"This is the Land of Fire, under Konoha's jurisdiction! You rogue shinobi—why have you come here?"
Even though Tsunade already knew they were after Orochimaru, she wasn't about to bring it up first.
She wanted Konoha to stand firmly on moral high ground and denounce these intruders.
It might not achieve much—but at least it was something.
Even with prior intel on each of them, standing face-to-face with members of Akatsuki still made Tsunade feel immense pressure.
They were strong. Far too strong.
Uchiha Itachi, Sasori, Deidara, Kisame... each one of them was a nightmare to deal with.
Especially Uchiha Itachi—he was the very definition of a perfect shinobi.
Taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu—there was no weakness, and everything he mastered was on a level far beyond ordinary people.
"We are here to capture the rogue shinobi Orochimaru. Hokage-sama, we hope you can cooperate."
At this point, Black Zetsu stepped forward as the negotiator, smiling faintly as he tried to open talks with Tsunade.
"Orochimaru may be a rogue shinobi, but he is Konoha's rogue shinobi. We will capture him ourselves and deal with him as we see fit. It's not that I don't trust you—but your power is too great. If you enter Konoha, you could cause irreparable damage. As Hokage, I cannot allow that. I ask that you stop here and turn back."
No matter what Akatsuki said, Tsunade would reject them.
Allowing such powerful figures into the village would be utterly irresponsible.
"It seems Hokage-sama has made up her mind."
Black Zetsu's expression darkened. He truly hadn't expected Orochimaru to be this slippery. Peers of equal caliber pursuing him, and he still escaped.
It was a humiliation.
Tsunade's expression remained calm, her eyes unwavering.
"Withdraw... or fight. The choice is yours."
"We will handle Orochimaru ourselves. I believe you are also pursuing him to kill him. If that's the case, what difference does it make if we are the ones to do it?"
Of course, Black Zetsu couldn't say they intended to capture Orochimaru as a replacement host for the Three-Tails.
With so many members present now, retreating empty-handed would make things very complicated later.
He glanced subconsciously at Uchiha Itachi.
Though he still didn't completely trust Itachi, there was no time to hesitate.
"Itachi-san, Orochimaru must be captured. Please decide."
"I'll take Jiraiya."
The moment Itachi spoke, he attacked Jiraiya.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A massive fireball, nearly ten meters wide, roared toward them.
"Itachi's mine! Tsunade, do your thing!"
Jiraiya dashed forward to engage Itachi directly.
The two moved in perfect sync. Tsunade's eyes narrowed, and she slammed her hands together.
"Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees!"
Having seen their strength firsthand, Tsunade wasn't about to waste time.
She went straight for the kill.
Within a hundred-meter radius, massive trees burst from the ground—forming cages along the perimeter, while those in the center twisted and lunged toward the Akatsuki members.
"Iron Sand: Whirlwind!"
Masses of iron sand formed turbines around Sasori, continuously spinning and cutting through the surrounding trees.
"Art is an explosion!"
Deidara hurled clay spiders that detonated, clearing a wide area—but in the next instant, trees regrew wildly, endless and unstoppable.
As for Black Zetsu—he had already slipped away the moment the Wood Release was unleashed.
"Help! Somebody help me!"
Compared to the others, Hidan was utterly useless here.
Without blood, he couldn't activate his curse technique.
And his taijutsu was too weak to withstand the crushing trees. Within moments, two massive trunks coiled around him, ripping at his body as if to tear him apart.
The pain was unbearable.
Kisame fared only slightly better.
All his jutsu were water-based, and Wood Release naturally suppressed both Water and Earth. Combined with its chakra-absorbing nature, even with Samehada he could only rely on his swordsmanship to barely fend off the endless assault of branches.
"So this is the First Hokage's Wood Release... It's insane!"
Deidara whistled in awe, launching a few clay bombs to help Kisame buy time.
As for Hidan—well, Deidara wasn't about to waste good clay on a liability.
"These trees absorb chakra from our bodies. If we don't break through, we'll be trapped here." Kisame warned grimly.
"Looks like it's up to me then!"
Deidara quickly molded a giant clay bird. Sasori leapt onto it, surrounding them with layers of iron sand for defense. The bird soared upward—if the ground was death, they'd take to the sky.
"Wait for me!"
Kisame jumped aboard, eyeing the dense iron sand barrier with slight relief.
"Go!"
Below them, vines surged upward like a swarm of locusts. Deidara's face twisted.
The first iron sand layer shattered instantly, the second trembled on the verge of collapse—only Sasori's increased chakra output barely held the defenses long enough for the bird to rise into open air.
"That was way too close! Think Hidan's dead?" Deidara finally asked once they'd escaped.
Sasori said nothing, his gaze burning into Tsunade below.
He had only one thought left—
Capture her... and make her into a puppet.
With a Tsunade puppet wielding Wood Release, Sasori believed he could surpass Uchiha Itachi himself.
"Hidan is immortal, remember? He won't die," Kisame said casually, clearly unconcerned.
They were now almost a hundred meters above the ground, looking down at the writhing forest below like coiling serpents. The sight made their stomachs churn.
"Hey, what if I drop a big one from up here?" Deidara said excitedly. "Wouldn't Tsunade have no choice but to take the hit?"
If he could defeat Tsunade, he'd be immortalized in shinobi history.
Forget the First Hokage—Deidara hadn't lived in that era, so he didn't care.
But Tsunade—the Wood Release-wielding Fifth Hokage—was currently the strongest Kage among the Five Great Nations. If he could defeat her, even at the cost of his own life, his name would echo across the shinobi world.
"Shut up, you jinx! Move, now!"
Sasori looked down and saw the trees climbing rapidly upward—their intent exposed.
"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"
A massive, oni-like wooden giant rose from the ground, extending its hand upward, reaching past a hundred meters—its palm descending upon Deidara's clay bird like a thundercloud blotting out the sun.
The immense shadow swallowed them whole.
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