Hearing Tsunade's words, Kimimaro's eyes remained calm, but he spoke in a low voice.
"Just as rude as the rumors say. You Konoha ninja barged in here for no reason at all. We should be the ones getting angry, shouldn't we?"
At that, Tsunade's gaze sharpened as she stared coldly at Kimimaro and said in a deep voice.
"Brat, do you really think that gaining a little power means you can tell me what to do!?"
As she spoke, Tsunade slowly straightened up and suddenly tossed aside the green haori draped over her shoulders. Her pretty face turned solemn as she said in a low voice.
"Forget it. You've already wasted enough of my time. I'll deal with you quickly, then find that bastard Orochimaru."
After saying that, Tsunade slowly assumed a starting stance, looking far more serious than before.
Clearly, she now regarded Kimimaro as an opponent on her own level.
Seeing Tsunade's movements, Kimimaro's expression tightened slightly as he thought to himself.
I can clearly feel it... an entirely different presence from before...
So I really did underestimate her earlier... After all... she's a ninja who can fight alongside Lord Orochimaru...
Just as Kimimaro was thinking this.
Clap! Clap!
With two sounds from the nearby field, two figures suddenly entered the battle that was about to begin.
Both Tsunade and Kimimaro looked over. Upon seeing the newcomers, Tsunade frowned slightly and thought to herself.
Reinforcements!?
Kimimaro, meanwhile, looked slightly stunned. He frowned as he looked at the two arrivals and asked.
"What are you two doing here!?"
Hearing him, the man and woman who had arrived looked somewhat flustered. Then, after steadying themselves, they answered.
"Don't worry, Kimimaro. Sakon, Ukon, and Kidomaru have already stopped the enemies who attacked. There shouldn't be any problems."
One of them, a