In the courtyard of Chigen's home, Tsunade sat leaning against the back of a large tree. The throbbing pain of a hangover made her vision blur in waves.
She lowered her gaze to the men's shirt she was wearing—clearly not her own—still carrying a faint scent of soap.
Fragments of last night surfaced in her mind, chaotic and searing.
Loss of control.
Madness.
And that glaring trace of red…
Unconsciously, she pressed a hand to her lower abdomen. A strange residual warmth still seemed to linger there.
"Dan…"
Tsunade closed her eyes. That gentle, flawless-like figure rose in her mind, and a sharp pain clenched her chest.
She felt as though she had betrayed her memories—tainted something sacred.
Yet deep within her body, another sensation remained, brutally honest.
Not the tender care she remembered from the past—but a near-violent impact, the feeling of being completely claimed.
Unfamiliar, but… not unpleasant.
The moment that thought surfaced, she crushed it mercilessly.
Tsunade shook her head hard, her long blonde hair brushing across her cheeks.
Who was she?
She was Princess Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha!
Even if something so absurd had happened, she wasn't the type to sit here drowning in self-pity.
But the moment she thought of that brat—how he had just left her on the bed and run off on his own—a nameless fury flared up.
Eat and run?
Not even a word before disappearing?
Tsunade clenched her teeth, her fists cracking audibly.
You'd better hope I don't catch you again, kid.
---
At the training ground, as Kakashi was carried away by medical-nin for treatment, everyone's attention shifted to the final person left standing on the field.
Sakuya Chigen.
Hiruzen cleared his throat, his voice once again echoing across the grounds.
"Next, we will proceed with Sakuya Chigen's Special Chūnin Promotion Exam."
He glanced toward the record-keeper at the side.
"Examiner: Aburame Ryūma, of the Aburame clan."
A man wearing dark glasses and a high-collared coat that concealed the lower half of his face stepped silently into position opposite Chigen.
A cold, lifeless aura radiated from him—like a gravestone that could speak.
Chigen's eyelid twitched harder.
Aburame…
A bug-user.
One of the most troublesome opponents imaginable.
From the near-blank expression on Ryūma's face, Chigen caught something fleeting.
Not fighting intent—
—but killing intent.
Faint, but unmistakable.
It seemed this exam wouldn't end easily.
In the stands, Sarutobi Shin—the same boy who had provoked trouble at the barbecue restaurant—let out a laugh.
"An examiner like Jōnin Ryūma? He's a goner. Ryūma's insects drain chakra doesn't it?"
His lackeys immediately echoed him.
"He's a failure compared to Kakashi based on his records."
Nearby, Kakashi, having received initial treatment, had returned to the sidelines.
His shoulder was wrapped in thick bandages, his face pale—but his eyes were locked firmly on Chigen.
Minato stepped up beside him and handed him a bottle of water.
"Sensei," Kakashi asked quietly,
"what do you think he'll do?"
"I don't know," Minato replied, shaking his head. His blue eyes glimmered with thought.
"But since the Hokage arranged things this way, there must be a reason. Chigen-kun… may surprise us."
In another corner of the crowd, the pig Tonton suddenly began squealing excitedly in Shizune's arms, its hooves clutching her clothes as it kept nudging insistently toward Chigen.
"Puyo! Puyo!"
Shizune's face flushed bright red.
Tonton was telling her that this man—Sakuya Chigen—was practically drenched in Lady Tsunade's scent.
On the field, the examiner signaled for both sides to salute.
Aburame Ryūma gave a slight nod, remaining silent.
Chigen yawned and weakly raised one hand.
"Examiner, I—"
"Begin the exam."
The examiner's voice was crisp and decisive, giving Chigen no chance to finish.
Chigen was about to say "I forfeit"—
—but a sudden sense of lethal danger slammed into him.
Instinct overrode thought.
He abandoned speaking and leapt backward with all his strength.
Skree—skree—skree!
Dozens of black beetles burst from the ground where he'd been standing. If he'd been even a fraction of a second slower, his ankles would have been stripped to the bone.
An ambush!
The entire crowd erupted in shock.
Before the exam had even truly begun, the examiner had launched a lethal sneak attack!
Chigen glanced toward Hiruzen on the platform, then toward Minato and the other jōnin at the sidelines.
No one spoke.
No one intervened.
They acted as though they hadn't seen anything.
Chigen's heart sank instantly.
They hadn't missed it.
Someone had made it so they couldn't interfere.
Danzo… you fucking bastard.
That gloomy, cane-bearing figure flashed through his mind.
"Good reflexes," Aburame Ryūma said coldly, his voice like stone grinding together.
"But you won't escape."
As he spoke, more kikaichū poured from his sleeves and collar, spreading across the ground like a black tide surging toward Chigen.
Chigen stopped hesitating.
"Asura Mode."
He whispered the words.
An invisible pressure wave rippled outward from his body. The lazy air around him vanished instantly, replaced by an edge as sharp and cold as a drawn blade.
Chakra inside him compressed and ignited with unprecedented efficiency, transforming into raw power that flooded his limbs.
With his current reserves, he could sustain Asura Mode for ten minutes.
Whoosh!
Chigen vanished from where he stood.
Behind Ryūma's dark glasses, a flicker of surprise flashed.
Fast!
The swarm lunged—and struck nothing.
"It's useless," Ryūma said calmly.
"My insects can sense the minute vibrations in the ground every time you land. No matter where you run, you can't hide."
He slammed both palms onto the earth.
"Secret Jutsu: Insect Swamp!"
Rumble—!
The entire training ground shook violently.
Countless insects surged up from deep underground, forming a black sea that made scalps crawl.
They rapidly gathered, forming a constantly writhing circular wall of insects, trapping Chigen completely at the center.
"What is that?!"
"That jutsu is strong!"
Spectators stumbled back in fear.
Standing outside the insect wall, Ryūma watched Chigen through the gaps between the wriggling bodies, his gaze cold and indifferent.
"Danzo-sama's order," he said evenly,
"was that you are not to leave this training ground alive."
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to Chigen's ears.
"To avoid unnecessary trouble, my insects will simply 'lose control'… and devour you."
"The mission must be completed."
Inside the insect wall, Chigen stood silently.
Hearing Ryūma's emotionless sentence, the last shred of hope vanished from his heart.
Slowly, he raised his head. His gaze seemed to pierce through the writhing wall, through the roaring crowd, all the way into the deepest shadows of Konoha—where a cold figure leaned on a cane.
Danzo.
A chilling smile curved at Chigen's lips.
Old man… I'll remember this.
One day, I will fucking kill you.
He drew in a deep breath, lowered his stance, and took on a runner's posture.
The next instant, a shadow was left behind where he stood—
—and his body transformed into a streak of light almost impossible to track with the naked eye, racing wildly along the inner edge of the insect wall.
Ryūma's expression changed. He immediately commanded the wall to contract.
But Chigen was simply too fast.
Too fast for the insects to lock onto him.
The black wall moved like a clumsy beast, always half a beat behind—able only to chase uselessly after Chigen's afterimage, never even brushing the corner of his clothing.