The scene before her was hell.
Tsunade's lips parted in disbelief. No matter how she imagined the battle's outcome, she never expected this—a slaughter so silent and absolute that it felt unreal.
There was no doubt.
Nara Suzaku had failed.
She had believed that even if they couldn't defeat Neiki, Suzaku and his team could at least stall him. Suzaku was clever—painfully so. He always knew when to fight, when to avoid danger, and when to retreat.
Yet reality struck Tsunade harder than any punch she had ever thrown.
Suzaku and the dozen elite Konoha shinobi with him hadn't just failed to capture Neiki—
They didn't even manage to resist him.
They died in silence.No retreat.No last stand.No warning flare.
A dozen seasoned jōnin and tokubetsu jōnin, erased quietly on an island that looked too small and too ordinary to hold so much blood.
Rain fell softly, masking the smell of death.
Neiki turned his head toward Tsunade—not meeting her eyes, because her gaze was fixed behind him.
At the dying man sprawled on the ground.
Hayama Byakumo, his chest stabbed through, still trying to write something in the air with trembling, bloody fingers.
"You're loyal," Neiki sighed, almost amused."I'll give you that."
Tsunade's eyes widened."No—!"
Thud!
The black blade pierced through Hayama's skull.
His hand dropped.
He was gone.
"NEIKI!!"
Tsunade's roar shook the trees.
For the first time in her life, she was face-to-face with the man who had brought Konoha to its knees. His appearance—standing atop the corpses of Suzaku and his team—burned itself into her memory.
This was the greatest loss the eastern forces had suffered so far.
Tsunade's grief twisted with fury—but she did not snap. She forced herself to remain focused.
Behind her, the rest of the Konoha force finally arrived.
Tsunade inhaled sharply and issued crisp, cold orders:
"Shizune—bring the ship to the nearest shore. The rest of you, follow me."
Her voice hardened.
"If we can't take Neiki down in ten minutes, we withdraw."
"Yes!"
Shizune vanished immediately.
Kumogakure was preparing to invade Konoha through another country. No one knew how much time remained before the attack.
Every second here risked Konoha's destruction.
Tsunade had originally planned to regroup with Suzaku and Hayama, then use the main force to surround Neiki and end him.
But the mountain of corpses shattered that plan.
They had all underestimated Neiki—so much so that even Nara Suzaku's insight had failed him.
Suzaku had thought that a tightly coordinated team of Konoha jōnin would be enough to capture or at least suppress Neiki.
But Neiki didn't just escape.
He annihilated them.
With the deaths of Suzaku and more than ten elite shinobi, one truth was undeniable—
Neiki's danger did not lie solely in his schemes.
His power was monstrous.
Given this reality, Tsunade didn't truly believe she could kill Neiki in ten minutes.
But Konoha needed vengeance.She needed vengeance.
And her forces needed a target for their rage.
So she gave them ten minutes—a time limit that balanced emotion with reason.
Just as Mei Terumi could not promise peace without being Mizukage—
Tsunade, as commander of the eastern front, could not endanger Konoha's future for the sake of her own wrath.
If Neiki couldn't be defeated in ten minutes—
They would retreat.
"Attack!!"
Without hesitation, Tsunade hurled a kunai at Neiki.
He dodged effortlessly.
Then she charged, fists raised.
Behind her, dozens of Konoha shinobi followed in formation, surging like a storm toward their enemy.
Rain slid down Neiki's face.His wet hair clung to his skin.Mud splashed beneath his feet.
He stood calmly on the scarred ground as the Konoha force thundered toward him—shouting, blades raised.
The narrow path couldn't fit them all; many sprinted along the branches overhead, trees shaking as they moved.
From Neiki's perspective—
The oncoming tide of Konoha shinobi, the trembling foliage, the rain cascading from the leaves—
it all looked magnificent.
Different from earlier, where he had danced freely between Kirigakure and Konoha, this time the Konoha shinobi had only one enemy:
Him.
Their objective was clear, their methods ruthless:
Cut off Neiki's head.
Avenge their dead.Avenge their future.Avenge the Fourth Great Ninja War.
"Die!"
A fist flew toward Neiki.
He flipped backward, narrowly avoiding it.
Boom!
The ground exploded where Tsunade struck—her strength frightening.
Two Konoha shinobi rushed past her, blades aimed at Neiki mid-air.
Before he even landed—
They were already upon him.
Neiki remained calm.
Just as the blades reached him, his body vanished.
He reappeared atop a nearby trunk, retrieving a kunai engraved with a glowing seal.
"Flying Thunder God…" Tsunade scowled.
With that technique, if Neiki chose to flee, none of them could catch him.
But he wasn't fleeing.
He was waiting.
Inviting them.
Come on.
This arrogance…
Tsunade would make him choke on it.
She scanned the battlefield, memorizing every Flying Thunder God mark with terrifying speed.
"Move!!"
Konoha surged again.
"Watch out for that black sword!!"
"He disappeared—left side!"
"He's behind you!"
"Damn it—does he only know how to run?!"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!!"
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!!"
Wind fed the flames. The two shinobi coordinated perfectly, launching the blazing combo exactly where Neiki would reappear.
For the first time since the battle began—
The Konoha force successfully predicted his teleportation point.
Neiki still evaded by teleporting away—but he nodded slightly, impressed by their improvement.
He raised his black sword.
Rain dripped down the blade like a dark mirror.
And then—
He swung.
"Combined Sword Art: Water and Earth Shield!"
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