Despite his grievous wounds, Sakamoto was still able to speak. Uchiha Tatsumi couldn't help but admire the man's tenacity.
With the last of his strength, Sakamoto formed a hand seal.
The moment he completed the seal, his body gave out—he collapsed beside Uchiha Tatsumi, lifeless.
Suddenly, the ground trembled violently.
The Class-A Earth Release technique Sakamoto had cast earlier wasn't over yet.
His final seal had triggered the full release—every last trace of chakra was poured into the terrain.
Now out of control, the Doton technique erupted in a massive backlash.
The ground convulsed—rising, collapsing, and splintering apart like an earthquake. Uchiha Tatsumi was like a tiny boat tossed by a stormy sea.
Dozens of jagged stone spears surged toward him from all directions.
Tatsumi tried to lift himself. After a few seconds of struggle, he dropped his arm, utterly spent.
He lay there on the ruined earth, chest heaving. His chakra reserves were completely drained. His body refused to move.
Sakamoto's corpse was just meters away—his final act complete.
Kill Uchiha Tatsumi.
Tatsumi stared blankly at the darkened sky. Night had fallen, and the once-verdant forest was now a shattered wasteland. The air had grown cold.
The ground beneath him was riddled with stone spikes. Even if he somehow escaped, the poison in his body would kill him.
Agonizing pain writhed through every cell, as if insects were burrowing through his flesh and bones.
His awareness dulled. Was this… death?
Hallucinations flickered before his eyes.
The destroyed forest vanished.
He saw his home—Konoha. His friends from the village were waving to him.
Then, the vision shifted. A lone figure approached from the distance—
Tsunade?
As Tsunade strode toward him, a sense of warmth washed over Uchiha Tatsumi's fading mind.
The pain ebbed slightly.
—Heavenly Foot of Pain! (Tenshō Senjin!)
A far greater tremor than before erupted.
The earth split violently as Tsunade's chakra-enhanced kick shattered the encroaching stone spikes into dust. A massive fissure carved through the ground, tearing apart Sakamoto's Earth Release trap.
She had temporarily nullified the Class-A technique.
"Orochimaru! Hurry, save him!" Tsunade's voice rang out with urgency.
Tatsumi, his vision still blurred, blinked weakly. He could barely register her silhouette—but the voice… it was real.
"…Mm." Tsunade nodded and approached.
A familiar scent surrounded him. He felt himself being lifted gently.
After a few soft footsteps, he was laid back onto the ground.
"I'll treat him. Go check on Nawaki and the others," Tsunade instructed with a firm voice.
She had sensed that the others were still alive, but couldn't assess their condition from here.
"I'm counting on you."
"Tch... the injuries are serious," Tsunade muttered, examining Tatsumi.
"Kid, if I'd been even a little later, you'd be dead," she said, softly but firmly.
Uchiha Tatsumi's eyes stung. He had never heard Tsunade speak so gently.
But her voice quickly snapped back to normal.
"Orochimaru! Are you dead yet?"
"If you're still breathing, then get moving already! Don't just stand there like a statue!"
That fleeting warmth disappeared. Yep. That was the real Tsunade.
Orochimaru sighed internally.
(You could just admit you care about your student…)
He turned and dashed off.
Meanwhile, Tsunade summoned her medical kit with a Summoning Jutsu.
She quickly made small incisions in Tatsumi's body, draining out the poisoned blood.
Her other hand glowed green with Medical Ninjutsu chakra.
She tore open his shirt and murmured, "This will hurt a little—bear with it."
As her chakra stabilized his heartbeat, she noticed that he was still conscious.
Through the haze, Tatsumi heard her words—
—and then came the blinding pain.
"AHHHHH!!"
He screamed in agony.
Two minutes later, Orochimaru returned, panting.
"They're all alive—minor injuries, nothing fatal. They'll recover."
He leaned in to inspect Tatsumi.
"How is he?"
Tsunade was at the critical stage of the Mystical Palm Technique (Shōsen Jutsu), guiding her chakra with precision.
As wounds closed, blackened blood oozed out.
"Three internal ruptures, organ displacement, two broken ribs, internal bleeding. Chakra and stamina both fully depleted," she reported with clinical precision.
Orochimaru nodded, then retrieved Sakamoto's body using a sealing scroll.
"This guy might carry valuable intel," he said with a raspy voice.
"Oh? What do you mean?" Tsunade asked.
"He's a unit commander from Sunagakure's Anbu."
Tsunade's expression turned cold.
"What's worse," she added grimly, "his poison isn't standard."
"I recognize Suna's neurotoxins—but some of this stuff is foreign. I can't purge it all here."
"The Delicate Illness Extraction Technique isn't enough. We need to return to Konoha immediately."
"But we can't just leave," Orochimaru said.
Tsunade bit her thumb and pressed her hand to the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!"
With a puff of smoke, Katsuyu, the Slug Queen, appeared.
"What is it, Lady Tsunade?" the giant slug asked.
"I need to transport him. Wrap around us, then reverse-summon us to the Shikkotsu Forest."
Tsunade turned to Orochimaru.
"Contact Konoha. I have blood samples stored at the hospital. Tell the old man—have the medical corps prepare for a linked summoning."
With a thundering boom, Tsunade and Uchiha Tatsumi vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving Orochimaru behind.
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