Tsunade's Shock!

Outskirts of Tanzaku Street.

In a deserted, remote alley.

Tsunade landed steadily, gripping Shizune by the back of her collar.

She panted heavily, her ample chest heaving violently.

"Lady Tsunade."

"Where are we going now?"

Shizune looked on the verge of tears, her voice trembling.

Tonton, cradled in her arms, had rolled her eyes back and fainted.

"Where else could we go?"

"We'll find another town and lie low!"

Hearing Shizune's question.

Tsunade spat irritably.

Suddenly.

She came to an abrupt stop, her gaze turning razor-sharp.

Under Shizune's astonished stare.

Tsunade slowly turned around and looked toward a patch of shadow at the alley corner.

"Are you coming out on your own?"

"Or do I have to beat you out myself?"

As Tsunade's words fell.

Tap, tap, tap.

A crisp series of footsteps emerged from the shadows.

Chiba, still disguised as the Wandering Samurai, appeared before Tsunade and Shizune.

"You?"

After seeing who it was.

Tsunade's brows knotted into a deadlock.

It was this bastard who had relentlessly opposed her at the gambling table and won a full ten million ryo from her!

"Did the Casino Boss send you to collect a debt?"

"Or did some enemy who can't stand the sight of me hire you as an assassin?"

Tsunade sneered.

Her knuckles cracked loudly as she clenched them.

No matter who he was.

Today, she was getting those ten million ryo back no matter what!

Chiba stopped at a safe distance of ten paces from Tsunade.

He did not answer immediately.

His sensory ability spread wildly through the surroundings like a spiderweb.

Within a kilometer.

There were no Anbu Chakra fluctuations, nor was there Root's cold, sinister presence.

After confirming that the area was completely safe.

Chiba slowly opened his eyes and formed a seal with one hand.

Poof!

A cloud of white smoke dissipated.

The Wandering Samurai's rough outer shell faded away, revealing Chiba's original youthful face.

"A Konoha ninja?"

Seeing the forehead protector on Chiba's head.

Tsunade froze for a moment, then the wariness in her eyes deepened.

"That old man finally ran out of patience and sent the Anbu to drag me back?"

The old man she spoke of was naturally the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"No."

"You misunderstand, Senior."

"I was not acting on orders. I fled the village on my own."

Chiba's tone was exceptionally calm.

Hearing this.

Tsunade was even more surprised.

A sixteen- or seventeen-year-old Chunin actually dared to become a Missing-nin?

"Oh?"

"You fled Konoha?"

"Then run far away. Why did you come looking for me?"

"I severed all ties with that rotten village long ago."

After saying that.

Tsunade turned around, preparing to leave.

Whether Chiba was a Konoha ninja or a Konoha Missing-nin.

Tsunade had no desire to concern herself with such matters now.

"I need your protection, Senior."

Chiba's voice echoed through the empty alley.

Tsunade paused.

As if she had heard the greatest joke in the world.

"Protection?"

"Who the hell do you think you are, asking me to step in?"

"Because you won those ten million ryo from me at the casino?"

Tsunade turned around, her face filled with mockery.

Shizune stood beside her, too terrified to even breathe loudly.

She knew perfectly well how terrifying Lady Tsunade could be when she got angry.

Chiba's back remained straight.

He understood clearly.

When negotiating with a powerhouse tempered by war, words alone had no persuasive power.

So.

Chiba slowly raised his right hand.

His palm lay flat, facing upward.

The Chakra inside his body began undergoing a wondrous qualitative transformation.

Water and earth attributes fused frantically under the catalysis of Yang Release.

An incomparably pure life force surged through Chiba's meridians toward his palm.

There were no complicated hand seals.

This power seemed like an instinct he had been born with.

Very soon.

A faint yet pure green glow blossomed in Chiba's palm.

The green light appeared exceptionally dazzling in the dim alley.

At first.

Tsunade's face was still full of disdain.

But when she sensed that Chakra, her entire body went rigid as though struck by lightning.

"This... this is..."

The mockery in Tsunade's eyes vanished in an instant.

In its place was overwhelming shock!

Immediately afterward.

Under Tsunade and Shizune's watchful eyes.

A tender green sprout emerged from Chiba's palm.

The thumb-thick sapling radiated vigorous vitality.

The air in the alley seemed to freeze at that very moment.

Shizune covered her mouth.

Her legs went weak, as though she could barely remain standing.

And Tsunade.

This Sannin, who had weathered countless storms, even stopped breathing at this moment.

Her pupils constricted violently, her gaze glued to Chiba's palm and the swaying sapling.

Even from ten paces away.

She could sense it clearly.

That was the miraculous power once possessed only by her grandfather, who had been revered as the God of Shinobi!

"Wood Style..."

Tsunade murmured softly.

Her voice was hoarse and noticeably trembling.

To recreate this power.

Konoha High Command had conducted who knew how many inhuman experiments on living people.

Yet now.

An utterly ordinary boy had flawlessly unleashed Wood Style!

Most importantly.

This boy had not formed a single hand seal!

That was absolutely not something one of those test subjects could accomplish.

This was miraculous power that only a true Senju bloodline could awaken!

"You... who exactly are you?!"

Tsunade took a step forward.

Terrifying Chakra pressure instantly enveloped the entire alley.

The stone slabs beneath their feet cracked apart inch by inch under that pressure.

If she did not get to the bottom of this.

Tsunade would never let this boy leave today.

Seeing this.

Chiba calmly withdrew his Chakra.

The small sapling in his palm instantly withered, turning into a small pinch of ash.

"Senior."

"My name is Senju Qianye."

Under Tsunade's gaze.

Chiba did not hide anything and revealed his name.

The instant she heard the word "Senju."

Tsunade's tense shoulders shuddered sharply.

She bit down hard on her lower lip, the emotions in her eyes incomparably complicated.

Shock, doubt, anger, and an exceedingly faint trace of hope.

"That's impossible..."

"The Senju Clan has long existed in name only."

"If you truly carry the Senju Clan's bloodline and awakened Wood Style."

"How could that old man and Danzo possibly let you come to a place like this?!"

Tsunade simply did not believe it.

Konoha High Command's craving for Wood Style had reached a pathological level.

If a ninja in the village had truly awakened Wood Style.

Even if it cost the lives of every last member of the Anbu and Root.

They would absolutely imprison this kid deep within the village and cultivate him as their ultimate weapon.

"Because they don't know."

"I only awakened this power a few days ago."

"I understand better than you, Senior, that once this power is exposed to the light."

"What awaits me will undoubtedly be a miserable fate!"

"Either Danzo brainwashes me into an emotionless killing machine of Root."

"Or Sarutobi Hiruzen places me under house arrest and uses me as a bargaining chip to secure the Hokage's power."

"So I escaped."

"And in the entire Ninja World, the only person who can protect me from being dragged back by Konoha's Anbu."

"Is you, the First Hokage's granddaughter."

"..."