A Strategic Retreat to Advance, Sosuke's Scheming Disguise

Inside the medical tent, candlelight cast two violently entwined shadows upon the walls.

Tsunade's Yin Release chakra flowed like a gentle stream, attempting to soothe the berserk vitality of Wood Release within Sosuke's body. Their skin touched, scorching warmth and startling softness passing through their thin clothes. The air was thick with an intensely suppressed yet cloying intimacy.

Sosuke knew that Tsunade's inner defenses were being torn apart as never before. But he knew even better that a proud, stubborn woman like Tsunade could not be pushed too hard. Submission won too easily was often never complete enough. What he wanted was for her to willingly fall into this net called "Senju Revival."

So Sosuke bit through his tongue, the metallic sweetness of blood filling his mouth as he traded the sharp pain for an instant of absolute clarity. He pressed both hands against Tsunade's shoulders and, with every shred of strength he had left, forcibly pushed her soft, warm body away.

"Sosuke! What are you doing?!"

Caught off guard, Tsunade was shoved away, and the chakra transfer abruptly ceased. She fell onto the edge of the bed, her chest heaving violently, her eyes full of shock and panic.

Without Yin Release suppressing it, the woodification patterns on the left side of Sosuke's body stirred again. Like dark brown venomous snakes, they greedily crawled toward his heart. He clenched the bedsheet beneath him until veins bulged on the back of his hand, yet still forced out a gentle but resolute smile.

"Big sister... I told you, no." Sosuke's voice was hoarse like sandpaper scraping together, every word carrying a heart-wrenching fragility. "I'm a man of the Senju Clan. If I can't even endure this much pain, and have to survive by sacrificing big sister's honor... then I'd rather turn into a tree right now."

Tsunade's eyes stung, and her vision instantly blurred.

This boy before her was clearly being tortured beyond the point of death, yet he was still refusing his sole chance at survival just to protect her absurd moral boundaries.

"You idiot! At a time like this, you're still worried about that?!" Tsunade lunged forward, trying to seize Sosuke's hand again, but he nimbly evaded her.

Sosuke coughed violently several times, a streak of bright red blood spilling from the corner of his lips. He leaned back against the headboard and looked past Tsunade's shoulder toward the deep, rainy night outside the tent. His voice was low and calm. "Big sister, we both know that even if you save me tonight, what about tomorrow?"

Tsunade froze.

"Now that Wood Release has appeared, Danzo will never let this go." Sosuke turned his head, his dark eyes clear with the insight of one who saw through everything. "And Lord Third... may not tolerate an uncontrollable variable like me either."

Those words were like a sharp blade, precisely stabbing into Tsunade's deepest hidden fears. She was no fool. No one understood the filth of politics better than she did. Why had the Senju Clan declined to this extent? Was it really just because of wartime losses? She had not never suspected what role those higher-ups had played in it. She had simply not dared to dwell on it.

"So, I have a request." Sosuke raised a hand and gently wiped the tears from the corner of Tsunade's eyes, his gaze so tender that she could not refuse him. "Please, big sister, seal my chakra. Ideally... seal off all my chakra pathways."

"Are you insane?!" Tsunade's face drained of color as she abruptly rose. "If your chakra pathways are sealed, you'll become a cripple who's worse than even an academy student! And if Wood Release's vitality is forcibly blocked inside your body and cannot circulate, you'll endure tearing pain day and night!"

"Only a cripple won't be feared by the higher-ups." Sosuke's voice was soft, yet every word struck straight at her heart. "There are only the two of us left in the Senju Clan. As long as I'm alive, even if I'm a sickly wreck, the Senju bloodline won't die out. Big sister, I don't want you to break with the village because of me. I don't want you to lose another family member."

Those words completely shattered the last trace of hope in Tsunade's heart.

Her grandfather had founded this village. Her two grandfathers had died fighting for it. Her younger brother Nawaki had also died on this battlefield, this meat grinder. And now, the last remaining seedling of the Senju Clan had to cripple himself and suffer torment day and night just to beg for mercy from those politicians hiding safely in the rear!

"Fine... what a fine Will of Fire..." Tsunade let out a miserable laugh, her voice filled with boundless sorrow and bone-deep coldness.

She looked at the weak yet "sensible" Sosuke before her, and the scales in her heart finally tipped completely. To hell with the Hidden Leaf higher-ups! From this day onward, she would live only for the Senju Clan. Whoever dared touch Sosuke, she would kill them!

"I understand." Tsunade took a deep breath, her gaze becoming sharper than ever before. She bit her fingertip, and her hands became afterimages as they rapidly formed seals before her chest.

"Modified Four Symbols Seal!"

She slammed her palm down onto Sosuke's lower abdomen. Dense black curse markings poured from her palm like living creatures, instantly crawling across Sosuke's entire body and tightly locking that berserk Wood Release chakra within him.

Agonizing pain crashed over him like a tsunami. Sosuke let out a muffled groan, his body convulsing violently several times before going limp upon the bed as he fell unconscious.

Yet at the instant his consciousness sank into darkness, the system's cold yet delightful notification sounded in his mind.

[ Ding! External high-level sealing technique interference detected. The system has automatically converted it into a 'Disguise Coating.' ]

[ The host's true chakra fluctuations have been perfectly concealed. Woodification backlash progress has been frozen at 15%. ]

Beneath Sosuke's tightly shut eyelids, his eyes moved faintly. Success. Not only had he used this self-inflicted scheme to completely secure Tsunade's loyalty, he had also used her hand to put the perfect "useless cripple" talisman on himself. This deal had paid off spectacularly.

Several days later, the fighting on the Land of Rain front temporarily subsided, and the Hidden Leaf's main forces set out for the village.

The unceasing autumn rain finally stopped. Wheels rolled over the muddy road, producing a monotonous creaking sound.

Sosuke reclined sideways upon the spacious cushioned couch in the carriage, wrapped in a heavy fox-fur cloak. His face was pale as paper, his breathing weak, and from time to time he let out one or two heartrending coughs. He looked every bit like a useless man at death's door.

Tsunade sat beside him, never leaving his side. She was no longer wearing her usual combat uniform, having changed into a plain, elegant kimono. The sunlight and boldness once in her eyes were gone, replaced by unfathomable vigilance and coldness.

The carriage slowly entered the heartland of the Land of Fire, and the gates of the Hidden Leaf could already be seen in the distance.

Yet beneath those two towering green gates, a welcoming crowd had gathered.

At the front stood a man in a neat ceremonial robe, wearing a Hokage's conical hat and holding his signature pipe. He watched the returning force with a kindly expression. It was none other than the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Half a step beside him stood Shimura Danzō, half his body wrapped in bandages and his gaze sinister. Several Anbu and Root shinobi lurked in the surrounding shadows, sealing off the entire gate so thoroughly that not even water could pass through.

"Sosuke, remember what I told you." Looking through the gap in the carriage window, Tsunade coldly watched the higher-ups outside as her hand gently rested on Sosuke's shoulder.

Sosuke obediently nodded and coughed twice more. But the instant he lowered his eyes, an utterly chilling glint flashed deep within his gentle dark pupils.

The carriage came to a stop, and its curtain was slowly lifted.

The Hidden Leaf's center of power and the Senju Clan's tyrant, his fangs concealed, finally met in their first direct confrontation.