Tsunade's Fury: One Punch Shatters the Hokage Building

The clock turned back one day.

At the border of the Land of Fire, in the little town of Yin.

In a private room on the second floor of the town's only casino, Tsunade sat with her legs crossed, half the table piled with chips before her.

The three gamblers across from her were ashen-faced, sweat beading on their foreheads.

Tsunade flipped over her hole cards: a pair of kings.

"Clean sweep."

She reached out and gathered all the chips toward herself, the corner of her lips curling upward. Her luck was unnaturally good today. She had won seventeen rounds in a row, draining the casino's entire available cash reserve.

Shizune stood nearby holding Tonton, her expression complicated.

The days Tsunade won money were rarely a good omen.

Bang!

The private room's door was slammed open, nearly flying off its hinges.

A white-haired man braced both hands against the doorframe, drenched in sweat, his chest heaving violently. From his hair to the red streaks across his face, everything about him screamed, "Ran three hundred kilometers without stopping."

Jiraiya.

"Tsunade!" Jiraiya was so out of breath he could barely speak. He bent over and dry-heaved twice before forcing the words out—

"Nawaki's in trouble."

Tsunade's hand froze in midair.

The casino's noisy chatter, the clatter of dice, the clink of glasses—all sound vanished in that instant.

"Explain." Tsunade's voice was very soft.

"At the Land of Rain front line... he stepped into a Sand ninja explosive tag trap." Jiraiya held onto the doorframe. "Orochimaru's report says... no body was left."

The room was silent for three seconds.

The cards slipped from Tsunade's hand onto the table.

She did not cry. She did not scream.

She stood up.

The movement was slow—so slow that the gamblers across from her could clearly see her expression. It was not grief, not collapse, but something scorching that seeped out from between her bones.

"Lady Tsunade—" Shizune had barely spoken.

BOOM!!!

Tsunade smashed her fist into the gambling table before her.

The table was gone. It had not merely flipped over; the entire solid-wood tabletop and its legs were pulverized into dust. The shockwave blew out half the private room's wall, blasting broken bricks and wood splinters from the second floor into the street and sending pedestrians fleeing with their heads covered.

Chips filled the sky, glinting once beneath the sunlight before crashing into the mud alongside the broken bricks.

"Lady Tsunade! Calm down—"

Tsunade ignored Shizune. She stepped over the rubble, leaped from the second floor, and upon landing smashed a crater half a meter deep into the ground.

She ran toward Konoha.

It was not the Body Flicker Technique, nor was it any ninja movement technique. She simply ran with her legs, each step leaving a shattered footprint in the ground. She was so fast that the air pressure forced trees along the road to bend away on both sides.

Jiraiya gave up after chasing her for twenty meters. Bent over and gasping for air, he watched Tsunade's back vanish at the end of the road before cursing.

"Damn it, how am I supposed to outrun her?"

He turned toward the equally stunned Shizune. "You're fast. Go after her. If no one stops her once she gets into the village, the Hokage Building will be gone by today."

The next morning.

Konoha Gate.

The two Chunin on duty were changing shifts. News of Nawaki nailing four Anbu to the gate last night had already spread through the village. The two men taking over were on high alert, terrified that something else might go wrong.

Then they heard footsteps.

No, not footsteps. The ground was shaking in a steady rhythm.

On the distant road, a golden figure charged toward them at insane speed. Dust flew three meters into the air beneath her feet, like a yellow dragon burrowing toward the village along the ground.

"Is... is that Lady Tsunade?!"

Before the two Chunin could react, Tsunade had already passed between them. The blast of air hurled them into the guardhouse, while the register on the table fluttered wildly as its pages flipped.

On the village's main street, ninjas doing morning training saw a golden blur flash before their eyes. The wind it kicked up could force a person back three steps.

A well-informed Jonin recognized that figure from behind, and his face instantly changed.

"Tsunade... Tsunade is back?!"

"Get out of the way! With that expression—someone's going to die!"

Hokage Office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind the desk that Wood Release had cracked last night and that had only been repaired that morning, reviewing documents. Two Anbu guards stood outside the door.

Danzō sat in a chair beside him, discussing a containment plan for Nawaki after his awakening of Wood Release.

"That boy's chakra growth rate is abnormal." Danzō leaned on his cane, his tone cold and hard. "He must be brought into the supervision system as soon as possible. Otherwise—"

"Otherwise what?" The Third did not even look up.

"Otherwise, a second Hashirama Senju will be even harder to control than the first."

The Third set down his pen and was about to speak.

His ear twitched.

Then he abruptly stood up.

"Everybody move—!"

BOOM!!!

The door to the Hokage Office, along with half the wall, exploded outward. Broken bricks flew across the room and smashed the bookcase at the back. The two Anbu guards were hurled directly into the corridor wall by the shockwave, leaving human-shaped dents as they lost consciousness on the spot.

Through the smoke and dust, Tsunade strode inside.

She was covered in dust and shredded leaves. Half of her golden twin ponytails had come loose, and the diamond mark on her forehead shone blindingly in the morning light. Her amber eyes locked onto the Third, filled with burning killing intent.

"Where's Nawaki?"

Just two words, yet her throat was hoarse—she had run for an entire day and night without even drinking water.

The Third raised his hands in a calming gesture. "Tsunade, listen to me—"

"I asked you where Nawaki is!!"

Tsunade kicked over the only chair left in front of her. She raised her right fist high and smashed it into the Third's desk.

That desk, repaired less than six hours ago, along with the floor beneath it, was punched through with a two-meter-wide circular hole. Splintered wood and papers fell through the opening into the archives room on the first floor.

The Third staggered back three steps until his back hit the wall.

"Listen to me! Nawaki isn't dead!" The Third raised his voice to its limit. "He came back alive! Not only is he alive—he awakened Wood Release! He's at the Senju Clan Compound right now!"

Tsunade's fist stopped in midair.

Her chest still rose and fell violently, her breathing as harsh as a bellows.

"What did you say?"

"He awakened the First Hokage's Wood Release." The Third pronounced every word clearly. "He returned to the village last night. I saw him myself. Tsunade, Nawaki is perfectly fine."

Tsunade's fist slowly lowered.

She stood there without moving, as if all strength had suddenly been drained from her body. The taut string that had held her together through a day and night of running snapped. Her knees went weak, and she nearly collapsed.

She braced herself against the wall.

"Alive..."

"Alive," the Third repeated.

Tsunade took three deep breaths. Her hands were still trembling.

At that moment, Danzō spoke from the corner.

He righted the chair that had been knocked over by falling bricks and sat back down, his tone unhurried.

"Tsunade, Nawaki has indeed returned. But have you considered this? A young man whose personality has changed drastically and who suddenly awakened Wood Release—can he truly still be the younger brother you knew?"

Tsunade turned and stared at him.

Danzō met her gaze and continued calmly. "He faked his death on the battlefield to escape, openly assaulted Anbu personnel after returning to the village, and used Wood Release to threaten two advisors in front of the Hokage. The old Nawaki was not like this. Cases of prisoners being brainwashed and replaced by enemy nations are not uncommon in the ninja world—"

"Shut up."

Tsunade walked toward him.

Not quickly. One step at a time.

Danzō's words caught in his throat. He watched Tsunade's eyes change from killing intent into something more dangerous—disgust.

Pure disgust, born from the depths of her soul.

"Shimura Danzo," Tsunade stopped before him, looking down from above, "what were you doing when my little brother nearly died at the front line?"

Danzō's lips moved. "I—"

"Where were you when he lived alone in the clan compound for three years? When everything belonging to the Senju Clan was carried away clean, you pretended not to see it? Now that he's come back alive, you tell me he was brainwashed?"

Tsunade reached out and seized Danzō's cane.

Crack.

The hardwood cane broke into two pieces in Tsunade's hand.

The fragments fell to the floor and bounced twice.

Danzō's expression changed. It was not an act—he was genuinely afraid.

"Who gave a sewer rat like you the right to pass judgment on my Senju family?"

Tsunade threw the broken cane at Danzō's feet, then turned and headed for the door.

By then, there was no door left.

At the doorway, she glanced back at the Third.

"Old man, I'm going to see Nawaki first today."

Her voice was terribly hoarse, but each word struck the floor like a hammer.

"After I see him, I'll come back and settle accounts with you. How much have you all gnawed away from the Senju Clan over the years? Prepare every last record for me."

The Third opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

Tsunade vanished at the end of the corridor.

After her footsteps faded, the only sound remaining in the entire Hokage Office was the wind howling through the room.

Danzō bent down to pick up the upper half of his broken cane, his fingers trembling.

The Third looked at him and suddenly spoke. "The things from the Senju Clan Compound—"

"That was handled according to your wishes before." Danzō's voice was dry.

The two looked at each other for three seconds.

The Third looked away and walked to the window, watching in the direction Tsunade had gone. At the end of that road lay the Senju Clan Compound.

"I hope," the Third said in a very low voice, "that boy doesn't tell Tsunade everything."

Danzō did not respond. He lowered his head to stare at the half of the cane in his hand, a vein throbbing at his temple.

Toward the Senju Clan Compound.

Tsunade shattered three paving stones along the way as she sprinted at full speed.

Wind poured into her throat, burning and dry. But she did not care.

Only one image remained in her mind—three years ago, on the day she left the village, Nawaki had stood at the gates of the Senju Clan Compound and waved at her with a smile.

"Be careful on the road, Sis. I'll wait at home for you to come back."

Tsunade clenched her teeth and ran even faster.

In the distance, the dilapidated vermilion-lacquered gates of the Senju Clan Compound came into view.

She did not slow down.