed over.

In truth, if Beichen Haotian had truly wanted to save the two of them, it was not as though he had no way. He simply did not value them highly, and they were not important to him. Therefore, he could not be bothered to go through so much trouble and risk changing the future.

After walking for several minutes, he arrived before a small wooden house. He happened to see Tsunade emerge from it with a haggard face and red, swollen eyes. Orochimaru and Jiraiya stood beside her, while Jiraiya softly said something that seemed intended to comfort her.

"Sister Tsunade, I heard about Nawaki and Dan. It is difficult to bring back the dead. The departed are gone, but the living must remain strong and continue onward. You are not alone. You still have me, Lord Orochimaru, Lord Jiraiya, the Third Hokage, and all of Konoha with you."

"I believe Dan and Nawaki would not want you to remain immersed in grief every day. When loved ones pass away, we should grieve—that is what makes us human—but we cannot drown ourselves in sorrow. What they would want to see is still the usual carefree and happy Sister Tsunade. More than that, they would want to see you fulfill the dreams they left unfinished."

After considering his words, Beichen Haotian spoke to comfort her. He did not dare say that the dead could not be resurrected, because in the Naruto World, there were simply too damn many cases of the dead returning to life. If he said it, he would only be proven wrong later.

Hearing his voice, Tsunade raised her slightly lowered head. Her swollen red eyes looked at Beichen Haotian, and she forced out a smile. Her voice was hoarse, no longer carrying its former vigor.

"Haotian, you're alive? That's wonderful. I thought all of you would leave me too."

Seeing Tsunade like this, Beichen Haotian could not help feeling a faint ache in his heart. This was probably the most fragile and helpless period of Tsunade's life.

"Sister Tsunade, you have to be strong. You are the granddaughter of the First Hokage, the direct disciple of the Third Hokage, and one of Konoha's Sannin, whose name shakes the Ninja World. Could something like this truly break you? I don't believe it."

"Don't worry. Just as you said, I, Tsunade, will not be broken by this. I simply cannot accept it for now. Once this war is over and I return to Konoha to handle a few matters, I'll take Dan's niece, little Shizune, and travel through the Ninja World to clear my mind. I no longer wish to involve myself in conflicts between ninja."

"All right. As long as you can think it through, that's enough. No matter what others think, I respect Sister Tsunade's decision and support it."

"All right, leave. I want to be alone for a while."

Jiraiya was about to speak, but Beichen Haotian stopped him with a glance.

"Trust Sister Tsunade. Is the Tsunade you know really the type to lose hope and take her own life?"

Orochimaru decisively shook his head. After pausing for a moment, Jiraiya shook his head as well.

"Then that settles it. Sister Tsunade, stay by yourself for a while. Once you've thought things through, come find me. I have some top-grade ingredients and fine wine stored away, just in time to help you recover your strength. I'm leaving, Sister Tsunade."

Beichen Haotian turned and left. Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and several other ninja followed him. After they had taken a few steps, Tsunade suddenly called out, "Haotian, after we return to Konoha, move into my home. That house is so large, and with Nawaki gone, it will feel far too empty with only me there."

Beichen Haotian turned around with a smile. He placed his left hand over his chest, held his right hand behind his back, and gave a deep bow. "A beauty has invited me. It would be my greatest honor. How could I refuse?"

Tsunade was amused by his words and laughed as she scolded, "You little brat, acting so grown-up. What does someone your age know about beauties? Go on, get out of here. Stop getting in my way."

Beichen Haotian laughed heartily and turned to leave. As Tsunade watched the retreating figures of Beichen Haotian, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and the others, warmth slowly rose in her heart. I haven't lost everything yet.

After they had moved away from the wooden house, Jiraiya gave Beichen Haotian a hard slap on the back and laughed loudly. "Haotian, you really are something. Orochimaru and I comforted Tsunade for so long with little effect, but the moment you arrived, you solved more than half of it."

Orochimaru nodded slightly in agreement.

"Ah, Lord Orochimaru is usually so cold. I never imagined he would comfort someone. I can't even picture that scene," Beichen Haotian teased.

"You little brat, you even dare tease me? Do you believe I'll kill you?" Orochimaru said, pretending to be angry.

Beichen Haotian was not afraid at all, because he could not sense even a trace of killing intent from Orochimaru. It was obvious that he was joking. Beichen Haotian had become fairly familiar with the two of them by now. Still, he needed to give Orochimaru a way out.

"All right, all right, Lord Orochimaru, I was only joking. The war is nearly over. Would you two like to have a few drinks with me to celebrate its end?"

"Drinking again? Kid, why do you like drinking so much? You're still growing," Jiraiya said.

"Tch, does sake even count as alcohol? It's barely better than plain water. One day, I'll let you taste the secret formula I developed. That will count as real alcohol. The little bit of alcohol in sake cannot do the slightest harm to the body. Give me a straight answer—are you coming or not?"

"Of course we're going. Only an idiot would turn down free food and drinks, right, Orochimaru?" Jiraiya hurriedly replied as though refusing would mean suffering a huge loss.

Orochimaru nodded.

"Then let's go. Oh, should we invite Minato?"

"You're quite loyal, kid. But forget him. He can join us for food, but not for drinks. His physique is much weaker than yours."

"All right, you're older, so you make the call."

The three gradually disappeared into the distance beneath the evening drizzle.

Thanks to Yiye Zhiqiu, Qingyi Zhanyu Zui Hongchen, Qingwen Jiujian, Zhuhán Wàndāndàn, Old Wang Living on the Fifth Floor, Baby Salamander, Dragon, and Today's Wind Is Really Noisy for the recommendation votes!