Chapter 266: The Greatest Medical Ninja
Once again, lifelong rivals Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama met in this world. Without a word, the two clashed fiercely, determined to decide the victor.
But at this moment, both of them were in the state of Edo Tensei. Their chakra reserves, stamina, and recovery ability far surpassed what they had possessed while alive.
The result was obvious—no matter what moves they unleashed, no matter how devastating the techniques, neither could truly harm the other.
Instead, everything around them suffered.
In just a short time, the entire Hidden Leaf Village had been reduced to ruins, completely devastated.
Fortunately, before Madara's invasion, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others had already evacuated the villagers to safety.
Even so, the destruction dealt an irreparable blow to the village.
As the First Hokage, Hashirama couldn't help but feel pained when he saw the once-thriving village reduced to such a state.
He knew full well that with his and Madara's power, it was impossible to decide the outcome quickly.
Even when they had fought in life—not under Edo Tensei—the battle had lasted for days before ending.
So, after feinting an attack, Hashirama stopped and suggested, "Madara, let's fight somewhere else!"
Madara readily agreed. He didn't try to use others to threaten or distract Hashirama.
"Fine!"
He agreed without hesitation.
"Follow me!"
Hashirama turned at once and headed away from the village.
Madara glanced back at Nagato. "Once I finish off Hashirama, I'll deal with you."
Then he followed after.
Watching them go, Hiruzen and the others finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Orochimaru, you actually desecrated the First Hokage's tomb…"
Hiruzen turned on his once-favored student with anger.
But Orochimaru only spread his hands and gave a sly smile. "Hehe… At least that man is being held back by the First Hokage, isn't he?"
That much was true.
If not for Orochimaru summoning Hashirama to join the fight, all of them might already be dead at Madara's hands.
And if the Nine Tailed Beasts fell into Madara's grasp, the consequences would be unthinkable.
"Lord First Hokage, Lord Minato, and Lord Fugaku are gravely injured…"
At that moment, an Anbu member rushed over to report.
They had gone to rescue those struck down earlier by Madara—among them Namikaze Minato, Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Shisui, Kakashi, and Uchiha Obito.
All of these once-formidable shinobi were now heavily wounded without exception.
Several of them were already on the brink of death.
"With the current medical ninjutsu in the village, we can't save them…"
The Anbu continued grimly.
Hiruzen immediately turned to Orochimaru.
The latter's expression grew somewhat serious. Meeting Hiruzen's gaze, he said helplessly, "Don't look at me. When it comes to medical ninjutsu, there's only one person who could save them."
"But…" Orochimaru trailed off.
Yet everyone present—even Nagato and Yahiko, who weren't from the Leaf—knew exactly who he meant.
Across the entire ninja world, only a handful were famed for medical ninjutsu.
Among those from the Leaf, there was only one—the woman hailed since the Second Great Ninja War as the greatest medical ninja, the Princess Tsunade.
Unfortunately, Hiruzen knew Tsunade was no longer in the village.
"Send people to find Tsunade! Quickly!"
Hiruzen snapped an order.
"And have we managed to contact the Fourth yet?" he asked.
Meanwhile, on the road outside Konoha…
Two figures were approaching.
The closer they drew to the village, the more grim the expression of the tall, striking woman in a tan coat became. Her aura was as intimidating as it was profound.
Beside her was a teenage girl holding a small, cute pig in her arms.
These two were none other than the legendary Sannin, Tsunade—the only one who could heal the gravely injured—and her attendant and student, Kato Shizune, the niece of Tsunade's late lover Kato Dan.
"Lady Tsunade, it looks like… the village was attacked," Shizune said, already sensing something wrong.
The air was thick with the stench of burning and something even more acrid—a nauseating mix of countless odors impossible to separate.
"What happened?"
Tsunade had already noticed the abnormalities.
She stopped, raising her gaze toward the forest at the end of the road. Above it, smoke and dust billowed in the direction of the Leaf Village.
Since their return to the area, the ground had been trembling constantly with the sounds of explosions.
Clearly, a fierce battle was underway.
"Shizune! We have to hurry!"
Though she had once left the village of her own accord—fueled by disillusionment with her teacher, the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen—Tsunade was still a Leaf ninja, still one of the legendary Sannin.
She could not stand by and ignore the Leaf's crisis.
This time, she had returned only because she'd heard of the talk about unifying the ninja world, and she wanted to see for herself what kind of man this Uchiha Dali was.
Her lover, Kato Dan, had perished in the Second Great Ninja War.
If that war had never happened, the tragedy wouldn't have occurred, and she wouldn't have ended up where she was today.
Now, a man had stepped forward claiming he would create true peace—and had already taken the first step.
That had stirred Tsunade's deep curiosity.
But first, she had to find out what was happening here.
With a sudden burst of speed, Tsunade surged toward Konoha.
Seeing her teacher suddenly vanish three hundred meters ahead, Shizune hurried after her in a panic.
"Wait for me, Lady Tsunade!"
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