In the clear pool, Tsunade opened her eyes!
"Wonderful, you're finally awake."
A girl's ethereal voice rang out beside the pool!
Tsunade looked over... and saw Katsuyu in human form, a graceful young girl dressed in green!
"Ah... Lady Katsuyu! How did I end up here?"
Katsuyu said, "That's a long story. You should be grateful you took in such a good student!"
A good student...
Tsunade naturally assumed, "Shizune?!"
Katsuyu shook her little head. "No, the other one, a girl named Sakura Haruno!"
Splash!
Tsunade stood up in the pool, her proud curves trembling and shedding a few crystalline drops!
"You mean Sakura...?!"
Katsuyu said, "Yes. That child is truly remarkable. Just from the fact that I couldn't summon you with Reverse Summoning, she determined whose hands you had fallen into. She even staked her own life on it to unite the three great Sages, and we ultimately rescued you!"
Tsunade's jaw dropped in astonishment.
"That child certainly works hard, and she has an extraordinary gift for Medical Ninjutsu. But as far as I knew, she didn't have that kind of judgment. If you'd said Shikamaru, I could have understood..."
Then she reconsidered.
"Still, Shikamaru may be clever, but he's a little too indecisive. I don't think he would have that kind of resolve... To think that even I, Sakura's teacher, failed to recognize her true potential. What a failure of a teacher I am."
"Wait...!"
Tsunade's expression changed dramatically.
Having only just awakened after her ordeal, she had almost forgotten the most important thing.
"The village! What happened to the village?!"
"Don't worry, Tsunade... At least before I arrived here, the village was still safe and sound."
The voice came from behind her.
Tsunade looked back... and saw someone she had never expected sitting on the rock wall,