Necklace

In the rain.

Tsunade was completely bewildered.

What shocked her even more was yet to come.

Suddenly.

Swish.

Dan extended his left arm from beneath his cloak, parallel to the ground.

That Giant Arm was thicker than Tsunade's thigh, possessing a Middle Deltoid that bulged outward like a tire, a Biceps Brachii as plump as a lotus root, a robust and flared Triceps Brachii, and a forearm as hard as steel.

Perfect lines, a powerful sense of strength.

This arm was an art form of muscle.

The next second, Dan opened his palm, and a blue Crystal Necklace fell down.

This necklace... it looked so familiar.

Tsunade looked down abruptly, seeing her chest was empty, and realized that the necklace she usually wore around her neck had vanished without a trace.

It was in Dan's hand.

This Crystal Necklace was a relic of the First Hokage, containing his sealed Chakra, possessing enough power to suppress the Nine-Tails.

It was one of Tsunade's most cherished treasures.

And now, Tsunade felt a dull pain in her chest; the necklace seemed to have been violently ripped off and taken from her.

"How is this possible?!"

Upon seeing that Crystal Necklace.

Tsunade was finally struck with terror, her mind buzzing, completely unable to comprehend what had happened.

"This is your final warning. If you continue to pester me, I will not show mercy again."

As he spoke, Dan put away the Crystal Necklace, treating it like a trophy.

He was not a man who killed the innocent, and he held no grudge against Tsunade. The previous fight with her was something he had provoked first; the responsibility did not lie with her.

But if she wanted to court death, Dan could only oblige.

"..."

Tsunade remained silent, her gaze fixed firmly on Dan's back. Although she still looked very unconvinced, her body was very honest.

Under Dan's warning, she didn't dare move a muscle.

Several seconds passed.

Under Tsunade's gaze, Dan, who had been facing away from her, finally turned around slowly.

This time, he walked toward Tsunade step by step.

Wherever Dan walked, the rain automatically parted, and not a single drop fell on him.

Gulp.

Tsunade swallowed hard, subconsciously clenching her fists, her eyes unblinking, her entire body tensed to the extreme.

Ten meters, five meters, one meter.

Until they were at zero distance.

In the heavy rain, Dan looked straight ahead, not glancing at Tsunade once, and walked right past her.

In the end, Tsunade didn't dare to make a move. She only stiffly turned her head at that moment, catching a fleeting glimpse of the side of Dan's face beneath his Bamboo Hat.

And, the purple pentagram birthmark below the left side of his neck.

Dan left, disappearing into the rain, disappearing into the depths of the forest.

Tsunade slowly turned her head, no longer able to see Dan's figure or sense his presence.

Thump.

She finally relaxed, collapsing onto the ground, letting the rain continue to lash against her body.

Border of the Land of Fire.

Boom.

In a canyon, accompanied by the explosion of an Explosive Tag, flames soared into the sky.

Just as the Third Hokage had expected, the Hannya Corps of the Land of Forests had betrayed Konoha. After being exposed by Might Guy, a battle broke out between the two sides.

Team Guy's strength was already formidable, not to mention the assistance of Kakashi's Anbu.

Therefore, this battle was one-sided with no suspense, and it ended quickly.

In the clearing.

With a look of horror on Guy's face, Itachi silently held his Ninja Sword, finishing off the fallen enemies one by one. Following a series of shrill screams, not a single one was left alive.

To kill all enemies without mercy—that is the mission of the Anbu.

Might Guy, with his sunny and kind personality, could never do such a thing, but for Itachi, who began killing at the age of four, it had long since become second nature.

Itachi would never forget what he saw when his father took him to the battlefield as a child:

Ninjas from different villages, all wearing the same twisted expressions of death, corpses strewn across the fields, blood flowing like rivers—it was a scene straight out of hell.

At that moment, Itachi's young Inner Heart suffered a violent shock.

It was also from that time that he dreamed of becoming the greatest ninja—the Hokage—so that he could change the world and eliminate war.

And now, a war between the Uchiha and the village seemed imminent.

Itachi calculated the time; if he hurried back now, he should still be able to make it to the Clan Meeting.

Thinking of this, he let out a sigh of relief.

On the way back.

Itachi suddenly spoke up and asked Kakashi:

"Captain, you are not an Uchiha, yet you possess the Sharingan and can use the power of the Uchiha. So, which side do you consider yourself to be on?"

Are you standing with the Uchiha, or with the village?

At this moment, Itachi was not only asking Kakashi, but also asking himself in his heart.

"I have never thought about such a question."

Kakashi shook his head, showing no interest in picking a side, and simply said, "This Sharingan was entrusted to me by a friend. It reminds me never to forget the most important thing: never let your comrades be killed."

Itachi heard this and fell into deep thought.

He had heard before that Kakashi would even kill his own comrades to complete a mission, but it seemed that was not necessarily the case.

However.

Regarding the Uchiha and Konoha, and his own identity and stance, Itachi still felt very lost, having failed to get an answer from Kakashi.

Konoha.

Dan walked into that familiar alley and saw from a distance that the Fitness Gym had opened for business early.

It was just that, as always, there were no customers.

He pushed the door open and entered.

"Gym Director, you're back." Samui's face lit up with joy.

"Did anything happen while I was away?" Dan asked casually.

"No, everything is fine."

"Hmm." Dan nodded.

He had originally thought that after Danzo's attempt to have him killed failed, he might kidnap Samui, his employee, to threaten him, or simply kill her to vent his anger.

It seems Danzo still has some sense of stature, though not much.

After asking his questions, Dan carried the suitcase filled with cash and headed toward his room. But after taking only two steps, he stopped and turned back to ask Samui:

"Is your birthday coming up soon?"

"Yes, it's in three days. Thank you for your concern, Gym Director." Samui bowed.

Dan thought for a moment, took out the Crystal Necklace he had snatched from Tsunade, and handed it to Samui as a birthday gift.

Samui was immediately flattered and hurriedly used both hands to offer the necklace back:

"Gym Director, this is too valuable. I cannot accept it."

She could tell at a glance that the necklace was crafted from rare crystal ore and the workmanship was extremely exquisite.

"I just bought it on the side of the road; it's not worth anything."

Dan made up a reason and, without waiting for Samui to speak, walked away.

He knew this necklace once belonged to Hashirama Senju and contained Wood Style Chakra, which could suppress a jinchuriki.

It was extremely precious.

But Dan also knew that Tsunade had previously given this necklace to her younger brother and her lover, and both of them had died.

The necklace seemed to contain a curse of death.

Dan wanted to know if it was true, so he had an idea and used the excuse of giving a gift to use Samui as an experiment.

In any case, she was a spy from the Cloud Hidden Village; when it came down to it, she wasn't one of his own.

Samui was completely unaware of Dan's sinister intentions.

She walked to the mirror, carefully put on the necklace, and watched the blue crystal sink against her chest, feeling a hint of chill.

She quite liked it.

"Gym Director, he wouldn't actually be trying to pursue me, would he?"

Samui murmured to herself while playing with the necklace, her thoughts momentarily complex.

Thanks to Nanfeng Beima for the 500 Qidian coin tip!