As I traveled back, I started thinking. The quest had shown up out of nowhere. It wasn't completed yet, which means that the little one could still die. But that was out of my hands now. I had done all I could. The timer too had disappeared as soon as I found the boy. What I wanted to understand was how I had triggered these quests.
I had triggered it. Let's see. I knew nothing for certain, but I knew this: a quest had to be completable, or it was just a dream. The system won't waste efforts on those. What had I used to complete it? My location was a factor. My skillset, too. Other than that, I couldn't see any obvious triggers.
But the situation definitely played a huge role. For example, the other quest. In usual circumstances, I would never have had an opportunity to get my hands on that fragment. But now, in all this chaos, maybe there was a chance. Or maybe the system hadn't sensed it before. Did it have a range or something?
I suddenly found myself surrounded by shinobis. I quickly shouted the passphrase. Four Konoha Shinobis emerged from the shadows. "What are you doing so far out, kid?" Ignoring his question, I asked, "Medic! Is there a medic present? I found a survivor!"
But the others didn't move. Assessing and Probing if I was using a Konoha protector as a disguise. But one deep look over the little bundle of joy, and their expressions changed. There was no hiding the ridiculous amount of chakra flowing through this 7-year-old.
"I remember him." One of them suddenly said pointing at me. "I've seen him around the hospital before."
Listening to this, the others relaxed a lot.
They sprang into action. The guy who had spoken was a medic. He began his work while questioning me about what I had already done. They still verified my identity, though.
Quest completed.
Rewards will be issued as the call rises.
-----
Back at camp, I had just lain down to rest when a shinobi came with a summons for me.
I followed him back to the center of the village and down to the underground treasure rooms. The treasures had already been swept away. All that was left were traps. I was wondering why a nobody like me was being led into the rooms when I came upon a ghastly scene. A man was strung up, bleeding from a thousand cuts in midair. With his mouth frozen in a scream. My steps halted of their own accord. Killing, I knew, Torture I did not. It took me a moment to acknowledge the other people present in the room.
Among the torturers and a few Fuinjutsu masters stood a beautiful blonde woman. Lady Tsunade.
Fuinjutsu seals glimmered faintly around the room, restraining the victims and channeling energy in precise, almost ritualistic patterns. Standing among the torturers, a few Fuinjutsu masters, and various shadowy figures, was a presence that made my blood run cold—Lady Tsunade herself. Her expression was unreadable, a strange mix of irritation, calculation, and anger.
I froze in place. Could this even be real? Or some cruel hallucination, a system-generated scenario meant to test me? My mind tried to rationalize, but the weight of the scene left no room for doubt.
Her eyes flicked to me, sharp and assessing. "Kurosawa Ren," she said, her voice both commanding and dangerous, "what are you doing wandering alone outside the perimeter? You triggered quite a stir. Your absence and sudden run were noticed. And then… finding that survivor?" She paused, her gaze narrowing. "Awfully convenient, isn't it? And from what I'm told, you ran straight to him and with purpose as if you had known he was there."
I swallowed, my pulse quickening. She was onto me, but not in the way I expected. This wasn't just curiosity—it was suspicion. Every detail of my random excursion had been noted, and she was evaluating the outcome as though it were some kind of test.
"I—I didn't know anyone else was nearby," I said carefully, trying to keep my voice steady. "I just… I saw him and…" My explanation felt flimsy even to me.
Tsunade's gaze swept over the scene of the torture again. With a flick of her wrist, captured attackers were flung into elaborate Uzumaki traps. The irony wasn't lost on me: The attackers who had successfully managed to destroy the clan were now being thrown into forbidden Uzumaki traps used systematically to extract information from the attackers who killed their creators. As if the dead had come back for revenge. She didn't flinch, didn't grimace. It was precise, controlled, and terrifying.
We usually had warm impressions of most characters in anime. Torture was something you would associate with Danzo and not Tsunade. But we often forget, the grim world of shinobis isn't a bed of roses. She may not like doing it. But she definitely would if needed.
The connection struck me suddenly. The Senju and Uzumaki clans had been close, intertwined. Lady Mito had been Tsunade's grandmother, a living link to history, duty, and bloodlines. The cycles of legacy and revenge played out in front of me, yet I couldn't tell if what I saw was real or some projection of the system testing me. Completables, system-determined triggers, situational advantages… all of it was a blur.
Tsunade's eyes returned to me. "I've heard about your little excursions," she said. "You're lucky I didn't have you reported as AWOL. Your timing… it saved that child. But don't think for a second this counts as luck. There's something off about you. So you better start talking before I string you up."
I nodded silently, feeling the weight of her assessment. My soul quivered under the realization that every choice I made had consequences, some far beyond my comprehension.
I was panicking. And I had no answer. How was I supposed to explain my direct, purposeful movement? Especially without telling her about the system. Someone had followed me. I was sure of it now. In hindsight, that was obvious. A soldier leaving the encampment without prior orders was awfully suspicious. My moves were like those of a spy, or worse, an internal collaborator.
Seeing my silence and reading my attempts to make an excuse in my mind. She moved towards me and, in a flash, lifted me by my collar and held me over another trap. "Boy, Today's not a good day to test me. I will drop you into this." A huge pressure comprising of Chakra, Aura and bloodlust descended upon me like a rabid beast. Ripping through my mental defenses.
In panic, I almost blurted out that I have a system. When an Anbu guard intervened.
"You are not allowed to do that, Lady Tsunade."
Tsunade paused. Raising an eyebrow.
"It's against the law. He is important."
Tsunade's eyebrows rose higher. How was punishing a suspected spy against the law? And even if it was, who the hell could stop her? Laws didn't exactly have the same pull on her that they had on others. "I can afford to break a few laws," she challenged.
"Not these ones.'