Chapter 39: Will of Fire
Orochimaru shot a quick glance at Renji. It couldn't be because of the kid, could it? But Renji didn't look anything like Dan Kato or Nawaki—not a single shared feature to spark that kind of reaction!
"You want to kill me?" Orochimaru caught the raw killing intent flashing in Tsunade's eyes and tilted his head, genuinely puzzled. "I already told you—I could bring them both back..." Wasn't that the ultimate temptation? What could possibly outweigh the chance to see your loved ones, your family, walking and breathing again?
"I want to as well..." Tsunade cut him off abruptly, her voice cracking under the weight of endless sorrow and helplessness. Tears spilled down her beautiful, resolute face like a dam finally giving way, relentless and unending, as if they'd been held back for years. "I want to see them again too!" Her tone twisted with raw pain and aching longing. "Even if it's just one glance... just to lay eyes on Nawaki and Dan one more time—that would be enough!"
"But I can't do it!" Tsunade's voice hardened, the words aimed as much at Orochimaru as at herself, a vow etched in steel. "Meeting them like this... they would never forgive me for it, and I could never forgive myself." She drew in a shaky breath, tears still shimmering in her eyes like shattered glass. "What they gave their lives to protect—absolutely cannot be torn apart by you!"
Tsunade's mind drifted back, pulling her into the haze of long-buried memories. There was Dan, always so gentle, flashing that soft smile at her: "Because I love this village, and I love my comrades—I'll give everything for them." She'd never forget that twilight hour, the exact moment her heart had first surrendered to him, warm and unguarded.
And Nawaki, his eyes blazing with youthful fire: "Because Konoha is the treasure my grandfather left behind! As the grandson of the First Hokage who founded it all, I have to protect it! Even if it costs me my life!"
So how could she betray that? How could she spit on their sacrifices? Fresh tears splashed onto the crystal necklace hanging at her throat, warm and stinging. In her mind's eye, Nawaki's and Dan's faces started to blur at the edges, fading softly until Renji's took their place—growing sharper, more solid with every passing second. She'd wandered this world for decades, carrying their ghosts like chains, yet here was a child unraveling the simplest truths with effortless clarity.
She lifted her head, locking eyes with Orochimaru. "Tangible things will eventually perish, isn't that what you once said?"
"But... the Will of Fire will never fade." Tsunade's gaze drifted slowly to Renji's back, the small figure still standing protectively in front of her. Dan and Nawaki were gone, their lights snuffed out, but Renji—this boy who'd never even crossed paths with them, who didn't know their names or stories—had somehow inherited every scrap of their ideals, carrying the flame without a second thought.
"The negotiation's broken down. No other choice, then." Orochimaru brushed off her words like dust from his sleeve. If a heartfelt speech could sway him, he wouldn't have driven a blade through his teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Hiruzen had been the master of those kinds of talks, after all—endless lectures on duty and legacy. Orochimaru had tuned them out years ago. His only reason for tracking Tsunade down was those useless hands of his; everything else was just noise.
"Since it's come to this, I'll have to let my fists do the asking." The words hung in the air like a warning shot, the promise of violence crackling on the wind. Tsunade yanked Renji behind her in one swift motion, her stance shifting into something feral and unyielding. In a blur, she exploded forward, her raw power slamming into the street like a thunderclap—the walls of nearby buildings cracking and crumbling in her wake, debris flying as the ground trembled.
"Come on, Orochimaru."
Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi leaped back in unison, their movements fluid and precise. Orochimaru reappeared ten meters away, a smirk twisting his pale lips, his golden eyes gleaming with that unsettling, damp chill—like a snake sizing up its next meal. "Right... we've never truly crossed fists until now."
"Indeed." Tsunade shrugged off her heavy outer robe in a single toss, the fabric pooling at her feet like shed skin, and charged straight at him. "I'll bury both you scum right here."
Her fist crashed down, shattering the earth beneath her into a web of fissures that raced outward like lightning cracks, snaking toward Orochimaru and Kabuto with relentless speed. The pair dodged without breaking stride, bounding lightly onto a nearby tree branch, the wood groaning under their weight.
"Fighting in this tight space is a hassle," Orochimaru remarked, glancing sidelong at Kabuto Yakushi perched beside him.
Kabuto's glasses caught a sharp glint from the sun, turning his eyes into cold mirrors. He nodded curtly, his stare fixed on Tsunade below. "Let's shift the battlefield."
The next instant, Tsunade vanished from sight. A fist loaded with bone-crushing force hurtled toward them from the shadows, the air whistling in protest. Both men knew better than to take that hit head-on—it'd cave in half their ribs without mercy. They scattered in a flash, retreating to a broader clearing further out, where the trees thinned and the ground opened up.
"I won't let you slither away!" Tsunade snarled, crushing a fist-sized rock to powder in her grip before launching into pursuit, her strides eating up the distance.
Renji, left behind in the dust, took his time—leisurely twisting a loose strand of his blue hair into a quick braid before ambling after them at an unhurried pace. By the time he caught up, Tsunade had already turned the clearing into a war zone, massive craters pockmarking the dirt from her relentless onslaught. It was pure demolition—every swing a testament to her monstrous strength.
Tsunade was breathing a touch heavier now, her chest rising and falling with controlled effort, while Kabuto Yakushi looked even worse off, sweat beading on his brow. The two faced off in tense silence, the air thick with unspoken threats.
"I'm not exactly a taijutsu specialist," Kabuto admitted flatly, fishing a soldier pill from his ninja tool pouch and popping it into his mouth. Chakra surged through him almost immediately, knitting his fatigue back into something usable as he wove through hand signs. In under three seconds, a faint blue glow enveloped his palms—the telltale shimmer of chakra scalpel precision.
Tsunade vaulted upward just as the ground she'd vacated erupted in a spray of earth, Kabuto's slash carving a gaping crater where she'd stood a heartbeat before. She countered mid-air, her fist arcing down toward him like a meteor; he twisted aside at the last second, his glowing hand grazing her arm and thigh in the exchange. Tsunade landed hard, but something felt off right away—a dull ache spreading through her limbs. She clenched her jaw, glaring at Kabuto across the scarred earth.
"I've cut the biceps in your arm and the muscles in your thigh," Kabuto explained calmly, his lips quirking into a faint, satisfied curve. "That should blunt that brute strength of yours, right?" He always favored the mind over muscle in a scrap—outsmarting an opponent beat trading blows any day, and the results spoke for themselves.
Robbed of her full power, Tsunade could only weather Kabuto's darting strikes, forced into a defensive crouch as he circled like a shadow. His next target: the intercostal muscles between her ribs, primed for a scalpel slice that would hobble her breathing.
"Hah... Hah hah..." The cut landed true, and her breaths turned ragged, uneven gasps. Tsunade dropped to one knee, her hair disheveled and clinging to her sweat-damp skin, but her eyes burned with unyielding focus on Kabuto. His skill in medical ninjutsu was freakish—even outstripping hers at that age, a prodigy wrapped in quiet menace.
But then a dark blur streaked across Kabuto's field of vision, too fast to fully track. He twisted on instinct, but not quick enough—the blow clipped the back of his neck with pinpoint force. He crumpled to the dirt, fingers clawing at his throat as numbness spiderwebbed down his spine.
"Even with your intercostal muscles severed, most people would be gasping on the ground by now. As expected of the world's greatest medical-nin!" Kabuto gritted out, forcing himself upright on trembling arms. But his body betrayed him—limbs twitching erratically, refusing commands. His eyes bulged in realization: *nerves!* Tsunade's strike had scrambled his nervous system, turning every signal into chaos. Brain says left hand? Right foot jerks instead. Left leg? Right arm flails wildly. Total disarray.
It wasn't a death sentence, though—messy, sure, but he could adapt. Kabuto lurched to his feet, kunai flashing in the sunlight as he lunged at Tsunade, blade aimed for her unguarded side.
"You're pretty terrified of blood, aren't you? Let's drown you in it right now!"
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200 Stones = +1 Chapter
300 Stones = +2 Chapters
400 Stones = +3 Chapters
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