Chapter 28: Over-the-Shoulder Throwing Tsunade
Rocking, tumbling.
When Dana opened his eyes again, he felt a profound sense of exhaustion. He'd had a long and terrible nightmare. He was back on Earth, bedridden and alone, slowly starving to death. His body wasn't discovered until it had already started to rot.
"A genjutsu that makes you face your greatest fears... the Hell Viewing Technique."
It was a simple, unremarkable illusion, but it had left him feeling as if he had lived and died a whole other life.
Now fully awake, Dana realized he was being carried by one hand, moving at a dizzying speed. He was facing down, watching the grass and rocks blur past beneath him.
"Orochimaru, the kid's awake!"
"They're still on our tail! Knock him out!"
"Are these Cloud ninja insane?" Tsunade grumbled, then, controlling her strength, she chopped Dana on the back of the neck. As a medical-nin, she was confident the blow would knock him out for at least three hours without causing any serious injury.
Dana felt a sharp pain in his neck, but no dizziness. His resistance to genjutsu might be zero, but his superhuman physique gave him an extremely high tolerance for physical impact. A simple chop to the neck wasn't enough to knock him out.
But he didn't let on. He went limp, pretending to have passed out again. This wasn't the right time. If he resisted now, they'd just hit him with another genjutsu, and he had no way to break it.
"This kid is heavy," Tsunade said as they ran. "A lot heavier than a normal kid his age, even though he looks so thin!"
"It's probably because of his Kekkei Genkai," Orochimaru mused. He was curious, but this wasn't the time to investigate.
Behind them, three Cloud ninja were in hot pursuit.
"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Mamoru Anzai's face was contorted with rage, blue veins bulging on his forehead. Dana had been snatched right from under his nose. When Dana had fallen under the genjutsu, Tsunade had made a grab for him. Mamoru had desperately tried to stop her, but she had taken a deep cut to her arm, trading the injury for the opportunity to abduct the boy.
To him, it was a colossal failure.
Kyohei Kawanishi's face was still a mask of indifference, but his eyes were filled with a murderous rage.
"This is so infuriating! Everyone's going to think I'm a complete amateur!"
They had the advantage in numbers, and still, they had failed.
Kyohei glanced back. Arashi was gritting his teeth, pushing himself to keep up, but he was clearly struggling. He had already expended a huge amount of chakra fighting Tsunade, who was stronger than him. Now, being the youngest, he was starting to fall behind. His performance today had been nothing short of brilliant for a thirteen-year-old, but there were limits.
"Young Master Arashi, if you can't keep up..."
"Shut up!" Arashi snapped. "That's my little brother! I'm going to get him back! Don't slow down for me! If you have any strength left, use it!"
A grim look crossed Mamoru's face. "I'll go on ahead and cut them off!" he declared. He quickly formed a series of hand seals. "Ninja Art: Burning Acupoint Technique!"
His face instantly flushed crimson. He felt a surge of blood in his throat but forced it back down. His speed increased dramatically, and he shot forward, leaving Kyohei and Arashi behind. He had clearly used some kind of secret art to stimulate his body's potential.
Whatever it took, he had to stop them.
The two groups weren't far apart; the Cloud ninja had been on their heels the whole time. A few moments later, Mamoru caught sight of Orochimaru and Tsunade, and the limp form of Dana being carried in one hand.
Mamoru threw a volley of kunai, trying to slow them down.
"He's fast!"
Orochimaru turned and easily deflected the kunai, but then he saw that the last one had an explosive tag attached to it. It embedded itself in a large tree behind them.
BOOM!
The tree crashed down, blocking their path and forcing Orochimaru to slow.
In that instant, Mamoru was on him, his sword a blur. He sliced Orochimaru in two, but he didn't let his guard down. The feel of the strike was wrong. Sure enough, the two halves of Orochimaru's body turned into a dead snake. The real Orochimaru reappeared on a large boulder nearby, a single drop of cold sweat on his forehead. If he had been a second later, he would have been cut in two for real.
He couldn't believe it. A simple escort team for a minor bloodline clan had two Jonin of this caliber. They were no weaker than he and Tsunade. They hadn't had an easy time of it, not for a moment. They had been lucky to grab the kid at all.
Through the slug hidden on his body, Orochimaru secretly communicated with Tsunade. "Don't wait for me. Jiraiya will be here with support soon."
Dana, still feigning unconsciousness, cursed his luck. If Mamoru had intercepted Tsunade instead, he could have worked with him to escape. But with Orochimaru, he had lost his chance. He had to keep pretending. A sudden counter-attack might cause Tsunade some trouble, but it wouldn't be fatal, not to a medical-nin of her skill. And it would reveal that he was faking, earning him another genjutsu. He was helpless.
Mamoru often called himself a medical-nin, but his combat skills were formidable. In this era, medical specialists were rare. His fighting ability was far greater than his medical expertise; otherwise, he wouldn't have been assigned to protect Dana. With his chakra-infused short sword, he pressed his attack, giving Orochimaru no quarter. Especially after using his secret art, his speed and strength were on another level. But from his heavy breathing and flushed face, it was clear he couldn't maintain this state for long.
Orochimaru felt the pressure mounting, but he didn't panic. He knew Jiraiya could arrive at any moment via a Reverse Summoning. Once the three of them were together, they would be unstoppable. For now, he just had to fight a delaying action.
Seeing that Orochimaru was pinned down, Tsunade didn't follow his order to keep going. She slowed down, worried about his situation. Finally, she found a concealed, high vantage point and stopped to observe the battle.
"Are you going to keep pretending, kid?"
"..." No response. It was impossible to fool a medical-nin, but Dana didn't react.
"I knew you were faking a long time ago. But as long as you don't struggle, it makes no difference to me whether you're awake or not."
Dana remained silent. Tsunade dismissed him. What could a kid with no chakra do anyway? Though it was a little strange that she hadn't managed to knock him out with one blow.
Mamoru's attacks grew faster and faster. He stayed in close, giving Orochimaru no opportunity to use ninjutsu.
"Ninja Art: Sly Mind Affect Technique!" Orochimaru finally found an opening and cast a genjutsu.
But the illusion, meant to buy him some time, had no effect. It was broken almost instantly. And in that moment, the chakra blade sliced across his chest, leaving a deep gash.
"Why didn't you use that disgusting replacement jutsu of yours?" Mamoru snarled.
Just then, Kyohei and Arashi arrived on the scene.
From her vantage point, Tsunade saw that Orochimaru was injured and surrounded. She was about to go to his aid when she suddenly felt a jolt of paralysis. A powerful electric current shot up her arm.
The random electrical discharge. Not even Dana knew when it would happen. This was the chance he had been waiting for.
Now!
Dana exploded into action. He grabbed the arm that was holding him and, using the momentary paralysis, twisted his body and threw all his strength into the movement.
"HAH!"
A perfect over-the-shoulder throw.
As Tsunade was flung into the air, head over heels, her expression was one of pure shock. She had never imagined that a child with no chakra could possess such explosive power and agility.