Chapter 81: Three Ninjas
After chatting for a bit, Ayaan and Sarah made their way to the daimyo's residence.
But just before arriving, Ayaan stopped cold.
"…I can't believe it. I was hoping to catch one fish… and three show up instead."
He turned to face the approaching figures.
To the left: a pale-skinned man with golden serpent-like eyes and a sly, mysterious grin—Orochimaru.
To the right: a fierce blonde woman with a younger black-haired girl beside her. The woman scowled, her eyes locked onto Sarah—Tsunade.
And from the rear, a familiar figure—Jiraiya, with a group of Konoha ninjas in tow: an Aburame wearing dark glasses, an Inuzuka with his loyal dog, and a Byakugan-wielding Hyuga.
"I didn't expect the three of us to reunite like this," Orochimaru said, a hint of nostalgia in his voice.
"I didn't want to see you again," Tsunade snapped. Then her sharp eyes shifted to Ayaan. "You said you were fishing? What, you have ties to the Senju clan?"
Ayaan smirked. "Not at all. I was actually trying to bait Orochimaru."
He looked at them all with amusement. "Didn't expect the full set to show up. Then again, Wood Release is enough to get anyone's attention."
His eyes landed on Jiraiya. "And you? You already knew what I was capable of. You didn't come here to join me, did you?"
Jiraiya gave a bitter smile. "After Wood Release surfaced, the Third Hokage couldn't exactly let me stay in the village."
Nagato gaining Wood Release was surprising—but not impossible. He was a member of the Uzumaki clan, distantly related to the Senju. He had already awakened the Rinnegan. But Sarah? A civilian girl who'd been upgraded to Kage-level in weeks? That was terrifying.
Orochimaru and Tsunade, however, had no idea how easily Ayaan had modified Nagato. They still assumed it was a one-in-a-million success.
"You were trying to lure me out?" Orochimaru licked his lips with his long tongue. "You certainly are bold. The infamous Black Shadow Ninja who flipped Konoha upside down..."
"But," he added, eyes narrowing, "in this world, hunter and prey switch places all the time. Have you considered what happens if you become the one hunted?"
"I'm also quite curious about your Dark Release... that chakra-absorbing darkness. Would you let me study it?"
"Study it?" Ayaan tilted his head. "Sure. Beat me, and you can study whatever you like."
Boom!
Before they could continue, Tsunade smashed her fist into a nearby tree—splitting it in two with one strike.
"Enough of your crap," she growled, glaring between Orochimaru and Ayaan. Her gaze sharpened. "What the hell did you do with my grandfather's cells, you bastard!?"
Ayaan scoffed. "The same thing Konoha's been doing for decades—except I didn't kill hundreds of test subjects. All of my experiments worked the first time."
"You're dead!" Tsunade exploded forward with a punch. Ayaan raised his hand calmly, black smoke of the Yami Yami no Mi and Armament Haki coating his arm.
Orochimaru and Jiraiya narrowed their eyes.
Among the Three Legendary Sannin, Tsunade was unmatched in raw strength. While she lacked speed, her devastating melee blows made her the most dangerous in close combat.
And Ayaan had used no visible chakra at all—just strange black energy.
"Be careful, Tsunade!" Jiraiya warned. "That black aura absorbs chakra!"
But it was too late. Tsunade's punch collided with Ayaan's palm—BOOM!—the ground shattered beneath him, but he didn't move an inch.
Instead, Ayaan caught her fist in his hand—and Tsunade winced in pain.
She had gone all out, assuming that even if Ayaan could drain some chakra, she could overwhelm him with raw force. After all, she was the best chakra controller in the world.
She was wrong.
Not only had he absorbed a portion of her chakra mid-strike, but his arm hadn't budged. Worse, the recoil force shattered her own hand bones.
And Tsunade realized something terrifying: Ayaan hadn't used any complex jutsu. It was just chakra-enhanced body strength—the same as hers—but on a completely different level.
In that moment, Tsunade wasn't even sure Ayaan was human. With strength like that, he felt more like a summoned beast wearing human skin.
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