On the other hand,
Tsunade, who'd been catching up on sleep at the inn, was jolted awake by a strange, squelching creature.
Blinking her eyes open, she saw a split-body clone of the Slug Sage wriggling determinedly along her forearm.
"Slug Sage?"
Tsunade snapped fully awake, momentarily taken aback.
Seeing her wake, the Slug Sage's clone let out a small breath of relief and hurriedly said, "Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya is harassing Uzumaki Naruto again. This time he seems intent on taking Naruto by force. I've got over a hundred thousand split bodies surrounding him right now, so he doesn't dare make a move."
"Hiss—"
O… over a hundred thousand clones… Even at full power I couldn't summon that many!
Why are there so many Slug Sage clones in Konoha?
Did it plan something in secret with Uchiha Chizumi?
And those hundred-plus thousand—are they just a portion lying in wait inside the village?
Tsunade stared for a beat, then pushed her curiosity down. Her expression hardened.
"That guy Jiraiya just won't quit!" she said, face full of disappointment, shaking her head. "He's completely been led by the nose by those toads—he believes whatever they say…"
"Shizune!!!"
Her shout snapped the dozing Shizune upright. Shizune forced the sleep from her eyes and sprang to her feet.
Tsunade shrugged into her clothes and said, "Grab every tool you've got. We're going to pay that idiot a visit."
"Uh? Idiot? Who?" Shizune asked, baffled.
"Jiraiya," Tsunade said, yanking the door open without looking back.
Shizune's heart jumped.
From the look of it, Tsunade-sama wasn't going to reminisce with Lord Jiraiya—this looked more like she was heading to a fight.
Sensing how serious this was, Shizune snatched up several tool pouches and hurried after her.
"If those toads still won't give up, we'll drive them out of Konoha," Tsunade said coldly, racing in the direction the Slug Sage's clone indicated. "Konoha belongs to the people of Konoha—not to Mount Myōboku. If those toad claws keep reaching in… we'll cut them off."
Since she'd decided to become the Fifth Hokage, there was no way she'd let those toads run wild in the village.
Truth be told, they'd been an eyesore to her for a long time—ancient toads who wouldn't just stay in Mount Myōboku and cultivate, always finding trouble across the shinobi world.
You'd think, from the way they act, that Mount Myōboku ran the entire world.
"Tsunade-sama, wait for me…"
Shizune panted as she caught up.
…
"Hey, 'Demon,' we've got a lead on the rogue shinobi Jūzō Biwa. The bastard actually set foot in the Land of Water—he had the nerve to come back after defecting. Heh…"
Inside Kirigakure, a fully armored Anbu spoke to "Demon of the Hidden Mist, Momochi Zabuza," who was just fastening his mask. "I heard you're very interested in that Kubikiribōchō of his."
"Mizukage-sama himself has decided to lead the Anbu to hunt Jūzō Biwa. If you swear real loyalty to me, maybe—if I'm in a good mood—I'll let you have the blade."
A dangerous, cruel light flickered in Zabuza's eyes beneath the mask. He slowly lifted his head and gave the man a cold, slantwise look.
At some point, the sword at Zabuza's waist had already been drawn halfway.
Murderous intent bled from him in waves.
He hadn't said a word, but that single motion was enough to drain the color from the Anbu's face. The man eased a step back, trying not to show it.
"Hey, Demon, don't do anything stupid!" another Anbu barked, stepping in. "If we lose someone to infighting before we even catch Jūzō Biwa, the other villages will laugh at us!"
Zabuza's voice was ice. "Isn't Kirigakure famous for its infighting? This kind of loudmouthed deadweight only slows me down on missions."
The first Anbu bristled at the jab.
"Bastard… Don't think that being called 'Demon' makes you a cut above the rest! By seniority, you're my junior! Watch your mouth when you talk to a superior!" He set a hand to his sword, ready to cross blades.
"Enough!"
A young-sounding voice cut through the tension, stilling the restless Anbu.
The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, approached at a measured pace, a black, hook-headed staff in hand.
He drew every eye, in any crowd.
Partly because he was only one meter forty-three and had a face far too young for a place like Blood Mist Kirigakure—so out of place it was jarring.
If someone out there had a peculiar kink for pocket-sized tough guys, Yagura was exactly the kind you'd be tempted to scoop up.
"Mizukage-sama!"
The Anbu quieted at once and bowed their heads.
Even Zabuza, wild as he was, scowled and slid his sword back into its sheath.
His ill-intentioned gaze drifted over Yagura for a moment, then he looked away.
"You haven't caught the rogue yet and you're already squabbling?" Yagura glanced at Zabuza. "Zabuza, I don't want this happening again—especially not while we're on the hunt for Jūzō Biwa."
Zabuza dipped his head, grudging. "...Understood."
Yagura swept his eyes over the assembled Anbu.
There were just over thirty of them now.
In the past, they'd have had more, but in recent years even Anbu had defected in numbers.
These thirty-odd were Kirigakure's absolute elite.
Each one could rightly be called a "Hidden Mist butcher." On a warfront, they were meat grinders—nightmares enemies feared most.
"Move out!"
Yagura gave the order, face unreadable.
"Yes, sir!!!"
…
Meanwhile, not far away—
"Mizukage-sama and the Anbu have departed…" Mei Terumi watched the figures flicker out of sight, then rubbed her brow. "All this just to deal with one defector from the Seven Ninja Swordsmen? Did we really need the elite Anbu to empty the nest? Did the Mizukage have to take the field personally?"
Beside her, the man nicknamed the "Byakugan Killer," Ao, spoke up. "Don't you think Mizukage-sama has been… strange these past years? His way of doing things is completely different from before. Sometimes he feels familiar, but other times he's a stranger—like he's a different person entirely."
"You've got the Byakugan, don't you?" Mei frowned at him. "If it's you, a single look should tell if something's off with the Mizukage."
Ao shook his head helplessly. "He's always surrounded by Anbu. If I took off my eyepatch and used the Byakugan right in front of him…"
"Those Anbu, drunk on killing intent, wouldn't even give me time to explain before they tore me to pieces. Unless… I find the right moment."
Mei nodded, getting it.
Then worry crept into her voice. "I don't know why, but the moment he left, I got a really bad feeling. My eyelid won't stop twitching."
"An eyelid twitch usually means your eyes are fatigued," Ao said seriously. "You should rest them."
Mei sighed. "I still don't understand how you found a partner and got married. That's obviously a woman's sixth sense talking!"
Ao's face stayed blank, but his eyes said it all—he did not get it.
Mei couldn't be bothered to keep arguing. "I'm going after them to see what's really going on. Come if you want."
Ao blinked.
Before he could answer, Mei had already leapt away and vanished within moments.
Ao's mouth twitched. "She really is all action, isn't she."
…
"The Land of Water…"
Koharu Utatane stepped off the boat and took in the lifeless country with a cold gaze.
Wariness shadowed her eyes. "Akatsuki's strength far exceeds what I imagined. I didn't expect them to have something like an alliance with Kirigakure. The fact that Konoha's Root can march openly onto Water Country soil without a peep from Kirigakure shows how tight they are."
Koharu suspected Kirigakure was Akatsuki's secret patron.
Or that Akatsuki was Kirigakure's glove in the shadows—stirring up conflicts among the small nations, then letting Kiri step in and profit.
Otherwise, why would Kirigakure be so cooperative?
Why would one of the Five Great Villages form a covert alliance with a "little" group like Akatsuki? It made no sense.
"Koharu-sama, since we hired Akatsuki, shouldn't they handle it? Why are we wading in too?" a Root ninja asked, puzzled.
If Danzō still ran Root, no one would dare ask him that.
But Koharu's operatives didn't bear the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.
And most of the old Root were dead—these were her new recruits.
It figured that they weren't as "professional" as the old Root.
"A lion goes all out even to catch a rabbit," Koharu said evenly. "And this 'lion' is Uchiha Chizumi. If you want to kill a lion, you bring two hundred percent. Only then do you bring him down."
"Leave him no openings whatsoever."
…
Konoha.
Everywhere Jiraiya looked, more and more Slug Sage clones—big and small—filled his view. His face had gone ashen with seriousness.
Cold sweat trickled from his brow.
The Slug Sage blocking him from the Child of Prophecy was completely outside his intelligence—and took him by surprise.
No time to prepare.
"What do I do?" he muttered, seeking counsel from Fukasaku and Shima.
Their faces were no lighter than his.
They were up against the Slug Sage—on the same tier as the Great Toad Sage.
They were "sages" of Mount Myōboku, sure.
But compared to the Great Toad Sage, they were miles behind.
"We can't give up on the Child of Prophecy. Without a savior, the shinobi world will fall into chaos. Is that the future you want to see, little Jiraiya?"
Shima's low whisper left Jiraiya silent.
And then—
He sensed something, looked up—and his pupils snapped tight. A familiar figure was plummeting from above, a wave of dread slamming into him.
"Wait!"
Jiraiya's face changed. He shouted and leapt backward.
A heartbeat later, a graceful figure hit like a meteor. The earth bucked and boomed; shockwaves rippled out in cracking rings. A formless wind roared outward, hurling chips of stone in every direction.
In the spinning air, Tsunade rose from the shattered ground without a word, standing tall as her pale-gold hair and cloak whipped in the gale.
Boom!!!
A massive cloud of white smoke billowed up behind her.
The ground lurched again, bouncing Jiraiya on his geta.
When his wooden clogs slapped back down, he stared in shock.
A gigantic Slug Sage clone loomed behind Tsunade.
It dwarfed every building in Konoha, impossible to miss.
Another figure came pounding up, out of breath.
Shizune, clutching several tool pouches, staggered in behind Tsunade.
Expressionless, Tsunade drew two special bandage wraps from a pouch.
She slowly wound the bandages around her hands.
"Jiraiya," she said, voice gone arctic, "if I see you running wild in this village again with those two toads who can't ever give a straight answer, don't blame me for forgetting our old friendship. Don't think that hiding behind this so-called 'Child of Prophecy' gives you the right to mess with the kids of this village. I don't buy Mount Myōboku's line."