Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi

Kusuo headed straight for the Hokage's office. He pushed open the door. Tsunade stood with her back to him, quietly looking out the window.

"Lord Hokage, what do you need me for?" Kusuo asked, getting straight to the point.

Tsunade turned around. Her expression was complex, with a trace of hesitation. "Last night, Orochimaru found me." She said this one sentence as if she were waiting for Kusuo's reaction.

Unfortunately for her, in the moment she deliberately paused, she did not see any stress response from the boy before her. His face was calm, as if all of this had nothing to do with him.

"And then?"

And then? This brat really is direct.

Tsunade smiled bitterly. "Orochimaru wants to cooperate with me, to help me revive my little brother, Nawaki Senju. His goal is for me to heal his wounds."

At the end, Tsunade added another sentence. "The sword wounds that you inflicted."

Orochimaru seeking out Tsunade for healing... this part is very much in line with the plot of the original story, Kusuo thought to himself. But this time, it wasn't because his arms' souls had been sealed by the Third Hokage's Reaper Death Seal, causing him to lose the use of his ninjutsu. It was because of his two sword strikes.

"Heh," Kusuo let out a faint laugh, not at all surprised. The Crimson Blade... it cut the flesh, and it cut the soul.

"I imagine he came to you for treatment for his soul wounds," Kusuo said, seeing through it all and pointing out Orochimaru's objective.

This was something Tsunade was completely unaware of. "I'm not sure about the specific injuries. That guy didn't say it clearly, and I couldn't see any wounds on him."

"But I called you here to plan together, to set up an ambush and kill Orochimaru! To avenge the village! To avenge Sensei!" Tsunade's eyes were firm, an aura of righteous dignity radiating from her. It seemed she had completely adapted to her identity as the Hokage.

Kusuo gave her a deep look. He asked with profound meaning, "Is Lord Hokage not the least bit tempted? To be able to see your little brother again... agreeing to Orochimaru's terms might also be a good choice."

Kusuo's tone was probing. It was simple. If Tsunade was truly tempted, she could have secretly completed the transaction with Orochimaru, and no one would have known. She would get to see her brother Nawaki, and Orochimaru would have his wounds healed.

But Tsunade had chosen to lay everything bare and tell him.

Shaking her head, she said in a deep voice, "I know that guy Orochimaru too well. He's cunning, cautious, and extremely suspicious by nature. It's already difficult enough to track him down, let alone kill him."

"This time—" Tsunade slapped the table. "This is an absolutely golden opportunity! I'll pretend to agree to his terms, then set up an ambush. When I meet with him that day, you'll rush out and strike! We'll kill him for good!"

Kusuo still looked at Tsunade's beautiful eyes and asked, "Lord Hokage, it seems you haven't answered my question."

He was pressing her. Pressing Tsunade for an answer. Otherwise, even if he agreed, if Tsunade suddenly hesitated on the battlefield, it would definitely cause irreparable losses.

For a moment, being pressed so tightly by Kusuo, Tsunade's mouth fell open. She stared blankly at the eyes of the boy with the outstanding temperament before her, as if they were telling her that he had to have an answer.

"So be it," she finally said with a bitter smile, opening her heart to a boy who was only in his early teens. "Tell you is fine. In fact, long after my hemophobia was cured, I had already understood a principle: the dead cannot be brought back to life."

"Rather than getting hung up on whether I can see my loved ones one more time, it's better to look to the future and focus on the present. The village my grandfather built, the village my teacher died to protect... this is the greatest hope left to me. I will defend it with my life! I will absolutely not allow anyone to trample on it!"

By the end, Tsunade's tone was as firm as nails, carrying an aura that said, "though thousands upon thousands of people may oppose me, I will go." In that moment, the aura of a heroic female Hokage was on full display.

Kusuo saw it in his eyes and heard it in his heart. The Tsunade of this world had overcome her inner fear with her own strength and understood her mission.

Heh. Is this the boring Will of Fire again? he thought with disdain.

Outwardly, his expression didn't change. Kusuo replied faintly, "Alright." With that, he turned and left the office.

The three-day agreement between Tsunade and Orochimaru soon arrived. The location was set for a meadow on the outskirts of Konoha. It was a remote place, undisturbed by anyone.

Carrying his sword, Kusuo was already on his way to the meeting point. Tsunade had only called him for this operation. One reason was that against a Kage-level combatant, an advantage in numbers was meaningless, and besides, the village needed manpower. The other reason was that she knew Jiraiya's personality very well. He could fight Orochimaru, but to personally kill him would be very difficult.

At this moment, Tsunade, who had already arrived at the destination, had an ugly look on her face. Because at Orochimaru's feet lay a boy in an orange jacket.

Naruto.

"Granny Tsunade! Save me!" The moment he saw Tsunade, Naruto's eyes lit up, and he immediately started shouting, his hands tied behind his back.

"Behave yourself!" A genin with a Sound Village headband said, kicking Naruto viciously.

"Orochimaru, what is the meaning of this?" Tsunade was immediately alarmed and questioned him.

"Hoh hoh... it means nothing. Just adding a little more collateral to our transaction. I've already undone the Eight Trigrams Seal on this brat. I can completely release the Nine-Tails inside him at any time. If our agreement goes smoothly, everyone will be fine. Otherwise... hoh hoh hoh, you should know what happened that night thirteen years ago."

Orochimaru crossed his arms, looking at her with a mocking gaze, his sinister smile making one's heart very uncomfortable.

Tsunade's knuckles cracked. She never thought that her meticulous plan would be thwarted by Orochimaru. The Nine-Tails. The strongest of the Tailed Beasts. Kusuo, who could thrash the One-Tail, didn't necessarily mean he could defeat the Nine-Tails. In fact, it could be said that one Nine-Tails was comparable to the sum of all the other Tailed Beasts. Of course, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. After all, the Nine-Tails' strength was undoubtedly great, far beyond what the One-Tailed Shukaku could compare to.

And that boy, Kusuo, was on his way now. What should she do? In an instant, Tsunade was caught in a dilemma.

On the other side, Kusuo, who didn't know the situation Tsunade was facing, had also stopped in his tracks. Or rather, his path had been blocked.

A boy with white hair, green eyes, and two red dots on his brow slowly walked out. He looked to be about the same age as him.

Kaguya Kimimaro.

He stood quietly in front of Kusuo, his tone calm and determined. "Stop here. You cannot pass."

Looking at this boy, a look of surprise appeared on Kusuo's face. In his memory, Kimimaro should have been on his deathbed by this time. His world-shaking battle with Gaara had completely changed the entire terrain. Has Orochimaru seen through Tsunade's plan? Various guesses spun in his mind.

In truth, all of this was being orchestrated by Kabuto, including the capture of Naruto to force Tsunade's hand.

"Get out of my way. I don't want to kill you," Kusuo said, not stopping his steps just because Kimimaro was blocking his path. Instead, he just walked forward.

Seeing this, a resolute killing intent flashed in Kimimaro's eyes. This person... will ruin Lord Orochimaru's plan! I must stop him!

"Shikotsumyaku! Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets!" Kimimaro suddenly extended his right hand. With a series of cracking sounds, bone bullets shot out from his fingertips, firing like actual bullets. Their target was aimed directly at Kusuo's eyes.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The speed of the bone bullets was extremely fast. They arrived in the blink of an eye, carrying an ultimate piercing power.

Kusuo's expression didn't change. He glanced lightly from the corner of his eye. With a flick of his thumb, CLANG! The cold sword left its sheath.

SWISH!

One slash. He cut through all ten incoming finger bullets. The bone bullets ricocheted off the ground, letting out a dull thud, and instantly buried themselves deep in the earth, revealing twenty narrow black holes.

Kimimaro's pupils contracted. This person... with one slash, he actually cut through all ten drilling bullets at the same time? This kind of insight and swordsmanship... as expected, the person who seriously injured Lord Orochimaru cannot be underestimated.

Then, he said to Kusuo, "If you go back now, I can pretend I saw nothing." In his tone and demeanor, Kimimaro was not at all frightened by the power of his one slash. He still wanted to persuade him to retreat.

"Heh." What an interesting person.

Kusuo smiled. "I'm sorry, I must pass. After all, I have an appointment with someone."

With that, he slashed with his sword. The sharp slash was like the wind, its aura thick and heavy.

"Shikotsumyaku! Dance of the Camellia!"

Seeing this, with a sword aura dozens of meters long slashing towards him, Kimimaro completely gave up on persuading him and let out a low shout. A bone sword shot out from his left arm with a swish. He gripped it in his hand.

"Shikotsumyaku! Dance of the Willow!"

Kimimaro's figure moved. With an attack so gentle it didn't have a single superfluous motion, he cut towards the incoming sword aura slash.

CLANG!

The moment his bone sword made contact with the magnificent and vast sword aura, a crisp sound was heard. Then, CRACKLE! CRACKLE—

Kimimaro was shocked to find that the bone sword in his hand was slowly cracking. This... how is this possible?

The moment the bone sword cracked, he immediately jumped to the side, but he was still grazed by the aftershock of the sword aura, which cut his arm.

Kimimaro's face was grave, and filled with disbelief. His own bones were the ultimate Kekkei Genkai of the Kaguya clan. With special chakra enhancement, they were incredibly hard. Even against the Iron Sand of the Third Kazekage, they had not shattered. And now, they had been cracked by a casual slash from this boy.

There was not a single superfluous expression on Kusuo's face. He was as cold as water. It seemed that the power of that slash just now was just ordinary.

"You are very strong, but I will not let you pass," Kimimaro said, taking a deep breath and once again taking out a bone sword from his arm.

"Shikotsumyaku! Dance of the Larch!"

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The sound of a dozen bones growing out of a human body was heard. The next second, Kimimaro's back was covered in bone spurs half a meter to a meter long. His entire person was like a hedgehog covered in ghastly white bones, yet they carried an ultimate sharp coldness.

SWISH!

He moved. His entire body spun at high speed in mid-air. The bone spurs on his back and the bone sword in his hand formed a circular sharp blade, like a sphere covered in sharp thorns. The momentum was vast. Along the way, the dirt on the ground was overturned and thrown into the air, kicking up a sandstorm.

This move was quite similar to the Akimichi clan's Human Bullet Tank, but it was much faster, and its killing power was far greater.

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