Tsunade charged through the battlefield like a raging force of nature—every punch she threw claimed at least one life.
In the blink of an eye, she was face-to-face with a Sunagakure jōnin. Without hesitation, she channeled her chakra into her right hand, igniting raw power and smashing it forward in a devastating blow.
Before the punch even landed, the air pressure struck like a gust.
Crushed by the sheer intensity of her aura, the Sunagakure jōnin found it hard to even breathe.
"Wind Body Flicker!"
In that life-or-death instant, he finally finished weaving the signs. A sudden vortex of wind swirled around him, yanking his body back over ten meters, barely escaping Tsunade's attack range.
Her pale fist struck the ground where he once stood, shattering it into a web of deep fissures.
"Tch. Slippery as a monkey."
Tsunade flexed her knuckles with a smirk but didn't pursue. Instead, her gaze drifted slightly past the jōnin—not at him, but at the shadow behind him.
Clack clack clack—
A strange series of mechanical clicks echoed from the darkness as ten figures stepped forward. When they emerged into the light, they were revealed to be humanoid puppets—each eerily shaped, yet horrifyingly lifelike.
The one in the lead resembled a woman, dual blades in hand, and let out a high-pitched, mocking laugh.
"To think someone managed to break through my poison, lead the Konoha shinobi, and crush our entire camp... and it turns out to be such a hot, fiery young woman. They really weren't exaggerating about you."
The Sunagakure jōnin's eyes lit up with hope.
"Lady Chiyo!"
Chiyo? Tsunade raised a brow and looked over the ten puppets with a half-smile.
"We've never met, but I'd say we're well acquainted in spirit, wouldn't you say, Auntie Chiyo? Why hide behind your toys instead of showing yourself?"
"You've got quite the sharp tongue, little girl," came Chiyo's voice from behind the puppets. "I'm a puppet master. Why would I ever reveal my true body? If you want to find me, defeat these first… These are the legendary Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu, crafted by the master puppet maker Monzaemon."
Invisible chakra threads trembled in the air.
Suddenly, the ten puppets sprang to life.
The female puppet twirled her twin blades with inhuman grace and lunged at Tsunade.
Another, with a blue-painted face, raised its head—dozens of razor-sharp steel cords shot out from black holes atop its skull, like a monstrous tangle of silver hair, lashing at Tsunade like venomous snakes aiming to shred her to pieces.
Two more puppets—one red, one white—joined forces to form a spinning chakra scythe chain, whirling toward Tsunade like a storm of blades.
Three more puppets worked together to form the dreaded Three Treasures Suction Crush technique, bombarding her with sealing and impact-based jutsu. Two unarmed puppets moved to flank her from either side, while the final puppet—specialized in seals—stood ominously at the back, lying in wait.
This was the might of a true puppet master.
One person, through sheer mastery of chakra threads and combat synergy, could form the equivalent of an elite Kage-level squad. Even facing a legend like Hanzo of the Salamander, such a setup could keep the battle going for a long time.
Yet even in the face of overwhelming odds, Tsunade showed no fear. She smiled.
"Chiyo, did you know? I love to gamble."
"Oh? And what of it?"
Even while splitting her focus to control ten deadly puppets, Chiyo spoke with ease—testament to her terrifying skill.
"Which means that in battle, I'm not afraid to bet my life for victory."
As the words fell, Tsunade charged forward, directly into the swarm of puppets.
---
On the other side of the battlefield, Orochimaru flitted through the chaos like a shadow, hunting Sunagakure's chūnin and jōnin without mercy.
With Chiyo locked in combat against Tsunade, Sunagakure had no other Kage-level combatants left. The shockwaves from their clash cracked the ground and shattered stone—normal shinobi had no place in that battlefield.
And Orochimaru? He had no intention of helping. From his perspective, Tsunade could more than handle herself. Even if she couldn't win outright, she could hold her own long enough. And if things ever got too dangerous, Jiraiya would surely step in to make it two-on-one.
No—what mattered to Orochimaru right now… was points.
"This vampiric bloodline… such intoxicating power. Even with a flawed version, my speed and strength have surpassed human limits. My regeneration already rivals Tsunade's. If I earn more points, I can evolve it further—until there are no weaknesses left."
"Or better yet… I could exchange it with the Lord God for a new Kekkei Genkai—like the Sharingan."
Orochimaru's lips curled into a wicked grin. He licked his fangs before snapping the neck of a nearby chūnin with eerie ease.
He no longer needed their blood. He'd already fed—this trash was just cleanup.
"Orochimaru… why do you smell… sweet?"
Suddenly, Manda, the Collosal Serpent, twisted its massive head toward him, a puzzled glint in its giant yellow eyes.
"That's just your imagination," Orochimaru replied coolly as he casually broke another chūnin's neck.
---
Within minutes, the battle was over.
Thanks to the prior elimination of all lookouts, Konoha launched their assault while Sunagakure was completely unprepared—throwing them into chaos from the very start.
With the Legendary Three leading the charge and two thousand shinobi behind them, Sunagakure's forces were thoroughly crushed. Only Ebizō, accompanied by a handful of elite shinobi, managed to escape.
As for Chiyo, she was ultimately defeated by Tsunade, and just as she tried to flee, Orochimaru struck her true body with a surprise attack—nearly killing her on the spot. She only managed to escape by sacrificing one of her arms.
To be fair, her defeat was... rather unfair.
At the critical moment—just as she was unleashing a synchronized puppet combo to finish Tsunade off—something unexpected happened.
The Avalon (Replica) hanging at Tsunade's waist suddenly burst with radiant light, shattering into hundreds of gleaming fragments that formed an unbreakable barrier around her.
[Avalon's special effect]:
[Invincibility Under the Shadow – 10 seconds of absolute immunity!]
It was a rule-defying defense, and it activated at just the right moment.
Even though Chiyo herself was Kage-level, her puppets—individually—only had the strength of elite jōnin. As a result, their attacks were completely neutralized.
Tsunade seized the opportunity to unleash her Monster Strength and shattered two puppets in a single combo.
That was the turning point.
If not for Avalon, Chiyo would've been able to retreat completely unscathed. Instead, she was forced into a losing position.
Once the battle ended, Avalon (Replica) quietly reverted to its scabbard form and returned to Tsunade's waist.
After regrouping the troops, Tsunade suddenly received startling news:
"What?! Dan is dead?!"
A Konoha shinobi gave a solemn nod.
"Captain Dan used Spirit Transformation Technique and ordered us to guard his body. But when we turned back… we found that someone had pierced his heart with a senbon."
"Lady Tsunade, this is our failure. Please punish us."
Tsunade checked Dan's body herself—indeed, a single senbon had punctured his heart with surgical precision.
He had been dead for some time. Even divine intervention couldn't bring him back.
Having seen far too much death in this war, Tsunade let out a weary sigh and waved the group off.
"This wasn't your fault. Amegakure's forces are closing in. Ready yourselves."
Far in the distance, Orochimaru smiled silently.
Even farther away, Nawaki smiled to himself too.
One thousand points. Totally worth it.