Tsunade felt it in the room.
A flicker of chakra. It was distant but distinct enough to know about it. A release of energy that should not have happened in the middle of a tense negotiation. She was shocked because she knew that chakra signature.
'Akane.'
She did not let her expression change. She kept her hands folded on the table, her posture attentive, her gaze fixed on the Fire Daimyo who was still speaking.
Orochimaru's head turned slightly. He had felt the chakra released deliberately to inform them.
Their eyes met for a fraction of a second, but neither spoke anything.
It was then that the door opened before anyone could react.
A guard entered, breathless, his uniform dishevelled. "My Lord. There is a brawl in the eastern corridor. The Wind Daimyo's men and our own. They have weapons drawn and fighting."
The Fire Daimyo rose from his seat. "On whose authority?"
The guard hesitated for a second but spilt the beans. "It started over access to the medical wing."
Before the guard could finish his report, Tsunade was already standing. She did not wait for permission and moved towards the door with Orochimaru following a step behind.
The corridor was chaos when they reached it.
Guards in grey and guards in Fire livery were separated but still shouting. A trail of blood marked where a man had been dragged away. And at the centre of it, standing in front of the open door to Himari's room, stood the Wind Daimyo.
He was not shouting or moving. He stood there, with his hands clasped behind his back, staring into the empty room.
Behind him, Akemi stood with her head bowed.
"Tsunade." The Wind Daimyo's voice was calm, too calm. "I was told my daughter was being treated in this room."
Tsunade stopped at the edge of the corridor. She did not answer and just looked around.
"I was told she was safe. That your presence guaranteed her recovery." He turned to face her. "Where is she?"
The room behind him was empty. The bed was clean. The sheets were cold. But there was nothing in the room that spoke of life.
Tsunade's mind moved through the possibilities.
'Akane had been here. The chakra release was to tell me he was here. He has taken Himari because he discovered something.'
Whether by plan or by instinct, she did not know yet. But she knew one thing.
She could not answer his question or speak anything right now.
The Fire Daimyo arrived a moment later, his guards flanking him. He looked at the open door, the empty room, and the Wind Daimyo's gaze, and his composure cracked.
"Tsunade."
She did not look at him. Her mind was running through different theories and something that could be presented.
"Tsunade." His voice was harder now. "Explain."
She still did not answer.
The Wind Daimyo stepped forward, his voice rising for the first time. "I entrusted my daughter to your nation. I placed her in your care, and now she is gone. Vanished from a room that was supposed to be guarded by Konoha's finest medic. What am I supposed to tell my people? That Konoha cannot protect a single girl?"
The Fire Daimyo's jaw tightened at the words. He looked at Tsunade again, this time with something closer to desperation. The plan had formed in the room, and they were discussing about the future. But something unexpected had happened. Something no one considered.
She met his gaze for one second, and then she looked away.
"Orochimaru," she said. "Stay here."
She turned and walked down the corridor.
"Tsunade!" The Fire Daimyo's voice followed her. "You cannot walk away from this!"
She did not stop.
She turned a corner, then another, until the voices faded. She found an empty storage room, stepped inside, and closed the door.
A Zetsu rose from the floor.
"Where is he?"
"Safe. He has the target."
Tsunade closed her eyes for a moment. The tension in her shoulders did not release, but it shifted.
"What happened?"
"Wind Daimyo sent men to the medical wing. Akemi was with them. A fight broke out. Akane used the distraction to extract the girl. He said to tell you the extraction happened early and he has the target."
"He did not know about the plan."
"No. He found the poison vial. He deduced the genjutsu. He decided to act."
Tsunade exhaled slowly. The plan had worked, but not the way she had designed it. Still, the outcome was the same, and Himari was out.
'But what can be told to them?'
"Tell him to hold position. I will handle the political fallout." She said. She didn't want Akane to appear in front of them, as he had no position right now. She knew that if the situation started to get out of hand, every single person involved would die and be replaced before any word could go outside the mansion.
'I need to handle this here. Akane would surely leave something that could be used as an answer. I just need to wait for it.'
The Zetsu sank into the floor.
Tsunade straightened her coat and walked back toward the corridor.
The scene had not improved in her absence.
The Wind Daimyo was pacing now, his composure fraying. Akemi stood where she had been, her face pale, her hands clasped tightly in front of her. The Fire Daimyo was speaking in low, urgent tones to one of his advisors.
Orochimaru stood apart from both groups, his arms folded, watching.
He saw Tsunade return but showed no reaction. The situation had reached to a point where nothing would be solved by mere words.
The Wind Daimyo saw her too. He stopped pacing.
"Where did you go?"
"To check the perimeter."
"And?"
"There is no sign of forced entry. No sign of a struggle. The room was empty when you arrived."
"I know it was empty. I am asking you where my daughter is."
Tsunade did not answer.
Akemi's voice cut through the tension, quiet but steady. "There was a guard."
Everyone turned to look at her.
She kept her eyes on the floor. "When I approached the room, a man was standing outside the door. He told me I could not enter. He said it was on Lady Tsunade's orders."
"Describe him," the Fire Daimyo said.
"I did not recognise him. He was not in uniform. He had dark hair and a young, calm voice. He stood in front of the door and did not move."
The Fire Daimyo's eyes narrowed. He turned to his guards. "Call every guard in the mansion. Line them up in the courtyard. I want to see every face."
The guards moved to obey.
"She said he was not in uniform."
It was then that Orochimaru spoke. "He is unlikely to be among your guards."
"Then we search the mansion floor by floor."
"And by the time we find him," the Wind Daimyo cut in, "your people will have hidden the evidence and moved her somewhere else. This is a cover-up. Your medic arranged this."
"I have been in a meeting with your host for the past hour," Tsunade countered. Her voice was steady with no sign of panicked behaviour "I could not have arranged anything."
Orochimaru looked at Tsunade, who was more confident than ever, and he understood she had found something.
'But why isn't she presenting it? She doesn't want Akane to come in their eyes? This woman has seen, but I am sure it must be a transformation.'
"You could have ordered it before the meeting."
"You have no proof of that."
"I have her testimony." The Wind Daimyo gestured at Akemi. "She saw your man. She heard him claim your authority. If my daughter is found dead in a ditch tomorrow, that testimony becomes evidence of conspiracy."
The Fire Daimyo's face was pale. He looked at Tsunade, his expression unreadable. He knew the situation had taken a worse turn, and the worst thing was he couldn't do anything.
A moment passed.
Then a voice came from the far end of the corridor.
"What testimony?"
Everyone turned to look in the direction.
Tsunade stood at the entrance to the medical wing. She was slightly out of breath, her coat dusted with what looked like road grime. In her arms, wrapped in a heavy travelling cloak, was a figure.
She walked past the gathered crowd without looking at any of them, entered the room, laid the figure on the bed, and turned to face them.
"I found her wandering the eastern district. Disoriented, alone, wearing nothing but her sleeping clothes. She does not remember how she got there."
The silence that followed was absolute.
Akemi's face went white.
The Wind Daimyo stared at the figure on the bed, then at Tsunade, then back at the figure. His mouth opened, closed and opened again.
The Fire Daimyo looked at Tsunade with something close to disbelief.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed at the patient and then at Tsunade, who arrived in the room.
The Tsunade who had just arrived, carrying Himari, stood by the bed and waited.
The other Tsunade, the one who had returned from the storage room, watched from the edge of the crowd, with no change in her expression.
Neither acknowledged the contradiction.
Neither planned to.