Tsunade ignored the pain in her chest, her eyes fixed on him with a bewildered expression. Shock and disbelief spread across her face.
"H-how could you… use Wood Style?" she whispered—not so much to Obito, but to herself.
If before she had been terrified of his sheer strength, now she was consumed by confusion.
Wood Style… this man could actually wield it?
Is he… a Senju?
Her heart clenched. How was that possible? She knew her clan, just like the Uchiha—had nearly vanished into history. The founders of the village… the ones who gave everything for it… and now, only remnants remained.
"You should have already guessed it," Obito said in a deep voice, his eyes glinting beneath the mask. "But let me be kind enough to say it… yes, I have the blood of Senju flowing through my veins."
Before she could respond, his hands moved in calm precision.
"Wood Style: Binding Veins."
Thick roots erupted from the ground, twisting around Tsunade and Shizune alike.
"Ahhh, damn it!" Tsunade cursed, muscles bulging as she tore apart the branches with her bare hands.
But for every piece she ripped away, new wood grew instantly to take its place, constricting tighter than before.
And worse…
"My chakra… it's being absorbed!?" Tsunade's eyes widened. This was no ordinary technique—this was exactly like her grandfather, Hashirama Senju's Wood Style.
The very same power that had once kept the tailed beasts themselves in check.
Her teeth clenched. "Who the hell are you? Why have I never heard of you before?"
She bit down on her lip, eyes locked on his mask, desperate to see the truth hidden behind it.
"Who am I?" Obito's voice was calm, "That's irrelevant."
He stepped closer, the wooden bindings tightening around both women as the crimson glow of the barrier flickered across the broken forest.
"What's important to know is that now I'm giving you two options."
"First: I kill you and your apprentice over there…"
"Second: I fuck some sense and responsibility into you... literally, so you don't go fooling people around in the future and tarnish the name of Senju."
Both of these choices froze Tsunade and Shizune in place. Cold sweat dripped from their foreheads.
"Lady Tsunade, I don't care if I—I die… please don't let him humiliate you…" Shizune begged, tears streaming down her face.
She couldn't bear to witness Tsunade suffering such humiliation. To her, Tsunade was more than just her sensei, she had been with her since childhood.
Obito looked at Shizune calmly, then grinned behind his mask.
Perfect timing.
He tilted his head, his voice almost curious.
"Well, it seems you really care about her, huh? Then how about I give you an option too?"
"See that tree over there? Yes, that beautiful, big, thick tree. Go stand against it, hands on the bark. Bend at the waist and beg me to fuck you right there."
"Do that… and you save your Lady Tsunade. I promise I won't touch a single hair on her head."
"But if you refuse my kindness, then not only will I humiliate both of you... I'll also let the entire world know what I did. The whole world will laugh at you, make you a laughingstock."
"You don't want that, do you? To make your Lady Tsunade suffer a fate even worse than death?"
As Obito's words sank in, wooden tendrils lashed out and wrapped around Tsunade's mouth, gagging her before she could speak.
She glared at him with murderous eyes, as if she would devour him alive.
Her eyes are terrifying, Obito thought inwardly.
Shizune's whole body trembled; her breathing became rapid. She even found it hard to draw a calm breath.
"W–what!?" she stammered, hesitation and panic tangling inside her until they turned to despair. Memories of Tsunade and herself flashed through her mind.
"Haha, don't worry... you can follow me and learn medical ninjutsu from me."
"But I still can't learn anything right, even after such a long time…"
"Don't worry, take your time. I actually wasted a lot of time too, hahahaha."
"Lady Tsunade, can you please say that while you look at me? The lie won't be so easily exposed."
"Dammit, Shizune, how can you talk to your sensei like that? Don't worry — with me here, I'll do my best to teach you everything I have. You just have to keep working hard."
"Yes, Lady Tsunade!"
Tears streamed down Shizune's face. She lifted her eyes toward Tsunade, whose expression held equal parts anger and sadness, helplessly shaking her head with her mouth covered.
Conveying everything with her eyes, Tsunade mouthed: You mustn't do this, Shizune.
But with a heavy heart, Shizune looked away and that made Tsunade's chest tighten. She resisted with every ounce of strength, but couldn't break free.
Tsunade bit her lip so hard it hurt. For the first time in a long while she felt truly helpless — the same feeling when her brother died, then when her boyfriend Kato died.
And now… Shizune too.
"That's right… you're such an ominous person, Tsunade. Everyone close to you always ends up destroyed," Obito murmured, his tone calm, almost cruel in its serenity. A faint genjutsu cloaked his words so that only she could hear them.
The moment they sank into her ears, her body stiffened.
Ominous… me?
She wanted to laugh it off as nothing more than a trick to rattle her, yet the laughter never came. Because deep down, she had heard this voice before. Not his...her own.
Whispering it in the dark when no one else was around.
Nawaki's bright smile… snuffed out in an explosion before he had even grown into the man he wanted to be.
Dan's warm hands… slipping away, blood pooling beneath them no matter how desperately she tried to heal him.
Two dreams...both crushed. Two futures...both stolen.
And she had been there for all of it. Helpless. Watching. Always just watching.
Her chest rose and fell, ragged, each breath tighter than the last. Tears burned her eyes before she even realized they were falling.
Obito's words weren't new...they were an echo of a curse she had carried for years.
Perhaps that was why they hurt so much.
Because Tsunade Senju, the Legendary Sucker, the proud Sannin, believed them too.
"I… I can't do anything. I can't save anyone."
Tsunade's voice cracked as her body trembled, the last of her composure slipping away. She was on the verge of breaking down completely.
Obito's eyes narrowed behind the mask. Good… now let's deal the final blow.
"Actually… it's not too late." His voice lowered to a whisper, heavy with false promise. "This time… you can save someone."
Her head jerked slightly, hope and dread colliding in her chest.
"It's your only chance."
"A chance to make up for your mistakes. To finally protect someone you care about. Replace her. Endure everything in her stead."
He let the silence drag, twisting the knife deeper.
"Or… you can pretend again. Pretend you didn't know. Pretend you couldn't change anything. Really… no one would blame you. After all… one's own life is worth more, isn't it—"
Before he could finish, Tsunade's head snapped up. Her eyes...wide, wet, desperate—locked onto him.
Though her lips refused to move, her gaze screamed louder than any words could.
Take me instead.
Obito smiled behind his mask, that patient, unreadable smile that never reached his eyes.
"It seems you've made up your mind. But let me remind you, Tsunade, if you play games, what awaits you won't be a simple punishment."
His voice was almost cordial, like a doctor explaining a painful procedure.
"I could even resurrect both of your precious ones…and make them live through hell. Don't think I'm bluffing. You know your grandfather Tobirama's forbidden jutsu, don't you? It's more than enough for something as…simple as this."
Tsunade's body trembled...not with rage, but with a raw, hollow shock. Disbelief and a sudden, cold fear braided together beneath her ribs.
Resurrection…is that possible? The thought flashed through her, ridiculous and impossible and somehow suddenly plausible as she stared at the masked man.
And beneath the terror, a tiny, traitorous flicker of something else, expectation...glimmered in her eyes, so slight she didn't even notice it herself.
--
Obito, of course, did everything for a reason.
Tsunade was far too proud to bow to him from the start. If he had tried to crush her with raw coercion, it would never have given him the result he wanted. Instead, he chipped away at her from another angle.
He shifted her pride toward loss.
Shizune was her weak point. Obito wasn't sure if Tsunade would go too far for her sake… but what about the reverse? What if Tsunade had to watch Shizune throw herself into hell for her? Could she really sit back calmly then? Very unlikely.
So he pushed her step by step, forcing her to confront that sense of loss again and again.
Then came the suggestions, framed as threats. Resurrection — the very idea shook her. With Naruto and Jiraiya absent, there was no one left to "talk no jutsu" her out of it. Her will was already cracked.
Now, as long as he handled things carefully, Tsunade would walk into a trap she would never escape.
"It seems there's no need for more words, huh?" Obito said in a low voice, his gaze fixed on Tsunade.
She didn't answer. It was less that she wouldn't, and more that she couldn't. Her eyes burned into him, filled with hatred… but laced with something else she herself couldn't define.
Obito didn't care. He had seen those kinds of eyes countless times.
Turning away, he walked toward Shizune, who was still trapped in his genjutsu. With a light tap to her neck, she crumpled. Tsunade immediately struggled forward, panic flashing across her face.
"Relax, big cheeks," Obito muttered almost mockingly. "It's just to take her out of our way." With that, he pulled Shizune's body into the swirling void of Kamui.
Tsunade's eyes widened as the crimson Sharingan spun within his mask. For the first time, she truly saw him. The shock hit like a hammer—Wood Style and Sharingan, together.
And now… space-time ninjutsu on top of it.
How… how can a man like this even exist, hidden from the world?
The more she thought about it, the more hopeless her situation felt. Saving herself...let alone Shizune, looked close to impossible.
She had considered ways to deceive him, to lower his guard, but now she knew she would have to tread far more carefully.
Her thoughts shattered as she felt his hand land firmly on her shoulder.
Then, as the forest grew silent, the last words she heard before the two of them vanished into the void were:
"Let's go… and gamble in bed this time."
[Author Note]📢
Hey everyone!
Just a quick update — I've started a new Naruto novel:
Naruto: From Scratch With a Template System
It's a fresh project with cleaner writing and a steadier release pace.
If you enjoyed my previous stories, feel free to check it out!
Thanks for the support 🗣️
— Arthorain