The instant Naoki Senju appeared from behind, the number of Root ninja surrounding Tsunade dropped by forty percent. Had reducing their numbers any further not left them unable to hold Tsunade back, every Root ninja would probably have gone to kill Naoki Senju.
"The target has appeared. Behead him immediately."
The black-clad man in charge gave the order decisively, unaware that those words had touched Tsunade's sorest spot. Strange markings spread gradually across her entire body, starting from the diamond-shaped mark on her forehead.
This was Tsunade's unique secret technique, the Strength of a Hundred Technique, which could only be used after releasing the Yin Seal. For the duration of this secret technique, Tsunade's stamina and Superhuman Strength would increase dramatically, while her chakra reserves would surge to a terrifying level.
But Tsunade was not finished. She smeared blood from her fingertip across her palm, formed hand seals, and slammed her hand against the ground, completing a Summoning Technique with an abnormally large formation.
"Summoning Technique!"
An enormous Katsuyu, over a hundred meters long, appeared in the center of the battlefield, making even the ground shake. At the same time, she instantly divided the battlefield. Apart from a handful of Root ninja who had already been blocking the rear, all the others who wanted to bypass Tsunade and kill Naoki Senju directly were stopped by Katsuyu.
"Lady Tsunade."
Katsuyu respectfully lowered her head so Tsunade could stand atop it to fight.
But rather than standing on Katsuyu's head to face the enemy as she usually did, Tsunade gave a somewhat urgent order:
"Katsuyu, go protect Naoki and Shizune."
"Lady Tsunade, what about you?" Katsuyu immediately obeyed Tsunade's order, splitting into several bodies of different sizes to protect Naoki and Shizune. Only one small body remained, perched on Tsunade's shoulder.
"Me? This time, I'm going to kill them all!"
Tsunade unleashed her fierce killing intent without restraint. Her terrifying presence made the Root ninja opposite her frown. Even though they had deployed a full thirty-seven Root ninja this time, they truly had little confidence in being able to kill Princess Tsunade, one of the Sannin.
The Root ninja in charge took out a kunai and cut a long wound across his left arm, letting crimson blood drip to the ground. The other Root ninja followed suit, cutting bleeding wounds without compromising their combat strength.
But to the Root ninja's surprise, Tsunade showed no fear as she faced them. Instead, she gave a disdainful sneer, stomped a crater into the ground, and charged at the nearest Root ninja. Though he dodged with all his might, her fist, packed with terrifying strength, still struck the side of his waist.
Bang!
The Root ninja she struck burst like a balloon filled with water before he could even scream. A red mist of blood instantly spread outward, and shattered limbs flew everywhere, even splattering the faces of the other Root ninja.
Having witnessed their companion's death with their own eyes, these Root ninja showed no fear. Instead, they began calmly assessing Tsunade's combat strength and devising a new battle plan, as though the one who had just died were not their companion but an animal.
"The intelligence was wrong. Tsunade does not suffer from hemophobia, and her combat strength exceeds the intelligence reports. Execute Plan C now. Abandon Tsunade and prioritize the target."
The moment he finished speaking, several Root ninja charged at Tsunade in suicidal attacks, showing not the slightest fear of her terrifying power to burst a person apart with one punch.
The other Root ninja circled around Tsunade and attacked Naoki Senju behind her. Just as Tsunade moved to intercept them, a Root ninja threw himself into her path in a suicidal attempt to stop her.
"Super Multi-Size Technique."
An Akimichi Clan ninja like a small mountain blocked her path, but Tsunade, her face filled with fury, punched straight ahead, chakra condensed to its utmost coating her fist.
"Get out of my way!"
Bang!
The familiar sound of flesh bursting rang out. The Akimichi Clan ninja's right leg vanished instantly where her punch struck. Blood mist and severed flesh filled the sky again, over a much wider area this time, and the gravely injured Akimichi ninja returned to his normal size.
But rather than retreating to treat his wound, the Akimichi ninja, now missing a leg, did his best to hop toward Tsunade.
Tsunade had no time to spare for a gravely wounded Akimichi Clan ninja. Without so much as looking at him, she continued moving to intercept and kill the Root ninja. But after the Akimichi Clan ninja had moved several steps, the shadow beneath his feet seemed to come alive, turning into a straight line that connected to Tsunade's shadow.
The Root ninja who had given the orders earlier emerged from behind a large tree, keeping his hands in a hand seal.
"Shadow-Neck Binding Technique."
The shadow beneath Tsunade's feet writhed, then began spreading up her calves. But Tsunade was already almost at the limit of her patience. Exerting her full strength, she instantly broke free of the Shadow Imitation Technique's effects. Bright red blood seeped from the corner of the Nara Clan ninja's mouth as his ninjutsu was forcibly broken.
The Akimichi Clan, the Nara Clan-the Yamanaka Clan must be nearby. Tsunade's thoughts raced. No matter how worried she was about Naoki, she could not afford to act rashly now. Though the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans were not strong in head-on combat, their control abilities were difficult to guard against and could easily leave someone at a severe disadvantage.
"Mind Body Disturbance Technique."
Already prepared, Tsunade sidestepped the attack and left the Ino-Shika-Cho trio behind in just a few strides. Compared with wasting time killing them now, protecting Naoki was naturally more important.
With one gravely injured and another lightly wounded, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio gathered together to treat Maruten Akimichi's severe injuries. All three were filled with bitterness. Ever since joining Root, their lives had no longer belonged to them, but to Root, to Danzo!
With Maruten Akimichi so badly injured this time, there was no telling what a miserable fate awaited him once he returned to Root...
Naoki Senju's situation was even more difficult than Tsunade's. After all, Root knew the gap between their strength and Tsunade's. Once they had tested her strength, they abandoned the idea of killing her, leaving only Ino-Shika-Cho and a few others to hold her back.
But Naoki Senju was someone Danzo had ordered them to kill at all costs. Root attacked with everything they had, and countless large-scale ninjutsu engulfed him: Lightning Release, Water Release, Wind Release, Fire Style, and Earth Release, which had nearly trapped Naoki Senju to death.
Had Katsuyu, split into dozens of bodies, not risked her life to save him, blocking several ninjutsu for Naoki while treating his injuries, and also severely injuring several Root members with her acid to draw some of their attention, Naoki Senju would probably already have been blasted to pieces by a saturation bombardment of countless ninjutsu.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique."
"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere."
The roaring water dragon hurtled straight toward Naoki Senju, who was hiding behind a rock, with the powerful Vacuum Sphere close behind. In a thoroughly bedraggled state, Naoki Senju calculated his remaining chakra and felt a little more at ease.
After awakening Wood Release, his chakra reserves had continued to grow. By now, they were roughly equivalent to four Shizunes, or Tsunade without her Yin Seal released. Naoki Senju had not even dared mention this, afraid Tsunade would mistake it for more showing off and give him another beating for no reason.
Right now, those vast chakra reserves were the source of Naoki Senju's confidence.
"Water Release: Water Formation Pillar."
An upright, cylindrical wall of water completely canceled out the Water Dragon Bullet and Vacuum Wave. Water Formation Pillar was another Water Release ninjutsu originating from the Second Hokage. Though it fell short of the power the Second Hokage could unleash, Naoki Senju was already beginning to show traces of a Water Release expert.
From that moment on, the roles of hunter and prey had reversed!