Because of her status as a medical ninja, Tsunade was respected by shinobi of every nation. No one failed to address her as Princess Tsunade.
For someone of her stature to be humiliated in such a manner by Shiraishi, there was no way she would endure it.
She exploded completely.
"I never thought our captain would be this amazing…"
Kitajima, who had just regained consciousness, stared with wide eyes before breaking into an impish grin.
"To dare flirt with the legendary Konoha Sannin so casually—Captain, I'm officially your brainless fan now!"
It wasn't just Kitajima. Quite a few shinobi of the same generation were desperately holding back their laughter. No one took Shiraishi's words seriously; they all thought he was deliberately provoking Tsunade.
But no one dared laugh out loud.
Being stared down by a raging Sannin was not something anyone wanted to experience. At this moment, Tsunade looked less like a medical ninja and more like a feral beast.
Watching Tsunade charge straight at him, Shiraishi spread a thin layer of telekinesis around his body. At the same time, Black Mist burst forth once again.
Tsunade smashed it apart with a casual punch.
Shiraishi immediately activated high-speed movement and telekinesis at full power and turned tail to run. He sprinted wildly across the battlefield, with Tsunade pursuing him like a wounded predator, eyes locked firmly on his back.
This woman was terrifying.
Black mist's severe debuff effect—which crippled most shinobi—was nothing more than something she could tear apart with a wave of her fist.
Before long, amid the chaos of the Sunagakure–Konoha battlefield, the chase between Shiraishi and Tsunade became a bizarre spectacle. Moreover, Shiraishi's escape route clearly had the effect of dragging Tsunade away from the main battlefield.
"Brat! Is running all you know how to do?!" Tsunade roared.
"You are one of the Konoha Sannin," Shiraishi replied while staying on full alert.
"I'm well aware I'm not your match. But Senior Tsunade, are you really not interested in exchanging techniques?"
His words only made Tsunade accelerate further, her frenzy growing even worse.
"Tsunade, that idiot…"
From afar, Orochimaru noticed the situation, his expression darkening.
This operation against Sunagakure depended heavily on Tsunade. He needed another Kage-level combatant to hold the line so he could gain time to deploy his forbidden techniques.
And yet now, his teammate was chasing a brat all over the battlefield.
It infuriated him.
With a sharp motion of his hand, countless venomous snakes shot forward like projectiles, locking onto Shiraishi's position.
Sensing the lethal danger from behind, Shiraishi realized he had nowhere to dodge. Orochimaru's attack was viciously precise—one mistake would mean death.
"No!"
"Your opponent is us!"
A blazing fireball from Yakura and Ebizō's mud constructs struck at the same time, blocking Orochimaru's killing blow for Shiraishi.
Instead of being annoyed, Orochimaru burst into laughter.
"So that's how it is… You really value that brat being chased by Tsunade."
Two figures personally protected by Ebizō and Yakura, capable of producing such strange black Mist—Orochimaru's tongue flicked out as his interest spiked.
"Kill him."
"Yes, Orochimaru-sama."
Two cold voices answered simultaneously.
From behind Orochimaru, several shadows flickered into existence, dashing straight toward Shiraishi and Tsunade.
"Orochimaru, you—!"
"Two elite ROOT operatives," Orochimaru said calmly.
"More than enough to deal with a mere genin-level brat."
Sunagakure's combat power was already stretched to the limit. If Shiraishi hadn't dragged Tsunade away, they would have collapsed completely. No one had expected Orochimaru to still have hidden forces in reserve.
Pakura continued to be entangled with the Hyūga elite, while several minor Konoha clans activated specialized battle formations, coordinating support with the Hyūga.
The chase continued.
Between Shiraishi's Black Mist interference, high-speed movement, and Tsunade's hemophobia, a strange stalemate formed. Tsunade managed to nearly catch him several times, but scenes of blood and torn flesh repeatedly disrupted her condition.
Her speed did not drop, but her aura slowly weakened.
From these subtle details, Shiraishi reached a shocking conclusion.
Could it be…
Tsunade is afraid of blood?
It sounded absurd.
Who would believe that the legendary Sannin Tsunade feared blood and death?
Yet the signs were unmistakable.
As the two of them completely left the battlefield and reached a desolate wilderness, Tsunade suddenly accelerated. With fewer bloody scenes around, she was rapidly returning to her normal state.
"Brat, your chakra is almost gone!"
As a medical ninja, Tsunade's insight was razor-sharp. She saw through Shiraishi's condition at a glance.
"That's true…" Shiraishi replied.
"But—"
He suddenly turned around. At point-blank range, the silver blade once again sliced into his palm.
Blood splashed directly onto Tsunade's face.
In that instant, her body froze.
"So it really is fear."
The warmth of fresh blood lingered on her skin. Tsunade's eyes lost focus, her entire body falling into a momentary stupor. The repeated stimulation finally caused her hemophobia to fully erupt.
She couldn't move.
Seizing that opening, Shiraishi instantly activated the system in his glasses—only to discover that Tsunade carried no cards at all.
Suddenly, a sharp streak of force descended, carrying a violent wind blade.
Shiraishi instinctively raised his blade and turned.
Clang!
His silver blade intercepted the strike. At the same time, another ninja behind him launched several senbon.
Shiraishi's gaze hardened.
A triangular sand tower rapidly condensed in his hand and detonated midair, blasting the senbon apart. At the same time, Black Fog spewed forth once more.
In his current state, Shiraishi's Sand-Gathering Technique could barely keep up. Fortunately, these two ROOT operatives were not Tsunade. They lacked the monstrous strength to shatter his layered Black mist with a single blow.
That said, Shiraishi could now only cast Black Fog once. He could no longer stack it.
His chakra was finally exhausted.
As the strange, icy mist closed in, the two ROOT operatives felt their strength suppressed, the biting cold interfering with chakra flow.
One of them quickly formed seals.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A violent gale swept across the ground, dispersing the black fog completely.
But by then—
Shiraishi was already gone.
"Take Lady Tsunade back first…"
As Shiraishi returned toward the battlefield, the disaster at Kikyo Pass continued unabated.
Although Orochimaru's summoning arrays had expired, the exhausted Sunagakure forces now faced a full-scale encirclement by Konoha.
Konoha was not unscathed either. Sunagakure's resistance was fierce, Tsunade was temporarily out of action, and the Medical Corps had suffered losses.
Every medical ninja who possessed a card was an elite. Losing even one caused significant damage. During Shiraishi's team's assault, not only had Shiraishi personally killed two, but several more medical ninja were injured or lost.
At this stage of the battle, Ebizō's forehead was drenched in sweat as he continued to analyze the situation.
If Sunagakure lost this battle, they would lose far more than just Kikyo Pass.
The Konoha hardliners would undoubtedly push for harsher terms. Any ceasefire agreement would become brutally oppressive.
They had to force Konoha to withdraw.
With Tsunade removed from the equation, if Orochimaru could be defeated now, there was still a chance to turn the tide.
Thinking along the same lines was Yamaji Orange Aster, head of the Yamaji Clan. As she manipulated towering sand waves, she swiftly regrouped with Ebizō.
Together, they prepared to confront Orochimaru.
Sensing their intent, Orochimaru merely smiled, utterly unafraid.
"Two old relics," he said softly.
"Courting death."
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