Chapter 816: When Gods want you dead, what can mortals do?(1)
It suddenly clicked in his mind and disbelief appeared on Orochimaru's face! A second later, he began laughing maniacally again! He said, "No wonder! It all makes sense now! I always felt that you leaving the village with such a deadly phobia and a young child was suicide. Even if you wanted to go, Sensei would never allow you to. Your clan wouldn't either. That means you should have cured yourself before you left the village.
Yet, all these years, you acted as if you had it. For over two decades, you used this reason to avoid every Konoha duty with the exception of the Third Great Ninja War! The elders backed off due to this reason.
I couldn't sense anything off about your acting either, not back then or last week. If not for this incident, I would have been in the dark, hahaha. Well played, Princess Tsunade!"
Tsunade's expression stayed indifferent, but it was as Orochimaru predicted. Hiruzen flatly refused to let her leave in such a state. He even sent several Anbu squads to keep an eye on her led by none other than Sakumo to ensure she didn't sneak out.
Considering that they had just endured a great war and were soon heading towards another, Hiruzen wasn't even willing to let her leave. However, understanding her state of mind, losses, and contribution, he had no option but to relent, but he did so only after her hemophobia was cured.
However, this was kept hidden. The only individuals aware of her being cured were Hiruzen and Hiromasa. Sakumo had some doubts, but he wasn't sure. The remaining 3 elders, Jiraiya and Orochimaru, weren't informed of this and believed that she still suffered from it.
As for the rest, they weren't even aware of this issue, except for Shizune who learnt it later since Tsunade decided to keep up the act to avoid being called to duty. Her acting was so good that no one aware of her phobia ever questioned it. Even Hiruzen wondered at times whether she had been cured. So, Orochimaru's shock was completely understandable.
Even though he was laughing, Orochimaru felt a chill running down his spine. In his original plans for attacking Konoha, he had only considered Hiruzen and Jiraiya as threats. He had completely dismissed Tsunade and wasn't aware of Fujin's strength until he clashed with him in the Forest of Death.
He couldn't help but wonder, 'So, you didn't think of me as a big enough threat to play this card, Sensei? Or, did you not play it because you wanted to respect her wishes? Regardless…'