Tsunade's Last Attempt to Hold Him Back? Sorry, You Don't Deserve To!

The earth-shaking oath within the Uchiha Clan Grounds had not spread beyond the barrier.

But the chakra fluctuations unleashed by more than ten thousand people at once, along with that fervent atmosphere that seemed ready to set the night sky ablaze, still faintly leaked hints of what was happening.

Although the ANBU assigned to monitor the perimeter noticed something unusual, they were bound by the Second Hokage's order to "observe only, do not intervene." Coupled with the psychological shadow Xuan had left on them before, no one dared enter and investigate rashly.

However, in another residence within Konoha.

A blonde girl lay awake in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep because of that vague sense of unease.

Tsunade draped herself in a nightgown and walked to the window, gazing in the direction of the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

The night sky there seemed far darker than usual, like a slumbering beast lying in wait.

"Xuan..."

Tsunade bit her lip, her uneasiness growing stronger and stronger.

Ever since Xuan had saved her during the border mission and then caused such a stir at the Hokage meeting.

Rumors about him throughout the village had never stopped.

Especially these past few days, after her grandfather, the Second Hokage, had issued that nearly humiliating "relocation order."

She had gone to see Xuan several times, but the Uchiha Police Force had turned her away each time, claiming, "Lord Xuan is in seclusion."

She had even gone to Orochimaru, but that man, whose mind contained nothing but experiments, had merely looked at her with a meaningful gaze and said, "The storm is coming."

A storm?

What storm?

Could the Uchiha clan really dare to rebel?!

"No. I have to go see."

Tsunade could no longer suppress the anxiety in her heart.

She hastily changed into dark clothes, avoided the patrols, and quietly slipped out of her home.

Relying on her familiarity with the terrain, Tsunade easily evaded the ANBU sentries and vaulted over the outer wall of the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

The moment she landed, she felt an unprecedented aura of killing intent.

The streets were completely empty, yet behind the doors and windows of every house, oppressive and razor-sharp chakra fluctuations faintly seeped out.

This was no peaceful stillness of the late night.

This was clearly... the deathly silence before an army marched to war!

Tsunade's heartbeat suddenly quickened, and cold sweat seeped into her palms.

She did not dare linger. She sprinted all the way toward Uchiha Xuan's courtyard.

The courtyard gate was unlocked.

Tsunade pushed it open. The instant she stepped inside, she saw a black-clad figure standing beneath the moonlight with his back to her.

He was leisurely placing one coldly gleaming kunai after another into the ninja tool pouch strapped to his thigh.

That fitted black outfit, that utterly icy aura, filled Tsunade with inexplicable panic.

"Xuan..."

Tsunade stopped, calling out to him in a trembling voice.

The figure ahead paused slightly, then turned around.

Moonlight fell across Uchiha Xuan's face, making his originally refined features appear somewhat pale and cold.

There was not the slightest joy at seeing a companion in those deep black eyes.

Only an indifference like ice that had endured for ten thousand years.

Strange.

Unprecedentedly strange.

That was Tsunade's first impression upon seeing Xuan.

"In the middle of the night, you trespass into the courtyard of the Uchiha clan head... ah, no, the former candidate for clan head."

Xuan looked at Tsunade, the corners of his lips lifting into a smile devoid of warmth.

"Princess Tsunade, are you here to inspect me?"

Hearing the faint mockery in his tone, Tsunade felt as though a needle had pierced her heart.

"Xuan, what... what are you all doing?"

She gathered her courage and stepped forward twice, her voice carrying a trace of sobbing she had not even noticed herself.

"The whole clan grounds feel strange... everyone is preparing ninja tools... and those chakra fluctuations..."

She stared tightly into Xuan's eyes, trying to find even a hint of the warmth she once knew.

"Are you... going to do something foolish?"

"Foolish?" Xuan repeated, as though he had heard a joke. "What do you think is foolish?"

"Rebellion! Defection!"

Tsunade could no longer hold back. She rushed in front of Xuan in a few steps and grabbed his sleeve.

"Xuan! Don't be impulsive, okay? I know my grandfather's order was excessive. I know the Uchiha have been wronged!"

Her eyes reddened, tears welling in them.

"But... but where can you go if you leave the village? The outside is full of enemies!"

"We... we can find a way together! I'll beg my grandfather! I'll beg Teacher Hiruzen! We can definitely find a peaceful solution!"

"Don't leave the village... okay?"

Every word Tsunade spoke was utterly sincere.

For a girl raised beneath the influence of the Will of Fire, the village was everything to her.

And the boy before her was the person she cared about most in this world, aside from her family and teachers.

She could not simply watch him walk down a road of no return.

However.

Faced with Tsunade's tearful plea.

Uchiha Xuan's expression did not waver in the slightest.

He merely looked quietly at the hand clutching his sleeve so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.

"A peaceful solution?"

Xuan's voice was as soft as a sigh.

But what he did next was like the sharpest blade, ruthlessly severing Tsunade's last shred of hope.

He raised his hand and, without mercy, pried open Tsunade's fingers one by one.

"Xuan..." Tsunade looked at him in disbelief.

"Don't be naive, Tsunade."

Xuan turned away from her, his voice turning completely cold, as if it had come from a hell of eternal frost.

"From the moment Senju Tobirama issued that order, there was no longer any peace between the Uchiha and Konoha."

"You?" Tsunade froze.

"Yes, you."

Xuan turned back, and brilliant golden flames suddenly ignited within his black eyes!

[Golden Flame Divine Eyes], activated!

Before those eyes, which seemed capable of seeing through every illusion in the world, Tsunade felt that all her disguises and every weakness had nowhere to hide.

"From the moment you chose to stand with Senju Tobirama, to stand with that so-called 'Will of Fire.'"

Xuan looked at her and spoke each word with deliberate clarity.

"We are no longer 'we.'"

"Xuan! I didn't..." Tsunade desperately shook her head, and her tears finally spilled free.

"You don't understand my path."

Xuan coldly interrupted her, without the slightest trace of reluctance in his tone.

"That village of yours, filled with hypocrisy and compromise, cannot give me the future I want."

"And you are not qualified to hold me back."

He raised his hand and pointed toward the courtyard gate.

"Go back, Princess Tsunade."

"After tonight, there will be no more Uchiha in Konoha."

"From now on, we..."

Xuan looked at the tearful Tsunade and uttered the final three words, as though pronouncing a death sentence.

"Are enemies."

After saying that, he did not look at Tsunade again. He turned and walked into the house.

Bang.

The door shut, completely shutting Tsunade outside.

Only the faint chirping of insects remained in the courtyard.

Tsunade stood there blankly, staring at the tightly closed door, as though her entire world had collapsed in that instant.

"Enemies..."

She muttered the word repeatedly, tears pouring out like beads from a broken string.

She crouched down, covered her face, and burst into sobs beneath the cold moonlight.

Inside the house.

Uchiha Xuan leaned against the door, listening to the crying outside, his gaze so calm that it did not ripple in the slightest.

He knew this was cruel.

But it was necessary.

Since he intended to establish an entirely new Divine Kingdom, he needed no bonds or weakness from the old era.

"Don't blame me, Tsunade."

Xuan silently said it in his heart.

He walked to the table and picked up the scroll already covered in densely packed route maps.

"If you must blame someone, blame the fact that you were born in that disgusting village."

Just then, an extremely faint birdcall, like the cry of a night owl, suddenly came from outside the window.

This was the signal to begin the operation!

A sharp light flashed in Xuan's eyes!

He grabbed the short blade from the table and slid it into his belt.

"System."

He murmured inwardly.

"The show begins."