Tsunade let go of her anger. What was there left to be mad about?
She herself was the heir of one of the Three Great Sage Regions. Now that she understood the full story, she was willing to let it go.
Still, the current state of Konohagakure was far from good.
"You bastard, Kazuyama, did you just say you fought Hanzō?"
"Yeah, and I should be asking you—were you trying to get me killed?"
That shut everyone up. Kazuyama stormed up to Tsunade and started grilling her.
"Tell me, the kunai I gave you with the teleportation formula—where is it?"
"Huh?"
Caught off guard, Tsunade froze for a second, then instinctively reached for her ninja tool pouch at her waist... only to come up empty.
"Wait, where's my pouch?"
Kazuyama clicked his tongue in irritation, glaring at her.
"Lost it, didn't you?"
"Want me to jog your memory about where you left it?"
"The camp! You dropped it at the previous camp!"
"Do you know how many people jumped me the second I landed?!"
It was rough—real rough.
Kazuyama could handle getting set up, but this was something else entirely. He wasn't afraid of teammates screwing up, he was afraid they'd get him killed.
Leaving such a critical kunai behind in the abandoned camp—if the camp hadn't been overrun, it might've been fine. But it was overrun. And he had teleported right into the enemy's arms.
The only reason he wasn't dead was because of his own skills!
"Uhh... I guess I must've lost it during the last fight. I didn't even notice."
"Oh, come on, it's not that big a deal. You're still alive!"
Tsunade was clearly feeling guilty. Even she couldn't completely brush it off—losing a vital tool in combat and nearly getting her ally killed? It was embarrassing, even for her.
Jiraiya and Minato both covered their faces. They couldn't bear to watch.
Minato even gave Kazuyama a look of sympathy. He could easily imagine it—the moment Kazuyama used the Flying Thunder God Technique, only to be surrounded and mobbed.
And that wasn't even the worst part. From the earlier battle, it was clear Hanzō had been there too. Kazuyama had teleported straight into the arms of Hanzō of the Salamander, the legendary demi-god of Amegakure. Brutal.
"Hmph! No big deal? What a joke!"
"That was Hanzō of the Salamander, plus a bunch of Iwa ninjas."
"I was wondering how our base got overrun. The moment I saw Hanzō, I understood."
"That bastard Ōnoki actually dragged Hanzō into this war."
At this point, the war had become a chaotic mess.
For Ōnoki to bring in Hanzō just to break Konoha's defenses? That was a serious move.
Tsunade and the others fell silent.
In previous battles, even when they faced two Tailed Beasts, they hadn't lost their ground—thanks to Kazuyama's method for dealing with them.
Granted, it only worked for those who knew the Flying Thunder God Technique and had the chakra to use it.
Yes, Minato—this means you.
In the follow-up battles, Minato had gone all out, relentlessly targeting the two Jinchūriki.
Either he flung the Four-Tails away or dumped the Five-Tails into a river. As long as he had chakra to spare, he didn't even bother fighting—just used Flying Thunder God to send them off somewhere else.
He'd definitely inherited Kazuyama's style.
"Hanzō's arrival completely caught us off guard."
"That toxic mist from Ibuse was worse than the poisonous bees."
"Oh right, the Kamizuru Clan is no longer a threat."
That last part made Kazuyama blink. Wait—what? The Kamizuru Clan is done? That didn't sound right. Those poisonous bees had been a serious threat.
Tsunade explained further.
"The Aburame Clan analyzed the bees and quickly bred a new insect species with a toxin-resistant antibody."
"They were deployed just before we ran out of repellent, and it worked perfectly. The spread of the bees was completely halted."
"After all the fighting, the Kamizuru Clan now has less than a tenth of their original bee population. They're no longer a threat."
So that's how it happened. Kazuyama couldn't help but smirk.
History sure had a way of correcting itself. In the end, the Kamizuru still fell to the Aburame.
He had just nudged things along.
Of course, what he didn't realize was how much the Kamizuru Clan hated him personally.
First, he and Tsunade ambushed them at night and wiped out a chunk of their swarm.
Then, he torched even more with a wide-range Fire Release jutsu in the middle of battle.
Those bees had been the result of a forbidden technique created by Yabee, the Kamizuru Clan leader. They hadn't even had a chance to prove themselves before Kazuyama ruined everything.
"Yeah, the real problem was how suddenly Hanzō showed up."
"Damn guy hasn't lost a step after all these years."
"Even with me and Minato working together, we couldn't get the upper hand."
Jiraiya clenched his fist in frustration—he clearly still had a grudge against Hanzō.
Minato let out a sigh as well. Even the "Twin Stars" had to acknowledge the power of a demi-god. The Flying Thunder God Technique made him the fastest in the ninja world, but Hanzō's Body Flicker was no slower.
"Tch, it's just Hanzō."
"Poison? What's there to be afraid of? Next time, I'll take him."
Kazuyama scoffed with disdain. He held grudges—if Hanzō had made a move against him, there was no way he'd let that slide.
Behind him, the three Snake Princesses smiled faintly, floating in the air and silently boosting his presence.
This made Tsunade visibly relieved. Kazuyama's arrival couldn't have come at a better time.
Years ago, it had taken Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru everything they had just to hold Hanzō back. Now Orochimaru was gone, but his student had surpassed him—well, in some ways at least.
"Good. With this, our high-level force is strong enough to hold them off."
"But that's not enough. We have to push them all the way back to the Land of Grass."
The war had already breached the Land of Fire. They had to drive Iwagakure out.
Suddenly, Kazuyama's eyes narrowed as a thought struck him. He turned to Minato and blurted out:
"Wait a second—things have gotten this bad, and no one blocked Kannabi Bridge?!"
That one question immediately made Minato and Jiraiya stiffen in embarrassment.
Tsunade shot them both a deadly glare.
"Don't bring that up. I'll get mad all over again!"
"Damn Jiraiya! This is all your fault!"
Oh? Drama?
Kazuyama and the three Snake Princesses perked up, eyes widening.
With perfect synchronicity, the three Princesses shifted into their serpent forms—one slithering onto Kazuyama's head, the other two draped over his shoulders.
One man, three snakes—all intently watching the show. All that was missing was a plate of snacks.
"Well? Spit it out already!"
"We're all ears!"
...
(100 Chapters Ahead)
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