On Konoha's outskirts—
Tsunade's summoning slug split into countless small slugs that crawled all over Saiken's body.
No matter how Saiken thrashed, he couldn't shake them all off.
As for that highly corrosive acid he secreted—against slugs that also possessed corrosion and healing traits, it didn't do much harm.
With Tsunade—more precisely, with Katsuyu—joining the fray, the Six-Tails was abruptly forced onto the back foot.
Boom! Boom!
Explosions thundered, braided with Jiraiya's sharp shouts.
Only after a long while—
High on a tree branch, Utakata reverted to human form, bracing himself weakly against the trunk.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with a grimace.
He'd lost.
He cast one long look toward where Jiraiya and Tsunade stood, then turned and fled at speed.
Jiraiya wanted to give chase—but when he glanced back at Tsunade, crouched and trembling, he exhaled and stayed.
"After all these years… your hemophobia still isn't cured?"
Jiraiya pressed one hand to her shoulder, face a knot of complicated feeling.
Tsunade said nothing; her body still shivered.
Pity flashed through Jiraiya's eyes. He simply stood by her in silence, waiting for her to steady.
Only after quite some time did Tsunade slowly wrestle her hemophobia back under control.
"In your state, you shouldn't have come back," Jiraiya urged.
In battle, blood is inevitable; if Tsunade plunged into the next fight like this, it could cost her life.
"I don't need a pervert like you worrying about me. The old man's probably already getting impatient."
Tsunade stood, tossed the words off, and strode toward the village.
Jiraiya hurried after her. Once Tsunade decided on something, no amount of lecturing would stop her.
"Oh, by the way—just now, which hand did you put on my shoulder?"
The soft murmur in his ear made every hair on Jiraiya stand on end.
Just as he braced for a well-deserved beating, Tsunade's voice came again:
"We still need hands for seals in the fights ahead. I'll let you off this time."
—
In a dense stand of woods near Konoha—
Utakata sped along a fixed line.
"I've kept Jiraiya busy long enough. The objective's met."
"I just didn't expect Tsunade of the Sannin to return as well. Against two Sannin together… yeah, that was rough."
He clutched his chest and coughed.
A moment from the battle replayed in his mind—when he spat blood and Tsunade's face changed.
Injured as he was, he hadn't probed it then. Thinking back now, something was off.
The title of Sannin was won in blood—how could someone like that have such a peculiar reaction to blood?
He let out a slow breath. The only detail that truly bothered him was that Katsuyu seemed to naturally restrain certain aspects of the Six-Tails.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't a hard counter—just that some of Saiken's abilities didn't work well on slugs.
Because they're similar creatures?
"Brat, keep overthinking and I'll stop healing your wounds," Saiken rumbled in his mind.
Utakata blinked, then ruthlessly shoved the idle thoughts aside and focused on the run.
Before long, the roar of battle swelled ahead.
By the village gate, waves of Konoha shinobi were locked with the Mist.
In the chaos, Zabuza, Ameyuri, and Suigetsu carved bloody streaks wherever they appeared—
For a time, fear touched the faces of the Konoha soldiers on that field.
Despite appearances, though, the advantage still lay with Konoha.
Otherwise, the trio wouldn't have been hammering this spot so long without taking the gate.
The defenders were exploiting the terrain, using the village gate as a bulwark to blunt the Mist's assault.
"No more time to waste here."
Utakata's thoughts snapped tight. He slipped into a partial Bijūka (tailed-beast transformation).
Chakra surged to his lips in a dense mass.
The moment he began gathering chakra, Konoha's sensory-nin locked on his position.
Shinobi swarmed toward him—
But the Mist caught on as well and moved to block the Leaf from interfering.
Under that screen, Utakata calmly condensed a small Bijūdama (Tailed Beast Bomb) and hurled it straight at the gate.
The compact sphere streaked away in a flash of crimson and vanished.
Too late for Konoha to stop it.
It detonated at the gate, tearing open a jagged breach.
The instant the hole appeared, the Mist howled forward like a tide.
Without the gate to soak up most of the punishment, the defenders were driven back at once.
By the time Homura and Koharu received word, the Military Police Force had collapsed across the board—and the village gate had fallen.
—
In a dim underground chamber—
"What! The village gate has fallen?!"
Danzo roared, disbelief ripping through his voice.
"Those two wastes, Homura and Koharu—couldn't even guard a single gate! All that strength in the Police Force, thrown away!"
"Where's Hiruzen? What's the situation outside?"
Danzo stood, paced two sharp circles, then turned on the kneeling operative.
"Hokage-sama is engaging the Sand's forces. Most of our strength is currently tied up holding the One-Tail and the Three-Tails at bay."
The kneeling ninja reported respectfully, relaying key intel to Danzo.
"So the clans are holding back their hands. Good."
Danzo's palm slammed the table; his expression went black.
"And as for the Mist and the Sand—how many times have I said it? Only by grinding down others' power do you rule. Yet Hiruzen persists with his so-called justice…"
Cold amusement curled his lips. He held nothing but contempt for Hiruzen's rhetoric.
This shinobi world has never needed "justice."
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