"Oh? You're here already?"Neiki glanced at Tsunade before turning back to the pale girl squeezed against the bed's edge.
"Hanarei, don't be rude. Peel an apple for Tsunade-sama too."
The sight of Neiki's face filled Tsunade with a violent urge to strike him—but her body refused to move.
She finally looked down.
A short blade was embedded in her abdomen.
There was no pain—because the sensation hadn't even reached her brain before her nerves were paralyzed.
From the wound, countless black runes—like crawling black insects—spread rapidly across her skin, locking her chakra and freezing her limbs completely.
Pressure-point disruption.Paralysis.A sealing formula layered beneath the illusion.
Tsunade's expression darkened.
Neiki had never moved.So how—?
"…Genjutsu," she muttered.
The moment she stepped into the room, the blade had already pierced her—
—but in her senses, Neiki had been casually eating an apple.
A detail-altering genjutsu.Subtle, silent, devastating.Very much Neiki's style—and always used at the moment of maximum advantage.
Tsunade had suffered from this technique once already.It seemed she would not get a second chance to adapt.
"What is going on…?" she growled."When did you get onto this ship?""And you—Hanarei—did you conspire with him?"
Hanarei flinched violently, unable to withstand Tsunade's furious glare. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she continued peeling the apple with trembling hands.
Meanwhile, Tsunade silently gathered what strength she could.She didn't need to fully break free.This was a Konoha ship—she only needed to make a sound, cause a disturbance, buy a moment for someone outside to notice.
Neiki crunched another bite of apple, completely unbothered.
"If you insist on blaming others for your failures," he said,"that's your own problem."
He pulled back the blanket beside him, revealing Hanarei curled up in fear.
With a small gesture, he instructed her to lift her shirt.
Hanarei obeyed.
Below her ribs was a dark purple bruise—and inside that bruise, a Flying Thunder God mark pulsed faintly.
Tsunade's pupils contracted.
"This is impossible," she snapped."We checked her before boarding. There was no Flying Thunder God seal on her!"
Neiki smiled.
"That's why I said you were too careless."
He formed a single seal—and the Flying Thunder God mark on Hanarei's skin vanished like ink dissolving in water.
A removable, disguised mark.A technique Tsunade had never even considered.
She had no words.
"I'm sorry…" Hanarei sobbed.
"It's fine. It isn't your fault," Neiki said gently."I'm sure Tsunade-sama understands."
He patted Hanarei's head affectionately, but when he looked back at Tsunade—
The gentleness vanished.
In its place was amusement.
Anticipation.
And a cruel sparkle in his eyes.
At that moment, Tsunade understood:
He was enjoying this.
Not the victory—but her humiliation.Her helplessness.The moment her hope rose—only to be crushed again.
He knew she was trying to break the seal.He was letting her try.
Playing with her.
Tsunade growled low in her throat and stopped pretending.
She forcibly ignited her chakra, straining her muscles against the binding seal—even though she knew doing so could tear her organs apart.
"You despicable—"
"I, Tsunade, will never allow someone like you—!"
Bones cracked.Blood dripped from her mouth.The strain was tearing her apart from the inside.
But she pushed harder.
Neiki raised an eyebrow, mildly impressed.
Tsunade's regenerative ability was overpowering the suppression for a moment—allowing a small amount of chakra to leak through.
Unlike Itachi and Danzo, Tsunade had monstrous vitality.The seal alone couldn't fully restrain her.
"…Shing."
A second blade plunged into her chest—precisely avoiding vital organs.
Black runes burst from the wound like spilled ink, racing across her skin and smothering the chakra she had forced out.
Tsunade screamed—her eyes rolled back—and she collapsed, unconscious before she even hit the bed.
"I believe Kumogakure will appreciate this gift," Neiki said lightly, slinging Tsunade over his shoulder.
He turned to Hanarei with a warm, neighborly smile.
"Thanks to you, this was possible. If Konoha becomes… difficult for you, come find me."
Using the Byakugan, he swept the ship.Everyone was busy.No one was coming.
He gave one last casual remark:
"Don't be like some people—who don't know how to grasp opportunity."
Then he vanished.
When Hanarei finally dared to look around, she found only an oxidized apple core resting on the windowsill.
She stumbled out of the room in tears.
The News Reaches Neji
When Neji heard that Neiki had abducted Tsunade—
it felt like lightning struck his skull.
Everything around him went silent.The shouting of panicked shinobi became distant echoes.His heartbeat drowned out every voice.
He walked through the crowd, dazed.
He had thought—finally—Tsunade-sama trusted him.
He had thought becoming her apprentice would let him escape the shadow of his brother.
He had thought this battle had finally earned him recognition.
But now—
Tsunade was gone.Taken.By Neiki.
"Neji? What's wrong?"
It was Miyamoto Yoru, oblivious to the storm that had just crashed through Neji's life.
Neji looked at him for several seconds—expression empty—before shaking his head.
"…Nothing."
"Nothing at all."
A long breath.
Then Neji forced out:
"By the way… the sealing technique you used on me earlier…can you teach me?"
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