Pain pulsed through every muscle in his body.
Kabuto Yakushi leaped between branches with mechanical movements, forcing his legs to keep going while his vision blurred intermittently. His broken ribs made every breath an agony, and the metallic taste of blood would not leave his mouth.
Anko Mitarashi, he thought bitterly as he dodged a low branch. I completely underestimated how much she had changed since the reports.
His body protested, but his mind continued to function with precision. He had activated his regeneration technique the moment he escaped the clearing, but the damage was extensive. The internal wounds would take hours to heal completely, and he did not have hours. The Konoha ANBU would be after him in a matter of minutes.
Kabuto adjusted his broken glasses with trembling fingers.
Sector twenty-three, he recalled the coordinates he had memorized weeks ago. The secondary extraction point is there. If I can reach it before they catch up to me...
Then he felt it.
A presence.
No, several presences.
Chakra was moving in parallel to his route, staying just outside his detection range but close enough to follow him. Kabuto activated his sensory technique and counted mentally.
Three. No, four signatures. All ANBU by the way they suppress their chakra.
A bitter smile crossed his bloodied face.
Perfect. Anko sent them to track me.
But far from distressing him, that revelation provided a strange sense of relief. If the ANBU were following him, it meant he had a chance. His training under Orochimaru had taught him how to deal with pursuers: keep moving, never use the same pattern twice, and above all, take advantage of the fact that they have to stay hidden.
They want me to lead them straight to Orochimaru-sama, he analyzed as he jumped toward a thicker trunk. Anko was smart enough to let me escape with a marker. Probably one of her damn poison seals activated during the fight.
Kabuto touched his left side and, sure enough, felt a slight sting that should not be there. He grunted through his teeth.
It doesn't matter. The protocol for this is clear: pre-established evasion routes, random changes every kilometer, and under no circumstances head to the main hideout.
The trees of the Forest of Death grew denser in this section. Kabuto dropped to ground level and began running in a zigzag pattern between the massive trunks. His pursuers adjusted their positions, but they kept their distance. Perfect.
If I lead them through the eastern river route, I can use the water to dilute any residual chakra traces. From there, I will take the detour toward the caves in sector twenty-eight. Orochimaru-sama will be waiting at the contingency point by then.
The plan was solid. Kabuto had rehearsed it mentally dozens of times over the past few weeks. Each route had three variations, each meeting point had two alternatives, and each alternative had an emergency escape option.
An effective agent always has an exit, he remembered his master's words.
He kept running.
Minutes passed. The pain in his ribs became more manageable as his medical chakra worked internally. Kabuto counted his steps, memorizing every tree and every stone, preparing for the next change of direction.
And then, something changed.
The presences vanished.
Kabuto stopped dead in his tracks, his feet skidding against the damp bark of the branch where he had landed. His sensory technique expanded to the maximum, sweeping the area in a two-hundred-meter radius.
Nothing.
There was absolutely nothing except the natural sounds of the forest and the accelerated beating of his own heart.
What...?
A chill ran down his spine. This made no sense. ANBU teams did not simply disappear like that, especially when they were tracking a high-value target.
Unless...
Unless they stopped chasing me because they no longer need to.
The thought hit Kabuto hard. If the ANBU had withdrawn, it could only mean one thing: someone else had taken control of the pursuit. Someone dangerous enough that standard teams would retreat immediately.
Kabuto activated his medical chakra in combat mode, preparing his scalpels in both hands. His eyes, trained to detect the slightest movement, scanned the darkness between the trees.
Move, his survival instinct screamed. Move now or...
"My," a female voice said from somewhere impossible to locate. The tone was cold, almost bored, but with a sarcastic edge. "Anko really has a very optimistic view of you, you know?"
Kabuto spun in every direction, trying to find the source of the voice. His sensory technique detected nothing.
"Who is there?" he demanded, hating how his own voice sounded slightly shaky. "Show yourself!"
The voice continued, completely ignoring his demand.
"She actually believes Orochimaru would come to rescue a disposable piece like you. That he would risk his position, his plan, his entire elaborate scheme... for someone who just ruined his participation in this mission in the most spectacular way possible."
Every word was a direct blow to his pride and to something deeper, something Kabuto had buried under layers of arrogance and training: the fear of being exactly what that voice described.
Disposable.
"I don't..." he began to protest, but the voice interrupted him with a short, dismissive laugh.
"But here is the reality, boy. Orochimaru is not Anko. He doesn't come looking for his subordinates when they fail. He simply... disappears. He leaves you bleeding in the forest and moves on with someone more useful. Isn't that how it works?"
Kabuto's eyes widened.
No.
It can't be.
"So here you are," the voice continued, now with a touch of genuine amusement. "Running toward an extraction point that has probably already been abandoned. Waiting for a rescue that is never going to come. Being exactly what you have always feared being: a broken tool that is no longer good for anything."
Kabuto felt something break inside his chest. It was the feeling that every one of his assumptions, every carefully crafted plan, every calculated move... all of it had been useless from the start.
"Who are you?" he whispered, though a terrible part of him already knew.
A movement.
Kabuto turned and finally saw her.
A woman emerged from the shadows with a casual elegance that clashed brutally with the hostile environment of the forest. She was tall, with the kind of presence that occupied the space simply by existing. Her blonde hair fell in twin tails over her back, shining even under the meager filtered light. She had fair skin, almost pale in the gloom, and her features were strikingly attractive.
But it was her eyes that froze Kabuto in place.
Brown eyes. They looked at him with the kind of coldness normally reserved for observing particularly uninteresting laboratory specimens.
"Tsu... Tsunade..."
Tsunade Senju, one of the Legendary Three Sannin, was looking at him with the expression of someone who had just found a particularly annoying cockroach in her kitchen.
"So you do recognize me," she said, taking a step forward. Her combat boots made no sound against the forest floor. "That makes things a bit simpler. It means you understand exactly how much trouble you are in."
Kabuto backed away instinctively, his hands already forming seals for an escape technique. His mind worked at full speed, calculating distances, routes, and possibilities.
Substitution to the tree behind me, then a concealment technique, then...
"Don't do it," Tsunade warned, and there was something in her tone that made Kabuto stop in his tracks. "I have been hunting ninjas faster and smarter than you for longer than you have been alive. If you try to escape, you are only going to make this more painful than necessary."
"I..." Kabuto swallowed hard, trying to regain some composure. "I don't know what you are talking about, Tsunade-sama. I am just a genin participating in the Chunin Exams. If I have done something that..."
"Shut up."
The command was spoken with such casual authority that Kabuto obeyed before he could even think about it.
Tsunade shook her head with something that might have been disappointment.
"You know what is pathetic?" she asked, almost as if she were talking to herself. "That you are still trying to maintain that facade. Even now. Even after Anko tore you apart and left you crawling like the mediocre spy you are."
Kabuto grit his teeth. His pride, wounded and bleeding, rebelled against those words.
"I am not mediocre," he said, his voice coming out louder than he intended. "I have completed missions that would make regular jonin cry. I have infiltrated organizations that didn't even know they had been compromised. I am one of the most effective agents that Orochimaru-sama..."
He stopped, realizing too late what he had just admitted.
"There it is," she said with satisfaction. "Thank you for the verbal confirmation. The interrogators are going to appreciate it."
Kabuto felt panic take hold of him. He had made the most basic mistake, the one they taught you to avoid on the first day of espionage training: never confirm anything under emotional pressure.
How...?
How had she manipulated him so easily? He was an expert in mind games, in keeping multiple layers of deception running simultaneously. But Tsunade had pierced through all those layers like they were wet paper.
"Listen, kid," Tsunade said, her voice taking on an almost educational tone. "I'm going to explain something to you about Orochimaru that apparently no one has told you. He doesn't value loyalty. He doesn't value effort. He doesn't value sacrifice. The only thing he values is immediate utility."
She took another step forward.
"And right now, after failing your mission so spectacularly and allowing Anko to mark you like a dog... your utility has dropped to zero."
Kabuto shook his head, backing away.
"No. Orochimaru-sama needs me. I handle his medical research, I coordinate his spy networks, I am..."
"Replaceable," Tsunade finished pitilessly. "Completely, absolutely replaceable. Do you think you are the first? The only one? Orochimaru has had dozens like you. Talented, loyal students willing to die for him. And he discarded them all the moment they stopped being useful to him."
Kabuto's world narrowed to that singular point: the horrible and growing realization that she might be right.
How many times had he seen Orochimaru abandon half-completed projects? How many subordinates had disappeared without explanation when they made mistakes? How many times had he himself cleaned up those "mistakes" under direct orders?
But I am different, he told himself desperately. I am special. He trained me personally, he taught me techniques that...
"I can see your mind working," Tsunade observed with something close to pity. "Trying to convince yourself that you are the exception. That your case is different. But it isn't. It never is."
Kabuto felt his breathing accelerate. His broken ribs protested with every inhalation.
I need to get out of here. I need to...
His eyes darted to the trees on his left, calculating the angle, the distance, and the speed required for a successful substitution technique followed by...
The fist arrived too fast to process.
One moment Tsunade was meters away; the next, her fist connected with Kabuto's face with a force that redefined his understanding of physical pain.
The impact was catastrophic.
Kabuto felt his nose explode in a cascade of cartilage and bone. His front teeth snapped like toothpicks. The world spun violently as his body was launched backward with a force that defied all logic.
He flew through the air for what seemed like an eternity before slamming into a thick tree. The bark exploded into splinters under the impact. The entire trunk shuddered, shedding leaves that fell like confetti over his slumped body.
Kabuto slid to the ground, leaving a trail of blood on the shattered wood. His vision flickered between darkness and explosions of white pain. He could do nothing except exist in that absolute agony while his brain tried to process what had just occurred.
How...?
How can anyone hit that hard?
"That," Tsunade's voice said, now directly over him although he did not remember seeing her move, "was for wasting my time."
Kabuto tried to speak, but only a liquid gurgle emerged. His mouth was full of blood and tooth fragments. The pain was so intense that his healing technique didn't even know where to begin.
He heard movement around him. Voices. Figures with white masks materializing out of nowhere.
The ANBU had returned.
"Tsunade-sama," one of them said with respect. "Shall we proceed with the arrest?"
"Obviously," Tsunade replied, shaking her hand as if she had just touched something unpleasant. "Take him to the interrogation room. Tell Ibiki he has a new toy to practice his techniques on."
"Hai!"
Gloved hands grabbed Kabuto without delicacy, lifting him from the ground. He tried to resist, his training screaming at him to fight.
But his body would not respond. Tsunade's blow had done more than break bones; it had rattled his nervous system to the point of temporary paralysis.
Through his blurred vision, he saw Tsunade turn away, her blonde ponytail swaying with the movement.
"Where are you going, Tsunade-sama?" another ANBU asked.
"Where I should have gone years ago," she replied without looking back. "To hunt a snake."
And with that, she disappeared into the forest with a speed that made Kabuto understand exactly how merciful she had been by knocking him out so quickly.
The last thing he thought before darkness claimed him was a horrible and revealing truth.
She was right. Orochimaru is never coming for me.
******
Half an hour earlier, in another section of the Forest of Death.
Naruto jumped from a high branch, landing softly on a small hill that offered a decent view of the surrounding area. Behind him, Sasuke and Sakura emerged from the thicket of the forest at a silent pace.
"Alright," Naruto said, brushing some dirt off his orange jacket. "That Rain team didn't know what hit them. Sasuke, that Fire Style of yours was great for blocking their escape."
"It was adequate," Sasuke replied with his typical indifference, though there was a glint of satisfaction in his eyes.
Sakura laughed, checking the contents of her medical pouch.
"Let's not let our guard down," Naruto pulled out his map and studied it under the filtered light. "If the coordinates are correct, we should be close to the meeting point."
"I still don't understand why you're so sure," Sasuke answered skeptically. "This is an exam. We're supposed to be competitors."
"I spoke with Hinata-chan and Ino before the exam," Naruto explained without looking away from the map. "We agreed to coordinate routes to meet at safe points and advance together toward the tower."
Sasuke frowned.
"You planned all of this?"
"It wasn't just me, it was with the girls' help," Naruto finally looked at him. "Look, I know it sounds weird. But think about it. Several genin moving in the same direction. Who's going to attack us?"
"Technically we're still competitors," Sasuke insisted, crossing his arms. "If we get to the tower and teams have to be eliminated..."
"Then we'll settle it there," Naruto interrupted. "But first we have to get there; your condition..."
"I'm fine," Sasuke said automatically.
"You have to remember that you're still not fully recovered," Naruto replied with unusual frankness. "Granny asked us to look after you and that's what we're going to do, so don't push yourself too hard and leave the heavy lifting to Sakura and me."
Sasuke stared at him for a long moment. Any other day he would have argued. But Naruto wasn't belittling him. He was just being... honest.
"And what exactly do you propose?" Sasuke finally asked.
"That you trust me this once," Naruto shrugged with a smile. "Let me worry about the strategy until we get to the tower. After that, you can go back to being the lone genius everyone knows."
Sakura stifled a giggle. Sasuke sighed with exasperation.
"If this goes wrong, I'm never letting you live it down."
"Duly noted," Naruto held the map out to him. "So, are you in?"
Sasuke studied the map for a few seconds and then nodded once.
"For now. But your plan better work, dobe."
"They always work," Naruto replied confidently.
"That's false," Sakura whispered.
"Most of them work!"
"Not really."
"Sometimes!"
Sasuke shook his head.
"Trust me," Naruto said with a smile. "Hinata-chan would never leave me hanging. Neither would Ino."
As if his words had been an invocation, the sound of rapid footsteps came from the east. The three genin immediately adopted defensive stances, hands moving toward their weapons.
But then Hinata emerged from the foliage, with Kiba and Shino flanking her.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called out, and there was genuine relief in her voice at seeing him unharmed.
"Hinata-chan!" Naruto waved energetically. "I knew you guys would make it here!"
Kiba looked around with evident confusion while Akamaru barked from inside his jacket.
"Wait, wait," Kiba raised his hands. "Why is Team 7 exactly here? At this specific point in the forest?"
Hinata exchanged a quick glance with Naruto.
"It's... a coincidence," she offered, not very convincingly.
"Coincidence," Kiba repeated, narrowing his eyes. "Hinata, we've been walking for half an hour toward these specific coordinates that you suggested. And it turns out Naruto is right here?"
"The Forest of Death has logical routes toward the tower," Shino intervened, adjusting his glasses. "It is not improbable for multiple teams to converge at similar points."
Kiba looked at him.
"Are you going to pretend this is normal too?"
"I am choosing not to question a situation that benefits our survival," Shino replied calmly.
Before Kiba could protest further, another series of footsteps announced the arrival of Team 10. Ino appeared first, followed closely by Shikamaru who looked as if he would rather be sleeping, and Choji chewing on what seemed to be his last bag of chips.
"We're here!" Ino announced with a bright smile. "See? I told you this was the right way."
Shikamaru stopped in his tracks, observing the scene in front of him. His gaze shifted from Team 7 to Team 8, then to Ino, and finally back to Naruto.
"How convenient," Shikamaru said slowly. "Three teams from Konoha. Same place. Same time."
"Right?! It's weird, isn't it?!" Kiba exclaimed, seemingly relieved that someone else noticed. "That's exactly what I'm saying!"
Shikamaru studied everyone's expressions. Ino avoiding his gaze. Hinata with a slight blush. Naruto with that too-innocent smile he always used when he was hiding something.
"Hmm," Shikamaru murmured.
He walked over to a nearby rock and sat down, crossing his arms.
"You're not going to say anything?" Kiba asked incredulously.
"Say what?" Shikamaru yawned. "There's no rule against walking in the same direction as other teams. And frankly, if this means fewer troublesome fights from here to the tower, I'm not going to complain."
"But they clearly planned it!"
"You can't prove that," Shikamaru closed his eyes. "And more importantly, I don't want to prove it. Wake me up when we're moving."
Choji sat down next to his teammate, offering him a chip which Shikamaru accepted without opening his eyes. Kiba turned to Shino looking for support.
"Seriously, doesn't it bother you?"
"In the world of insects, colonies that cooperate survive," Shino replied cryptically. "Those that do not, die."
"That is not an answer."
Kiba grunted in frustration, but Akamaru licked his cheek, calming him down.
"Fine, fine," he said finally, scratching his head hard. "If everyone is going to pretend this is normal, I guess I will too. But for the record, I know something weird is going on."
"Noted," Naruto said without a hint of guilt. "So, shall we keep going?"
"Approximately two hours if we maintain a good pace," Hinata replied, activating her Byakugan to scan the area. "And I don't see any other teams in our immediate path."
"Perfect," Naruto stretched, feeling the satisfaction of a well-executed plan. "Then let's advance together until..."
"NARUTO!"
The shout came from above.
Everyone looked toward the tree canopy just in time to see a figure falling from the upper branches, draped in weapon scrolls. Tenten landed in the middle of the group with an impact that kicked up dust. She straightened up immediately, her face lit with a huge smile.
"I knew it!" she exclaimed in triumph. "I knew this was the right place!"
"Tenten?" Naruto blinked in surprise. "Where's your team?"
"Lee is... somewhere doing push-ups or something," Tenten waved a hand vaguely. "And Neji decided to take the 'destiny' route or whatever. But I remembered what you said about the safe zones and I thought, why not?"
She looked around the gathered group and her smile widened.
"And I was right. All of you are here."
"SHE KNEW TOO?!" Kiba shouted.
"This is becoming a convention," Shikamaru observed without opening his eyes.
"A convention with a destination," Ino corrected, standing up. "Now that Tenten is here, we're... what? Ten people?"
"And we're all going to the same place," Sakura added. "The tower."
Naruto looked around, seeing the faces of his friends, all gathered in this spot of the Forest of Death.
"You know what?" he said with a growing smile. "I think we're all going to get there together. Like it's supposed to be."
"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered again, but this time he was smiling.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Tenten gave a small jump of excitement. "Let's get to that tower!"
*****
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Heroine Training System: Squeeze Me with Those Thighs