Yamauchi Town. Tsunade and Shizune were walking down the street. Tsunade's expression was one of utter dejection; after her earlier meeting with Orochimaru, she had returned to the gambling den and "completed her unfinished business" – by losing every last ryo she had. Shizune, too, walked with a slumped posture, her shoulders heavy, wondering where on earth the two of them would go next, now completely broke.
Suddenly, Tsunade stopped in her tracks, her head snapping up as she gazed intently towards a specific direction outside the town. From a great distance, Tsunade sensed intense, violent chakra fluctuations. Someone was fighting out there!
And from those familiar chakra signatures, Tsunade easily recognized one of them as Orochimaru. The other person's aura also felt very familiar, but for a moment, she couldn't quite place it. Tsunade, having been detached from the affairs of the ninja world for so long, couldn't have possibly guessed that the two individuals currently locked in battle were her former master, the Third Hokage, and her former teammate, Orochimaru.
Without a second thought, Tsunade leaped into action, her powerful form blurring as she dashed towards the direction of the battle. Behind her, Shizune, startled by her master's abrupt departure, quickly followed suit.
A few minutes later, Tsunade and Shizune arrived near the battlefield. From a distance, Tsunade immediately spotted the towering, ominous walls of the Four Violet Flames Formation, and the twenty or so Kusagakure ninja surrounding it.
"Sensei!" Peering through the shimmering violet flames of the barrier, Tsunade instantly recognized that the person engaged in a fierce battle with Orochimaru inside the formation was none other than the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Lord Hokage!" Behind her, Shizune also cried out in shock and alarm.
Seeing the sudden arrival of Tsunade and Shizune, the assembled Kusagakure ninja tensed, their guard immediately going up.
Swoosh, swoosh~
Then, two figures flickered through the trees, and Kimimaro and Jugo—the latter already in his terrifying, berserk state—rushed over to intercept them. In the spot where the two formidable youths had previously been stationed, the two ANBU Black Ops ninja who had been guarding the Third Hokage now lay unconscious, or worse.
"Gaaaargh! Kill you!" Jugo, upon arriving, wasted no words. He immediately charged towards Tsunade, his body already undergoing a grotesque transformation. In his Sage Transformation state, Jugo's arm had already morphed into a massive, axe-like appendage, and he swung his monstrous right arm with devastating force towards Tsunade.
Seeing the charging Jugo, Tsunade was slightly surprised. From Jugo's Sage Transformation state, she sensed an immense, uncontrolled surge of powerful energy. For such a vast amount of power to be present in a boy so young was truly astonishing to her. However, Jugo alone, even in this empowered state, was no match for Tsunade.
As Jugo closed in, Tsunade deftly grabbed his left arm with lightning speed, then delivered a powerful, sweeping kick that sent Jugo's body flying. He soared through the air for several tens of meters before crashing heavily against a large tree, the impact shaking the very ground. Taking Tsunade's monstrous strength head-on like that, Jugo was instantly and severely injured.
Seeing this, a sharp glint flashed in Kimimaro's usually impassive eyes. Over a dozen sharp, bone-like protrusions suddenly erupted from his bare upper body. These bone spurs, dense and razor-sharp, covered his torso, instantly transforming him into a living, humanoid weapon.
Swoosh~
Kimimaro's figure flickered, and he proactively launched an attack against Tsunade.
"Shikotsumyaku!" Seeing Kimimaro activate his Kekkei Genkai, a grave expression appeared in Tsunade's eyes. In the ninja world, members of the Kaguya clan who possessed the Shikotsumyaku were almost all renowned masters of taijutsu and hand-to-hand combat. They were also infamous for being battle-crazed fanatics; once engaged in a fight, they fought with a reckless, almost suicidal abandon, utterly disregarding their own safety. Tsunade, who excelled in her monstrous strength and medical ninjutsu, wasn't particularly well-suited to fighting this type of opponent.
Immediately, Tsunade focused her mind, preparing to deal with him carefully. As she fought, a nagging question kept bothering her. Where in the world did this boy suddenly appear from? Wasn't the Kaguya clan supposed to have been completely wiped out? Where did Orochimaru find this young man? And how could he wield the Shikotsumyaku to such a proficient degree at such a young age?
Tsunade didn't know that the Kimimaro before her had been extensively modified by Orochimaru, his growth and development significantly accelerated. Although Kimimaro was still young, his current actual combat strength was already not far off from what it would be during the Chunin Exams arc in the original timeline. Over these past few years, Orochimaru had never stopped his research into the incomplete version of the Fujinhoin that Tatsuya had provided him. After years of dedicated study, he had achieved some significant breakthroughs. Kimimaro was Orochimaru's most successful experimental subject in this regard. Under the effects of a simplified version of the Fujinhoin developed by Orochimaru, Kimimaro, who was already exceptionally talented by nature, had experienced an astonishingly rapid growth in power.
From the current state of the battle, Tsunade was still clearly dominating Kimimaro, pressing him hard. However, Jugo, who had been sent flying by Tsunade's powerful punch earlier, quickly recovered enough to rejoin the fray.
Inside the Four Violet Flames Formation, Orochimaru and the Third Hokage were locked in a fierce, desperate battle. Outside the formation, Kimimaro and Jugo now teamed up to fight against Tsunade.
About a kilometer away from the chaotic battlefield, Aburame Ryoma and his squad of over ten Root ninja were patiently waiting in concealed positions. From the distance, a figure rapidly leaped through the trees towards them.
"Captain, Orochimaru has engaged the Third Hokage over there. Tsunade also showed up, for some reason, and is currently being intercepted by Orochimaru's men," the Root ninja reported, arriving beside Aburame Ryoma and giving a detailed account of the situation on the battlefield.
"Captain, what are our orders?" After listening to the scout's report, another Root ninja asked, his voice tense.
"We wait for now," Aburame Ryoma said, his voice grave. Orochimaru's formidable strength, and the unexpected appearance of Tsunade, had completely thrown Root's initial plans into disarray. At this critical juncture, it was far too risky for them to reveal themselves. If Orochimaru's forces could directly kill the Third Hokage, then there would be no need for them to intervene at all.
Hearing Aburame Ryoma's decision, the Root ninja all fell silent, remaining quietly in their concealed positions, waiting for further developments.
And just as Aburame Ryoma and his squad were silently waiting, several hundred meters away from their position, Itachi Uchiha was quietly hidden within a dense thicket of trees, observing them.
The battle over there has already begun. It's time to let Brother Tatsuya know, Itachi thought, glancing towards the direction from which the violent chakra fluctuations were emanating. He took out a specially marked kunai from his pouch and carefully embedded it into the trunk of a nearby tree. "It's time," he murmured softly to himself. After planting the kunai, Itachi retreated a short distance, his eyes never leaving the marker.
Time passed quickly. Several minutes later, a figure flashed into existence above the kunai with a tell-tale shimmer of space-time ninjutsu.
"Ta—" Seeing the figure appear, a look of relief and joy flashed across Itachi's face, and he was about to call out. But when he got a clear look at the newcomer's appearance, Itachi froze, his words dying in his throat.
This was a man Itachi had never seen before, a complete stranger. He was wearing the distinctive white and gold uniform of the Divine Court.
"You must be Itachi, right? Don't worry, Tatsuya sent me. You can call me Jizo," the newcomer said, a faint, reassuring smile on his face as he looked at the stunned Itachi.
"Jizo!" Hearing the name, Itachi's pupils constricted sharply. This man… this was the Uchiha from the Divine Court who had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan! He also knew the Flying Thunder God Technique!
"Let's go, Itachi," Jizo said, not paying any mind to Itachi's evident shock. "It's time to deal with these rats who have been hiding in the shadows for far too long." With that, Jizo's figure flickered and vanished from the spot.
Several hundred meters away, Aburame Ryoma suddenly tensed, his expression changing drastically. "Who's there?!" he barked, whirling around and rapidly retreating as he shouted the warning. Just moments ago, the kikaichu insects he had left behind as sentries had relayed information to him about an approaching enemy—an enemy with an incredibly powerful chakra signature.
Hearing Aburame Ryoma's urgent warning, the Root ninja all became instantly alert, their heads snapping around to look behind them. In that instant, a pair of crimson, tomoe-laden eyes burned into their vision.
The Sharingan! This was the last thought that flashed through the minds of many of them.