Sasuke's Defection (The Book's Climax Is Coming Soon—the Real Climax)

Warm blood rained down on Tsunade, and she suddenly froze.

The stench of blood at the tip of her nose instantly exploded, and countless shattered scenes flooded madly into her mind. Nawaki lay smiling in a pool of blood, holding up his Hokage forehead protector. Dan's body gradually turned cold in her arms. Blood stained her entire arm red, impossible to wipe clean no matter how hard she tried.

"Lady Tsunade!"

Shizune screamed and lunged over, catching the wavering Tsunade. Tsunade's body trembled like a fallen leaf in the autumn wind, her lips were bloodless, her nails dug deeply into Shizune's arm, and her unfocused eyes looked as though her soul had left her.

"Blood... so much blood..."

She muttered as her vision repeatedly went dark, nearly collapsing to the ground.

Naruto's heart skipped a beat, and he cursed himself for being careless.

He had been so focused on showing off by instantly killing Manda that he had completely forgotten Tsunade's fatal weakness.

He no longer had any mind to chase Orochimaru. In a flash, he rushed in front of Tsunade.

Right now, Tsunade desperately needed his Talk no Jutsu!

Jiraiya spun around anxiously, reaching out and then pulling his hand back. He did not dare touch her. Scratching at his head, he shouted, "Tsunade! Wake up! Are you all right?!"

Naruto shoved him aside and looked down at Tsunade, then glanced back at Jiraiya with a serious expression. "Shut up, Pervy Sage."

He crouched down, stared into Tsunade's unfocused eyes, and spoke word by word. "A medical ninja who is afraid of blood?"

"How many people have you saved with these hands? You can piece back together someone cut in half and snatch the dying back from the Death God's hands, yet a few drops of blood scare you into this state?"

"Tsunade, one of the Three Sannin—the legendary big sucker. So this is all the courage you have?"

Jiraiya stomped his feet anxiously at the side. "Naruto! Stop it!"

Naruto ignored him, and his voice only grew heavier. "What you fear isn't blood at all. You're afraid of watching the people you care about die before your eyes. You're afraid you can't save them. But can someone like you truly fulfill the duty of a medical ninja?"

"So you ran. You ran for all these years, numbing yourself with gambling and hiding behind indifference, thinking that if you didn't look and didn't think about it, that pain would cease to exist."

He reached out and gently touched the pale blue necklace around Tsunade's neck.

"If you fall like this, how can you face those who placed their hopes in you? How can you face the people who believe in you?"

"Think carefully. Do you deserve the words 'medical ninja'?"

The wind blew softly, stirring up bloody foam from the ground.

Tsunade's body gradually stopped trembling.

She bit her lip hard until she tasted the blood in her own mouth.

This time, there was no nausea, no dizziness. Only a scorching emotion surged up from the depths of her heart, dispersing the gloom that had lingered there for more than a decade.

A few minutes later.

She slowly opened her eyes.

Light had reignited in those eyes that had once been filled with exhaustion and avoidance. She raised a hand and wiped away the blood splashed across her face. Her voice was still somewhat hoarse, but it was exceptionally firm. "You're right."

"Always hiding in fear, I truly don't deserve to be one of the Three Sannin, much less inherit their dreams."

She straightened up, patted Shizune's shoulder, and gave Naruto a relieved smile. "Thank you, Naruto. I'm all right now."

Jiraiya let out a long breath, and the weight in his heart finally lifted. He secretly winked at Naruto and gave him a thumbs-up so high it nearly poked the sky, dramatically mouthing, "Awesome." But he used too much force and nearly swallowed the pipe clenched between his teeth.

Naruto held back his laughter so hard that his shoulders shook. He quickly turned to look at where Orochimaru had been standing.

Sure enough, it was empty. Not even a scrap of snakeskin remained.

"Tch." Naruto clicked his tongue, looking disgusted. "That old snake has really maxed out his escape skills. When Manda died just now, he ran faster than a rabbit. I didn't even get a chance to react."

Jiraiya came over to take a look as well, stroking his chin and nodding. "Normal. If he didn't have that skill, he would've died for good when the Third Hokage crippled both his hands in Konoha. Come to think of it, when it comes to running away, if he says he's first, no one in the Ninja World can claim second."

"If he'd put that much thought into something worthwhile, he'd have developed an immortality potion long ago," Naruto complained.

Half a month later, the Hokage's office in Konoha.

Documents were piled like small mountains, nearly burying Tsunade behind her desk. With two enormous dark circles under her eyes, she irritably scratched her hair and slammed the pen in her hand onto the desk.

"This is pissing me off! Those old geezers dump everything on me!"

Shizune entered carrying a cup of coffee and said helplessly, "Lady Tsunade, you've only just taken office. It's normal to have a lot on your plate. Have some coffee and take a break first."

Tsunade picked up the coffee and drained it in one gulp. Just as she was about to catch her breath, an ANBU ninja rushed in, dropped to one knee, and said, "Lord Hokage! Bad news! Sasuke Uchiha has defected from Konoha!"

"What?!"

Tsunade sprang to her feet, knocking her chair over backward. She held her forehead and let out a long sigh, her face full of despair.

"I knew it. No one around Naruto is ever easy to deal with."

She paced around the office, her brow furrowed tightly enough to crush flies. "This is trouble. If I send someone else after him, they definitely won't be able to beat Sasuke with his three-tomoe Sharingan, and they won't be able to talk him down either. But if I send Naruto..."

Tsunade stopped pacing and looked at Shizune with a troubled expression. "Tell me, if I assign Naruto the mission of bringing Sasuke back, will that brat just pack his things and defect with Sasuke?"

"Those two have never gotten along since they were kids, but somehow they're ridiculously close. If Naruto decides Konoha has wronged Sasuke and actually runs off with him, where am I supposed to find another person who can fight Orochimaru?"

Shizune opened her mouth, but she did not know what to say either.

Meanwhile, in a small forest at the border of the Land of Fire.

Sasuke stood at the crossroads with a simple pack on his back, looking over his shoulder in Konoha's direction.

Naruto's clone leaned against a tree and waved at him. "All right, stop looking. If you keep staring, Tsunade's going to send pursuers after you."

Sasuke turned around and gave him a cold look. "You're really not coming with me? What's there to miss about that dump?"

"Nope." Naruto yawned. "Konoha still has a mountain of messes waiting for me to clean up. Besides, if I leave, who's going to watch your back? That old bastard Orochimaru has more tricks than anyone. Be careful. Don't end up helping him count the money after he sells you."

The corner of Sasuke's mouth lifted almost imperceptibly. "Got it. You aren't going to try to convince me to stay?"

He turned and walked toward Hidden Sound Village. His silvery-white hair gleamed under the sunlight, and his back was resolute.

Naruto watched his retreating figure with his hands in his pockets, a sly grin spread across his face.

"Convince Sasuke to come back? What a joke."

"I was the one who convinced him to defect in the first place."

"There's no way I'm bringing him back. Not in this lifetime."

The clone vanished in a wisp of white smoke.

At Konoha's Ichiraku Ramen, the real Naruto, who was voraciously devouring ramen, let out a satisfied burp and wiped his mouth.

Tsunade's booming roar came from outside the door. "Naruto! Get your ass out here! Someone defected! Go bring him back for me!"

With chashu stuffed in his mouth, Naruto answered indistinctly, "Coming, coming! Lord Hokage, don't worry! Come in first, I'll make some noodles for you!"