"What a shame."
Flat on his back in the wreckage of the tent, Uchiha Jinzō lay with his arms behind his head. Tsunade's punch hadn't done much more than bruise his pride—she'd pulled the hit. She didn't want him dead, just airborne.
Still, a date with Tsunade slipping through his fingers? Now that hurt.Even Minato Namikaze had his childhood sweetheart. Jinzō? Nothing but rejection.
"Can you please get out?!" a furious voice snapped beside him.
Jinzō turned his head. Standing there was a dripping-wet woman with long black hair plastered to her face, faint markings on her cheeks. Wrapped in nothing but a towel, she glared daggers at him.
"Eh? Long, straight black hair." Jinzō's eyes lit up. "Not bad… you're exactly my type."
The woman's face went from furious to volcanic.
"Date me, maybe?" Jinzō tried.
"Ghost Fang—BITE HIM!" she roared.
A huge black ninken lunged at him with a thunderous woof!
"The Inuzuka clan, huh?" Jinzō muttered, slamming his hands against the ground to launch himself up and away. "Total misunderstanding! Don't sic your mutt on me—"
"Kill him!" she screamed, angrier than before.
With no other choice, Jinzō blurred away with Shunpo. It wasn't practical for battle—burned through too much chakra—but for dodging angry women with attack dogs? Perfect.
Ghost Fang landed where he'd been a second ago, teeth snapping at air. The beast growled, unwilling to give up.
"Unexpected disaster," Jinzō sighed, reappearing at the edge of the camp.
Hatake Sakumo glanced at him once, said nothing, and returned to work. Nara Shikaku and the others had vanished somewhere.
Jinzō's eyes drifted to Tsunade, who was already deep into treating the poisoned shinobi. "That fast?" he muttered.
It had taken him a whole hour to master Thousand Spiders, Ten Thousand Poison Hands even with his cheat-like insight, and here Tsunade was, handling it like she'd been born with the jutsu.
But then his eyes narrowed. Something was off.
"What's wrong?" Sakumo asked, noticing his look.
Jinzō didn't answer immediately. His gaze locked on Tsunade's hands, already tinged dark.
"She's pushing too hard," he said finally.
Sakumo frowned. "Speak clearly."
"Thousand Spiders isn't easy. Tsunade-sama hasn't fully mastered it yet. Which means right now… she's carrying all the pain of the poisoned patients herself."
Sakumo stiffened. "You're saying—"
"I'm saying she's taking the suffering of dozens of shinobi onto her own body," Jinzō replied, almost casually. "I couldn't do it myself. But… it's kind of inspiring, watching someone like that."
"She's too impatient," Jinzō added. "If she just slowed down—half a day, at most—she'd have perfected it. But this is Tsunade we're talking about."
Sakumo's expression darkened. He respected her determination, but also saw what Jinzō meant: Tsunade's compassion burned like wildfire, and it would consume her before she even realized.
"What happens if this continues?" Sakumo pressed.
Jinzō thought aloud. "Her body will start to absorb the poison. By the time she finishes healing everyone, she'll be too weakened to fight."
Sakumo's jaw clenched. "Life-threatening?"
Jinzō gave him a weird look. "Relax. Basic internal strength neutralizes poison, and Thousand Spiders helps too. She'll feel like hell for a while, but she won't die. Still…" He trailed off. "It's not a burden I'd want."
They watched in silence as Tsunade moved from patient to patient. The poisoned shinobi, who had been writhing in agony for days, finally collapsed into deep, peaceful sleep as the toxins drained from their bodies.
No one snored. Of course they didn't—shinobi were trained not to. Jinzō rubbed his chin, mind wandering. Imagine if they did… snoring during an infiltration mission? Dead in seconds. Ninja life's cruel like that.
On the other side of camp, Tsunade grimaced but kept going. Each touch of her glowing green palms drew toxins out in painful waves. Her seal wasn't complete yet, so traces of poison leaked into her own body. Her modified internal strength suppressed it—barely—but the cost was mounting.
Blue skies shifted to dusk, dusk to torchlit night. At last, she placed her hands on the final patient, drained the poison, and stood.
The world tilted. She collapsed to the ground.
"Tsunade!""Tsunade-sama!"
Healers rushed to her side. Gritting her teeth, she forced out a single sentence toward Sakumo: "I'll… make the antidote tomorrow."
Then she passed out.
By the time the stretcher lifted her, Jinzō had slipped away, his presence erased. Sakumo looked down at her unconscious form and whispered, "Thank you, Tsunade."
A kunoichi with glasses appeared beside him like a shadow. "Lord White Fang. With the toxins purged, and once Tsunade creates the antidote, we'll have a chance to counterattack."
Sakumo's eyes sharpened, his killing intent rolling off him like a blade. The kunoichi actually flinched, closing her eyes against the pressure. He's only getting stronger, she realized, almost trembling.
"There's no need to wait for Tsunade," Sakumo said. "I'll lead a counterattack tonight with a small team."
Her eyes snapped open in shock. "That's suicide. Even the Third Hokage couldn't—"
"I'm the commander here," Sakumo cut her off coldly. His gaze pinned her like a kunai at the throat.
The kunoichi swallowed. "...Then what manpower do you require?"
Sakumo's voice was steady, absolute."One sensory-type who can survive. And… Uchiha Jinzō."