"I'm taking Kushina back to the village."
"Tch. I will send Kushina back—but before that, you might want to go take a look at Root."
Tsunade's hand was still hanging in midair.
She stared at Rei Ao. The smile on his face was lazy and unbothered.
"Root?" Tsunade frowned.
"You're telling me to 'go take a look' at that place? Like it's a trip to the market."
Of course she knew what Root was—Danzō Shimura's Anbu training division, the darkest, most shameful corner of Konoha.
Whenever her teacher mentioned it, he would always shake his head and say that place "can't raise shinobi who live in sunlight."
She could count on one hand how many times she'd been there. Every time, the air pressure felt so low it was hard to breathe.
"Figure out how to get in yourself." Rei Ao still looked completely indifferent.
"So what do you actually know?" Tsunade fixed him with a hard stare. "Stop speaking in riddles."
Rei Ao didn't answer right away.
He turned his head and glanced at Kushina standing nearby.
The red-haired girl was nervously twisting her fingers, her eyes darting back and forth between them—like a kid watching her parents argue.
"I know quite a lot," Rei Ao finally said, his tone as casual as if he were talking about the weather.
"For example: the number of 'abnormal deaths' in the Senju clan over the years is higher than the Uchiha and Hyūga combined. For example: among those death reports that say 'killed on mission' or 'sudden illness,' more than half the bodies were never shown to the family for a final viewing. And for example…"
He paused.
Tsunade felt her heartbeat skip.
"On the day your brother Nawaki was buried… was there really someone in that coffin?"
The wind suddenly picked up.
The trees roared, like countless people sucking in a breath at once.
Tsunade stood frozen, her hands and feet turning icy.
A scene flashed through her mind—that rainy day: the memorial hall, white flowers, curtains hanging low.
She remembered lifting the lid and seeing that side profile—pale, peaceful, like he was asleep.
But now Rei Ao was telling her it might not have been real?
"What kind of bullshit are you saying?" Tsunade's voice was drawn tight.
"I saw it with my own—"
"With your own eyes… you saw the corpse?" Rei Ao cut her off.
"Then did you see the body actually get buried?"
Tsunade opened her mouth, but the words stuck in her throat.
She hadn't touched him.
Back then her mind had been blank—she could barely stand.
She only stared, stared at that face that used to smile just like always, now drained of life… and then someone pulled her away.
Later she told herself maybe she hadn't dared to touch him—afraid that if she did, the last scrap of self-deception would shatter.
Seeing her face go paler by the second, Rei Ao let out a sigh.
And in that sigh there was actually a hint of… sympathy.
"I'm not here to hurt you," he said. "But some things are better for you to investigate yourself than to hear from me."
"On the third basement level of Root's base, there's a cold storage vault. It has everything you want to see."
Then, without warning, he bent down and scooped Kushina up into his arms.
"Huh?!" Kushina yelped, her face turning bright red instantly.
"R-Rei Ao-san?"
"Time to go," Rei Ao said with a grin. Then he looked back at Tsunade.
"I'll take care of her. And once you've confirmed the truth, I'll naturally bring Kushina back to Konoha."
Before Tsunade could even react, the two of them began to fade.
Like ink washed away by water—their outlines blurred, their color drained, until only transparent air remained.
She didn't even feel the ripple of any space-time technique—this wasn't Flying Thunder God at all. It was something stranger, something beyond common sense.
"Wait!" Tsunade stepped forward.
"At least tell me who you—"
"Don't ask. Go do it."
Rei Ao's voice drifted back, already as faint as a whisper.
When the last words landed, they were completely gone.
Only Tsunade remained in the forest.
She stood there for several minutes without moving. Her thoughts were a mess, like someone had stuffed her head full of wet yarn.
Rei Ao's words, Kushina's expression, and all those insinuations about the Senju clan…
Everything tangled together until her temples throbbed.
Investigate… or not?
Logic told her this was probably a trap.
A man of unknown origin using the thing she cared about most as bait, leading her to Konoha's most sensitive place.
It was a script too classic—classic enough to make her want to laugh coldly.
But what about her emotions?
Her emotions whispered in her ear: What if it's true? What if Nawaki's body really was tampered with? What if there really is a hidden hand behind those inexplicable Senju deaths…?
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
When she opened them again, her gaze had sharpened.
"Danzō," she murmured the name, her teeth aching from how hard she clenched them.
To hell with traps.
Even if it was a trap, she was going to step right into it and see what was hidden underneath.
Senju Tsunade had never been someone who feared trouble. She was one of the Legendary Sannin—the First Hokage's granddaughter—the "Princess Tsunade" who made battlefields tremble.
She was going to see who dared lay a hand on her little brother.
…
At the same time, in another world—
Kushina felt like someone had thrown her into a tumble dryer.
Not as a metaphor—literally. The world spun, her stomach churned violently, and multicolored flashes of light stuttered across her vision.
She clung to Rei Ao's collar with a death grip, terrified that if she let go, she'd be flung to the edge of the universe.
Thankfully, the turbulence didn't last long.
About three or four seconds later, her feet suddenly hit solid ground.
Soft—like carpet.
Kushina wobbled upright, opened her eyes… and froze.
Where… was this?
She was standing in a room so spacious it was ridiculous.
The floor was a pale wood, polished enough to reflect people.
A lamp hung overhead—something she'd never seen before. Not an oil lamp, not a candle, but a transparent crystal sphere giving off a gentle white glow.
Directly ahead was an entire wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. Outside, she could see towering buildings.
Wait—what were those buildings? Why were they so tall? They looked like they'd pierce the clouds!
A row of green plants sat by the window, plump and glossy-leaved.
To her left was—
Kushina blinked. Then blinked again.
A huge, soft-looking couch. Dark gray.
And there were people on it.
No—several people.
The most eye-catching was a blonde girl in a black-and-white maid outfit… and she actually had dragon horns on her head?
She was lying on the floor wiping it down, her tail swishing back and forth.
Beside her sat a brown-haired girl with glasses, holding a book whose cover was drawn with strange symbols.
There was also a girl in a school uniform—long black hair, a cold, distant aura like the moon over a snowy mountain.
She was sipping tea, her movements so elegant that Kushina unconsciously straightened her back.
Two more were squeezed on the other end of the couch—a silver-haired, red-eyed girl, and a red-eyed little girl dressed like a doll.
They were staring at a glowing board in front of them, where tiny colorful figures were jumping around…