Sakura, who glanced at the newspaper that was delivered to the room with their breakfast, instantly froze in shock.
She reached for it with a trembling hand, and her heart dropped when she started reading it.
Soon, her face went pale with fright, and her head felt dizzy. It did not take long for tears to pool in her eyes.
"Enma..."
"Yes?" The Uzumaki, who was having his meal, lightly asked.
"Konoha..."
He stopped and furrowed his brows.
"Konoha?"
"Suna... Kumo... Oto... Ame... they attacked our village on the first day of the finals..."
Enma feigned some surprise and then deeply furrowed his brows.
"The Third Hokage is dead... a lot of Shinobi have perished. Suna... they were misled by Orochimaru, who had disguised himself as their Kazekage..."
Her voice trembled as she informed him about everything that was mentioned in the news.
"Kushina-sama protected the village as she took on the Raikage and his teams... Orochimaru escaped... one third of the village is destroyed..."
Enma sighed once she finished speaking.
"Eat." He ordered, and even though she felt like she would throw up with every bite she took, consumed with worry about her parents, teammates, and friends, she held back her tears and silently ate her meal.
When they left the resort, it was late in the morning, and she silently followed him into the woods, vacantly towards a small village at the southern shore of the Land of Hot Water. The place was a couple of hundred kilometres away from their location, and at the pace they were moving, it would take them three to four hours to reach it.
"Are you not sad or worried?" She asked as she glanced at him, finding no hint of either on his face.
"I don't have the luxury to be sad or worried right now. I am on a mission." He sighed. "Let's wrap it up and get back home fast."
She nodded her head, and seeing him so calm, she collected her thoughts as well.
They reached their destination right before 1 pm, and Enma stopped as they stared at the town from atop a hill.
"Stay here." He solemnly said and left a Shadow Clone with her. "Do not panic, no matter what happens." He warned her, and she became frightened at his words.
The Uzumaki then rushed into the town at a blindingly fast speed, and soon disappeared from her sight.
She looked at his clone, who was creating some seal on the ground, and soon, she found herself caged inside a hexagonal barrier.
"Why?"
"Just stay here please," the clone said before he dispelled himself.
The next instant, Sakura saw a building collapse in the village, instantly turning into rubble, and her heart stopped for a moment.
"Enma..." she worriedly called out his name.
A while ago...
On the other side, inside an alley, a certain grey-haired young man with glasses was standing next to Orochimaru, staring at the blonde Kunoichi, who had brown eyes, a violet diamond-shaped seal on her forehead, and was wearing a grass-green haori.
By her side was a raven-haired young lady, who was wearing a black kimono, and on her left was a young girl, around fourteen or fifteen, who looked the spitting image of her, but her blonde hair had red tips at the end and a few red streaks in them.
"I always thought it were the memories of Dan and Nawaki, and the blood and wars that caused you to leave the village, Tsunade. But my, my, who do we have here?" The Snake Sannin smiled, despite the immense pain his body was in.
The granddaughter of Senju Hashirama narrowed her eyes at her old friend and teammate, and then glanced at his two arms, which were hanging at his sides, bandaged, and trembling as if they were dying.
She could sense his heartbeat and temperature even from the distance of several metres between them, and she furrowed her brows.
"You know me, Orochimaru. So, do not piss me off." She warned, and when the young man by the Snake Sannin's side glanced at his master, he was surprised to see him sweating. "Those arms... what kind of enemy did that to you?" She curiously asked, knowing well that there were not many people in the world capable of doing that to her former teammate.
"Oh... it happened when I killed the Third Hokage." He sinisterly said, and grinned when he saw the shock on their faces.
"You..." Tsunade furrowed her brows and clenched her fist.
"Why, Tsuna? Feeling sad for our Sensei?" He chuckled, and narrowed his eyes when he saw her sigh.
"Get out of my sight." She lightly said, but the next instant, she smashed her fist back into the wall, and it crumbled into dust and debris.
"After all that he did, you are still upset that I killed him?" He chuckled, and she narrowed her eyes.
"Don't give me that excuse." She growled, and her cold eyes sent shivers up their spines.
The young man fearfully gulped at the sight of her strength, and Orochimaru furrowed his brows.
He knew Tsunade was not sad at the Third's passing, and he could guess why she was disappointed in him.
Suddenly, the raven-haired girl moved when she saw the young man step forward, and only moments later, they both had their weapons at each other's throats.
"Kabuto. Step back." Orochimaru lightly said, and the bespectacled boy immediately complied.
"Come back, Shizune."
Hearing her master's call, the raven-haired girl did the same as well.
"Go away, Orochimaru."
"Please, we are not here to fight. We have come here to negotiate..." Kabuto tried to talk to Tsunade, but heard her cold voice again.
"Get out of my sight."
"Please; you are the only one who can cure Orochimaru-sama's arms..."
"Get out of my sight..." her voice turned even colder.
"We are not here to ask for your help for free. Let's make a deal..."
"I will count to five now, and if you do not disappear from my eyes, I will make you disappear from this world."
"Lady Tsunade..."
"Five..." "Four..."
Kabuto stepped back as he sensed the crisis, and he was somehow sure that those brown eyes were the eyes of death staring right back at him.
She was even more scary than his master...
"Three..." "Two..."
The two ladies by her side got ready to engage...
"One..."
"I will resurrect your brother and the man you loved the most if you help me heal my arms."
Orochimaru's words shocked them all, and even Tsunade stared at him in disbelief, and soon her body started quivering.
"I have developed upon a Kinjutsu that can bring them back." Her former teammate devilishly smiled.
"Get lost, Orochimaru." Tsunade sighed and lowered her head, not really willing to take his life.
"Why, Tsuna? You don't want them back?" He asked and then curiously stared at the young girl. "So, the rumours were true..."
"Go away, please." She asked one last time, much more softly, and the seal on her forehead started shining.
Orochimaru turned silent as he looked into her eyes, and he was running out of patience now as well.
She was the only one who could help him...
"Do not force me to harm her..."
His words had not even finished when the ground below Tsunade cracked, and without wasting any time, he quickly used the Jutsu he had long prepared, summoning a massive gate, which blocked her punch but then crumbled.
Kabuto took the opportunity to retreat with his master, but the Snake Sannin stopped him as soon as they got out of the town, and asked him to use the summoning seal on his other left wrist.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" The young man helped him perform the jutsu, and instantly, a massive purple serpent appeared on the grass field. As soon as Tsunade chased them there, she smashed her own hand on the ground and summoned a massive blue and white slug.
The two Sannin stared at each other with narrowed eyes, and the Senju leaned forward as she got ready to attack again.
"Oi, oi... What a lovely sight."
All of them froze when they heard an amused voice, and turned to look at the ground between them, where a blindfolded young boy was standing, having somehow slipped past their senses.
His long red hair was waving with the wind, and he was looking right at the purple serpent.
"You must be Manda."
The most powerful of the snake summons sinisterly laughed at him.
"You lack respect, kid."
"Oh?" He smiled and ignored him, irritating him further. "Orochimaru, get lost. I know if we have this battle, you still have that stupid jutsu of yours to escape, so just go away and save our time. If you stay, however..."
His voice dropped and the two Sannin sweated.
"I will seal more than just your jutsus..."
Orochimaru stared at him, and soon amusedly started laughing.
"Just as scary as your father and aunt, eh, Enma-kun?" He said and then curiously looked at his blindfold. "I was hoping to meet you in the Forest of Death that day, but you finished the test a little too quickly."
"You were lucky I was not there, otherwise, you would have never managed to fill my friend's head with your nonsense."
"Nonsense?" He laughed and his eyes glinted in evil. "Perhaps you don't know, but Uchiha were not the only victims of Konoha and the Third Hokage..."
Enma sighed at his words, cutting him off, and his reaction made the Snake Sannin fall into a deep thought.
"Please leave. As for your arms, I am sure you can use your head to find a solution to fix them. It's very simple."
"Oh?" Orochimaru looked at him with surprise. "You can do it?"
"I won't though. And why do you need my help or anyone else's help when you can do it yourself? Go away. Don't ruin your reputation in my heart."
Both Kabuto and Orochimaru frowned, and before they could react, Manda lunged at the Uzumaki, having had enough of his disrespectful behaviour.
"Manda!"
"Shut up, Orochimaru. If you are not killing this squirt then I am..." the serpent opened his jaws, but Enma stayed calm.
Just when he was about to be swallowed, hundreds of Chakra Chains erupted from the ground and locked the most powerful of all snake summons.
"You are a disrespectful little snake." The Uzumaki coldly said as his right hand brightened in a ball of lightning, producing a sound like a thousand chirping birds.
However, before he could attack the serpent, Orochimaru saved him and sent him back to the Ryuchi Cave.
"Let's go, Kabuto."
"Orochimaru-sama..."
The Snake Sannin quietened his right-hand man with one look, and the two quickly left the scene.
Enma kept looking at them through his Mind's Eye, and sure enough, they used a jutsu that erased their chakra signature.
And he frowned as he failed to understand what this jutsu exactly was.
Orochimaru had clearly created it or found it to counter their Mind's Eye of Kagura.
After a while, he turned around and raised his head to observe the giant slug very carefully, and also the woman who was standing on top of it.
"Surrender or death?" He asked, and the Slug Queen looked at him in shock.
"You disrespectful brat..." she rushed at him and smashed her fist on his head, expecting him to dodge, but he didn't.
Instead, his head exploded in a fountain of blood at the impact, and she froze.
"N-no... no!!!" She screamed as she fell back, and then let out a loud wail that was heart-wrenching.
"Hehe..."
Tsunade's body and soul froze when she heard a sudden playful chuckle, and when her mind cleared, she found herself still standing on top of her slug summon, and the Uzumaki boy was standing right in front of her.
"Tsunade-sama..." the slug worriedly spoke to her, and the Senju fell on her knees, almost as if all her strength had left her body.
"Genjutsu..."
"Of course. You really think you are strong enough to kill me?" He grinned at her, and then sat down to meet her eyes with his blindfold.
"I was told by the Third that you are scared of blood, but it wasn't blood that scared you just now. You were scared that you killed me." He curiously looked at her.
"What happened to your eyes?" She furrowed her brows.
"Nothing. They are fine." He said and then offered her his hand.
A smile crossed his face when she grabbed it and then smacked her fist in his stomach.
However, the moment it connected, his body dematerialised into lightning and electrocuted her.
"You!!!" She screamed, and then angrily looked at the ground below her.
She glared at the boy who was standing right where he had been standing ever since he arrived there. He had not moved an inch from his position.
The insufferable smirk on his face pissed her off, and she immediately jumped down from her summon and rushed at him to teach him a lesson.