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Medical ninja.
Still planning to stay in Kirigakure?
Tsunade began to suspect the two people in front of her had completely lost their minds.
Even if she had finally decided to end her wandering life as a gambler, she would return to Konoha. Why would she go to Kumogakure?
What the hell did Kumogakure have to do with her?
"Why?" Tsunade asked as she eyed Uchiha Haru suspiciously.
Haru responded calmly, "I heard Miss Tsunade has been a little short on cash recently."
Tsunade chuckled without denying it.
Since leaving Konoha, she hadn't taken on a single mission. She had been addicted to gambling, and without fail, lost every single time.
Of course she was broke.
But she was a Kage-level ninja. How broke could she really be? If it ever became unbearable, there were always side jobs she could take to earn a quick fortune.
Still, Haru wasn't wrong — she was low on funds.
Just not so low she couldn't afford to lose a few more rounds...
"I'm very expensive," Tsunade said pointedly.
"That's not a problem."
Haru gestured toward the man standing beside him. "This is the clan leader of the Kaguya clan — the largest bloodline clan in Kirigakure. If you can cure his son, I believe he'll be more than willing to pay a generous reward."
The Kaguya patriarch stepped forward and nodded. "Yes. Whether Miss Tsunade can cure my son Kimimaro's strange illness or not, I am prepared to offer a generous reward."
Haru continued, "Also, if the most skilled medical ninja in the world is willing to join the Medical Corps of the Hidden Mist Village, we will make sure she's well compensated."
"There are quite a few casinos in Kirigakure, you know."
"And in your own casino, no matter how much you lose... it's all yours."
"Now it's just a question of whether Miss Tsunade is willing to become a shinobi of Kirigakure."
Tsunade tilted her head and smiled. "Not bad. But still not enough."
The two conditions he offered were exactly what she wanted to hear.
However, they weren't enough to sway her.
Haru had anticipated that. He knew it would take more than money and perks to convince the most legendary medical ninja in the ninja world.
He had prepared something else.
"What I just said isn't enough? Then what about this?"
The moment the words left his mouth, Haru's eyes began to glow — blood-red, spinning, alive.
Sharingan.
In the blink of an eye, the world around Tsunade shifted.
She found herself in a room — a memory.
A much younger Orochimaru stood before her, solemn and cold, drawing a pendant from his robes.
"Because we're at war right now…"
Tsunade's breath hitched. Her chest tightened.
Why? Why was this playing now?
She hadn't thought of this memory in years.
But her heart cracked open all over again.
Her younger brother, Nawaki, only twelve years old, dead from an explosive tag during the Second Great Ninja War.
The scene changed again.
A rainy night.
The thunder roared and lightning split the sky.
Tsunade knelt in the mud, soaked and trembling, her hands pressed desperately against a wound that wouldn't stop bleeding.
Kato Dan lay in front of her, dying.
She had tried everything. Chakra. Pressure. Medical ninjutsu. But nothing worked.
His blood soaked her hands.
He died in her arms.
She screamed into the storm.
On the outside, Tsunade's body mirrored the illusion.
She trembled violently, face pale and drawn, eyes glassy and empty.
She was caught in the past, trapped in pain that had never really left.
Haru released the genjutsu.
"Tsunade-sama! Tsunade-sama, what's wrong?!"
Shizune's panicked voice cut through the fog.
"Tsunade-sama!"
Shizune was desperate. She had no idea what had just happened.
One moment Tsunade had been fine — the next, she had gone completely rigid, as if possessed.
Though the illusion had ended, its effects lingered.
Tsunade was still shaking. Her eyes were distant, haunted.
It felt like she had just lost Nawaki and Dan all over again.
The Kaguya clan leader was stunned.
Just moments ago, he had doubted Tsunade's capability — her youthful appearance made her seem unreliable.
But then, she had casually punched the ground with such force it caused a localized earthquake.
Now she was reduced to this trembling figure.
Was this also Uchiha Haru's doing?
"Miss Tsunade," Haru said quietly, "does that move you?"
Tsunade slowly looked up at him, eyes wide, her voice trembling. "How... how do you know?"
No one knew these things.
Except maybe Jiraiya, or the Third Hokage.
And even then, no one could have reproduced them so vividly, so precisely.
This Uchiha had shown her memories no outsider should have access to.
"You don't need to know that," Haru said coldly. "What matters is — do you want to know why they died?"
"What do you mean?"
"Was it really just because of war?"
"You never felt like those two incidents were... too convenient?"
Tsunade's expression shifted.
Convenient?
She had never dared ask that question aloud.
But yes. When it happened — when Nawaki died, and then Dan — she had thought it was strange.
Why them?
Why both of them?
Both so close to her heart.
Both idealistic.
Both hopeful about changing the world.
Both dead, just as they began to dream.
And both had shared one thing in common — they wanted to become Hokage.
They had just joined the battlefield… and died not long after.
But in war, death is a common thing.
Everyone around her said so. And eventually, Tsunade accepted it. She told herself it was fate—just misfortune. That she was cursed with bad luck, and so the people closest to her left, one after another.
But now that Uchiha Haru said those two words aloud, the doubts buried deep in her heart resurfaced like a reopened wound.
"Uchiha Haru, you… what exactly do you know?!"
Tsunade narrowed her eyes, her expression turning grave.
She had just been subjected to the most painful illusion not long ago. The grief still clung to her nerves, not yet dulled.
Otherwise, with Tsunade's volatile temper, she wouldn't be calmly sitting here talking to anyone, let alone Haru.
"I know many things," Haru said flatly. "But the question is—are you willing to believe any of it, Lady Tsunade?"
He stared at her with unwavering eyes.
"Speak!" Tsunade snapped.
Uchiha Haru stepped closer, leaning just enough to whisper in her ear so that only the two of them could hear.
"In truth, your brother and your lover… were both killed as part of a conspiracy."
"And the one pulling the strings from the shadows—"
He paused, a cold smirk curling across his lips, but did not finish the sentence.
"You're spouting nonsense!"
Tsunade shot back immediately, eyes fierce.
But inside, a flicker of uncertainty stirred.
Haru could tell.
It wasn't hard to see. If she really didn't believe him—if it were truly nonsense—then why had her expression twisted in pain at the mere mention of a conspiracy?
He leaned in again, voice low but cutting.
"Lady Tsunade. Think about it carefully."
"The person who led your brother, Nawaki, on that mission was Orochimaru. One of the Legendary Sannin. You know as well as I do what Orochimaru is capable of."
"Under his protection, how easy could it be for anyone to kill your brother?"
"A moment's carelessness? Too reckless, perhaps?"
"A man like Orochimaru—unable to protect a child? Do you truly believe that?"
Tsunade froze.
She reached into the past, combing through the memories she had locked away.
It was Orochimaru who brought back the news of Nawaki's death.
And back then… he had been vague. Vague in a way that didn't quite make sense.
But she had been drowning in sorrow at the time. She hadn't been able to question anything clearly.
Now, with Haru's words nudging her, she could finally feel it—that buried wrongness.
"But… why?" she muttered. "Why would Orochimaru do that?"
"Nawaki was his student!"
She wanted to believe that made it impossible.
At that time, Orochimaru was still loyal to Konoha. He hadn't defected yet. What reason could he possibly have?
Haru's voice dropped to a more sinister tone.
"What if Orochimaru wasn't acting alone?"
"What if… there was someone behind him?"
"Your brother is dead. Your lover is dead. Ask yourself—who benefits from both of their deaths?"
Tsunade's frown deepened. Her mind raced.
She was a woman of fierce emotion—but also of sharp intellect.
And Haru's words struck something inside her like a spark to dry tinder.
Her brother, Nawaki, was the direct heir of the Senju clan. The grandson of the First Hokage.
According to the quiet traditions of Konoha, someone of his lineage would be the clear successor to the Hokage's mantle in the future.
But now…
Nawaki was dead.
Her lover, Dan, was also dead.
She had been utterly broken by grief, unable to recover. She had walked away from Konoha, losing herself in gambling dens and sake halls, abandoning the fight.
And Orochimaru… who stood to gain?
The one behind Orochimaru…
The true beneficiary of it all…
Tsunade's eyes widened. Her expression shifted to disbelief—no, to horror.
If there was an ultimate beneficiary… it could only be that man.
But… could it be true?
No. No, it couldn't.
That man had treated her like a father would. Like a master. His kindness to her was like a mountain—immovable, enduring.
How could he have done this?
"You're full of shit!" Tsunade screamed, rage erupting from within.
But deep down, terror gnawed at her.
What if Haru was right?
She didn't want to believe it. She couldn't believe it.
But she was afraid to disprove it.
Without warning, chakra surged into her palm. She slammed it into the earth.
Boom!
The ground split open beneath her—a crack several meters wide.
But Uchiha Haru had already disappeared in a flash, reappearing a safe distance away.
He grinned mockingly. "So… you have guessed it."
"He hides it well, doesn't he? I couldn't tell either, at first."
Tsunade's eyes burned with fury. She leapt into the air and struck down again.
Bang!
The ground trembled. The shockwave split the nearby rock.
"What evidence do you have?!" she demanded.
"None," Haru said honestly.
And it was the truth.
He had no solid proof. Not yet. But these weren't idle words. His deductions had logic behind them.
"Believe it or don't—that's your choice."
"But if you want real proof," he continued, his voice hard, "then come with me to the Hidden Mist Village."
"I give you my word—as an Uchiha—I'll uncover the truth about your brother and Dan's deaths within three years."
"If you truly think I'm wrong, then don't come. I won't stop you."
He stared at her evenly.
"You don't have to make a decision right now."
"I'll give you time."
"Tomorrow. Noon."
"I want your answer."
With that, Uchiha Haru turned, and alongside the leader of the Kaguya Clan, vanished from the scene.
Tsunade stood frozen, fists trembling, her heart an inferno of conflict.
"…Lady Tsunade… what do we…?" Shizune asked hesitantly, voice uncertain, eyes darting from the crater to her mentor's face.
Tsunade didn't respond at first.
Then she exhaled slowly, turning away.
"We're going back to the tavern."
And she walked off, her footsteps heavy, as if dragging the weight of the past behind her.
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Love the story and can't wait to see what happens next?
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Thank you for reading, and I truly appreciate your support! 💖
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