Chapter 122: Only by Facing the Darkness Can We Emerge From It
"Alright. This sentimental reminiscing game is over."
Orochimaru clapped his hands.
Nawaki's innocent eyes went blank.
In the next second, Tsunade felt a sharp pain in her stomach. She looked down and saw a kunai buried in her.
Kenichi's lips twitched.
He suddenly realized he had been far too kind. His teacher's methods were truly ruthless, especially when it came to Tsunade.
Shizune, standing to the side, tensed as if she were about to rush forward, but Kenichi stopped her with a hand.
"Do not be so hasty, Shizune nee," he said in a low voice.
Even though his teacher was cold, he still cared about Jiraiya and Tsunade. Otherwise, he would not have simply stabbed Tsunade in the stomach. If Orochimaru truly wanted to threaten Tsunade's life, he had plenty of other ways.
If his teacher really meant to kill her, then Tsunade, with her hemophobia flaring, would not be able to stop him.
"Nawaki…" Tsunade shoved Nawaki away.
Nawaki fell to the ground with a cry, and Tsunade's expression wavered in shock.
Before she could say anything, she saw Dan pull Nawaki close, a kunai pressed to Nawaki's throat.
Tsunade stared at the scene in disbelief.
Dan was her lover. How could he do something like that?
It had to be Orochimaru.
"Tsunade, choose," Orochimaru said with a faint smile. "Who do you want to die first?"
At the same time, Nawaki drew a kunai of his own and aimed it at Dan's chest.
"You despicable bastard!" Tsunade's fists clenched so hard her knuckles turned white.
How could she not understand what was happening?
Both her lover and her brother were products of the Impure World Reincarnation. Tsunade knew enough about that forbidden technique Tobirama created to recognize it.
But knowing it and facing it were two different things.
Looking at the two most important men in her life, Tsunade felt a pain so intense it nearly tore her apart.
She had already lost them once.
She had spent years running from that darkness, only to realize she was still standing inside it.
Running had been shameful, but it had kept her alive. It had let her escape the pain for a while.
Now she understood the truth.
She had never truly moved on. The pain had only piled up, deeper and heavier, buried in her heart.
Tsunade made her choice.
She glared at Orochimaru, then charged forward without holding back and threw a punch with everything she had.
She did not restrain the force at all. If it landed, Dan and Nawaki would be sent back to the Pure Land.
This was Tsunade's decision.
She chose to let her brother and her lover finally rest.
"Sister!"
Nawaki's terrified cry rang out at the last moment, and astonishment flashed across Dan's eyes.
Tsunade grit her teeth, her strength nearly collapsing right there.
That single word, sister, made her whole body tremble.
Nawaki's death had always been her greatest wound.
Then strange noises came from both of them.
A large amount of blood burst out, spraying across Tsunade.
Their eyes turned vacant again, and they lunged at her with their kunai.
The attack was aimed straight for her neck and chest. If it struck, even Tsunade would be in serious trouble.
Blood.
The faces of her little brother and her lover.
Nawaki's childish voice.
In that instant, Tsunade's punch felt as if time had slowed to a crawl.
Her heart was a storm of emotions, tangled and impossible to separate.
Longing for Dan.
Guilt toward Nawaki.
Fear of blood.
And beneath it all, an almost invisible thread of reluctance.
Even though she knew it was all an illusion, and that her brother and her lover had already passed on, she still had them in front of her now.
Even if it was only for a few words, even if it was only a final moment, it felt like too much to let go.
There were so many things she wanted to say. So many regrets she wanted to fix. So much she did not want to release.
Tsunade clenched her fists anyway.
"Tsunade, you are not that kind of weak person." Orochimaru stood behind her with his arms crossed.
Just as Kenichi had thought, his teacher did not intend to kill Tsunade. Otherwise, he would not have gone to these lengths.
Tsunade's punch landed.
Her monstrous strength smashed into Dan and Nawaki. The force instantly shattered the Edo Tensei, sending them flying back as their bodies began to break apart and dissipate.
Tsunade could only stare.
Dan and Nawaki were thrown away, dissolving into fragments of ash and light.
She heard Dan's voice in the moment her fist connected.
"You are still so beautiful, Tsunade."
His voice was gentle, the same as always.
He smiled at her, then vanished.
"I miss you so much!"
Nawaki's voice was still childish.
He was still the same boy she remembered, innocent, cheerful, and stubbornly optimistic.
Then he, too, disappeared.
Tsunade stood there, stunned.
Blood covered her.
Her expression did not change.
"…," Kenichi felt his throat tighten.
Shizune beside him had already started sobbing loudly. Kenichi thought he might cry too, even though he could not truly understand Shizune's pain. Their joys and sorrows were not the same.
Then his eyes twitched.
"My money!!!"
Kenichi kicked the dirt under his feet in frustration.
Ugh.
Did Tsunade really not know how to hold back?
That was Chiriku's head.
There might have been a bounty on that guy at the gold exchange. Kenichi had been planning to drag Chiriku's dead head in and trade it for money.
Even if it was not much, it was still money.
Still money.
Even if it was only ten million, it was money. He could have bought a meteorite and padded his little savings account.
Now Tsunade had wiped it all out with one punch.
And Kazuma? Kenichi did not even know if there was a bounty on him.
"Sigh. Next time I see a valuable head, I am cutting it off first," Kenichi muttered.
He watched Shizune run to Tsunade in tears.
Then he glanced at his teacher, who remained expressionless, and walked over as well.
Orochimaru looked cold and ruthless, but he was surprisingly gentle at heart in his own way. At least this time, he had forced Tsunade to confront her trauma and pushed her through her hemophobia.
Would Tsunade keep wandering now that the fear was gone?
Kenichi did not know.
"The offerings you found are quite powerful," Orochimaru said as Kenichi approached.
Then his teacher turned and left, showing no intention of speaking to Tsunade anymore.
Kenichi looked back.
Tsunade was smiling now as she patted Shizune's back, then looked toward them and nodded at Kenichi.
Kenichi knew that image was not exactly comforting.
For some reason, his mind produced a ridiculous sound effect, like Shizune's back being smacked with a loud duang duang, and he even imagined Shizune's ribs cracking.
Then Tsunade would pat again and casually use the Healing Palm Technique to fix Shizune's ribs on the spot.
After all, Tsunade's strength really was terrifying.
Even now, her power was still formidable. She truly deserved the title of Fifth Hokage.
But hemophobia was a fatal flaw.
When it flared up, the drop in her combat strength was absurdly severe.
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