"Lord Sakumo, we will be taking our leave as well."
Hatake Sakumo looked at Chiya and gave a serious nod.
"Go ahead."
A glint of knowing light flashed in the silver-haired man's eyes. He suddenly thought of something.
"Wait!"
Chiya looked at him with a puzzled expression.
Sakumo's face turned serious.
"Your battle record will sooner or later reach the other villages. So from now on, you must be especially careful. They may take action specifically targeting you."
Chiya was briefly startled, then gave a light laugh and nodded.
"Understood. Thank you, Lord Sakumo."
With that, Chiya walked off after Tsunade.
One ahead, one behind.
The medical ninja who had come along quickly followed at the same pace.
When the flap of the medical tent was lifted, they saw Tsunade with her back to him, forcefully throwing a bundle of bandages into a supply crate.
"You should take care of the medical supplies, Lady Tsunade."
Chiya's voice rang out.
Tsunade spun around sharply. Her bright brown eyes glared at him.
Seeing the medical ninja following not far behind, she forcibly pushed down her anger.
Tsunade stepped past Chiya.
She began assigning tasks to the medical ninja.
"Review the medical handbook several times. Tomorrow I will test you on the key points. Anyone who cannot answer will go back to the village together with the severely injured ninja!"
"In wartime, there is no room for useless people!"
Everyone felt a jolt in their chest. The atmosphere immediately grew tense.
"Yes! Lady Tsunade!"
Hearing the unified reply, Tsunade gave a firm nod.
"Except for the medical ninja who are needed to care for patients, everyone else rest up and wait for the Medical Corps orders. Dismissed!"
With those words, everyone left quickly.
Within a few minutes, only Tsunade and Uchiha Chiya remained in the camp.
Tsunade walked up to him with large steps.
"You should know the consequences of overusing the Mangekyou, right?"
Her voice was kept very low, but it carried suppressed anger.
When Chiya's battle record had just been spoken aloud, almost everyone had looked at Chiya with stunned and admiring eyes.
But not a single one of them had thought about what price he had to pay for using that power.
That feeling could not help but remind her of her younger brother Nawaki.
Back then, people only remembered the glory of the Senju clan, but forgot that he was just a child pushing himself too hard.
He had suffered so much just to uphold the family name. In the end he had even charged onto the battlefield and lost his life.
She did not want to watch Chiya, like her younger brother, ruin himself for the sake of a reputation.
Chiya looked at Tsunade. He knew she was angry about what had just happened.
"Next time you do something reckless like that, I will."
"Sew my eyes shut with needle and thread."
Chiya finished her sentence with ease, raised his hand, and lightly tapped Tsunade on her smooth forehead.
"You already said that yesterday."
...
Tsunade slapped Uchiha Chiya's hand away.
She turned to reach for a medicine bottle, but Chiya gently pressed her wrist to stop her.
"Relax."
Chiya's voice suddenly became serious.
"I will be careful. Unless there is no other choice, I will not use these eyes."
Tsunade finally let out a sigh and turned her hand over to grip his wrist and check his pulse.
Only after confirming everything was normal did she pull away.
'Do I really need someone else to tell me about my own eyes. What a fool.'
She muttered.
She turned and rummaged through the medical supplies.
Sunlight came through the gaps in the tent and cast a pattern of crossing light spots on the ground.
"Found it!"
Tsunade found a medicinal herb inside.
After carefully cleaning it, she came to the table.
She took out a chakra scalpel and trimmed with precision. The blade tapped against the wooden board on the table, making a light, scattered sound.
"This is prepared for you. You must take it three times a day without fail."
Chiya leaned against the medicine cabinet, watching the tense line of her profile. He suddenly reached out and pinched one of the freshly cut medicine tablets away.
Tsunade's scalpel hand gave a jolt.
"Those tablets have not been decocted yet!"
Chiya held the tablet up in front of his nose and smelled it.
The somewhat sharp smell made his brow furrow immediately.
'This thing looks like it will taste terrible.'
Tsunade grabbed his collar in irritation.
"Put it down right now!"
Her breath landed on Chiya's face, carrying a faint sweet scent.
Chiya let her pull at him and gave a light laugh.
"Tsunade, do you know about the Mangekyou Sharingan?"
Tsunade was silent for a moment. Her bright brown eyes stared at him, but the grip of her hand loosened without her realizing it.
"The Mangekyou Sharingan. Of course I know about it."
She turned her face away. Her voice dropped.
"When I was young, I read about it in books from my family."
The mortar rolled across the board with a dull, heavy sound. Her fingertips moved absently over the chakra scalpel.
"Everyone who awakens the Mangekyou Sharingan is eventually swallowed by the darkness."
Chiya suddenly took her hand and brought it to his face, rubbing it gently against his cheek.
"Tsunade, do you have confidence in me?"
His voice was soft, but unusually clear.
Tsunade did not answer the question. She took a deep breath.
"Chiya, unless there is absolutely no other way, never open the Mangekyou Sharingan."
When Tsunade looked up, she found those dark black eyes were watching her with full attention.
There was none of the usual teasing in them. Only seriousness.
"Tsunade, do you have confidence in me?"
Chiya asked again.
"You are my person. How could I not trust you?"
She pulled her hand back. The tips of her ears turned faintly red.
"Otherwise I will use a sealing jutsu and seal those troublesome eyes of yours shut for good."
Chiya smiled and raised both hands.
"Yes yes, Lady Tsunade is always the most sensible."
The footsteps of patrolling ninja came from outside the tent. Tsunade suddenly shoved a medicine packet into his arms.
"Drink it before bed."
She paused, then added fiercely.
"If you dare dump it out, you are done for."
...
At the same time, near the Konoha border with Amegakure, in a dark underground room.
Water droplets clung to the damp stone walls. Orochimaru's golden vertical pupils looked like those of some cold-blooded creature in the dim light.
He walked through the corridor, stepping over pooled water.
Root ninja on both sides stood motionless like statues. The sound of their breathing beneath their masks was nearly impossible to hear.
In the sealed inner chamber, Danzo stood before an experiment table with his cane, his single eye fixed on a pale arm floating in a cultivation tank.
At the cut end of the severed limb, tiny granules of flesh were slowly wriggling.
"Progress is good."
Danzo's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping.
"But still not stable enough."
Orochimaru licked his lips and took out a test tube from his sleeve.
Several fragments of cell tissue were suspended in a pale green liquid, giving off a strange glow in the darkness.
"The latest extract from Hashirama's cells."
His voice carried an almost hypnotic rhythm.
"As long as the transplant succeeds, the power of Wood Style will."
Danzo suddenly raised his hand to cut him off.
"We will discuss it after things stabilize."
A flicker of contempt passed through Orochimaru's eyes, but he put the test tube away accordingly.
He looked around. This underground lab, fully supported by Root, had equipment far beyond what he had expected. Cultivation tanks held the organs of various Kekkei Genkai ninja submerged inside.
"Material collection has gone smoothly."
Danzo tapped the floor with his cane.
"A new batch of goods will arrive in three days."
Orochimaru's vertical pupils contracted slightly. His hungry gaze swept over the precious samples soaking in the nutrient solution.
"How truly... exciting."
"However, it seems something has happened over at Amegakure."
Orochimaru was silent for a moment, then spoke coldly.
"No matter what, as long as the materials are sufficient, that is all that matters. Our research cannot fall behind."
Danzo heard that. His single eye narrowed slightly.
"I know. For now, settle in and do your experiments here. I have already spoken to Hiruzen about temporarily assigning you to a position in my Root. As for the Eight-Tails intelligence you want, I have already brought it up again with certain people in the village. Within a few days at most, you should be able to move on it."
Orochimaru gave a casual sound of acknowledgment. His eyes were fixed straight on those "materials," and he paid almost no attention to what Danzo had just proposed.
"By the way, word just came in from the Suna-nin battlefield. Among the squad of yours that was completely wiped out, there is one survivor. He is still alive."
Orochimaru's expression froze.
A suspicion quietly formed in his mind.
"Who is it?"
"Uchiha Chiya!"
Orochimaru went silent. Then a meaningful look slowly spread across his face.
"Oh? He is actually still alive? Things are getting more and more interesting."
---