Everyone in the ninja world knew that only Hashirama Senju was capable of using Wood Release. Even Tsunade, a direct descendant of his bloodline, hadn't inherited this ability.
And now, she had found traces of Wood Release within the cells of White Zetsu—how could she not be suspicious?
"Could it be… someone in the village leaked Hashirama's cells to the outside world?" That was her immediate thought, and the first two suspects that came to her mind were Danzo and Orochimaru.
In her eyes, there were no others in Konoha who had both the motive and the means. If her suspicions were correct, it meant that somewhere outside Konoha, a powerful force had already discovered a safe method for utilizing Hashirama's cells.
At the very least, they had achieved preliminary success.
Otherwise, there was no way they could have created something like White Zetsu—creatures that resembled humans but weren't truly human.
Still, with no solid evidence and considering the gravity of the matter, Tsunade did not report it to Hiruzen right away.
If such news were to leak, it would shake Konoha to its core—and perhaps even threaten its current stability. Despite her usual lazy and unmotivated attitude, Tsunade actually cared deeply about the village.
After all, this place was built on the life's work and dreams of her grandfather. Suddenly—Boom!
A sudden tremor rippled through the earth. As a ninja, Tsunade immediately recognized it—there was a fierce battle happening nearby. And this was near Konoha—under normal circumstances, who would dare fight here?
Something must have happened to the village! Realizing this, Tsunade quickly sealed off the research base and rushed outside.
"That direction…" Sensing a surge of chaotic chakra fluctuations, she instantly locked onto the battle's location and raced toward it.
"Does this woman's chakra never run out?" Motoi and Hiko watched with growing despair as Kushina once again used Shadow Clone Jutsu.
It was their first time seeing someone use Shadow Clones like this—with such quantity and frequency.
Even Killer Bee was now gasping for air, visibly exhausted. He couldn't even maintain his Thunderclap Lightning Blades anymore.
At his current age, and without the power of the Eight-Tails, there was no way he could compete with Kushina from the Uzumaki Clan.
Thanks to her immense chakra and mastery of Shadow Clone Jutsu, Kushina held the upper hand in the fight. But just barely.
"We just have to stall her. Once Big Brother finishes off that guy, she won't be able to cause any more trouble." Hearing B's words, Motoi and Hiko nodded silently.
Meanwhile, on Aoshi's side, the death of Toroi had pushed the A into a blind fury.
"You bastard… I'll never forgive you!" Consumed by rage, the Future Fourth Raikage charged at Aoshi again, his speed seemingly increasing yet again.
Aoshi, seeing this, immediately tossed aside Toroi's corpse, deactivated Asura Path, and opened the Eight Gates.
Three months ago, when he had first acquired the technique, he could only open the First Gate. But now, after continuous and relentless training, he had managed to open the Third Gate—Gate of Life.
This was considered the final "safe" zone of the Eight Gates. Opening any more beyond this point would start causing serious damage to the user, and the difficulty would multiply drastically.
Based on his current training intensity, Aoshi estimated that it would take at least another year before he could open the Fourth Gate—Gate of Pain.
As his body flushed red and began radiating a vibrant green aura, Aoshi entered the Third Gate state. Though he still couldn't match the Raikage's lightning-fast speed, he now had the power to fight back.
He no longer had to rely solely on Shinra Tensei for defense.
Boom! Their fists clashed violently. Both were thrown back by the sheer force of the impact.
Aoshi staggered back over a dozen steps, while A only took a few. It was clear—Aoshi was still at a disadvantage in raw taijutsu.
"Let's see how long you can keep that state up!" A was no fool. He could tell Aoshi was using a secret physical enhancement technique. And all such techniques had a common weakness: they couldn't be maintained for long periods of time.
Without waiting, he charged again. Each clash between them sent shockwaves through the forest, leveling the surroundings.
At the same time, Dodai used Lava Release to create interference, trying to open windows for A to attack.
If Aoshi hadn't been as strong as he was, anyone else would've been defeated already. Still, the battle was not going well for him.
Only with the Third Gate activated could he contend with the Raikage. If he were caught in the five-second cooldown of Shinra Tensei, he'd be finished.
But as A said, Aoshi couldn't sustain this state forever. Even now, with only the Third Gate open, he was still physically inferior in taijutsu. He needed another way to break the stalemate.
Just then, A attacked again—
Boom!
Tsunade, who had just arrived, used Body Flicker to appear in front of Aoshi and struck A with a monstrous punch.
Caught off guard, A was sent flying.
Tsunade had used her full strength, amplified by her monstrous chakra control. His body smashed through dozens of trees before crashing into a massive boulder, shattering it into pieces.
Stuck full-force by Tsunade's punch, even A couldn't walk away unscathed. He immediately dropped out of Lightning Style: Lightning Chakra Mode.
"Tsunade!" Seeing her arrival, Dodai hesitated.
Tsunade wasn't just a legend in name—she was one of the "Three Legendary Sannin," feared across the ninja world. Now, combined with the tricky and unpredictable Aoshi, there was no way they could complete their mission to capture Kushina.
Overjoyed to see her, Aoshi deactivated the Eight Gates and immediately felt the overwhelming fatigue wash over him.
This was the price of the Eight Gates technique. Had he remained in that state any longer, he would have completely lost the ability to move.
"What's going on?" Tsunade demanded.
"A monster attacked the Chunin Exam Venue and forced them to end early. Then Grass Ninja ambushed the village, and the Cloud Ninja took advantage of the chaos to abduct Kushina—but I stopped them."
Tsunade's expression turned ice-cold. Uzumaki Kushina and Uzumaki Mito were the only family she had left. To hear someone had tried to harm Kushina filled her with fury.
Without hesitation, she charged at Dodai with a clenched fist.
Dodai, knowing full well how dangerous Tsunade was, immediately summoned a Lava Release: Rubber Wall to defend.
Even with her strength, Tsunade couldn't break through Dodai's unique Lava Release defense.
Using the opportunity, Dodai threw down a smoke bomb to obscure their vision. By the time Aoshi used Wind Release to blow the smoke away, the enemy had already vanished.
A, Killer Bee, Motoi, and Hiko had all escaped.
"They got away fast," Tsunade muttered.
Aoshi just smiled and quickly packed up Toroi's corpse, being careful to block it from her line of sight—knowing full well about her hemophobia.
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