Tsunade's Fury

"What happened here?"

Tsunade asked with a slight frown. She had been busy preparing the laboratory, but had dropped everything and rushed over as soon as she received the news. Only after seeing that neither Karn nor Kushina was hurt did she breathe a sigh of relief.

Anything happening to either of them would have been unbearable for Tsunade. Kushina went without saying, while Karn represented her brother's hope of recovering his health.

"A Cloud Ninja spy attacked us, but I think there's more to it. You should look into it yourself."

Karn spoke calmly. Konoha's politics were so dirty that they had crossed his bottom line. He could still bring Konoha benefits, yet they already couldn't resist scheming against him.

But he was only one man. Even inventing a powerful organization backing him wouldn't be enough to curb their greed.

"What exactly happened?"

Tsunade asked, her brows drawn tight. She could sense that Karn had developed some resentment toward Konoha, so she was eager to learn what had just happened. Had this been more than a simple spy attack?

"I won't say any more about it. You should investigate it yourself, Tsunade-san." Karn shook his head, then patted Kushina on the head and continued, "Since you're here, please take Kushina home."

"You..." Hearing Karn switch back to a formal way of addressing her made Tsunade feel hurt. This incident had nothing to do with her. Was he taking his anger out on her?

"What about you? We still don't know whether there are any more spies in the village. Why don't you come with me to the Senju Clan Compound? I'll make arrangements for you."

Before Tsunade had finished, Kushina was already nodding like a chicken pecking at grain, joining in to persuade Karn. "That's right, Boss. Come to the Senju Clan Compound. Tsunade will protect you."

"No, thanks."

Karn refused outright. After something like this, how could he feel safe in Konoha anymore? He would return to the Marvel Universe to rest.

"If possible, Tsunade-san, could I trouble you to escort me out of the village? I'd rather head back. But it seems the Security Force still wants to question me."

Tsunade frowned and tried to persuade him. "Wouldn't leaving the village now be dangerous?"

"It's safe for me. If you can do it, sorry for the trouble, Tsunade-san."

Karn made his request. He could guess what Tsunade was worried about. He certainly wouldn't stop the research on the extremis virus. A businessman wouldn't take out his resentment toward others on someone uninvolved. Tsunade probably had nothing to do with this, and Karn still needed her to research combining the extremis virus with Hashirama cells.

His departure now was simply meant to make his position clear to Konoha. From now on, he certainly wouldn't supply medicine exclusively to Konoha. If they asked, Karn would use his desire to avoid another assassination attempt as an excuse to start supplying medicine to people from other countries.

To Karn, medicine was just as lucrative as casinos. Konoha had played dirty first, so they couldn't blame him for breaking their agreement.

"Arranging for you to leave is no problem, of course, but right now... All right. I'll go speak to them."

Seeing the expression on Karn's face, Tsunade reluctantly agreed. Inside, however, she cursed furiously. Which bastards had done something so stupid? Was it Danzo?

The explosion had also drawn Nanami over. Karn took the opportunity to give her some instructions. He couldn't personally handle buying death row prisoners anymore, so he could only have Nanami pass the message on to Xia Chuan.

Tsunade then spoke to the Security Force. Although they still wanted to question Karn about the Cloud Ninja spy, Tsunade vouched for him, and her standing persuaded them to let him leave. They had the spy's body anyway. Once they finished cleaning up, they would hand it over to the Interrogation Unit, where members of the Yamanaka Clan could search his brain for memories.

After obtaining permission from the Security Force, Tsunade took Kushina along and escorted Karn out of Konoha. Outside a stretch of woods, Karn told them to head back. Once the two were out of sight, he went behind a tree and used the system to return directly to the Marvel Universe.

"Kushina, tell me exactly what happened just now. Don't leave anything out."

On their way back, Tsunade questioned Kushina with a grave expression. She needed to know why Karn's attitude had changed so quickly. If this was handled poorly, even Konoha's medical system reform might be affected.

Konoha had already become heavily dependent on Karn's medicines, and Konoha Hospital still hadn't determined their ingredients. If Karn stopped supplying Konoha-or even began supplying other ninja villages-it would have a considerable impact on Konoha.

"After our squad dismissed, I went to the Dessert Shop to see the boss. We hadn't been talking long when..."

Seeing Tsunade's serious expression, Kushina recounted everything that had happened, leaving nothing out, especially the question Karn had asked Minato Namikaze. Kushina wasn't stupid. After thinking it over carefully, she too felt that something was wrong with Minato Namikaze's words. Still, it might have had nothing to do with him. The problem could have been that ANBU member.

He had time to notify Minato Namikaze, a Genin, but no time to save anyone? Was that ANBU member an idiot, or was he acting on someone's orders? How many people in Konoha could command the ANBU?

"Those damned bastards!"

Tsunade cursed after hearing the story. She wanted to head straight to the Hokage Building and demand to know who was behind it.

"Kushina, I'll take you home first." Once she had dropped Kushina off, she would find those old bastards and get answers.

"Tsunade, will the boss come back?"

Kushina asked uneasily. She had sensed the change in Karn's mood earlier. If he never returned to Konoha, she would lose the only friend she could confide in.

"He'll definitely come back. You don't need to worry about what happens next."

After taking Kushina home, Tsunade ran into Orochimaru on her way to the Hokage Building.

"Orochimaru, what are you doing here?"

Orochimaru smiled. "You suddenly left halfway through our work, and the old man asked me to wait for you here. So here I am."

"So they really were involved?"

At those words, Tsunade's anger surged. The extremis virus in Karn's possession was crucial to Nawaki's health. Those bastards!

"Are you going to stop me?"

"No, Tsunade. I'm on your side. If you need me, I can go with you to see the old man."

Orochimaru hurriedly waved his hands. He had no desire to take a punch from an enraged Tsunade. His Soft Body Modification Technique was still only an idea, nowhere near complete.

"I only hope you'll let me participate in the research. I'm very curious about what you described, too. Besides, Nawaki is my student. I'd like to do my part, Tsunade."

Hearing this, Tsunade's anger subsided a little. She agreed without hesitation and told him, "All right, you have my word. But first, come with me to the Hokage Building!"