"The Sannin battle?"
When Tsunade saw the new diary entry, she frowned.
The three of them had fought more than once. That part wasn't strange. But once the conditions were added, it stopped matching any memory she had.
Hemophobia clearly referred to her.
Crippled hands… that had to be Orochimaru.
Drugged…
Jiraiya?
Her eyes sharpened.
It had to be Orochimaru. In that earlier video, he had launched the Konoha Crush and fought the old man. The Third Hokage had sealed his arms at the cost of his life.
So that was it. His hands had been ruined.
Then the one who'd been drugged must have been Jiraiya.
But by whom?
By her… or by Orochimaru?
Both of them were masters of medicine. They just walked very different paths with it.
Then another line caught her attention.
New Sannin?
Her brows lifted slightly.
Back when the three of them earned the title Legendary Sannin, they'd felt more humiliation than pride. To outsiders, though, it had always been an honor.
In all these years, no team in Konoha had reached that height again.
Plenty of squads had produced multiple Jonin. That wasn't unheard of. But for every member of a single team to rise to Kage Level, and even their Jonin instructor to stand at that tier…
That was different.
That was worthy of being called the New Sannin.
And judging by Kaede Kitahara's tone, the New Sannin were somehow connected to the Old Sannin?
Uzumaki Naruto was Jiraiya's student.
Uchiha Sasuke had defected and followed Orochimaru.
That left…
Sakura.
Was that pink-haired girl from Hatake Kakashi's team… her future student?
Tsunade narrowed her eyes.
She was going to take on an apprentice someday?
But the next line in the diary made her jaw tighten.
Sakura's strongest genjutsu moment: "Lady Tsunade, I think I've caught up to them."
What was that supposed to mean?
That Sakura could never quite measure up to her teammates?
Yes, Naruto and Sasuke were called "saviors." Fine. Maybe they were exceptional.
But a disciple taught by her would be inferior?
So the other two Sannin could raise peerless monsters, and she was the only one who couldn't teach?
Her chest rose and fell sharply.
That competitive spark flared up without warning.
Between the three of them, their strengths had always seesawed. Each had their flaws. Each had their brilliance. None of them would ever admit they were inferior.
They were all Sannin. All students of legendary masters.
So why would she be the one who fell short?
"New Sannin?"
Jiraiya leaned back slightly, interest flickering across his face as he read the terms Old Sannin and New Sannin.
The Sannin battle itself didn't excite him. The three of them had fought enough times to know each other's techniques inside and out. Even if Tsunade hadn't fought seriously since developing Hemophobia, he could already picture how it would go.
What really caught his attention was something else.
Why would they fight again?
And how had he ended up drugged?
"Wait… no. It's about healing his hands."
The realization hit him almost immediately.
Orochimaru must have sought Tsunade out to restore his arms.
The old man had sealed them with the Reaper Death Seal. Their souls had been severed.
If there was anyone in the world who might have a solution…
There was only one.
Tsunade.
In medical ninjutsu, she stood unmatched. That wasn't flattery. It was fact.
Among Kage Level shinobi, Tsunade wasn't the strongest in raw combat. She might not even sit comfortably in the upper half.
But in medical skill?
She was untouchable.
Hands destroyed at the soul level would be hopeless for anyone else. For her, though… there might still be a sliver of possibility.
And if even she said it was impossible, then it truly was.
"Orochimaru… you still haven't given up."
Jiraiya stared at the diary. From what Kaede had written before, Orochimaru's hands were restored three years later.
"Tsunade… don't do anything foolish."
He muttered it under his breath.
He knew her. Even if she resented Konoha, even if she clashed with it, that was internal conflict. Family conflict.
It would never reach the point of destroying the village.
"Unless…"
His eyes widened slightly.
"Unless he used Nawaki and Dan as bargaining chips… Impure World Reincarnation."
The thought struck like lightning.
If there was anything that could make Tsunade swallow her rage and treat Orochimaru, it would be that.
No one understood her attachment to Nawaki and Dan better than he did.
He had loved her for years. He had watched her break.
"Tsunade… don't be stupid," Jiraiya murmured. "The ones brought back by Impure World Reincarnation aren't the same. They're weapons. Killing machines."
"New Sannin? I taught the New Sannin?"
Hatake Kakashi blinked in surprise.
His first real team had grown that far?
Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, sure. They were special from the start. Their potential had always been obvious.
But Sakura too?
Had he misjudged her?
Had he dismissed her as nothing more than a conventional genjutsu type?
A smile tugged faintly at his eye.
He felt… proud.
"Konoha's New Sannin. So that's Sasuke's future."
Uchiha Itachi exhaled slowly, relief settling in his chest.
He had always worried about how Sasuke would survive in Konoha, especially after defecting.
A shinobi with that stain… how could he return?
Now he had his answer.
The New Sannin.
It was a future even Itachi hadn't dared imagine.
The best possible ending.
"Konoha's New Sannin? Fine, I get the dead-last. But Sakura too?"
Uchiha Sasuke frowned.
He still called Naruto dead-last from time to time, but deep down, he'd already acknowledged him. He knew something monstrous lurked inside Naruto. He knew Naruto was different.
But Sakura?
What did she have that could stand beside them?
Before he could think further, the diary displayed a video.
He immediately opened it.
The scene began on a street.
Tsunade and Jiraiya stood opposite Orochimaru, Shizune and Kabuto at their respective sides.
"It's been a while, Orochimaru."
Tsunade's expression was cool, but her entire body was coiled with vigilance.
This was one of the Legendary Sannin. If he had come looking for her, it wasn't by accident.
"I've been searching for you for quite some time," Orochimaru replied calmly.
"At this point, what could you possibly want? Don't tell me you're here to catch up."
She didn't understand how he still had the nerve to stand in front of her.
"There is something I'd like to ask of you."
The camera cut to Orochimaru's hands.
A deliberate focus.
Tsunade's eyes sharpened as she assessed him.
"Arrhythmic heartbeat. Judging by your complexion, you're running a high fever. Chronic fatigue. And those hands…"
She was already calculating, already ready to fight at the first wrong word.
She didn't know the full story yet.
But she could guess.
"Lady Tsunade, you've noticed, haven't you?" Kabuto said smoothly.
"Find someone else. I don't treat people anymore."
Her refusal was immediate.
"That won't do," Kabuto replied. "You know how severe this injury is. No one can heal those hands… except you. The famed medical expert. The Legendary Sannin, Princess Tsunade."
"Those hands aren't simply injured," she said coldly. "Some kind of special Cursed Seal technique, isn't it? What exactly did you do?"
She hadn't yet received word from Konoha. She didn't know the village had just suffered devastation.
"Nothing much," Orochimaru answered lightly. "I was injured while killing the Third Hokage."
Silence.
Tsunade and Shizune both froze.
Horror flashed across their faces.
"You…"
Rage surged through Tsunade.
Orochimaru gave a faint snort. "There's no need to look so frightened. All things with form will perish one day. Humans are no exception."
He tilted his head slightly.
"You understand that better than anyone. After all, you were the one who watched your two beloved people die."
Her face twisted with fury.
"That kind of death was truly tragic," he added with a smile.
Shizune snapped.
She launched a volley of senbon without hesitation.
Kabuto reacted instantly, deflecting them.
The two were about to clash when Tsunade barked, "Stop."
She stepped forward, eyes blazing.
"You've always been like this, Orochimaru. You know exactly what kind of person I am. Don't toy with me."
Her fist slammed into the wall beside her.
The entire structure exploded under the impact.
Dust and debris rained down.
"Or I'll kill you, bastard."
Outside the scene, Jiraiya broke out in a cold sweat.
Because he suddenly remembered…
He'd been on the receiving end of that punch more than once.
Among the three of them, he was usually the one who got beaten for being too flippant.
One hit like that would put someone in a hospital bed for a month.
Terrifying.