It took time—far more than Tsunade liked to admit—for her hands to stop shaking.
Blood was everywhere.
Shizune stayed close, steady and firm, grounding her whenever her breath caught or her vision blurred. By the time Tsunade finally forced herself to move, Team 8 had been stabilised. Kurenai still lived, barely, wrapped in bandages and chakra seals. Shino and Kiba were unconscious but breathing. Hinata and Karin were gone.
That alone was enough to light a fire in Tsunade's chest.
"That bastard Raikage, he'll pay when I get to him..." she cursed. Not to mention that idiot kid who ran off to save those girls... gave her another headache.
Tsunade cursed under her breath and followed, anger overriding fear. A genin—no matter how strange, no matter how talented—had no business chasing the Raikage of the Hidden Cloud. Flying Thunder God or not, Sukuna should have been dead within minutes.
They pushed themselves hard, leaping through trees, tearing across broken ground. She didn't have to go, but she was going anyway.
She was furious. Worried about that boy who saved Kurenai and, lastly, intrigued at how he saved her.
For an instant, she even recalled how bad her own brother's condition was back in the Second Ninja War. If she had that level of quick healing abilities then perhaps...
Even the thought made her stomach churn.
She was the best medical-nin there was. No doubt. She herself healed that fast.
However, she could do it on herself. Not others.
Whatever that boy did was beyond even Tsunade's own understanding of medical ninjutsu.
Her mind was a mess. So she just stopped thinking. And by the time they reached them, it was a mess.
The forest ahead looked as if a natural disaster had torn through it. Trees were uprooted and snapped in half. The ground was cratered and split, scorched and soaked with blood. The smell hit them next—metallic, thick, and nauseating.
Shizune slowed first.
"Tsunade-sama…"
They saw the bodies.
Three Cloud shinobi lay scattered across the battlefield. Their heads were severed cleanly, resting several meters away from their torsos. Blood pooled beneath them, already darkening. Flies buzzed in the air.
Tsunade's stomach twisted, but she didn't freeze. She just quickly averted her eyes from the blood around her.
They kept moving forward.
'How did that brat do it?' was the only thing in both of their minds.
Was a third party involved? Reinforcements from Konoha? She needed answers, damn it.
Then they saw them.
Raikage slumped against a tree. One arm was gone entirely, torn off at the shoulder. His legs had failed him, muscles shredded like someone ran a meat grinder over them, trembling uselessly.
He was completely bloodied, making Tsunade want to avert her eyes immediately. However, she pushed through to analyze him.
Beside the missing arm and shoulder, a deep, brutal wound split his chest open, blood pouring freely as his lightning armor lay shattered and dead.
Both Tsunade and Shizune were shocked to their core upon seeing the kage of a hidden village in this condition.
Defeated.
Barely alive.
And standing before him—
That pink-haired genin...
'Who the fuck is he?'
The boy was injured, clothes torn, blood running down his face and arms. He was breathing hard, posture tense, but his eyes were sharp. Focused. Cold. His stance was that of an executioner, not a survivor.
He raised his hand.
Tsunade's heart dropped into her stomach.
"STOP!" she shouted.
Her voice tore across the ruined battlefield.
Sukuna paused.
Just for a moment.
Enough for Tsunade and Shizune to reach them—and enough for Tsunade to realize the truth.
If Raikage really died here, then there would be a war. There was no doubt about it... Damn it, how did things happen like this...
-x-
Just as Sukuna was about to end the man, he heard a shout from behind him, pausing him just long enough for the other party to close the gap.
'Damn... why is this cash cow here now... couldn't she appear when I was getting beaten...' he internally cursed.
"Stop, you can't kill him. It will cause a war," Tsunade shouted, still not approaching him mindlessly. Part of it was all the blood around them, and part was the sense of danger Sukuna's eyes radiated when they fixed on both of them.
"It would have caused a war either way. He tried to kidnap the Hyuga clan heiress in open daylight. The Raikage himself was caught doing so. Do you really think any other outcome would have come out of that outside war...?" Sukuna retorted.
That shut Tsunade up.
"That old man would not let that happen. He would go against war. I know him well enough," Tsunade finally said after a bit of delay.
"That just means there would have been a civil war inside Konoha to bring another Hokage. The outcome still doesn't change," Sukuna deadpanned.
Hiruzen Sarutobi might have been able to pull that shit back when he was in his prime with Danzo's backing, having no political and military opposition. But current Konoha was much different.
The Third Hokage had lost power—from his age to his political support. He wouldn't come out of this war, either internal or external, as Hokage again.
Tsunade's eyebrows twitched at this, wondering how the heck this brat knew so much in the first place.
Seriously, who is he?
He wasn't Hyuga, and she didn't remember Uzumaki people having pink hair instead of red. If he was sent by her teacher, then by now that old man should have definitely brainwashed him. He didn't look brainwashed...
Danzo's men...?
'Huh, like as if. If Danzo had someone like this boy here who could kill the Raikage alone, Konoha would have gotten a Fifth Hokage long ago...' she scoffed.
Raikage groaned on the side. He knew that getting out of this situation was impossible. Even if he survived, Cloud would have to give too much for his release. In this case, dying was actually better.
However, not before relaying the intel that it was Konoha and this pink-haired demon who killed him. Otherwise, his death would be meaningless.
He wished to send a message and tried to move.
However, Sukuna caught it from the side, and he had already had enough of it.
Tsunade, who was about to try to come up with a way to convince him, saw Sukuna flick his hand, and the next second Raikage's neck and the entire tree behind him were cut open.
As Raikage's beheaded head hit the ground, silence tore through the clearing until the tree behind him fell with a loud smash, jolting both Tsunade and Shizune from their daze.
"h..he really killed the Raikage..." Shizune's eyes went as wide as they would biologically go.
Tsunade too was stunned. She hadn't even finished talking before that brat killed Raikage.
"BRAT!... do you really wish for a war. You don't understand what it means. Do you know how many will die?" she shouted, veins popping on her head.
She herself wished to kill the Raikage if she could. However, the repercussions of such actions always held her back.
"If war happens, then let it happen. What does that have to do with me. People die all the time. I got nothing to do with that. I only care about my people.
This bastard here laid hands on my girl. Simply killing him is not enough. I had two thoughts about marching to Kumo and burning the entire bloody village down... that's me being reasonable," Sukuna said, his tone so convincing and eyes so cold that it gave Shizune a shiver.
'This boy... he's not normal. He's insane.' Shizune instinctively recoiled at the aura Sukuna was emitting.
Tsunade, on the other hand, was left speechless, frozen there by shock at his statement and the sheer audacity of his claim.
"They will come after you when they know, you know that, right?" Tsunade couldn't help but shake her head. The deed was done. What was the point of lecturing the kid now?
"True, but only if they know. The Raikage's dead. His subordinates are dead. If I'm the only one standing, who'll tell them...?" Sukuna said as his eyes became colder.
Tsunade's instincts warned her then that the boy was up to no good.
"You think you can fight both of us in your condition... heh... you overestimate yourself..." Tsunade snorted, but her guard was already up. The brat was mad...
Sukuna casually flicked his finger, and an extremely quick Dismantle shot at Tsunade, tearing her cheek and a strand of her hair before going past her, cutting open trees and boulders.
Tsunade froze. Her eyes went wide.
She didn't even see the attack coming. How?
The earlier instinct telling her danger ahead was now ringing like a drum beside her.
'Beside me...' Her eyes instinctively went to Shizune, who was shivering from the malicious cursed energy released by Sukuna.
'I can use a Hundred Healings and most likely survive that invisible attack. But I can't protect Shizune...'
"You think you'll get away with this if you kill us... here. You'll be a Konoha Traitor..." Tsunade reprimanded...
"Again... how will they know. You're not gonna be there to tell them would you..." Sukuna started moving towards them and this finally panic both of them.
"Okay... okay let's not be hasty..." Tsunade, arguably for the first time, didn't act impulsively. The boy could kill the Raikage, so he was easily a Kage-level shinobi. She could fight, but how long? Even now, the blood was causing her to shake internally. She couldn't even look him in the eyes when talking because of the blood all around.
Tsunade gritted her teeth and decided the only way out here was diplomacy.
"I want your silence on this matter, from your country, nation, village, teacher, leader, peers, lovers, one-night-stand fuckers... I don't care.
So, here's what I propose... either you two willingly enter into a deal with me to keep both of your pretty mouths shut, let's say in the name of peace in the Elemental Nations, or I'll ensure peace will endure by force..." Sukuna's eyes flashed red.
The murderous aura in him radiated even more, making Tsunade and Shizune gulp.
Thinking only one thing now...
They shouldn't have come here...
xXx
A/N : I usually don't write a character being so assertive, but Sukuna's characters demands it. As for if they didn't agree Sukuna would really have killed them. That's the kind of character he is...
See... not a hero.
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