Let off the surprise is.
As soon as he left the hotel, Duan ran into two bounty hunters hurrying past him.
"Have you heard? The legendary big fat sheep has appeared on Bamboo Street! We have to hurry — maybe we can make a fortune at the gambling table!"
As the two of them rushed past, their excited chatter reached Duan's ears. Their eyes glittered with greed.
Big Sheep?
Duan immediately knew who they meant — Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin.
After the Second Great Ninja War, she had lost her brother Nawaki and her lover Dan Katō. Grief drove her from Konoha, and she wandered the world, drowning her pain in sake, gambling, and debts.
More than ten years had passed like that.
On his earlier travels outside the village, Duan had glimpsed her two or three times. Always from a distance, never close. He hadn't cared then.
But now…
Tsunade's famed monster strength was also born from Yang Release. If his Sharingan could decipher it — as it had with the Akimichi's partial multiplication — then he would add another devastating weapon to his arsenal.
He wondered: once he mastered both techniques, how far could his physical power evolve? Could he push the limits of flesh itself?
So.
Since he was headed back toward Konoha anyway, he decided to take a detour to Bamboo Street.
---
A day later, Duan stood on a mountainside, surveying the lively sprawl below.
Bamboo Street had once been nothing but a roadside stretch. But its location on the Fire Country's main route had transformed it into a bustling town, full of merchants, nobles, wanderers — and shinobi.
Lively, chaotic, and crawling with every kind of person.
And above all — gambling houses. Large and small, lining the streets.
A gambler's paradise.
But the town wasn't large enough for anonymity. If Tsunade was here, it wouldn't take long to find her.
Boom.
A sudden crash echoed from within town. One of the casinos collapsed in a cloud of dust. Screams and chaos followed — and the clash of chakra-laced combat.
Without hesitation, Duan leapt down from the mountainside.
---
When he reached the scene, his eyes instantly locked onto her.
Amid the fleeing crowd stood a woman in a dark green coat, blonde hair tied in twin ponytails, fists cracking skulls with every swing. Her pale skin and voluptuous figure — and the sheer, terrifying strength behind her blows — left no doubt.
Tsunade Senju.
Of the women Duan had seen, only Kumogakure's powerhouse Samui could compare in stature and presence.
"What's happening?" he asked a nearby onlooker, voice casual.
The man, not daring to blink from the sight, quickly explained:
"A noble from the Fire Country tricked Tsunade-sama into a massive gambling debt. Then he tried to use it to force her into submission. She killed him on the spot!"
"Cheating Tsunade? Don't they know she's one of the Legendary Sannin?" another scoffed.
"Her debts may be countless, but who dares collect them? To try is to die."
The crowd whispered nervously, yet thrilled at the spectacle.
And indeed, Duan had arrived at just the right time.
---
Before the shattered casino, the nobleman's hired shinobi surrounded Tsunade, determined to drag her down. Normally, few would dare cross her. But in the Land of Fire, even the greatest ninja bowed before daimyo and noble families.
This time, Tsunade faced real danger.
"Master Tsunade!"
A panicked cry split the crowd. A kunoichi with short black hair — Shizune — Tsunade's disciple, had been seized in the chaos. Two shinobi held her tightly, a kunai pressed against her throat.
"Hand yourself over, Tsunade," one of them sneered, "or your student dies here."
They thought the threat would work.
But it only ignited Tsunade's fury.
"Bastards!"
She roared, her chakra surging, fists flashing as she swatted aside the enemies before her, sending bodies flying.
The captors, realizing their hostage was about to become useless, prepared to slit Shizune's throat.
---
And then—
A shadow flickered behind them.
They turned too late, eyes meeting a pair of scarlet tomoe.
Thud.
Both collapsed, their minds trapped in illusion.
Uchiha eyes.
Tsunade blinked, stunned for just a heartbeat as Shizune stumbled free. Konoha shinobi? An Uchiha here, of all times?
The Senju and Uchiha had been enemies for generations. Even if Konoha's founding had joined their clans, the old distrust lingered. To Tsunade, the sight of those red eyes only stirred bitterness.
Still, he had saved her apprentice. Courtesy demanded at least a word of thanks.
She began to step forward—
Shua.
Duan moved first. Without hesitation, he seized Shizune by the neck, hoisted her up like dead weight, and flung her into the bushes.
"Ahhh!"
Shizune yelped as she tumbled headfirst, legs flailing out of the foliage.
Duan wasn't one for words. He knew any polite approach would only make Tsunade suspicious. She'd refuse him outright.
Better to challenge her directly. To take what he wanted by force.
---
"…"
Tsunade froze for an instant, then her golden eyes narrowed with blazing fury. The giant before her wasn't an ally at all.
Uchiha. Always trouble. Always enemies.
Her jaw set. Without another word, she lunged.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Their fists collided like war drums, flesh and bone shaking the air. Spectators staggered back, ears ringing, eyes wide in disbelief.
As expected of Tsunade. Her blows carried terrifying force.
Yet Duan blocked each one, muscles like stone. Sheer power meeting sheer power.
He was impressed. Among all the foes he had fought, Tsunade's raw strength was unmatched — god-given force in human form.
And she, in turn, was shocked. Few had ever withstood her punches without crumbling. This Uchiha stood unfazed.
There were perhaps only a handful of such monsters alive in the shinobi world.
"I thought you were just muscle for show," Tsunade admitted, stepping back, fists ready, eyes alight. "But you're the real thing. Finally… a worthy opponent."
Her fighting spirit ignited.
"Then let me see your monster strength," Duan rumbled back.
His right arm swelled grotesquely, muscles ballooning as the Akimichi's Partial Expansion Jutsu surged through his flesh.
"What—?!"
Tsunade barely had time to react before his colossal fingers closed around her, lifting her up like a doll.
Soft… yet firmly trapped in his crushing grip.