Tsunade spun around sharply.
A man in dark ninja attire stepped out of the shadows, his arms folded across his chest and a teasing smile on his lips.
His presence was clearly far stronger than those Genin from before—
A Chunin.
Tsunade's pupils contracted.
Before she could react, another gust of wind came from behind her!
"Watch out—!"
She instinctively twisted aside, but it was already too late.
A tremendous force slammed into her lower back, kicking her through the air. She crashed heavily to the ground and rolled several times before finally stopping.
"Cough—!"
Tsunade spat out a mouthful of blood and struggled to get up, but her body refused to obey.
She looked up—
The Teleportation Talisman in the boy's hand had been casually snatched away by another Chunin.
"This thing's pretty rare."
The Chunin examined it, stuffed it into his clothes, then looked at Tsunade lying on the ground and sneered.
"Little girl, did you really think we didn't know you'd snuck in?"
Tsunade's eyes widened.
"From the moment you entered the cave, our boss had been watching you."
The Chunin walked up to her, crouched down, and pinched her chin.
"Those four Genin were just there to play with you and make you use up all your trump cards.
Otherwise, wouldn't a real fight be troublesome?"
Tsunade glared at him viciously. She wanted to curse him out, but her mouth was full of blood.
The other Chunin walked over and planted a foot on her back.
"Behave."
Tsunade was completely unable to move.
The two Chunin swiftly tied her up and lifted her like a chick.
The children huddled together in terror, but no one paid them any attention—their target from beginning to end had only been Tsunade.
"It's about time."
One of the Chunin said,