"Alright, alright, stop fooling around!"
Orochimaru also dispelled the transformation jutsu and pulled Tsunade off him.
Tsunade, still not appeased, kicked him twice more, muttering angrily, "Serves you right for tying me up with ropes, for gagging my mouth, for pulling my hair..."
"Go die!"
Helpless, Orochimaru unleashed his signature move. Several dark tentacles gestured towards Tsunade, threateningly, "I'll tie you up!"
Tsunade: ...
Seeing Tsunade finally behave, Orochimaru breathed a sigh of relief and shifted his gaze to his primary target for this visit.
A little girl, about the same age as Kushina, with equally dazzling red hair.
The little girl seemed extremely frightened by the arrival of people in the room, not daring to even lift her head to look. She huddled on a pile of straw in the corner of the room, her body trembling non-stop.
Her eyes held fear and bewilderment. Her arms, covered in bite marks, were wrapped around her head as she whimpered softly.
Orochimaru sighed and retracted the dark chakra tentacles that had been threatening Tsunade.
"Tsunade, go check on her!"
"Your identity will make it easier to gain her trust than mine."
Tsunade, overjoyed that Orochimaru had withdrawn his tentacles, was about to seek revenge. But upon hearing Orochimaru speak with such a serious tone, she couldn't help but freeze. Following Orochimaru's gaze, she looked over.
"This is..."
The red hair startled Tsunade. She instinctively rushed to the girl's side, intending to ask something. However, Tsunade's sudden approach seemed to trigger the girl's overwrought nerves, and she immediately let out a piercing scream.
"Help..."
"No! Please, don't bite me anymore!"
"It really hurts!"
...
"Hahaha, this guy really doesn't fear death, going to provoke that medical pack while Lord Grass Shadow is away!"
"Hahaha..."
Distant, unrestrained laughter penetrated Tsunade's ears through the straw hut's door. Tsunade's pupils contracted, and she yanked up the girl's sleeve.
"Damn scumbags!"
Tsunade's teeth gnashed, and she snarled with fury.
The girl's screams intensified with Tsunade's actions. She desperately curled herself into the corner, with nowhere left to retreat, trying her best to cover the wounds on her body.
"Please, kill me!"
"Kill me..."
Tsunade's heart ached. She rummaged through her belongings haphazardly.
Ration pills, useless.
Explosive tags, thrown aside.
Medical bandages, set aside for now...
A pile of messy items spilled out, but not a single piece of clothing that could be worn.
Tsunade gritted her teeth and tore off her Jonin vest, gently draping it over the girl.
The warmth seemed to calm the girl, and her cries became less desperate.
Seeing the girl gradually quiet down, Tsunade tentatively asked, "What's your name?"
The girl just shook her head, showing no particular reaction.
Tsunade, unwilling to give up, pressed on, "Do you know the surname Uzumaki?"
The girl's pupils suddenly widened. As if startled, she shrieked excitedly.
"No! I don't know! I don't know anything!"
"Kill me, please kill me!"
Orochimaru sighed in exasperation. The dark chakra tentacles tapped the back of the girl's head, instantly silencing her.
Tsunade deftly laid the girl down and gently slipped her vest over her. Reaching out to stroke the bite marks on the girl's arm, Tsunade looked up at Orochimaru and asked, "Orochimaru, she..."
"Is she also someone you saw in your memories?"
Orochimaru nodded slowly.
"Yes!"
"That's why I specifically brought you here. I just didn't expect her mental state to be so severely compromised."
"Her experiences in Kusagakure must have been unimaginably dark..."
Tsunade looked down at the unconscious girl, her hand stroking the young cheek that resembled Kushina's. She asked calmly, "And her bloodline?"
"Is it also the same bloodline as Grandma's?"
Orochimaru nodded again, his voice tinged with a hint of emotion.
"Indeed, it is the Uzumaki bloodline, and of very high purity!"
"Her bloodline is so potent that even a small amount of passively flowing blood is enough to heal a ninja's injuries and restore their chakra."
Tsunade's body trembled, and her hand on the girl's wounds began to shake.
"So, the bite marks on her body..."
Orochimaru remained silent.
But Tsunade no longer needed an answer.
"Orochimaru, can you please take care of her for me?"
"Those scumbags, every second they live is a blasphemy to this world!"
Orochimaru gently shook his head.
"I'll go."
"It will be more appropriate for you to care for her!"
Tsunade was silent for a moment, then casually created a shadow clone. The clone appeared, nodded to Tsunade, and gently picked up the girl.
Tsunade stood up and walked to Orochimaru's side, her chakra suddenly becoming incredibly violent.
"Orochimaru, do me a favor!"
"Find a way to cordon off this place. These people..."
"They all die!"
Orochimaru looked at Tsunade, who was radiating fierce killing intent, his lips twitching slightly. In the end, he did not speak any words of dissuasion, merely nodded softly.
"Alright!"
Initially, he hadn't planned for Tsunade to be stained with so much blood. He would have handled the killing himself...
Casually slicing open a wound on his palm, Orochimaru performed the summoning jutsu.
"Summoning Jutsu - Manda!"
"Bang!"
"Splash!"
A massive cloud of smoke erupted, and Manda's colossal, purple serpentine body appeared in the center of Kusagakure.
"Lord Orochimaru!"
Manda's respectful voice boomed beneath Orochimaru and Tsunade's feet.
Orochimaru pointed at the Kusa ninja below, coldly issuing an order.
"Not a single person alive here is to be allowed to escape!"
"Yes!"
Manda respectfully replied and began to rapidly coil around Kusagakure.
The terrifying might of the giant snake drove the terrified Kusa ninja to flee towards the center of the village. Occasionally, Kusa ninja who tried to break through Manda's blockade were crushed into bloody pulp before they could even scratch Manda's scales.
Destruction was the theme of Kusagakure today. Wherever Manda's body passed, houses collapsed, and life was extinguished. Finally, as Manda's head and tail met, only the central area of the entire Kusagakure remained intact.
Everywhere else had been utterly ground into a flat expanse, unrecognizable.
Orochimaru nodded in satisfaction at Manda's actions.
"Good!"
"Tsunade, do you need any more help?"
Tsunade looked coldly at the Kusa ninja clustered within Manda's encirclement and shook her head resolutely.
"Just watch. From now on, it's all up to me!"
After speaking, Tsunade unleashed a layer of azure chakra and leaped over Manda's head.
The next moment, mountains crumbled and the earth split! Death descended from the heavens!