Konoha Hospital. Director's office.
Afternoon sunlight slanted across the mountain of documents piled on the desk, outlining their jagged edges, but it never reached the pair of brown eyes behind it.
Tsunade, legendary Sannin and Konoha's greatest medical-nin, was visibly losing every last scrap of "human" vitality.
She lay collapsed in the high-backed chair, chin resting on the cold desktop, empty eyes fixed on a spider diligently spinning a web in the corner of the ceiling.
The spider worked hard. Tsunade only felt like it was mocking her.
"Sign… sign… more signatures…"
She muttered the words without awareness. Her right hand rose in a mechanical rhythm, grabbed a file, glanced at the title, then slashed a signature across it with a sharp flick.
The whole process was smooth, precise, and efficient—yet it carried the numb emptiness of a walking corpse.
Her soul was being slowly sucked out and crushed by the endless forms, reports, and budget requests, leaving behind nothing but a human-shaped signing machine called "Director."
And the root of all this suffering—the name she was grinding to dust between her teeth—
"Matsushita… Taiichi…"
Tsunade suddenly sat bolt upright. Her forehead smashed hard into the desk with a dull thud that made the pen holder jump.
She rubbed the rapidly reddening spot, teeth clenched, voice thick with the resentment of pure betrayal. "That bastard brat… where the hell did he die this time? Did the Land of Hot Water start another war? How long does it take to catch a few damn bandits?!"
She snatched up a new document, didn't even look at it, and slammed it onto the desk as if it were Taiichi's eternally calm face.
The papers scattered, revealing dense columns of numbers that made her vision swim.
The easy days, the lazy hours, the pure joy of throwing money around at the casino—those beautiful memories were drifting farther away like dandelion seeds scattered by the wind.
All because that brat wasn't here! Without him, every tedious, annoying scrap of work that should have been shared crashed down on her alone!
Tsunade let out a despairing wail and buried her face in her arms again. "Come back… just come back already, you bastard… If this keeps up I'm going to be buried alive under these damn papers…"
Just then—
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Three clear, restrained knocks hit the door like stones dropped into stagnant water, shattering the suffocating silence of the office.
Tsunade's entire body went rigid. She jerked her head up like a startled cat, eyes exploding with intense, almost manic light!
He's back! That brat finally knows to roll back here!
"Come in!" she almost roared, voice thick with unspoken expectation. Her body sat up straighter on its own, and even her days-neglected hair seemed to regain a little life.
The door opened gently.
Golden hair flashed in the sunlight of the doorway, followed by an even brighter blaze of flame-red hair.
"Lady Tsunade, sorry to disturb you."
Namikaze Minato's gentle voice floated in as he carefully helped a visibly pregnant Uzumaki Kushina into the room.
Kushina wore a soft, slightly shy smile, one hand resting protectively over her belly out of habit.
It wasn't Taiichi.
The blazing flame of "liberation" that had just ignited in Tsunade's eyes went out with a soft "puff."
Faster than if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on her.
She visibly wilted again. Her shoulders sagged. Her eyes turned hollow once more—even emptier than before—as if she had just suffered a catastrophic hope collapse.
"Oh… it's you two." Tsunade waved a limp hand, voice returning to its lazy, nasal drawl. "Sit. Routine check?"
"Yes, Lady Tsunade. Sorry to trouble you again." Minato helped Kushina sit on the edge of the examination bed, already sensing the violent swing in Tsunade's mood and the thick resentment hanging in the air. He gave an apologetic smile. "You look… busy?"
"Busy?" Tsunade let out a meaningless snort, eyes sweeping the mountain of paperwork. "Heh. Busy contributing to Konoha's paper industry."
She stood with the resignation of the damned, rolled her stiff neck until it cracked, and forced herself upright.
Disappointment burned deep, but the woman in front of her was the Hokage's wife—and more importantly, the extremely special Nine-Tails jinchūriki. Her prenatal checks allowed zero carelessness. They were one of the few truly important duties she could never shove onto someone else.
At least it got her away from those damn documents for a little while. Tsunade told herself that and forced her spirit back into fighting shape.
She walked over to Kushina. The "burned-out director" expression melted away, replaced by the focused calm of the medical saint Tsunade.
She guided Kushina into the dedicated examination room, gently and skillfully measuring fundal height and abdominal circumference, then listening to the fetal heartbeat.
When that strong, steady "thump-thump" came clearly through the stethoscope, even Tsunade's serious face softened a fraction.
"The little one is lively. Heartbeat's strong." Her voice turned surprisingly gentle.
Kushina smiled with pure happiness. Minato stared at the stethoscope with a mix of tension and anticipation, as if trying to look straight through it and see the baby inside.
Then came the most critical part.
Tsunade's expression grew deadly serious. Both hands covered Kushina's abdomen. Soft green medical chakra glowed in her palms as she carefully probed—not the fetus, but the Nine-Tails seal itself.
Silence filled the office. Only the soft hum of instruments remained. Minato held his breath. Kushina's smile faded into solemn focus.
A long moment later Tsunade withdrew her hands. The chakra light faded. She let out a long breath and finally gave the anxious couple a genuine, relaxed smile. "Perfect. The seal is rock-solid. The Nine-Tails' chakra is locked down tight. Effects on both mother and child are well within safe thresholds. Kushina, your body is in excellent condition. The baby is developing healthily."
Minato and Kushina both exhaled hard, faces blooming with brilliant, relieved smiles. "Thank goodness! Thank you so much, Lady Tsunade!" Minato said with sincere gratitude.
"But," Tsunade snapped back into her usual fierce tone and pointed a finger at Kushina, "don't you go thinking that means you can do whatever you want just because you're tough! No intense activity, no wild emotional swings, rest on schedule, keep your nutrition balanced! Especially in the last few months—the pressure on the seal will increase. Be extra careful! If you feel even a tiny bit off, even just a slight tightness in your belly, you come find me immediately! Understood?"
"Yes, yes, Lady Tsunade!" Kushina stuck out her tongue and nodded quickly.
After a few more reminders, Tsunade finally let them leave.
The moment the door closed, Kushina's smiling voice drifted faintly back: "Minato, did you hear the baby's heartbeat?
It was so strong… it's definitely going to be a healthy kid…"
The office fell quiet again.
Tsunade stood there staring at the closed door, a faint afterglow of the doctor's warmth still lingering on her face from the examination.
The brief spark of life and human connection the prenatal check had given her ebbed away like a receding tide.
She slowly, extremely reluctantly, turned around.
Her gaze fell once more on the enormous desk and the mountain of documents standing like tombstones.
The office that had been filled with sunlight and hope a moment ago instantly turned cold, heavy, and suffocating again.
The last trace of softness vanished from Tsunade's face, replaced by a numbness even deeper than before.
She dragged her heavy feet back to the high-backed chair that symbolized the "Director's duties" like a prisoner walking to the gallows. Her body sank into it with a groan of overburdened wood.
The human signing machine powered up once more.
Tsunade's soul let out a silent scream inside the prison of stacked paper.
While Tsunade was missing Taiichi, far away in the Land of Hot Water, Taiichi finally found the turning point of his mission.
Frostmoon Village.
Taiichi's figure slowly descended, landing in the thick pool of blood without a single speck of dirt touching him.
He didn't even glance at the crippled survivors. His icy gaze swept across the terrified villagers and the piled sacks, finally locking onto the leader who was still trying to struggle.
"Want to die?" Taiichi's voice sounded like it came from the depths of hell. "Until I finish asking questions, your lives aren't yours to throw away."
Before the words finished, Taiichi's figure appeared in front of the leader like a ghost.
A flash of resolve crossed the leader's eyes. His cheeks puffed as he tried to bite down on the poison capsule hidden between his teeth. One bite and he would die the moment blood touched it.
He never got the chance to close his jaws.
Crack!
A crisp sound of shattering bone rang out.
Taiichi's fingers were lightning-fast. He pinched the man's chin with perfect precision and gave a light squeeze. The entire lower jawbone crushed and deformed under the force.
Agony tore a garbled scream from the leader. The poison capsule, mixed with broken teeth and blood, tumbled from his unhinged mouth.
Taiichi's eyes held zero pity. His other hand formed a sword-like finger glowing with faint blue light and tapped the man's forehead in an instant.
Genjutsu: Hell Viewing Technique.
The leader's body convulsed violently. His eyes rolled back. Weird gurgling sounds tore from his throat.
The genjutsu Taiichi used was nothing like the ordinary Hell Viewing Technique. This was a custom version he had developed specifically for interrogation and punishment—perfect for exactly this kind of situation.
A long moment later the technique ended.
The leader cultist collapsed like every bone had been removed, foam pouring from his mouth, eyes completely vacant. His mind was thoroughly shattered. He was now nothing more than a drooling idiot.
Taiichi pulled his finger back. His eyes were colder than ten-thousand-year ice. Even with a heart tempered by war, the scenes he had just witnessed inside the leader's mind ignited a heaven-scorching fury in his chest!
That place was no longer human. It was a pure demon nest!
"Jashin cult… must be exterminated!"
The ice-cold words squeezed out between his teeth, carrying naked killing intent that made the already cold air drop several more degrees.
He ignored the ruined men on the ground and rapidly formed seals.
Shadow Clone Technique!
Poof! Poof! Two identical clones appeared.
"You two handle this place. One of you escorts these villagers to the nearest town for shelter. Contact the local officials, show your identity, and make sure they're properly settled and heavily protected. The other—head straight to the daimyo's mansion in the capital. Find the Crown Prince. Tell him to prepare everything and wait for my word!"
"Understood!" the two clones answered crisply and immediately split up.
One began calming the terrified villagers and cutting their bonds. The other turned into a streak of light and shot toward the capital.
Taiichi's main body drew a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the boiling rage.
He lifted his head toward the northeast. His gaze seemed to pierce through layer after layer of mountains, locking onto the sinful abyss hidden inside the caverns.
Flying Thunder God activated. Taiichi's figure vanished on the spot!
The next second—
Deep in the northeastern mountains, more than ten kilometers from the Jashin cult's hidden nest, space rippled inside a secluded mountain hollow. Taiichi's figure appeared out of thin air.
This was one of the Flying Thunder God markers he had set earlier as a precaution while scouting.
Without a single pause the wings of light spread behind him again. This time he didn't soar high. Instead he flew like a silent ghost, hugging the steep cliffs as he raced toward the coordinates burned into his memory.
The roar of a waterfall grew louder and louder until it was deafening. A massive curtain of water plunged from a hundred-meter cliff, smashing into the bottomless pool below and throwing up thick mist that formed a hazy rainbow in the morning light.
Taiichi hovered in the shadow of the opposite cliff. His sharp eyes cut through the mist, carefully scanning the rock face behind the waterfall.
Sure enough, under highly focused spiritual power he spotted the anomaly. About one-third of the way up behind the water curtain, a section of rock texture looked a little too "regular," and the sound of water striking it carried an extremely subtle hollow echo.
Without prior knowledge and deliberate searching, the barrier-hidden entrance would have been nearly impossible to find.
"This is the place."
Taiichi's hands flew through seals. Chakra surged through his body.
Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole.
His body melted into the rock beneath his feet as if dissolving, perfectly fusing with the stone until all traces of him vanished.
Underground, Taiichi moved like an invisible wraith, silently piercing the barrier that maintained the genjutsu and officially entering the Jashin cult's territory.
The moment he crossed the threshold, a thick mixture of heavy blood and rotting corpse stench slammed into him like viscous liquid!
The concentration and filth of that aura was hundreds of times worse than anything he had sensed in Frostmoon Village!
Even through the rock, Taiichi felt a wave of intense physical nausea. The fury in his chest instantly blazed to its absolute peak!
He forced down the disgust and carefully extended his sensory power.
Fresh blood and unidentifiable chunks still clung to the bloody altar.
Narrow cages held one dying "sacrifice" after another, barely clinging to life.
The massive incinerator was cold, yet it still radiated the nauseating stench of burned flesh.
The base's internal structure was complex, tunnels branching in every direction, with even larger spaces deeper inside.
Quite a few cultists patrolled the halls, but most wore blank expressions and moved with the mechanical stiffness of the thoroughly brainwashed. Stronger chakra signatures pulsed from the core areas.
Taiichi's sensory net spread across the entire base, imprinting every detail into his mind. A cold, ruthlessly efficient extermination plan took shape in an instant.
"As expected… there's no one left worth saving."
The sacrifices had already been exhausted. Only the abusers and a few soulless husks remained. The last shred of hesitation vanished.
"In that case—" Taiichi's eyes turned into pure ice, "time to clean house."
Like a death god lurking beneath the earth, he formed seals with both hands. Vast chakra gathered underground!
"Earth Release: Rock Lodging Destruction!"
Rumble—!
The ground in the selected area tore open as if ripped by an invisible giant hand and heaved upward! Solid rock shattered like brittle cookies and collapsed! A massive roar and violent tremors instantly swept through the entire underground cavern!