Lucky Necklace

"Are you alright, kid?" Tsunade's figure appeared before Uchiha Chiba. She was covered in blood, and traces of iron sand still clung to her fists.

Uchiha Chiba nodded. His body was battered and bloodied by the iron sand, with many of his bones shattered. At this moment, the natural energy of the Katsuyu Sage within him was gradually healing his body.

Suddenly, the Third Kazekage looked coldly at Tsunade.

"Just you? You all underestimate me far too much." With a casual wave of his hand, countless grains of iron sand surged and gathered behind him like a tidal wave.

The wings of iron sand blotted out the sky. He was finally getting serious. The Third Kazekage formed hand seals: "Ninja Art: Iron Sand Prison."

In an instant, a massive cage of iron sand descended from the sky!

BOOM!!!!!

It trapped both Tsunade and the recovering Uchiha Chiba within the colossal iron sand cage. Uchiha Chiba gasped for air and spoke slowly, "This iron sand... it can absorb chakra..."

Tsunade closed her eyes. Her lover was dead, her student was nearly dead, and he had even lost an eye (though Chiba's own eye remained intact, he simply hadn't swapped it back yet). A burning rage ignited within her.

"Mere iron sand! Don't you dare show off in front of me!" Tsunade's fist surged with chakra, and a second later, her fair hand slammed violently into the iron sand cage.

BOOM!!!!!!

The iron sand cage scattered like fireworks.

"How? This is the hardest iron sand in existence; how could it be shattered so easily? Wait... this brat is the granddaughter of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju..." The Third Kazekage muttered to himself, watching as Tsunade's figure gradually closed the distance.

Then, iron sand coated his body.

In a blind spot hidden from Tsunade's view, the Third Kazekage formed hand seals with one hand.

"Iron Sand Spear."

A pitch-black iron sand spear shot out from the Third Kazekage's palm, waiting for the exact moment Tsunade approached to deliver the killing blow!

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

"Toad Oil Bullet!"

Just as Tsunade reached the Third Kazekage, attacks came from both his left and right sides!

BOOM!!!!!

The Hidden Shadow Snake Hands collided with the Toad Oil Bullet, triggering a violent explosion, and Tsunade's attack missed its mark.

"Sorry, dealing with those Sand ninja took a little time." Orochimaru's figure landed beside Tsunade.

Jiraiya looked around. Aside from the dying Uchiha Chiba, there was only the pierced corpse in the corner—Kato Dan.

"My condolences..." Jiraiya sighed.

"Hurry, drive him back. If the Sunagakure army arrives again, forcing him to retreat will be as difficult as ascending to heaven! By then, White Fang and the others won't be able to provide reinforcements." Orochimaru's figure vanished instantly. A second later, he appeared beside the Third Kazekage and thrust his kunai downward. The Third Kazekage, now missing an arm, knew better than to meet the attack head-on and leaped away.

The Sannin team had assembled!

"Super Iron Sand World Method."

This time, unlike the previous Iron Sand World Method, countless sharp iron sand spears blanketed the sky, as dense as the needles on a hedgehog's back. The Sannin simultaneously formed hand seals.

"Triple Rashomon!"

"Fire Style: Toad Oil Barrage!"

"Lightning Style: Thunder Cloud!"

HUM!!!!!!!!

The iron sand spears fell like rain, their terrifying power instantly shattering the first Rashomon gate! Jiraiya's Toad Oil Bullet continued to soar into the air as the iron sand spears rained down from all directions. The one-armed Third Kazekage looked into the distance, observing something, but he was clearly overextended.

The storm of attacks ceased.

The land had been transformed into a deep crater. After all, the Third Kazekage's chakra was not infinite. He looked at Uchiha Chiba on the ground and spoke slowly, "I will remember you, boy."

HUM!!!!

With a vibration of his iron sand wings, the Third Kazekage departed.

Back on the ground, Tsunade went to Uchiha Chiba's side, knelt, and rested him on her lap. The chakra glowing in her hands was soft and warm.

After a long while, "Dan..." Uchiha Chiba knew the death of Kato Dan from the original story. In the canon, Kato Dan died before Tsunade's eyes; his internal organs were destroyed, and Tsunade, her hands covered in blood, was powerless to save him. She could only watch her lover die bit by bit, which led to her hemophobia. After the Second Great Ninja War, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi's decision to shelve the medical ninja system caused Tsunade to lose respect for the Hokage, eventually prompting her to leave the village.

"Don't speak. There is still residual iron sand in your chest. It could easily puncture your lungs, and that would be troublesome." Tsunade's delicate hand moved gently, green chakra coating her fingers. Her fingers acted like a Chakra Scalpel, slicing open Chiba's chest.

Then, a wave of intense pain washed over him.

"Bear with it," Tsunade said, glancing at Chiba on her lap to comfort him before continuing to extract the iron sand from his body.

Orochimaru and Jiraiya were not idle either; they gathered thick branches from nearby and used cloth left behind in a cave by Sunagakure ninjas to enclose Tsunade, constructing a makeshift operating room. As for the Sunagakure jonin who had been in the cave? They had vanished without a trace long ago.

Next.

Orochimaru and Jiraiya approached Kato Dan's corpse.

"Sigh, what a pity," Orochimaru shook his head. Although Kato Dan's talent did not match those present, his unique abilities had been a great help to the Konoha forces in Amegakure. Perhaps out of sympathy for a fallen friend, or perhaps lamenting how easily life could slip away, Orochimaru let out a sigh.

"Let's carry him over there; we cannot let him sleep here forever." Jiraiya reached out and pulled the Iron Sand Spear that had pierced through Kato Dan's body.

A long while later.

Kato Dan's corpse lay quietly in a pit nearby.

Inside the makeshift operating room.

Tsunade furrowed her brows. This boy seemed to have suffered more than one Iron Sand attack; some of the iron sand inside his body had already lacerated the surface of his organs, though fortunately, the wounds were not deep.

As Tsunade pulled out the final, tiny Iron Sand Spike, Uchiha Chiba was finally free of hidden dangers. Without minding the blood on her hands, Tsunade used medical ninjutsu to seal the wound on Uchiha Chiba's chest.

Stepping out of the makeshift operating room.

What met her eyes.

Was the riddled, perforated corpse of Kato Dan.

"Dan..." Tsunade's tears flowed uncontrollably. She approached Kato Dan, wanting to touch his body.

The next second.

BOOM!!!!

The blood within his body, already on the verge of coagulating, sprayed out from the holes in his flesh!

Tsunade's hands trembled; it was hard to believe she had just finished a surgery. Her tears gushed forth and she shrieked, yet she could not stop the shadow of death that had long since enveloped Dan. The moment she truly saw the lifelessness of Kato Dan's corpse, her own heart seemed to die along with him, and an endless, deep-seated grief took root in her soul.