Whoosh!
A figure appeared behind the Reanimated Ninja controlled by Orochimaru and respectfully bowed to him.
"Lord Orochimaru, I've completed the task you assigned me."
Orochimaru replied warmly, "Thanks for your effort. Head to the Land of Fields first. I've made arrangements there."
"Yes!"
Glancing at Shin as he left, Hyuga Hane asked, "You're telling me directly where you're going. Is that an invitation?"
"If you're willing, Hane, you can come after leaving Konoha. You'll be very welcome."
Orochimaru smiled, his figure gradually blurring. "I was worried you'd attack Tsunade to obtain the Fission Technique. It seems I was overthinking it. Until we meet again on the battlefield."
If Orochimaru hadn't stepped in, Hyuga Hane might never have come back...
A cage... Konoha really was a good cage. Birds that didn't want to fly could be kept here.
As Orochimaru disappeared, Hyuga Hane's consciousness gradually withdrew from the Reanimated Body.
If not for Orochimaru, he truly wouldn't have paid any attention to this.
Once certain things began, there was no stopping them.
After this incident, Tsunade would surely push the Hyuga Branch Family to abolish the Caged Bird, so no one would target her and the Hyuga again because of it.
Konoha would become the perfect birdcage and a storage facility for experimental subjects.
And the Fission Technique—Tsunade and Danzo would both hand it over to him.
"Then I'll leave the rest to you, Meigoku. I imagine you want to witness the Main Branch's end with your own eyes. Perhaps it won't be as bad as you think."
Hyuga Meigoku took control of his body again and hurried toward the Hyuga Compound, his expression conflicted.
Over there, the upheaval had begun not long after Tsunade finished demonstrating the Fission Technique to Danzo.
"With all this commotion, Danzo isn't even trying to hide it anymore."
At Konoha's cemetery, Orochimaru heard the rumbling in the distance, shook his head, and walked inside.
Danzo wasn't worried about facing the consequences afterward.
His words were harsh, but the moment he said he would keep Tsunade there, the tone of the battle had already been set.
The Root's growing influence was more than enough to stop Tsunade.
How many years had Tsunade suffered from hemophobia?
More than ten!
And she was a Taijutsu ninja. After ten years without fighting or seeing blood, even if her physical condition had stayed at its peak, her strength would have declined.
As long as he didn't kill Tsunade, Danzo still had room to maneuver. Teacher Sarutobi was sentimental; even if the Fourth Hokage called him to account, he would protect Danzo.
Was that a kind of favoritism?
Then what would you do if I wanted to leave Konoha?
Would you let me go, or kill me?
As he pondered this, Orochimaru arrived at the Second Hokage's grave and gathered information about him. Then he directed the Reanimated Ninja into a coffin and disappeared from the spot.
He had taken the last thing he needed. Now he could focus on what was happening on the battlefield.
"Summoning Technique!"
"Lady Tsunade." Katsuyu's enormous body suddenly appeared after Tsunade summoned her, bursting through the passage between the Root and the outside world. She emerged in Konoha, separating Tsunade from the Root shinobi. "What happened? Is Shizune all right?"
Her gentle voice was like a soothing spring breeze, helping Tsunade recover somewhat from the mental torment of the illusion.
"Shizune's fine. I'll need you to watch over her now."
"Of course, Lady Tsunade."
Katsuyu spoke softly, splitting off a fragment that wrapped around Shizune and quietly carried her away from its rear end.
After sending Shizune away, Tsunade breathed a temporary sigh of relief and glared coldly at Danzo below.
Neither of them wanted to talk. The Yamanaka and Nara shinobi among the Root attacked together, trying to restrain Katsuyu and Tsunade.
Konoha had the resources to hold its own against a powerful opponent like Tsunade.
Tsunade knew that. She dodged the Shadow Possession Technique and Mind Body Switch Technique while fighting the shinobi at the edge of the melee. She had no intention of assuming she could overpower them and charging into their encirclement.
She had seen firsthand how troublesome the secret techniques of Konoha's clans could be when she commanded a front. They could even suppress a Tailed Beast when working together. Fighting the Root alone right now was no good idea.
Katsuyu's enormous body had appeared here. Any shinobi in the village who wasn't blind would have seen her.
Tsunade nimbly dodged the attacks, but Katsuyu's size and slow way of moving left her vulnerable to the Shadow Possession Technique.
Katsuyu froze.
"Lady Tsunade, why are you fighting Konoha's shinobi?"
She'd been focused on Tsunade and Shizune just now. But looking around, weren't these all Konoha shinobi? Was this an internal conflict?
Or had Lady Tsunade defected?
"It's related to the Fission Technique. I'll explain the details later. For now, please help me hold them off."
Tsunade darted between the buildings, dodging more than a hundred Shuriken. When several Taijutsu shinobi closed in around her, she didn't hesitate to slam her fist into the ground.
Crash!
With a sharp crack, the entire street began to tremble. Enormous fissures spread toward the surrounding buildings, and debris erupted everywhere. The shinobi closing in were sent flying.
"All right."
Katsuyu, understanding as ever, stopped asking questions. She split apart, countless fragments emerging from every part of her body and covering the ground in an instant. Then they spat acid at the Root shinobi.
Tsunade was the one who had contracted with her. Konoha's shinobi had nothing to do with her; she had only been friendly with them in the past because of Tsunade. Now there was no need to care.
Katsuyu's movements left the Root shinobi at a loss.
The Sage's Fission Technique had become part of her bodily instincts. Whenever she suffered a fatal injury, she split apart on her own. She was impossible to kill.
The Root shinobi who knew this were at a loss: attacking wouldn't work, but neither would leaving her alone.
"Use the Four Violet Flames Formation!"
Aburame Tatsuma frowned and gave the order.
Eight Jonin stepped forward and formed two Four Violet Flames Formations, but even so, they couldn't trap all of Katsuyu's fragments.
The fragments trapped inside spat liquid at the barrier. When the barrier touched the acid, the two burned against each other, each trying to erase the other. The fragments outside ignored the incoming attacks and kept spitting acid at the shinobi maintaining the barrier.
The eight Jonin felt their Chakra rapidly draining. Seeing the highly corrosive liquid flying toward them, their faces darkened, and they were forced to end the technique.
How had they never realized before that this summoning beast was so troublesome?
She split apart whenever she was struck. Her attacks were simple, but they were powered by Senjutsu Chakra and were extremely corrosive.
Combined with her Chakra, which rivaled a Tailed Beast's, the barriers they had formed would eventually vanish when their Chakra ran out, even if they didn't dodge the incoming acid.
With Katsuyu taking a lot of the pressure off her, Tsunade had time to look for Danzo. She discovered that the instigator had already left the scene, leaving Aburame Tatsuma in charge.
Did he really trust these people to hold her back?
Tsunade's face darkened as she glanced at the first few shinobi she had taken down.
They were Yamanaka and Nara Clan shinobi. Since they were difficult to guard against in the chaos, she had singled them out first.
Some of their masks had also been knocked off, revealing their faces.
They all had Root Seals on their brains, but she knew them. They hadn't been Root shinobi before!
Danzo had forced these people into his service!
How many of the Root shinobi were like them?
Just thinking about it made it impossible for Tsunade to strike to kill. And without doing that, it was difficult to break free of them.
Danzo really had her figured out...
And were the village's shinobi really blind?
Not one of them had come to help yet!
Before you continue