Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 325 Tsunade's Death, Aokiji's Awakening (Part 2)

Danger was imminent. Aokiji entered a semi-tailed beast form, his body covered in dark red tailed beast chakra, and five tails sprouted from behind him, surging out to surround him.

Seeing the subtle signs, and recognizing the threat posed by the three ninja swords, he used one, two, and three tails in sequence to deal with the blunt sword Helmeppo, the explosive sword Shiki, and the chakra ball shockwave generated by the flounder.

"boom."

A dark red figure burst out of the smoke from the explosion.

The Seven Hidden Mist Warriors, each wielding their own weapons, pressed on relentlessly.

Meanwhile, one of the Iwagakure ninja suggested to the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, "Should we go up and help?"

The Four-Tails Jinchuriki crossed his arms, his expression arrogant, and said disdainfully, "I have no interest in ganging up on the weak. Let the Seven Ninja of Kirigakure handle it themselves."

The Iwagakure ninja nodded slightly.

They secretly hoped that the two sides would fight to the death.

The Hidden Mist Village and the Hidden Stone Village have only temporarily formed an alliance on this issue; behind the scenes, they continue with their own plans.

The Four-Tails Jinchuriki focused his gaze on Aokiji, who was surrounded by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. As a fellow Jinchuriki, if it weren't for the mission, he would have liked to have a real showdown with this rising star.

Aokiji needed to conserve his chakra so that he could fully transform into a tailed beast after rescuing Tsunade and break through the encirclement. He had to carefully plan every step of his subsequent chakra usage.

On the contrary, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist clearly did not have this concern and seized the opportunity to attack Aokiji with ninjutsu.

The user of Thunder Blade Thunder Fang raised both swords high, and an arc of lightning connected the crossed sword tips, crackling and shooting out waves of lightning.

The enemy had clearly studied their own abilities carefully, knowing that their Ice Release naturally countered their Water Release, so they deliberately avoided using Water Release and chose to launch their main attack with Lightning Release, which has strong destructive power and penetrating ability.

The user of the Lightning Blade, skilled in using Lightning Release, is undoubtedly the best offensive force in this operation.

Aokiji gathered chakra in his left and right hands, then extended his right hand upwards and his left hand downwards, slashing out with a vertical crescent-shaped ice blade that shot straight forward.

Ice Release: Vertical Guillotine.

The ice blade collided with the lightning, and the explosion had barely begun when the enemy, who had been waiting for an opportunity, immediately swung their sword at Aokiji.

As the blade flashed across his face, Aokiji hurriedly dodged, his hands rapidly forming hand seals; he couldn't afford to waste any more time like this.

He needs to find a way to force the enemy to use water escape techniques so that he can get rid of these annoying flies.

The moment he landed, Aokiji made a clear crouching motion, anticipating the enemy's horizontal slash. He crouched down in a flash, and a few strands of his hair were cut off, but fortunately he managed to dodge it without serious injury.

Shortly after, two other members of the Seven Shadows of the Mist swung their weapons and slashed rapidly.

At this critical moment, Aokiji completed his hand seals, clapped his hands, and exhaled a cloud of hot dust. The dust exploded the moment it landed, accompanied by flames and billowing black smoke that rapidly spread in all directions, obscuring the enemy's vision and slowing down their offensive.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Aokiji leaped out of the smoke, followed by a dazzling series of hand seals, finally settling on the "noon" seal with his elbows outstretched and his index fingers pointing towards each other, forming a triangle.

Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation.

He mobilized a massive amount of fire-attribute chakra, gathered it in his throat, and then exhaled it, forming a huge fireball with a surging momentum like a falling meteorite.

The fireball landed on the ground, and the heavenly fire spread like wildfire, instantly forming a sea of ​​fire, with waves of flames surging across the earth like a tidal wave.

Madara Uchiha, mingling in the crowd, had a profound gaze and a smile playing on his lips.

The attack range of this fire-style technique shows glimpses of its former glory.

As this massive fire-style technique appeared before everyone, the surrounding air seemed to suddenly heat up—oh no.

The Hidden Mist ninjas were on high alert. A dozen of them stood in front of the Fire Wolf, their movements perfectly synchronized. A jet of water shot out from their mouths, which then gushed out onto the ground and merged into a wave that was no less powerful than the fire.

Aokiji had been waiting for this moment. When the sea of ​​fire and the waves collided violently and a large amount of white smoke billowed out, enveloping everyone, he quickly formed hand seals, summoned an ice dragon, stepped on the ice dragon's head, and flew into the air.

"Don't even think about it!"

The Seven Ninja of the Mist realized that Aokiji was trying to escape the canyon. They ran towards Tsunade on the cliff top and reacted very quickly. They leaped across the walls and caught the ice dragon's movements. They used Lightning Release ninjutsu, and with a flash of lightning, a thick pillar of lightning shot out and shattered the ice dragon.

The ice dragon was destroyed and could no longer fly. Aokiji lost his footing and his body, along with the shattered ice debris, fell to the ground.

At the same time, the user of Exploding Blade: Spray, pressed his advantage, leaped onto Aokiji's head, and slashed down fiercely.

Aokiji twisted his waist and flipped over, conjuring a wrist blade on his right wrist. He raised the blade to parry the main slash while extending his left hand, palm facing the rock wall.

Seeing his attack parried, the user of Explosive Blade: Spray curled his lip and revealed a sinister smile, the explosive tags covering the blade in his hand emitting white light.

This is a sign that an explosion is imminent.

It is the power of the Exploding Blade: Spray that allows enemies to block the slash and suffer severe damage from the ensuing explosion.

In addition, this knife has hidden abilities; if it is sacrificed, it can even unleash world-destroying power.

With a loud "boom," the blade exploded, creating smoke that enveloped Aokiji.

Tsunade, who was being held hostage, called out Aokiji's name in a voice filled with despair.

"Aokiji—!"

As if to deliberately dispel her worries, the ice chain burst through the smoke and stretched across the air at high speed. The ninja on the ground looked up in a daze, staring blankly at the other end of the chain, which was firmly nailed to the steep rock wall.

Just then, someone shouted, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and shoot him down!"

The crowd then snapped out of their daze and shot out countless water bullets from their mouths.

Water Release: Water Jet

If so many people let someone who wasn't at full strength slip through their fingers, how could Kirigakure possibly save face?

The Iwagakure ninjas watched the show from the sidelines and did not make a move.

Using the centrifugal force at the end of the line, the blue pheasant glides along an inclined track at a height of about 100 meters.

Faced with attacks that resembled a hail of bullets, Aokiji did not exhibit the shrewdness often seen in anime, where he could effortlessly outline human figures.

Many times, Aokiji had already been hit, and now he had to grit his teeth and force his way through.

Aokiji desperately endured the pain of being hit; this level of injury was not yet the time to activate his Tailed Beast Mantle.

With a swing of the chains, his legs landed on the cliff face.

"Tsunade, wait for me..."

Aokiji murmured to himself, his eyes fixed on Tsunade at the top of the cliff, his gaze fixed on nothing else.

Crouching low to the ground and leaning forward, he ran with short strides but extremely fast leg kicks, propelling his body like an arrow as he sprinted, sprinted, and sprinted again.

The pursuing ninjas were right behind them, so close that they could barely see the taillights of the car.

Just as he was about to reach the top of the cliff, Aokiji mustered all his strength, entered his steam armor mode, pushed off with all his might, and leaped to the top of the cliff.

We've finally taken another step closer...

A glimmer of hope had just begun to emerge in his heart, but the next second, Aokiji was deeply shocked by the scene before him.

He faced countless enemies.

I thought a few hundred ninjas in the canyon was already quite a lot, but I never imagined that this was just the tip of the iceberg. There are probably thousands of enemies waiting for him.

Only then did he truly understand why the Iwagakure ninjas chose to watch from the sidelines—because an even more severe challenge awaited them at the top of the cliff.

Just as Aokiji was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the cruel reality, the man standing in front of Tsunade said, as if deliberately kicking her while she was down, "Hmph... Why bother? If you had just stayed down there and let us kill you, you wouldn't have witnessed this despairing scene."

The mocking tone emanating from "Uchiha Madara," who was disguised as this man, was palpable.

It seemed to intend to completely shatter Aokiji's fighting spirit, then watched with interest as Aokiji revealed a look of despair.

However, he seems to have miscalculated.

All that he said seemed utterly insignificant to Aokiji's still-unyielding expression.

Admittedly, Aokiji was indeed confused just now.

But if only the hands that were forming hand seals and the legs that were running are still there, then there is still a glimmer of hope.

Those blood-red eyes were filled with determination as they spoke...

Madara Uchiha raised the corners of his mouth slightly, unconvinced.

Hmph~~

Keep up that high spirit!

The moment of despair is often the beginning of hope...

"I see, so you're not giving up yet? Well, I'll see how long you can hold out."

Madara Uchiha gave the order to attack to the ninjas behind him, who rushed towards Aokiji, while he grabbed Tsunade and retreated into the crowd.

Aokiji took a deep breath.

At this point, he was prepared to fight to the death.

Unlike ordinary blue chakra, orange chakra continuously surged from his body, forming a tailed beast cloak that enveloped him. Then, Aokiji used Ice Release to create an ice sword for slashing, which could effectively increase the killing efficiency. Incidentally, the ice sword could also be used for defense.

In this state, most ninjutsu cannot effectively strike him, thus effectively avoiding the unexpected situation caused by being overwhelmed.

While fully transforming into a tailed beast would be powerful, it also has many drawbacks. The most significant one is that the purpose would be too obvious. Aokiji still needs to remain hidden and lull the enemy into a false sense of security.

Meanwhile, inside the canyon, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and the forces led by the Four-Tails Jinchuriki had already arrived and joined the battle.

Enemies attacked from all sides, and Aokiji fought back while weaving through the attacks.

However, these were all feints. Aokiji's real purpose was to take advantage of this opportunity to slowly approach Tsunade. Once she was within the range of the Body Flicker Technique, Aokiji would use the explosive power of Boil Release to rush to Tsunade and rescue her.

Incidentally, during this process, ninjas were constantly being slashed to death by his ice sword. In the ever-changing battlefield, whenever a gap appeared in the encirclement, people would immediately rush in to fill it.

"Damn, this guy is amazing."

One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist was filled with astonishment; the more he fought Aokiji, the more he understood his immense strength.

As the battle intensified, the guy opposite seemed to become like a machine, tireless and maintaining his speed.

Not to mention, the opponent also possesses abnormal defensive capabilities. Even if you manage to hit them, the effect is negligible. If you use a powerful ninjutsu, this guy will use his Sharingan to prepare in advance, making it impossible to hit them.

Aokiji has now become a deadly demon, growing stronger with each battle.

Madara Uchiha witnessed this entire scene. He smiled at Tsunade and said, "This guy is really something, isn't he?"

Others might not be able to tell, but Madara Uchiha knew very well that Aokiji was not tireless.

On the contrary, Aokiji's physical strength is gradually declining, yet he is still able to maintain this momentum.

Instead, he was just putting on a brave face, trying not to reveal any weaknesses. He was simply hanging on by a thread. Once that thread was broken, Aokiji would quickly begin to falter.

Tsunade bit her lip so hard that blood seeped out, and her clenched fist was so strong that her knuckles turned white.

He was already filled with regret.

She shouldn't have come here; she should at least have discussed it with Aokiji.

In that case, Aokiji wouldn't risk his life to come to the rescue.

This continued for an unknown period of time, until Aokiji's ice sword was covered in the blood of his enemies, becoming a veritable blood sword.

With a flash of light, Aokiji escaped the slash of the Executioner's Blade. His eyes kept glancing at Tsunade's location. After a long period of intentional and unintentional approach, he had gotten quite close to Tsunade.

If we go any further, the enemy will become alert.

Unfortunately, this distance is not the optimal distance for the Instantaneous Movement Technique. Using it rashly might have a chance of saving the opponent, but there is also a risk of failure.

Qing Pheasant did not dare to gamble rashly. If he lost the bet, the consequences would be disastrous.

He needs to be extremely careful about this.

Just then, the user of the flounder rushed towards him, his two weapons merging into one, a sign that the weapon was now in use.

Aokiji's gaze sharpened.

This position and this direction of attack are just right.

With a thought racing through his mind, Aokiji seized the opportunity to create an opening.

At the same time, the body of the tailed beast is undergoing a further transformation, with its body enveloped in dark red chakra, and it enters Sage Mode 2 and Steam Armor Mode, making final preparations for subsequent actions.

The flounder emitted a dazzling blue light, forming a giant hammer that sent Aokiji flying. The hammer flew directly towards Tsunade's location.

In mid-air, Aokiji struggled to straighten his hunched back by shaking his back teeth and digging his feet into the ground to stop his body from collapsing.

In a flash, his body emitted an unprecedented amount of chakra.

"What?!"

Everyone was stunned by the chakra that Aokiji unleashed.

After fighting for so long, this monster still has such a huge amount of chakra.

Subconsciously, they assumed that Aokiji's chakra was aimed at them, and even got into a fighting stance to meet the attack.

Clearly, they were overthinking it.

Aokiji vanished from his spot and teleported in front of Tsunade.

"Such speed—!"

By the time Madara Uchiha came to his senses, Aokiji had already kidnapped the person right in front of him.

At this moment, even Madara Uchiha, with his eyes wide open, showed a very surprised expression and couldn't help but want to cheer and say:

Well done, Aokiji!

However, however.

The best one was still me, Uchiha Madara!

After a brief moment of surprise, Madara Uchiha smiled, a smile that was sinister and evil.

He glanced at the middle-aged ninja beside him, his gaze deep and unfathomable, and gave him a look.

Let's do it!

This ninja is a Bloodline Limit Explosion Release ninja.

The man understood Madara Uchiha's meaning, slowly raised his right hand, formed a hand seal, and rebuked him:

"Oh--!"

……

……

On the other side, a few seconds ago.

Aokiji landed steadily with his legs folded, and hugged Tsunade in a princess carry. His tense expression finally eased a little.

I did it, I did it...

Tsunade, tears streaming down her face, cried, "Fool, why did you come..."

"We'll talk about other things later. I'll take you away first."

Now is not the time to let our guard down; we are still surrounded by formidable enemies.

Fortunately, Aokiji still has enough chakra to transform into the Five-Tails and escape.

Although Tsunade is probably unable to use chakra in her current state, Aokiji is still confident that he can wait for her to leave.

After transforming into the Five-Tails, Aokiji planned to put Tsunade in his mouth.

Seeing Aokiji kidnap Tsunade right in front of them was like a slap in the face to everyone, and the Kirigakure and Iwagakure ninjas rushed over like madmen.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

Countless kunai and shuriken pierced through the air.

Aokiji first dodged the attack while holding Tsunade, and landed on an open ground: "Get ready, I'm going to transform into a tailed beast and take you away from this dangerous place."

"boom--!"

Almost without warning, he was met with a huge explosion.

Immediately afterwards, a stream of scalding liquid was applied directly to his entire face like paint, causing his face to burn intensely.

For a moment, Aokiji's mind went completely blank, as if a normally functioning computer had suddenly been infected with a computer virus and crashed.

Even after a few sounds and a slight return to his senses, Aokiji's mind was still in a state of confusion.

He licked the liquid from the corner of his mouth.

It smelled of blood...

This is the taste of Tsunade's blood...

Aokiji's eyes flickered, and he lowered his head tremblingly.

At this moment, Tsunade had a large hole torn open in her stomach, bloody and unbearable to look at. It was certain that her internal organs had been completely blown apart, and there was even a faint smell of burning...

The explosion must have come from inside her stomach...

Her body temperature, a symbol of life, was rapidly fading. Tsunade's face was deathly pale, and she said in a very weak voice, "I'm...sorry..."

Having suffered such a fatal injury, even the Thousand Hands clan, with their strong vitality, were completely beyond saving.

It's more accurate to say that Tsunade's survival and ability to speak further makes her a remarkable figure even within the Senju clan.

Aokiji: "..."

Tsunade offered her final apology: "I'm really... so... sorry... I... shouldn't have..."

Aokiji: "..."

"Cough...cough cough..."

Tsunade's memories began to appear like a revolving lantern.

From being born into a prestigious ninja clan, entering the ninja academy, meeting Aokiji, becoming a disciple of the Third Hokage, forming a contract with Shikkotsu Forest, and falling in love with Aokiji...

These unforgettable memories remain etched in her mind.

"So... this is... what it feels like to die. It's really... so painful... cough cough... Aokiji, you... you... do you know? I... I'm not sad because I'm about to die, but... because... because... I can never let you touch... my... body again, and that makes me... sad..."

After saying this, Tsunade slowly closed her eyes, her breathing gradually becoming weak, then intermittent, and finally ceasing...

After Tsunade died, Aokiji didn't know how much time had passed—it could have been seconds, minutes, hours, or even...

When he came to his senses, he realized that he seemed to be shouting. He didn't know what he was shouting, but it seemed that as long as he kept shouting until he vomited out his soul, he would feel better.

At the same time, a vast amount of dark chakra is converging at the brain's neural hub.

P.S.: I just finished writing this and haven't had time to proofread it yet. I'll update it first and then revise it later. Sorry...

(End of this chapter)