With the pressure of the poison mist gone, Sakuya could fight with a little less urgency.
There was still some poison in his body, but at least it was far better than before, when even breathing inside the poisonous cloud had meant taking in more poison.
Sakuya quickly spat out a fireball, while pulling a scroll marked with the character for "sword" from his waist.
As his hand swiftly swept across the scroll,
countless shuriken shot through the fireball, transforming into fiery butterflies like flowers and crashing into the enemies around him.
Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson
This wide-area Fire Release Ninjutsu, like a rain of fire, claimed the lives of nearly ten jonin almost instantly.
That was on top of the dozen or so jonin he had already taken down in the fighting inside the city.
Kidoyun had brought just over twenty jonin to surround Tsunade this time. After that single onslaught, only four or five remained.
"Uchiha Sakuya!!"
Watching Sakuya cut down his subordinates one by one like grass, Kidoyun's face twisted with rage.
Although their alliance against the Five Great Nations had the help of many small countries, all the small nations and minor shinobi villages together had only a little over three hundred jonin.
He had thought that bringing nearly thirty of them this time would be more than enough to capture Tsunade, the last descendant of the Senju.
They had even exposed Lord Demigod's plans for her sake,
but who could have guessed that the jonin he brought would be cut down like weeds by this Uchiha before him?
He knew there was a gap between the jonin of small countries and those of the great nations, but he had never imagined it could be this vast.
Even if Sakuya was from 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 Sage of Six Paths' own son!?
The more Kidoyun thought about it, the angrier he grew. While Sakuya was fighting the others, he spat out another clump of Spider Sticky Gold.
The golden liquid transformed into a bow and arrow in his hands. He clenched the arrow's tail between his teeth, then drew the bow and nocked it.
He aimed at Sakuya's back and fired with all his might.
Whumm—!
The arrow, shot with all his hatred, flew straight toward Sakuya's back, but the technique was useless. Kidoyun had already tried it before.
Uchiha Sakuya seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, and could dodge Kidoyun's attacks with ease.
He had only fired this time to vent his anger.
Afterward, he planned to leave with his remaining subordinates.
But strangely, as the golden arrow flew, Sakuya neither dodged nor evaded. He used the short sword he had stolen to strike the arrow head-on, cutting it in two.
Why hadn't he dodged?
Kidoyun's eyes widened in surprise. Then he looked toward the direction the golden arrow had flown.
Tsunade was leaning against a tree in that direction.
She was severely poisoned and couldn't move at all now.
If Sakuya had dodged just then, the arrow would have hit Tsunade.
In her current condition, she would die the moment the arrow struck!
I think I've figured out this Uchiha's weakness!
Kidoyun suddenly saw the answer.
But if he used Princess Tsunade as bait, there'd be no way to capture her alive.
That thought lasted only an instant before he cast it aside.
He could either complete the mission and take Princess Tsunade's corpse back to Amegakure,
or flee in disgrace like this. Nearly twenty jonin under his command had died; if that news reached Amegakure, he wouldn't find a warm welcome when he returned.
The choice was obvious, wasn't it?
Besides, even if he brought Princess Tsunade's corpse back, the researchers in Amegakure could still use it to study the Wood Release bloodline. That was better than returning empty-handed!
At that thought, Kidoyun put his fingers in his mouth and blew a whistle.
At the signal, the remaining Rain Ninja turned in surprise, only to hear Kidoyun roar,
"Follow the orders!"
What were they trying to do?
Sensing something was wrong, Sakuya tensed. His Sharingan swept across the scene, and he saw that their eyes were all fixed on Tsunade.
Could these guys be...
Have they gone insane?
He understood their plan in an instant.
Tsunade was Konoha's future. If nothing unexpected happened, the Fourth Hokage's seat would be hers.
If they killed Tsunade here, wouldn't they enrage the entire Land of Fire and all of Konoha?
In the original Second Shinobi World War, hadn't Hanzo of the Salamander been afraid to kill her? So why was he willing to do it now...
No, the Second Shinobi World War hadn't even officially begun yet.
In the original story, Hanzo hadn't dared to kill them because he'd understood the limitations of the Land of Rain during the Second Shinobi World War. He'd realized that on his own, he couldn't move the Land of Rain off the Five Great Nations' game board, so he'd given up on killing the three of them. That way, even if the Land of Rain lost the war, it wouldn't face the Land of Fire's furious revenge.
But now, he was all fired up, thinking he could make the Land of Rain great again. A man like that wouldn't hesitate to kill Tsunade—he'd probably even dare to kill the daimyo.
Damn it!
Even if this was only a simulation, Tsunade was still his core mission target.
If she died here, he would suffer a devastating loss.
At that thought, Sakuya stopped conserving his strength and began fighting with wide, forceful movements. He didn't care if he left himself open.
He had to protect Tsunade!
He snatched the short sword from the Rain Ninja attacking him, kicked him away, and spat out a fire dragon.
As the Great Dragon Fire Technique swallowed the enemy, Sakuya swept his blade sideways and killed another Rain Ninja lunging at him.
The moment his blade cut through flesh, Kidoyun charged in, raising both fists high behind his back and bringing them down toward Sakuya. But Sakuya simultaneously twisted the short sword around and braced its hilt against Kidoyun's fists.
The sword hilt collided with his knuckles. Sakuya's Sharingan spun, and he released the short sword with his right hand, pulled out a shuriken, and hurled it at another Rain Ninja charging at him. As the shuriken struck, he curled his little finger, and the wire attached to it snapped taut.
Uchiha Shuriken Jutsu!
A stream of fire blew from his mouth and raced along the wire toward the enemy. Seizing the opportunity, Kidoyun pulled out his remaining hand and punched at Sakuya again, but Sakuya stopped him once more with his short sword.
In those few seconds, Sakuya killed all four remaining Rain Ninja. Of the more than twenty enemies, only Kidoyun was left.
If he waited a few more seconds for his wire to retract, Sakuya would be free to deal with Kidoyun and end the fight.
But Kidoyun had been waiting for those few seconds!
Taking advantage of the instant when Sakuya couldn't free a hand, he spat out Spider Sticky Gold, turning it into a spear that shot straight toward Sakuya's left shoulder. Sakuya instinctively tried to dodge, but the moment he moved, he regretted it.
Tsunade was right behind his left shoulder.
"!"
Leaning helplessly against the tree, Tsunade's eyes widened as the golden spear spat from Kidoyun's mouth aimed straight for her face.
Her pupils trembled. She instinctively squeezed her eyes shut, certain that the spear would pierce her skull the next moment.
"Splatter—!!"
Hot liquid splashed across her cheek.
There was no pain.
She wasn't dead.
She abruptly opened her eyes.
A figure slightly shorter than her stood between them, seeming impossibly tall at that moment.
The golden spear had pierced his left shoulder. His muscles and tendons tore apart in an instant, and his entire arm was ripped from his body. It spun through the air and struck a nearby tree trunk with a dull thud.
But even with his arm torn off, the figure didn't take a single step back. He clamped his right hand around the Spider Sticky Gold spear, stopping it from advancing any farther.
"Saku...ya?"
Tsunade stared blankly at the boy.
Before you continue