"The woman I long for is outside the barrier? And she's your type too, Lord Jaeger?"
Uchiha Miyuki froze, then lit up in excitement.
"Wait, don't tell me… is it Shizune and Terumi Mei? No, they're still kids right now… Then Yūhi Kurenai? Maybe Izumi, Anko, or Uzuki Yugao? …It can't be Tsunade, right!?"
"As expected of you, scumbag!"
Kushina rolled her eyes at her childhood friend.
"You can list that many girls in one breath—you're such a hopeless scumbag I can't even look at you!"
"Oi! Kushina! Don't slander me like that! Be honest with your conscience, will you!?"
But as Miyuki muttered under her breath, her gaze fell on Jaeger. Konan and Rin were both curled up in his arms like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"…His Highness Jaeger is the real scumbag here. He stole Kushina's first kiss by force, and even Konan's—if that's not peak scumbag, what is?"
"Ugh…"
Kushina's cheeks flushed crimson. She remembered that scene all too clearly.
Yes, Miyuki was right. Her first kiss had been snatched away by Jaeger. She had spent years yelling "scumbag, scumbag!" every single day, swearing she'd never forgive him.
But when they finally met again, she had thrown herself straight into his arms without a shred of resistance.
On the other hand, Konan simply tightened her embrace around Jaeger.
The blue-haired girl looked at Miyuki warily, her voice clear and gentle:
"I'm happy now, Miyuki-san. So don't bother me anymore."
She wasn't lying.
Konan truly liked her life as it was.
Yahiko was alive and well.
Nagato, despite his strange condition after being resurrected, was still here.
They had a teacher whose strength towered above all others.
Amegakure—and even the entire Land of Rain—was under their control.
They were warm, fed, safe, and finally able to help people.
This was the dream they had once shared as starving orphans.
"Damn it!"
Miyuki's pretty face twisted.
Konan wasn't just flattering Jaeger—she meant every word. That made it sting even more.
Stockholm Syndrome, was that it? Why? Why did the gentle, older onee-san type like her lose out to an overbearing tyrant like His Highness Jaeger? Was she on the wrong path from the start? Should she have tried being domineering too, like him?
But the thought only lasted a second before Miyuki sighed. Jaeger could pull off the "overbearing conqueror" act because he had the overwhelming strength to back it up. If she tried it, she'd probably end up in a bloody Shura field with her head rolling on the ground.
"So… who's the woman outside, Your Highness?"
The "most beautiful girl in the ninja world" abandoned her fantasy of being a domineering queen and leaned forward curiously. If none of the beauties around Jaeger favored her, then maybe she could find some other tenderness to heal her wounded heart?
"…It's Tsunade."
Jaeger chuckled.
"Didn't you always dream of becoming Hokage and having her as your secretary? Well, she's outside right now."
"Legendary Sucker! The biggest prize in the ninja world!"
Miyuki's jaw nearly hit the floor. Just the thought of Tsunade's… overwhelming figure and the noble status of the Senju princess made her drool. If you asked who she coveted the most in the entire Naruto world, the answer was obviously Tsunade.
But then she glanced at Jaeger, and her heart sank. With this devilish boss—equally skilled in pure love and forced love—was there any chance left for her?
No. Tsunade would inevitably become Jaeger's "personal weapon."
Miyuki's face drooped, her whole body sagging like a tragic heroine in an NTR story, watching her beloved idol be snatched away right before her eyes.
"Miyuki… what's wrong with her?"
Kushina tilted her head, worried. Despite calling her a scumbag every day, she really did care about her childhood friend.
…She just wished Miyuki would stop trying to sleep with her.
"Ha—ignore her. She's fine."
Jaeger smirked. He couldn't literally read minds with Haki, but with Miyuki, it was easy to guess: it was about Tsunade, and it was about him.
But Tsunade, huh…
Senju Hashirama's granddaughter. The so-called "Legendary Sannin." The Fifth Hokage in the original story.
Jaeger's smile sharpened.
A beautiful face. A rotten personality. Awful habits.
Exactly his type.
After all—he liked bad women the most.
The "barrier" Jaeger deployed was nothing more than a counterfeit imitation, shaped and reinforced by rune-like characters.
To the average Kage-level shinobi, it was practically undetectable. But to those with sharper senses and stronger power, faint traces could still be noticed.
And outside this barrier… stood three figures.
Two men. One woman. And another quiet girl.
"I knew something was off. Sure enough, there's a massive barrier here."
The blonde woman in the green robe narrowed her golden eyes, her expression solemn. With long, flowing hair and an exaggerated figure, she stood like a pillar of confidence.
"This is no ordinary technique—your average Kage-level wouldn't even notice it."
Senju Tsunade, princess of the Senju clan. Granddaughter of the First Hokage, Hashirama. Grandniece of the Second, Tobirama. Disciple of the Third, Hiruzen. Her lineage and status were unmatched in Konoha.
But in truth, she hadn't set foot in the village for years. The loss of her younger brother, Nawaki, who had died on the battlefield, had broken her spirit. As a medical ninja, she couldn't save him. Since then, hemophobia haunted her, her hands trembling at the sight of blood.
Unable to fight, unable to heal, she had simply abandoned everything. With her young disciple Shizune, she wandered the world in a haze of sake, gambling debts, and fleeting days.
If not for the news that Shimura Danzo now held terrifying power—enough to publicly sentence her teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi, to execution—Tsunade would never have returned.
"Danzo…"
Her face twisted, hatred flashing in her eyes. She had always despised that shadowy man, and now, more than ever, she loathed him.
Konoha was her home. She might curse it, avoid it, even abandon it, but deep in her heart, she still cared. It was the life's work of her grandfather and granduncle—she could never let a snake like Danzo defile it.
"Tsunade! I scouted around, but no one seems to be maintaining this barrier. And more importantly…"
Jiraiya's tone hardened. "The barrier is huge. Tens of kilometers wide, at least. Can a single shinobi really sustain something this massive? If so, their chakra reserves must dwarf even a tailed beast's."
"Jiraiya…" Tsunade's voice softened. "You should leave. Something about this isn't right. Danzo might have already seized the whole village single-handedly. His strength… it may not even be beneath my granduncle's."
But Jiraiya shook his head.
"Konoha isn't just your home—it's mine too. And Sarutobi-sensei is our teacher. I can't turn my back on him. Not now."
His smile was teasing as always, but his eyes glowed with deep affection when they met hers.
Besides… he had always loved Tsunade. His dream, foolish as it was, was to marry her one day. How could he let her face danger alone?
And Minato…
The news claimed his disciple, Namikaze Minato, had died in Danzo's coup. That the Third Hokage was to blame. But Jiraiya wasn't fool enough to believe such propaganda.
Minato… not the Child of Prophecy, then?
Jiraiya sighed inwardly, his heart torn between grief, doubt, and a strange, unwanted relief.
"Tsunade-sama! Jiraiya-sama!"
Shizune's timid voice broke the silence. Hugging the tiny piglet, Tonton, close, she spoke cautiously:
"Our destination is Konoha. We could bypass this barrier entirely. It would only cost us an hour or two—enough to arrive tomorrow for the execution on time."
"I don't think so."
Jiraiya shook his head firmly, his eyes narrowing at the shimmering air.
"A barrier of this scale, here in the Land of Fire, right after a coup in Konoha? This has to be part of Danzo's conspiracy. We need to investigate."
"Then let's smash it open!"
Tsunade cracked her knuckles, her voice filled with bravado.
"There isn't a single shinobi alive who can handle both of us at once. Even Hanzo the Salamander wouldn't stand a chance anymore."
"…Fine."
Jiraiya nodded. Chakra surged into his palm, swirling and compressing into a dense, glowing sphere.
"Rasengan!"
"Perfect timing." Tsunade grinned, chakra flooding into her heels as she leapt high. "Here I go!"
Her foot smashed down with titanic force, enough to level stone.
"Rasengan!"
The two Sannin roared in unison, their combined might strong enough to obliterate any Kage-level foe. Shizune's blood boiled as she watched her masters—her pride swelling.
But just as their attacks were about to collide with the invisible wall…
The barrier pulsed.
A ripple of unseen energy spread like the maw of a beast, tearing open a gaping hole.
"…What!?"
Tsunade and Jiraiya froze, but it was too late. Their power had already been unleashed. The next moment, both were swallowed whole. The rift devoured them like prey, and their figures vanished inside.
"Tsunade-sama! Jiraiya-sama!"
Shizune's heart lurched. She hadn't even seen the process clearly—only that both her masters were gone in an instant.
Panic clawed at her chest. She tried to form the seals for her summoning technique, desperate to contact the Slug Sage.
But
The summoning failed. Some force disrupted space itself, sealing off her chakra.
Then the barrier surged again, stretching outward like a predator. Before Shizune could even gasp, the world beneath her collapsed, and she too was dragged inside.
"Eh!?"
The ground warped into ruins beneath her feet. Shocked and confused, Shizune still tried to complete her summoning. But her hands trembled, the jutsu unraveling uselessly.
"No need, Shizune."
Shizune froze. Looking up, her teary eyes widened into joy.
"Tsunade-sama! Jiraiya-sama! You're safe!"
"…We're fine."
Tsunade nodded, unscathed. But her golden eyes were dark, her expression thunderous.
Her face was as cold as fuck.
Not far away, Jiraiya's face was grim. His eyes never stopped moving, scanning every inch of their surroundings.
Something's off… I can feel it.
Shizune, clutching Tonton tightly in her arms, raised her head uneasily—and froze.
"Ruins…!"
Her eyes widened in disbelief. Mountains shattered. Forests scorched. Rivers dried and split apart. Everywhere she looked, the land was torn to pieces, as though countless meteorites had rained down from the heavens.
Even in her imagination of the Great Ninja Wars, she had never pictured devastation so absolute. Entire landscapes erased in a single clash.
And what chilled her most—
Moments ago, they had been standing on flat earth surrounded by mountains, trees, and running water. None of that remained.
"…An illusion?" she whispered. "Or some kind of space transfer?"
"Tsunade-sama! This place… what is it!?"
The young chūnin's voice cracked with fear.
Tsunade knelt, her hand brushing the shattered stone. The fragments were cold, lifeless, but real.
"…It's no illusion. And most likely not space-time transfer either. This is reality. We're inside that barrier from earlier. Its purpose is to hide this battlefield from the world outside."
"She's right."
Jiraiya crouched beside a cracked boulder scorched black on one side and frozen white on the other. His expression turned even darker.
"These marks… fire, lightning, ice—signs of several terrifying jutsu colliding. A handful of monsters fought here. If not for this barrier, the entire shinobi world would already know."
"A… a battle?"
Shizune's throat tightened. "B-but even if tens of thousands of ninja fought, they couldn't destroy mountains and rivers like this! And you're saying it was only a few people…!?"
"Don't underestimate the true monsters of our world, little Shizune."
Tsunade forced a thin smile.
"My grandfather, the First Hokage Senju Hashirama, and his rival, Uchiha Madara—both had the power to tear landscapes apart. If they fought here, this much destruction would be child's play."
Shizune gasped. "But… they've been dead for decades! There shouldn't be anyone like them alive anymore!"
"Exactly. That's the problem."
Jiraiya held up the stone in his hand—half charred, half frozen. His face went pale as cold sweat ran down his brow.
"These effects are fresh. No more than ten hours old."
"What!?" Tsunade's eyes widened. "You mean—"
"This barrier isn't just to hide the ruins—it's to conceal an ongoing battle. Someone doesn't want the shinobi world to know there are beings fighting on this level again!"
Before Jiraiya could finish, Tsunade's Senju blood stirred violently. Her chest tightened, her instincts screaming. She snapped her gaze skyward.
"—!!"
Something tore through the clouds, a black speck falling at supersonic speed. Sonic booms rippled across the heavens as it plummeted, leaving trails of white rings in its wake.
"…That's—!"
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. "Uchiha's Susanoo! But… it doesn't look like it's attacking. It looks like it was knocked down!"
Tsunade's breath hitched.
"Blue… Susanoo… I've seen that before somewhere…"
Seconds later, the colossal avatar—hundreds of meters tall—smashed into the ground like a meteorite. The earth shook violently, quaking like an earthquake. Smoke and dust filled the sky.
"Damn it!" Tsunade gritted her teeth, brushing rubble off her cloak. "When did such a monster appear in the Uchiha clan? Don't tell me… Uchiha Miyuki!?"
For a moment, she actually felt relief. Uchiha were Konoha's own bloodline. If such power existed, at least it was tied to her village.
But Jiraiya's voice quivered as he pointed upward.
"T-Tsunade… look at the sky."
Her heart clenched. Slowly, she raised her head.
And froze.
Above them, blotting out the heavens, a dragon stretched thousands of meters long. Its scales shimmered with pink light, its enormous body wrapped in chakra armor.
It coiled like a living mountain in the sky.
"…What… the hell… is that?"
Tsunade's face drained of color.
Jiraiya swallowed hard, his eyes wide with horror.
"Don't tell me… that thing's a Susanoo too…!?"
•••
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