Chapter 10

Tsunade had only just stepped into the command tent, her words still unfinished, when something soft sealed her lips.

Her mind exploded with a boom. She had not even gotten a clear look at who the outrageously brazen ** in front of her was.

That familiar taste spread from the tip of her tongue through her whole body. Then her breast was given a hard squeeze.

Tsunade shuddered and stomped hard on his instep, roaring like a bristling cat, "I knew it was you, you **! You think I won't kill you right now?!"

Do you even know where we are?!

Besides, I broke up with you ages ago!

Xuan Zhe took the heavy stomp without a trace of pain on his face. Instead, he smacked his lips as if savoring the taste and gazed at his ex-girlfriend with satisfaction. "Mm. Looks like you haven't been fooling around these past few years."

What should have been big had not shrunk at all, and the curves that should have stood firm had not sagged in the slightest.

As the man who had personally developed Tsunade's flatbed physique into those devilish curves, Xuan Zhe could thump his chest and declare that nobody understood this woman's anatomy better than he did.

Especially just after she had come of age-there had been something new every day, like inflating a balloon.

Tsk, tsk. A seasoned pro.

"Go die, you **!!" Tsunade threw a punch.

But anyone who looked closely would have noticed the smile she could not suppress at the corners of her eyes.

"Could you two stop fooling around?"

As Xuan Zhe tilted his head to dodge Tsunade's fist, Orochimaru's leisurely voice came from behind him. He glanced at Tsunade and teased, "Well? Was that a good enough surprise?"

"Surprise? More like a heart attack!" Tsunade snapped back.

Despite her words, the corners of her mouth curled upward into a lovely arc.

Inside the tent, Hatake Sakumo, Hyuga Hiashi, Hizashi Hyuga, Shikaku Nara, and the other future fathers of the Konoha 12 were all dumbfounded.

This was the first time they had seen Tsunade smile since the disaster that had befallen the Senju Clan last year!

Didn't they break up ages ago? Hatake Sakumo wondered, a little more admiration entering his eyes.

Outside the tent, Dan Katō had watched the entire scene from beginning to end. His eyes bulged like brass bells, and he stood rooted to the spot.

At some point, the towel in his hand had fallen to the ground.

At that moment, he wanted to sing just one song-

"I should be under the car, not inside it, watching how sweet you two are..."

"All right. Whatever you two want to do, save it until we've finished our business."

The smile vanished from Orochimaru's face in an instant. His usual icy expression returned as he turned his gaze to the battle map on the table.

"What are you doing here?"

While everyone was listening closely to the analysis of the battle situation, Tsunade secretly nudged Xuan Zhe in the side with her elbow and asked in a low voice.

She knew his background perfectly well-since graduating from the Ninja Academy at six, he had never taken a single proper mission. He normally lived off the fields outside the village and hunting, providing his own food and clothing. Going to war was not remotely like him.

"My fragile-hearted big brother got into a bit of trouble. I can't just watch him go off to his death, can I?"

Xuan Zhe tilted his head and leaned close to Tsunade's ear.

That familiar breath, absent for so long, washed over her, and Tsunade's expression shifted slightly. When Xuan Zhe brought up White Fang, she remembered the rumors she had heard recently and curled her lip in disdain.

"Getting rid of someone once they've outlived their usefulness? Heh. Same old trick."

"Of course, I mainly came to see you, to check whether you've been ** behind my back and doing anything you shouldn't."

Xuan Zhe gave a wicked chuckle in a low voice, quietly slipping his hand behind Tsunade's waist and squeezing somewhere soft and springy.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed...? Do you even know where we are?!"

It had been so long since Tsunade had experienced anything like this that she jolted and nearly cried out. Gritting her teeth, she glared at him and kept her voice low-if anyone saw, how could she ever show her face as Princess Tsunade again?

"Relax. I'm keeping watch. Nobody saw."

Xuan Zhe's smile grew even more wicked.

Tsunade stomped hard on his instep and snorted.

"Don't forget, I broke up with you ages ago! Even if I really did do something, it's none of your business!"

"Then I'll come to your place tonight, spread you open, and find out."

Xuan Zhe abruptly dropped that bombshell.

"Don't you dare!"

This time, Tsunade truly could not hold back and shouted outright-although he had spread her open plenty of times before...

Her shout nearly made the Jonin in the tent jump as they listened intently to Orochimaru explain the battle situation.

Even Orochimaru could not help furrowing his brows, sounding rather speechless.

"Xuan Zhe, Tsunade, do you have any objections?"

Every time those two got together, they invariably caused an uproar. They had not changed since childhood.

Tsunade sheepishly turned her head aside, putting on an expression that said, "Nothing to do with me."

Xuan Zhe, on the other hand, was perfectly composed as he smiled and said:

"Um... I actually didn't quite catch that. Could I trouble you to repeat it?"

Honestly, if he had not known what Xuan Zhe was capable of, Orochimaru would have wanted to swallow the person who said that whole.

That was also why Hyuga Hiashi, Shikaku Nara, and the others looked so shocked-Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, was actually being this polite to a Genin?

Hatake Sakumo quickly stepped forward to smooth things over and picked up the discussion.

"Chiyo is currently commanding the front line. All the troops under her are puppet units, and her younger brother Ebizo is with her too."

Sakumo paused at that point, then added:

"They're fighting with everything they've got. They won't stop until one side is dead."

"That's because you personally killed her son and daughter-in-law, Mr. Sakumo. Chiyo swore she wouldn't rest until she took your head."

Orochimaru interjected from the side.

Then he continued, "There's also Bunpuku, the One-Tail Jinchuriki. He's no pushover either."

"Hm? Bunpuku?"

The moment Xuan Zhe heard that name, the old man who lived in Shukaku's memories in the original story flashed through his mind.

He asked casually, "Can he completely control Shukaku's power?"

"No, but he can borrow Shukaku's ability to manipulate sand. That was what the Second Kazekage, Shamon, used as a reference when he developed Magnet Release."

As Orochimaru spoke, he extended his tongue and licked his lips, then added in a raspy voice:

"It would be nice to capture him and do some research."

Xuan Zhe's stomach churned.

Was this guy already starting to turn into a freak?

"The Second Kazekage, Shamon, actually wants to end the war, but he can't override Chiyo's insistence on fighting, so he's remained in the rear to hold the fort."

Orochimaru pointed toward Sunagakure within the Land of Wind.

Even traveling at Kage Level speed, getting there would take at least two days and two nights.

"So you're saying this war will end as long as we kill either Chiyo or the Second Kazekage?"

Xuan Zhe turned to Orochimaru.

"Exactly."

Orochimaru nodded, then gave a sinister smile a moment later.

"Which one would you like to pick, Xuan Zhe?"

"Hmm... Let's start with Chiyo. She's right on the front line, after all. It'll be easier to make a move."

"With you and Mr. Sakumo helping me, I really can't think of a reason we'd lose."

Orochimaru smiled easily.

But everyone else's expressions grew increasingly strange.

Hatake Sakumo was known as "Konoha's White Fang." They understood how strong he was.

But wasn't Hatake Xuanzhe called an "Eternal Genin," just like Might Duy?

Orochimaru was actually counting him too?

But Orochimaru had guessed wrong.

Xuan Zhe's real target was not anyone from Sunagakure.

It was someone from Konoha.

The son of a certain Hokage who had not lived to see the beginning of the original story.

My brother was the one who gave him that life in the first place.

Now that he's repaying kindness with betrayal, there's nothing wrong with me taking it back, is there?

Windblown sand filled the sky, and bare, rocky ground stretched beneath their feet.

At the border of the Land of Wind, Xuan Zhe stood beside Orochimaru, the front-line commander, atop a desolate rock.