Kelly still carried a not-so-pleasant smell on her, but that didn't really matter. Her soft, elastic body alone was enough to make Leo feel a surge of pleasure…
Along with a surge of pain.
Because Tsunade's position was a little awkward.
She was lying facedown against Leo's chest, which meant her abdomen was pressing directly against his lower stomach, leaving his "blade" pointing straight at her navel.
Her head rested on his chest. In this extremely dangerous situation, all it would take was the slightest movement from her for Leo to be struck by the overwhelming force of justice she carried, smashing directly into his short sword and dealing him catastrophic damage.
Which also meant that the moment Tsunade woke up, she would immediately notice the change in Leo.
In fact, Leo could already feel his hero's sword pressing firmly against Tsunade's navel.
But Kelly didn't care about any of that. Since Leo said he'd keep watch for a while, she felt perfectly at ease going to sleep. As for whether Leo might do something strange…
She was already planning to do that kind of thing with him before leaving anyway. At that point, it didn't really matter. It would even help add a bit of romance to the memories she'd take back with her, so they wouldn't be completely lacking in romantic elements.
A roaming gunner had to pursue romance. How could it be acceptable otherwise?
That made it necessary.
But for Leo, the stimulation was intense.
Before long, Kelly, who really had fallen asleep, started snoring, and soon it turned into full-on loud snores. It assaulted Leo's ears nonstop and suddenly made him realize something.
Tsunade usually snored too. So why wasn't she this time?
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Leo felt something grab his short sword, and then another arm jabbed sharply into Kelly's body. Kelly's snoring stopped instantly, and her restless sleep shifted into the peaceful stillness of an infant.
Then Leo felt something cold press against the hilt of his hero's sword.
And suddenly, Tsunade's voice rang out.
"Is what you said true?"
Leo didn't dare move at all, because he already knew exactly what that thing was.
It was Tsunade's kunai.
Damn it—she'd been pretending to sleep.
But why had she suddenly turned hostile?
Leo couldn't understand it, but he was certain of one thing: until Tsunade got what she wanted, Kelly wasn't waking up.
Still, he forced his voice to sound louder.
"What… what are you talking about?"
"It's useless. Kelly's body is special, but she's still human. Chakra doesn't affect her much, but it does have some effect. I put her into deep sleep. She won't wake up for at least six hours."
Tsunade's voice sounded hollow, with a trace of unease buried deep inside it.
But Leo didn't have the mental space to dwell on that, because he'd realized something else—Tsunade's hand was incredibly soft, nothing like a ninja's hand at all.
"Hah… you're even more excited now. Your body is strange. When I first met you, this part of you was completely normal—if anything, it was already starting to decline with age. But now it's become so energetic again… I don't know if you're the one behind all of this. I just want to know…"
A green glow filled the dark room. Leo could clearly see green chakra forming in Tsunade's palm.
"Can you really send back women who've had relations with you?"
Under the green light, Leo looked into Tsunade's empty eyes and hesitated for a moment.
"I can't be completely sure. Sending someone back requires energy—one thousand points. I really did like Erina, so when I was with her, I could gain energy. But with you… I don't know if it'll work…"
Before he could finish, Tsunade's kunai was pressed against his neck.
"So you were lying to us?"
"I wasn't lying! I genuinely don't know!"
Tsunade fell silent for a moment. Leo looked into her hollow eyes, fear creeping in. He could clearly see her lips trembling. Her mental state was clearly unstable.
In the end, she grabbed Leo by the collar and stared straight at him, her eyes completely devoid of emotion.
"I don't care anymore. If you can't send me back, I'll kill you."
"No—wait—I really can't be sure—"
Leo didn't get to finish. A massive force slammed him down onto the bed. In the next instant, his mouth was sealed, overwhelmed by softness and an uncoordinated tongue, along with tears dripping onto his face.
It was obvious that after enduring blood, the zombies' roars, and her hemophobia in the darkness for so long, Tsunade's mind was on the verge of collapse.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"
She said those words, yet showed no mercy as she cut open Leo's clothes and grabbed his short sword, trying to force it inside.
She didn't want to stay here anymore. Not in the darkness, surrounded by the stench of blood, the endless roars, the sounds of flesh tearing and blood splattering.
Unlike Leo and Kelly, Tsunade's senses were incredibly sharp. Leo and Kelly could only hear the howling, but Tsunade could clearly hear how the zombies tore at each other, how they attacked companions blocking their path, all just to reach and kill them.
The sound of zombie blood flowing, flesh ripping apart, organs spilling out, even the sound of zombies devouring their own companions—she could hear and sense it all with horrifying clarity.
And it kept happening, over and over again, in the darkness.
She already feared darkness because of her hemophobia. During the earlier fighting, it was as if she'd been dragged back onto the battlefield of the ninja war.
In her vision, she saw the tragic deaths of Dan and her brother Nawaki. The zombies being torn apart by their own kind were no longer monsters, but Dan and Nawaki themselves.
They pounded on the walls, begging her to leave with them, asking why she couldn't save them.
The thick stench of blood made it impossible for her to lie to herself, to pretend she was safe, to pretend she wasn't being questioned.
With no time for treatment, no comforting words from a chosen hero, and no chance to suppress it, Tsunade—already at the peak of her hemophobia—finally snapped.
Yet even as she tried to force Leo's short sword into what she instinctively felt was the solution, she failed. Her mind was too far gone to act properly, and instead the blade kept brushing painfully past the forest, making Leo want to cry out.
In the end, unable to endure it any longer, Leo seized Tsunade's hands during a brief lapse in her focus, rolled over, and pinned her down onto the bed.