Kinoshita Nagatoshi grimly checked the time, his face growing darker by the second.
"All sensory-nin, spread out!
What the hell are you all doing, standing around like idiots?
Split into pairs and search in every direction!
I want that woman found within three hours!"
After barking out his orders, he watched his subordinates scatter, mumbling complaints under their breath.
Nagatoshi sat down heavily on a rock, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it with a shaky hand.
It was already around three in the afternoon.
If Tsunade, a key figure for Konoha, didn't return to camp soon, it would definitely raise suspicions.
Accounting for travel time, at most by six o'clock, Konoha's search parties would probably come looking for her.
That left him with three hours.
If they still couldn't find Tsunade within that window, they'd have no choice but to retreat.
And if he screwed up this mission—this top-secret operation—he'd be finished. For good.
Nagatoshi had always struggled to get promoted in Iwagakure, mainly because he didn't know how to play politics.
Back when he was thirty, he was already an elite jōnin, but now, at over forty, he still hadn't made it into the village's upper ranks.
His strength wasn't the issue—he wasn't exactly doing poorly—but when he thought of those with similar abilities who buttered up the higher-ups and were now department heads and deputy commanders,
while he was still stuck as a squad captain risking his life on the front lines…
It made him bitter to the core.
That's why he had fought tooth and nail to get this assignment.
If he could accomplish this mission, he might finally get a chance to climb the ranks.
But who would've thought that Tsunade, the woman they were after, would be so damn ferocious?
On paper, she was listed as a medical-nin.
Yet she had killed an elite jōnin with a single punch.
Nagatoshi had seen it with his own eyes—one of his comrades had been grazed by her fist, and his chest had caved in like crushed paper.
Dead on the spot.
So far, in the attempt to capture Tsunade, they'd already lost four jōnin, two elite jōnin, and more than ten chūnin.
Such heavy casualties, and they still hadn't managed to capture her.
They had even caught a few of the Konoha shinobi who tried to break through the encirclement to send for reinforcements.
But before they could use them as hostages to force Tsunade to surrender,
those shinobi had killed themselves on the spot.
Where the hell do I go to complain about that?
This was probably the only chance they'd ever have to catch Tsunade alive.
If they failed today, it would be nearly impossible for Iwagakure to capture her again in the future.
Without Tsunade, their chances of getting their hands on the antidote for Hanzō's poison would rest solely on Chiyo from Sunagakure.
And frankly, Iwagakure didn't want to be led around by the nose by Suna.
They might be allies right now, but the Suna elders were greedy and shameless.
Last time, when one of Iwa's high-ranking officials got poisoned by Hanzō and sought help from Chiyo, they had to pay an enormous price just for the antidote.
And that was just for post-battle detoxification.
If they went to her again asking for the antidote formula itself, who knows how much flesh she'd demand to carve off this time?
We've already lost so much.
If after all this, we still end up empty-handed—and Iwagakure has to pay a fortune to Sunagakure for the antidote—
Then what the hell is there left to be afraid of?
At this point, even keeping my squad captain post will probably be impossible.
The more he thought about it, the tighter his chest became.
The cigarette in his hand burned all the way down, nearly scorching his fingers.
He cursed under his breath.
Screw it. If I fail this mission, I might as well die here.
Better to die in battle than go back and become the laughingstock of Iwagakure.
He flicked the cigarette away angrily and stood up, shouting again at the sensory-nin:
"Still no sign of her?
What are you guys doing, huh?
Might as well have brought a couple of dogs—they'd be more useful than you!"
The sensory team clenched their jaws in frustration, cursing quietly among themselves.
"Forty-something years old and still doesn't know how to be a decent human being.
No wonder he's just a squad captain at this age."
Even though they kept their voices low, Nagatoshi still overheard them.
That only fueled another round of shouting.
The sensory team captain's face turned green with rage, but he couldn't lash out.
Nagatoshi was his superior officer, after all.
So he forced himself to speak calmly:
"Medical-nin have extremely refined chakra control.
Tsunade, in particular, is a master at it. It's normal that we can't sense her."
"Besides, she can't run far.
Beyond this swamp is the border of Amegakure territory—she wouldn't dare go that deep."
Nagatoshi snapped back:
"You think I don't know that?
The problem is time! Do you understand time?"
"Konoha's main camp is about twenty-five kilometers from here.
At most, in three hours, their reinforcements will show up."
"If we've already taken this many casualties and still fail to capture Tsunade,
do you really think Ōnoki-sama will let it slide?
What—you planning to take the blame?"
Hearing this, the sensory captain fell silent.
As much as he wanted Nagatoshi to drop dead, he had to admit the stakes were real.
Failure here meant disaster for everyone.
Meanwhile, Deep in the Swamp…
In a patch of thick underbrush, a woman covered in mud crouched quietly, cautiously scanning her surroundings.
Even though the mud obscured her graceful figure and beautiful face,
if Hoshiyomi Gekkō had been there, he would've recognized her immediately.
It was Tsunade.
Confirming she was safe for the moment, Tsunade took a deep breath, steadying her ragged breathing.
She was in terrible shape.
After being relentlessly pursued and surrounded by so many enemies, she was at her limit.
Her body was covered in wounds, both large and small, but she didn't dare heal herself.
Her chakra reserves were running low.
At this point, Tsunade still hadn't mastered the full Yin Seal, nor had she developed the extended version of Byakugō no Jutsu.
Using her monstrous strength burned a lot of chakra, and she had used it multiple times during the earlier skirmishes.
Now, she didn't have enough left for medical ninjutsu—and healing herself would risk exposing her location through chakra fluctuations.
So, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and endure the pain.
If it hadn't been for her subordinates buying time with their lives, she would've already been captured.
But even their sacrifice had only bought her a little time.
This swamp, however vast, was being scoured piece by piece.
Tsunade was almost out of places to hide.
There were only two options left.
Either she tried to sneak into Hanzō's territory and take her chances,
or she took advantage of the enemy's scattered formation and tried to break through the encirclement.
What should I do?
Tsunade hesitated, wrestling with the decision.
In the end, she gritted her teeth, reaching into her inner pocket and pulling out a good luck charm.
This was something she had bought before coming to the battlefield—a pair of matching charms.
One half was with Hoshiyomi, the other with her.
She had hoped the charms would protect them both.
Holding the charm to her lips, she kissed it softly and whispered:
"Well, there's no choice left.
Let's gamble."
"Heads, I break through their lines.
Tails, I head toward Amegakure territory."
"Live or die… it's up to you."
With that, Tsunade tossed the charm into the air.
She caught it precisely in her palm, took a deep breath, and slowly opened her hand to see her fate.