Chapter 63: This is the Ultimate Defense!
Tsunade's vision turned ashen. Her younger brother Nawaki's hollowed-out chest, her lover Dan's mangled body... blood-colored nightmares surged from the depths of her memory, leaving her frozen, making even breathing difficult.
"Tsunade! Get out of the way!" Jiraiya tried to rush over from a distance, but he was held back by Orochimaru and could only let out a roar.
Right at that moment.
An orange shadow charged straight toward the center of Manda's attack.
Is it that kid? What is he trying to do? Use his body to block that fatal blow?
Everyone present, including Yakushi Kabuto who was preparing to retreat, felt that he was simply seeking death.
But Naruto didn't spread his arms to tank it head-on. He rushed in front of Tsunade, exerted force with his feet, leaned his body forward violently, and slammed hard into Tsunade's embrace.
To be precise, he buried his entire face into her with the fastest speed possible, making solid contact.
Thud!
Time seemed to slow down.
Naruto felt himself surrounded by a warm, soft power, and a pleasant fragrance wafted toward his nose.
[Whoa! What is this? Is this heaven?!]
Even with tens of thousands of tons of snake tail right above his head, Naruto's heart instantly bloomed with flowers.
[So soft! So fragrant! So big! This is the dream! This is the miracle of the Ninja World! My heart, which was racing just now, was instantly soothed, and my entire soul is floating!]
[What Manda? What Orochimaru? If I can't see it, it doesn't exist! As long as I bury my head deep enough, as long as I stay for just 0.1 seconds more, this isn't a battlefield—it's paradise!]
If anyone could read his mind at this moment, they would surely curse this bastard for thinking about romance even when death was imminent.
But Naruto's subsequent thoughts revealed a logic that was hard for others to comprehend.
[Isn't Granny Tsunade afraid of blood? She freezes up as soon as she sees blood, right?]
[Then it's simple! Just don't let her see it!]
[I'm using my handsome face now to block her vision from every single angle! No matter how much blood is outside, as long as she looks down, all she'll see is my brilliant blond hair!]
[What do you call this? This is called 'Full-Coverage Physical Visual Blockade Therapy'! This is definitely a great way to treat hemophobia!]
[And... hehe, Granny Tsunade's place is definitely an S-rank defensive item. If that giant snake really slams down, as long as I hide between these two airbags, the massive cushioning force will be enough to keep me alive! The sense of security is off the charts!]
[Don't be afraid! Granny Tsunade! In the softest place in the world, I will firmly guard your line of sight! You must also protect my dog head!]
Tsunade, who was trembling all over because of fear, felt not only the impact of that hot body in her arms during that moment of darkness and suffocation, but also heard those absurd remarks in her mind.
What heaven? What airbags?
And you want to treat my illness with this kind of posture?
"Ugh..."
Tsunade's breathing became somewhat rapid due to Naruto's forceful squeeze. In that instant, a strong sense of shame welled up in her heart. Having someone bury their head in her chest in public—this stimulus forcibly dispelled the blood-colored shadows that had haunted her for decades.
The fear in her heart vanished, replaced by an impulse to kill.
[Ding!]
[Detected that the host (Tsunade) is enduring a dual mental shock of high-intensity'Suffocating Facial' and'Sacrilegious XP Therapy'.]
[Emotional Overload Warning: Shame levels off the charts! Anger levels off the charts! Physiological stimulation off the charts!]
[heavenly curtain Special Judgment: Using extreme vitality to counter the shadow of death. The mental anchor of hemophobia has been forcibly crushed by this improper power!]
[Obtained Ultimate Rewards:]
[1. hemophobia (Eradicated). From this moment on, blood is no longer your nightmare, but the fuel for your battle.]
[2. Strength of a Hundred Seal (Instantly fully charged and released). All Chakra is boiling due to emotional excitement, no longer requiring a long refinement process.]
Boom—!
A pillar of blue Chakra light soared into the sky from Tsunade's body.
The purple diamond-shaped mark on her forehead suddenly lit up, and black incantations immediately spread out, quickly covering her face.
Naruto, who was originally prepared to tank the blow, suddenly felt the sensation in his arms change.
From a soft, gentle paradise, it instantly turned into a volcano about to erupt.
"You! Little! Brat!"
Tsunade let out an angry shout, grabbed Naruto's collar, and threw him like a little chick to the safe grass dozens of meters away.
In the next second, her fist met the falling snake tail in a simple and pure strike.
One large and one small.
A fist and a giant snake.
The moment they made contact, the air let out a piercing sonic boom.
Bang—Boom!
The sound didn't seem like flesh colliding; it was more like two giant boulders crashing head-on.
Orochimaru's vertical pupils instantly constricted into pinpoints.
Manda's body, thicker than a locomotive, twisted and deformed from the point of contact under this punch. A massive shockwave carrying dust and rubble turned into a visible white airwave that swept across the entire battlefield.
"Roar—!"
The giant summoned beast, Manda, let out a piercing scream. Its massive body was blown into the air by the reaction force of the punch and then crashed heavily into the distant hills.
The ground shook and the mountains swayed.
A deep canyon appeared on the outskirts of Tanzaku Street.
The dust and smoke gradually dispersed.
Tsunade stood at the edge of the giant crater, still maintaining her punching posture. The wind blew her long blond hair, and the black markings of the Byakugō Seal on her face looked domineering. Her entire being radiated an astonishing aura.
As for the instigator of all this, Naruto, he was currently lying spread-eagled on the distant grass with a silly grin on his face.
[Whew... that was close. Luckily Granny Tsunadewoke up.]
[But the wind pressure from that punch just now was so strong! As expected of the legendary Sannin!]
[Speaking of which, that sensation just now... has my face already memorized that shape? And that faint scent of wine mixed with body fragrance on Granny Tsunade is really intoxicating. This risk was totally worth it! Even if I were really flattened by a snake, as long as I stayed in that position, it would be a case of 'dying under a peony flower, even as a ghost, I'd be romantic', right?]
Jiraiya and Anko, standing in the distance, were already so stunned their mouths wouldn't close.
Only Tsunade, after steadying her breathing, slowly turned her head. Her eyes, now completely clear, bypassed the messy battlefield and locked firmly onto the little brat in the distance who was still smiling foolishly.
Her gaze was complicated.
There was the relief of escaping her nightmare, the anger at his indecent actions, but in the deepest part... there was a hint of a strange feeling that even she was unwilling to admit.
This kid... used the most improper way to achieve what no one else could.
"Orochimaru!"
"Since you've pissed me off too, then leave the rest of your life here!"
Looking at Tsunade, whose combat power was currently off the charts and who exuded a domineering aura, and then at the unfathomable Jiraiya beside her.
Orochimaru's face became exceptionally ugly. He glanced at the twitching Manda and then at Kabuto, who was stuck like a pincushion with his life status unknown.
"Retreat."
Although unwilling, he also knew that he had completely lost today's battle. And he had lost in an inexplicable way.
Watching Orochimaru turn into countless small snakes and flee, Tsunade did not pursue.
The seal on her body slowly receded, and her chest rose and fell slightly. She looked down at her chest and thought of that strange 'ultimate defense' claim in her mind.
Tsunade grit her teeth, her cheeks feeling a bit hot.
"Shizune! Drag him over here! I want to 'properly' check if he's injured!"
Naruto, in the distance, shuddered.
[Eh? Why do I have an ominous premonition? Did I not perform well enough just now? Was the service not in place?]