Chapter 399: Hope Extinguished
"I'll give it a try."
Shima let out a sigh, then placed her hand on Tsunade's forehead, channeling refined natural chakra from Mount Myōboku into her.
As soon as the natural chakra entered her body, the Yin Seal mark on Tsunade's forehead reappeared. Her chakra surged, and the Yin Seal automatically began converting the natural chakra into medical chakra, healing her wounds.
Seeing this, Shima's eyes lit up. "Oh… she might be saved!"
She hadn't expected the Yin Seal to be capable of converting natural chakra into healing chakra. Initially, she had only hoped to use the energy to keep Tsunade alive until she awoke and healed herself.
But the seal's functionality was far greater than she imagined.
Even Li Yao, hidden in the interdimensional space, was a little surprised by this development.
Still, he quickly grasped the Yin Seal's mechanics.
It was similar to the chakra puppet array developed by Sasori to absorb and convert natural energy.
The only difference was that Tsunade's Yin Seal couldn't directly absorb ambient nature energy—it could only absorb refined natural chakra processed by the toads of Mount Myōboku.
For someone like Li Yao, who already had Perfect Sage Mode, the Yin Seal's abilities were of little use. But it was worth documenting for future research into higher-level sage puppet systems.
Li Yao remained hidden, observing. He had no intention of intervening just yet. He wanted to see whether Naruto, the story's protagonist, could still muster up some miracle power.
"If I were the villain, this is where I'd probably get killed, right? Heh…"
Li Yao smirked. Unfortunately, this wasn't a story. He wasn't the villain. Naruto might be the protagonist, but that didn't guarantee anything.
Still… he was curious how Naruto would struggle next.
"Granny Tsunade…"
Shima increased the flow of chakra while Naruto stood anxiously nearby.
After a moment, as Tsunade's internal chakra reached a healthy level, Shima told Naruto to remove the steel pipe lodged in her abdomen.
As soon as Naruto pulled it out, Tsunade winced and groaned, finally regaining consciousness.
The wound, now free of obstruction, closed rapidly.
The Yin Seal's medical chakra was extraordinarily potent—able to heal a wound the size of a fist in just a few seconds.
"Granny Tsunade!"
Naruto leaned forward, his voice trembling. "Sakura… what about Sakura?"
Even now, he clung to a sliver of hope—Sakura hadn't been found yet. Maybe Tsunade could give him good news.
Even if it was a comforting lie, he would accept it.
"Naruto…"
Still foggy from unconsciousness, Tsunade didn't respond immediately. But the devastation around her quickly cleared her mind.
Whoosh!
She sprang to her feet and rushed forward, eyes widening at the endless wasteland and swirling dust in the distance.
Everything felt unfamiliar.
Thud!
Tsunade fell to her knees. Her body went limp, her expression hollow. She looked like a corpse—lifeless and crushed.
It was gone.
Everything was gone.
Generations of effort, dreams, the hopes of their ancestors—all gone.
As the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade had watched Konoha die on her watch. And she had been powerless to stop it.
The pain, the guilt… it shattered the resilience she'd always carried.
She didn't even hear Naruto and Shima calling her name.
Until—a streak of white rushed in.
"Tsunade—run!"
"Naruto—run!!"
Jiraiya appeared, racing toward them. The moment he saw them, he began shouting from afar.
Li Yao's power was simply too overwhelming. There was nothing they could do. Jiraiya's only wish now was for Naruto and Tsunade to survive.
"Master Jiraiya!!"
Even though it was an Edo Tensei version, Naruto's heart surged with emotion at the sight of his mentor. He didn't even register Jiraiya's warning to flee.
Tsunade, however, did.
She woke up.
She might have failed to protect the village, but she could still protect its future.
Compared to anyone else, she believed in Naruto—the boy who reminded her so much of both her brother and her lover, Dan. The prophesied child.
"Go, Naruto!"
Tsunade stepped in front of him and declared, "You are the Child of Prophecy. You will defeat Li Yao—not today, but one day. Live. Find a way. That's your only mission now."
"She's right," Shima added. "Kid, escaping now is the most important thing you can do. The future of the shinobi world—of Konoha—depends on you. This isn't your fight yet."
The shinobi world?
Konoha?
The future?
On me?
Hearing their words, Naruto felt like the universe was mocking him.
The village was in ruins.
Master Jiraiya…
Kakashi-sensei…
Hinata and Sakura…
All gone.
And now, even Granny Tsunade was preparing to sacrifice herself to help him escape.
If being the "Child of Prophecy" meant suffering this much, then Naruto would rather not be one.
Maybe… maybe Nagato was right.
For the first time, Naruto truly understood what Pain had felt.
"No. I'm not leaving."
Naruto shook his head firmly. He would rather die in this battle than run away alone.
He had endured enough loneliness in his life.
He had finally built bonds—finally felt the warmth of family and friends. Now they wanted him to live while abandoning all of it behind?
He couldn't. He wouldn't.
And worst of all—he couldn't see any way to defeat Li Yao.
So what was the point?
If he was going to die, he'd rather burn out like Guy.
"Naruto, don't be foolish—Sakura!"
Tsunade stopped midsentence—her eyes catching a glint of red in the rubble.
Her face changed and she bolted toward it.
Ten meters to Naruto's left, beneath the debris, was a torn piece of red fabric—matching Sakura's clothes.
"Sakura!!!"
Naruto lit up with hope and rushed after Tsunade. Together, they frantically pulled away the rubble until Sakura's body was revealed.
Scrape scrape… Naruto gently removed stone after stone. The more he saw, the more his face lit up.
Sakura had no wounds. No visible trauma. No impalement.
She lay face down, but her back and head looked untouched.
"She's okay! Sakura's alive!"
Overjoyed, Naruto ignored the fact that even now, in Sage Mode, he couldn't sense any chakra from her.
But Tsunade could feel her directly.
And she knew—Sakura was dead.
Her body was already cold.
Only Naruto still clung to hope.
And that last thread of hope…
Vanished the moment they turned her body over.
(END CHAPTER)
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