Tsunade Returns to the Village, Restless Obito—Is She Really Rin? Where Did Everyone Go?

"Guy can kick Senior Izuna Uchiha to death?" Rin Nohara's voice was clearly filled with disbelief. Her eyes widened as she looked suspiciously at Uchiha Shadian, seemingly full of doubt about his claim.

Izuna Uchiha had just faced an army all by himself and still remained undefeated. Such strength was simply terrifying.

And what about Might Guy?

Rin Nohara knew a little about him too. Kakashi's opponent was a ninja who could only use taijutsu and not ninjutsu. With taijutsu alone, he wanted to defeat Izuna Uchiha?

No matter how she thought about it, she found it almost impossible.

Rin Nohara truly could not imagine what method Might Guy could possibly have to defeat a top-tier powerhouse like Izuna Uchiha.

Perhaps the genius Kakashi could do it. But then again, with so many Konoha ninja gathered here, why had she not seen Kakashi? Could he, like her, already be dead?

Uchiha Shadian looked at the suspicion on Rin Nohara's face, his expression calm as water.

Faced with her doubts, Uchiha Shadian merely said lightly, "Just keep watching."

Though his tone was calm, it carried a confident certainty, as if he had already seen through the outcome of this battle.

"Itachi, why were you defeated in an instant? What exactly happened?" On the other side, Hiruzen Sarutobi approached Itachi Uchiha, whom Shikamaru Nara had rescued, with a grave expression. His deep gaze fixed on him as though he wanted to see the truth through his eyes.

If Itachi Uchiha had not massacred the Uchiha Clan beforehand, he might have suspected that Itachi Uchiha was putting on an act with her.

Itachi Uchiha's face was as pale as paper, cold sweat streaming down his forehead. His body trembled slightly, his spirit utterly drained as he gasped heavily. He was clearly exhausted to the extreme.

He struggled to raise his head and meet Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze. In a somewhat hoarse voice, he said, "I cast a genjutsu on my uncle. I thought I would be able to control him easily."

He paused before continuing, "But I never expected him to reflect my genjutsu back at me in an instant. Just like that, our roles were completely reversed, and I suffered all the mental damage I had intended to inflict on my uncle."

There was a trace of disbelief in Itachi Uchiha's words.

At that point, Itachi Uchiha suddenly began coughing violently. Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, staining his collar red.

"Can you still continue fighting? Without your Sharingan, dealing with Shadian will be troublesome," Hiruzen Sarutobi said.

"Can you still continue fighting?" Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at Itachi Uchiha, concern showing in his eyes. "Without your Sharingan, dealing with Shadian will be troublesome."

Itachi Uchiha slowly shook his head. His body trembled slightly, as though every movement required tremendous effort. "I'm afraid not."

His voice was low and hoarse, filled with endless exhaustion.

"My entire body can barely move now. My head is buzzing and hurting terribly. I have no strength left to fight," Itachi Uchiha explained with difficulty.

Cold sweat streamed down his forehead. He was clearly enduring immense pain.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's brows furrowed tightly, and his expression grew even graver. "How long will it take you to recover?"

There was a trace of urgency in his voice.

Itachi Uchiha fell silent for a moment before slowly saying, "I'm afraid I'll need three days."

His tone was full of helplessness and powerlessness.

"Then the situation is troublesome. The enemy will not give us three days."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression darkened further. Three days was far too long for them. Uchiha Shadian would never give them such ample time to recover.

Itachi Uchiha looked solemnly at the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and slowly said, "In the current situation, Lord Third Hokage, I'm afraid you must call that person back."

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned slightly upon hearing this, as if considering something. After a while, he finally asked, "You mean?"

Itachi Uchiha took a deep breath and answered, "Your disciple, one of the Three Sannin, Lady Tsunade."

Hearing that name, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression became somewhat complicated.

Itachi Uchiha said, "If Lady Tsunade treats me with her medical skills, perhaps I can recover more quickly."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed and said, "Tsunade? She left the village a long time ago. I don't know where she is now. Besides, because of what happened to her younger brother, she developed hemophobia. Even if she returns, the help she can provide may be limited."

"Moreover, if she is in the Land of Fire, she may have already received the news."

Konoha's message that it had been attacked and needed support had been spread throughout the Land of Fire. If Tsunade was within the Land of Fire, she would certainly see Konoha's emergency distress signals.

Outside a gambling house in an unknown small town stood a striking figure.

Her bright yellow hair was tied into twin ponytails.

She had a slender figure, exquisite features, and an unusually large chest.

She wore a green cloak emblazoned with a large gambling character, as if proclaiming her love for gambling.

This woman was Tsunade.

At that moment, she raised her head and stared at the sky, her brows tightly furrowed.

Distress signals continuously rose into the sky, streaking across the heavens like meteors and creating an inexplicable sense of tension.

"Lady Tsunade, those are Konoha's emergency distress signals." The slender woman standing beside Tsunade spoke anxiously. She was Tsunade's attendant, Shizune. "With so many distress signals, something terrible must have happened in Konoha."

"Should we go back and see what exactly happened?" Shizune asked with growing urgency, holding a small pig in her arms.

"Usually, no matter what happens, they only fire one signal flare. With them being launched so densely, could Orochimaru have attacked the village?" Tsunade's brows knitted tightly. So many distress flares made a powerful sense of unease rise in her heart.

Shizune stood nearby, watching the signal flares continuously shoot into the sky with a grave expression.

She said worriedly to Tsunade, "Lady Tsunade, are we really not going back? It looks like the situation is extremely urgent."

Tsunade remained silent as all kinds of possibilities flashed rapidly through her mind.

The most likely possibility, in her opinion, was Orochimaru attacking the village to take revenge on it.

"How long will it take to get from here to Konoha?" After pondering for a long time, Tsunade finally asked.

Shizune quickly replied, "About an hour and a half, but if we travel at full speed, we can get there in half an hour."

Tsunade looked at the distress flares blooming continuously in the sky like fireworks. After a long silence, she finally said seriously, "Return to Konoha at full speed."

Although she had left Konoha in unbearable pain after her younger brother's death, deep in her heart, she still cared deeply about Konoha.

Now that she knew Konoha was in trouble, she could not set her mind at ease and could not help returning to lend a hand.

"I wonder if that guy is all right?" A young figure appeared in Tsunade's mind.

"Achoo!" Uchiha Shadian, standing atop the Nine-Tails' head, suddenly sneezed.

"Brother Shadian, what's wrong? Did you catch a cold?" Rin Nohara asked with concern.

"Uh... I'm fine." Uchiha Shadian wiped the saliva from his mouth and muttered inwardly, How strange. I sneezed for no reason. Who's thinking about me? Could it be that Obito Uchiha?

"But I've summoned Rin Nohara for so long already. Why hasn't Obito Uchiha shown himself yet?" Uchiha Shadian pondered. "Does that guy not care about Rin Nohara?"

"That's impossible. He has to care."

"That guy secretly snuck into Konoha's graveyard countless times to mourn for and visit Rin Nohara. How could he not care about a living Rin Nohara?"

Konoha Ruins.

Obito Uchiha moved anxiously through every part of Konoha, yet he could not find any trace of Uchiha Shadian or Rin Nohara.

"Where did they go?"

"Was that woman really Rin?"

Weariness filled Obito Uchiha's eyes. In order to find Uchiha Shadian and Rin Nohara, he had searched back and forth through the vast Konoha Ruins without pause.

He even suspected that Uchiha Shadian and Jiraiya had perished together and been buried beneath these immense ruins.

For that reason, he had even dug quite a few holes, hoping to find their corpses.

But he had searched through the entire Konoha Ruins without finding any trace of either of them.

Neither Jiraiya nor Uchiha Shadian had left behind even the slightest trace, and the woman who looked so much like Rin Nohara and had thrown his heart into turmoil was nowhere to be found either.

Where had everyone gone?