Twenty: Ouch, I'm a dock bull...

With the oppressive poison mist gone, Sakuya felt far less urgency in his movements.

Although residual toxins remained in his body, it was at least far better than the previous situation where every breath taken within the poison circle meant being poisoned.

Sakuya rapidly exhaled fireballs while simultaneously pulling a scroll marked with the character for "sword" from his waist.

As his hand swept quickly across the scroll.

Countless shuriken pierced through the fireballs, transforming into flower-like fire butterflies that slammed into the surrounding enemies.

Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson

The wide-range fire jutsu, resembling a rain of fire, claimed the lives of nearly ten jonin in an instant.

Added to the dozen or so jonin taken out during the earlier slaughter within the city.

Kidoyun had brought a total of just over twenty jonin for this encirclement of Tsunade, and now, after this single charge, only four or five remained.

"Uchiha Sakuya!!"

Watching his subordinates being mowed down by Sakuya like grass, Kidoyun's expression turned ferocious.

Although their Anti-Five Great Nations Alliance had the support of many small nations, the total number of jonin from all those small nations and minor ninja villages combined was only around three hundred.

He had originally thought that bringing nearly thirty of them would make it easy to take down Tsunade, this last descendant of the Senju.

They had even exposed the plans of the Demigod for her sake.

But who would have thought that the jonin he brought would be like leeks before this Uchiha, slaughtered so casually!

While he knew there was a gap between the jonin of small nations and those of the great nations, he had never imagined the gap could be this vast.

Even if he was of the Uchiha Clan, how could a pair of Sharingan be so much more powerful than their clan's Spider Silk Secret Technique?

Was it because he was the biological son of the Sage of Six Paths!?

The more he thought, the angrier he became. While Sakuya was engaged with the others, he spat out another glob of Spider Sticky Gold.

The golden mucus transformed into a bow and arrow in his hands; he bit the tail of the arrow, drawing the bow taut.

He fired it fiercely at Sakuya's back.

Hum---!

The arrow, fueled by hatred, flew straight toward Sakuya's back, but this move was useless—Kidoyun had tried it before.

Uchiha Sakuya acted as if he had eyes in the back of his head, dodging his attacks with ease.

This shot was merely to vent his frustration.

He intended to take his remaining subordinates and flee as soon as he fired it.

But strangely, as the golden arrow shot out, Sakuya did not dodge or evade this time; instead, he used a short blade he had snatched to forcefully hack at the golden arrow, severing it in two.

Strange, why didn't he dodge?

Kidoyun's eyes widened in shock, and then, he looked toward the direction where the golden arrow had been heading.

Tsunade was leaning against a tree in that direction.

She was severely poisoned and could no longer move at all.

If Sakuya had dodged just now, that arrow would have struck Tsunade.

Given Tsunade's current condition, a hit would mean certain death!

I think I've found this Uchiha's weakness!

Kidoyun's mind cleared instantly.

However, if he used Princess Tsunade as bait, he wouldn't be able to capture her alive.

Such a thought existed for only a split second before Kidoyun discarded it.

Either complete the mission and bring Princess Tsunade's corpse back to Amegakure.

Or flee in such a pathetic state; with the news of nearly twenty jonin dying under his command reaching Amegakure, he wouldn't have a good time upon his return either.

The choice was obvious, wasn't it?

Besides, even if he brought back Princess Tsunade's corpse, the researchers in Amegakure could still use it to study the Wood Release bloodline; that was better than bringing back nothing at all!

Thinking of this, Kidoyun put his fingers into his mouth and blew a whistle.

The signal sounded, and the remaining Rain ninja turned their heads in surprise, only to hear Kidoyun roar.

"Follow orders!"

What were they trying to do?

Sensing a change, Sakuya's heart tightened. His Sharingan swept across them, only to find their gazes all fixed on Tsunade.

Could these guys be...

They were insane.

In an instant, he understood their intentions.

Tsunade was the future of Konoha; if nothing went wrong, the seat of the Fourth Hokage would be hers.

If they kill Tsunade here, wouldn't that enrage the entire Land of Fire and all of Konoha?

In the original timeline of the Second Shinobi World War, didn't Hanzo of the Salamander fear killing them? Why now, then...

No, that's not right; the Second Shinobi World War hasn't even officially begun yet.

The reason Hanzo didn't dare kill them in the original story was that he realized the limitations of the Land of Rain during the Second Shinobi World War. He knew that with his power alone, he couldn't pull the Land of Rain off the chessboard of the Five Great Nations. He spared Tsunade and her team so that even if the Land of Rain lost the war, it wouldn't face the insane vengeance of the Land of Fire.

But now, he is full of hot-blooded ambition, dreaming of making the Land of Rain great again. A man like that wouldn't just kill Tsunade; he would likely dare to kill a Daimyo as well.

Damn it!

Even though this is just a simulation, Tsunade is his core mission objective.

If she dies here, the losses will be catastrophic.

Thinking of this, Sakuya no longer conserved his stamina. His movements became wide and aggressive, uncaring even if he left himself open.

He had to protect Tsunade!

He snatched a short blade from an attacking Rain ninja and kicked him away, simultaneously exhaling a dragon of fire.

As the Great Dragon Fire Technique engulfed the ninja, he slashed horizontally, cutting down another Rain ninja lunging at him.

The moment his blade sliced through flesh, Kidoyun pounced, his fists raised high behind him, smashing down toward Sakuya. Sakuya twisted the hilt of his short blade, bracing it against the incoming fists.

As the hilt collided with the knuckles, Sakuya's Sharingan spun violently. He released the short blade with his right hand, pulled out a shuriken, and flung it at another approaching Rain ninja. As the shuriken struck, he hooked his pinky finger, and the wire attached to the shuriken snapped taut.

Uchiha Shuriken Jutsu!

A line of fire erupted from his mouth, racing along the wire toward the enemy. Kidoyun seized this opportunity to pull his remaining hand free, throwing another punch at Sakuya, only to be blocked by Sakuya's short blade once more.

The remaining four Rain ninjas were all cut down by Sakuya in those few seconds, and of the twenty-plus men, only Kidoyun remained.

If he could just wait a few more seconds for the wire to retract, Sakuya would have the opening needed to finish off Kidoyun and end the battle.

But those few seconds were exactly what Kidoyun was waiting for!

Taking advantage of the split second Sakuya was occupied, he spat out adhesive gold, which transformed into a spear and lunged straight for Sakuya's left shoulder. Sakuya instinctively tried to dodge, but the moment he moved, he regretted it.

Directly behind his left shoulder was Tsunade.

"!"

Tsunade, leaning weakly against a tree, widened her eyes as she watched the golden spear spat from Kidoyun's mouth pierce toward her face.

Her pupils dilated, and she instinctively closed her eyes, certain that in the next second, the golden spear would pierce through her skull.

"Puchi--!!"

Scalding liquid splashed onto her cheeks.

There was no pain.

There was no death.

She snapped her eyes open.

A figure, slightly shorter than her but appearing immensely tall at this moment, stood firmly in front of her.

The golden spear had pierced through his left shoulder, the tendons snapping instantly. His entire arm was severed from his torso, spinning through the air until it slammed into a nearby tree with a dull thud.

Yet, even with his arm severed, the figure never took a single step back. He used his right hand to grip the adhesive gold spear, preventing it from advancing any further.

"Saku...ya?"

Tsunade stared at the boy, her gaze dazed.