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From above, Orochimaru gazed down at Tsunade.
A faint smirk touched his lips. "Funny. For all our history… we've never truly fought before, have we?"
Kabuto crouched beside him and exhaled quietly. "Technically, I'm the one fighting her."
Tsunade didn't care who stepped forward. Her eyes never left Orochimaru.
He was the target. Kabuto was just a minor inconvenience.
Raising her fist, she roared:
"I'm ending you today!"
She slammed down with monstrous force, shattering their perch into rubble.
Orochimaru chuckled, leaping away. "That punch could've killed us, Kabuto."
"I know," Kabuto muttered. "She's terrifying."
He narrowed his eyes. "This terrain's too tight. We need more room if I'm going to hold her off."
Orochimaru arched a brow. "Thinking of changing venues?"
"Would be safer. Especially with him possibly lurking nearby."
Kabuto finally shared the intelligence he'd been holding.
"The other Sannin. Jiraiya."
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. "So that fool's still meddling…"
His smirk returned.
"Fine. Let's go."
The two vanished into the wilderness, Tsunade in close pursuit.
---
Shortly after…
Jiraiya, Naruto, and Shizune arrived at the devastated remains of Tanzaku Town.
Even before Shizune's pig, Tonton began sniffing for a trail, both adults recognized the destruction immediately.
Tsunade had been here.
---
Out in the distant wilderness…
Tsunade finally caught up.
All three combatants were winded. Even Tsunade her stamina chipped away by years without a real battle.
Kabuto popped a soldier pill, and Tsunade grimaced.
She recognized it instantly. "Soldier pill…"
Without hesitation, Kabuto formed hand signs, surrounding his fingers with [Chakra Scalpel].
Tsunade's eyes sharpened. He was aiming to surgically disable her.
He came prepared.
The moment's distraction cost her an underground jutsu triggered, and a hand shot from the earth, grabbing her leg.
Kabuto lunged.
In the flurry of motion, he struck with precision cutting through part of her biceps and hamstring.
Tsunade staggered.
"Impressive," she said, steadying herself through the pain. "Why not go for my arteries?"
Kabuto adjusted his glasses, his tone clinical.
"The scalpel can slice blood vessels, sure but shaping it precisely mid-battle to target the heart or major arteries? That's inefficient."
He smirked.
"But slicing a throat? Much easier."
He lunged again.
Tsunade's limbs failed her. The damage was too precise. She couldn't even dodge.
Am I this out of practice…?
Just before the scalpel could reach her—
Thoom!
A glowing orange dome flared to life.
Kabuto's scalpel bounced off it with a metallic clang.
He staggered back, shocked.
"What… is this?"
Before him stood a calm, blindfolded figure.
"Long time no see, Kabuto-senpai."
"…Hyuga Neji," Kabuto muttered, his smile faltering.
Even Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.
Tsunade blinked, stunned by the sudden appearance.
"…Neji?"
He nodded faintly, still facing Kabuto.
"Didn't expect to see you here."
Kabuto deactivated his scalpel and stepped back, eyeing the [Aura Shield].
"It's not been that long. Neji-kun."
Their tense smiles mirrored each other eerie in their similarity.
Behind him, Tsunade quietly healed her damaged limbs.
"You shouldn't be here," she muttered. "This isn't your fight."
Neji's lips barely moved.
"Then let me ask you—why are you here, Tsunade-sama?"
"…Against both Kabuto-senpai and Orochimaru?"
Tsunade fell silent.
She had no good answer.
She hadn't told anyone. Hadn't asked for help. Hadn't wanted a witness.
But here he was saving her life.
Kabuto sighed and drew a kunai. His expression hardened.
"Guess this won't be as simple as I'd hoped."
But just as he lunged again—
POOF!
Smoke burst into the clearing.
Jiraiya stepped out, arms folded.
Shizune and Naruto are behind him.
"Tsunade," he said dryly. "You always did love picking fights when no one was looking."
She flinched.
He knew.
Orochimaru's voice cut through the air, venomous and smooth.
"Well, well. Long time, Jiraiya."
"You haven't changed," Jiraiya muttered. "Still as cruel as ever."
Naruto stared at Kabuto in disbelief. "Wait… isn't that… Kabuto-senpai?!"
Why was he wearing a Sound headband?
Why was he standing with Orochimaru?
Was he really the enemy now?
Kabuto gave a tired smile.
"Such a pain…"
He turned toward Tsunade still regaining composure.
"Before we continue…"
SLASH.
Blood flew into the air.
Not Tsunade's, but his own dripping from a self-inflicted wound.
She froze.
Her pupils trembled.
Blood.
The deep, visceral trauma gripped her heart images of Dan and Nawaki flooding her mind.
Her hands shook.
Her knees buckled.
Kabuto grinned.
"One less Sannin to worry about."
Neji stepped forward, blocking her view of the blood with his cloak.
He spoke calmly.
"Pretty underhanded, Kabuto-senpai."
Kabuto shrugged. "It's war. Efficiency over honor."
They locked eyes.
No more words are needed.
Neji deactivated his [Aura Shield].
"Shizune, take care of her."
Shizune rushed in, kneeling beside Tsunade, who was trembling violently.
Neji took a deep breath and stepped backward.
"…I'm just a recently recovered genin, after all."
He stood behind Jiraiya and looked up at him.
"Your move, Pervert Sage."
Jiraiya's eyes sharpened.
Finally.
Time for the real fight.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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