Uchiha orphan, so what if I'm ruthless?

Tsunade did not lower the hand holding the sake bottle. Her gaze was fixed on Uchiha Taiga's face like a nail, as if trying to see right through him.

Taiga didn't look at her. He picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a piece of pickled radish, and popped it into his mouth. He chewed with a loud crunch, eating earnestly and completely ignoring Tsunade's stare.

Yugito Nii silently ate her grilled fish, but her attention wasn't on the food. Her peripheral vision remained locked on Tsunade, and her body leaned slightly toward Taiga, as if ready to stand up and shield him at a moment's notice.

She couldn't quite explain why she felt this way; it seemed she had already grown accustomed to her current role.

The atmosphere at the table grew strange. Three people, three different mindsets, and no one spoke first.

After eating a few more bites, Taiga set down his chopsticks and finally raised his eyes to glance at Tsunade.

She was still sitting there, showing no intention of leaving.

He shook his head. "I know what you're trying to do."

His tone was flat.

"Since you've left Konoha, you shouldn't worry about things that don't concern you. To be perfectly honest, whatever I'm doing here is none of your business."

Tsunade's grip on the bottle tightened, her knuckles turning slightly white.

Her gaze toward Taiga turned hostile, and she pursed her lips tightly, as if holding something back.

Given her status, age, and experience, feeling like she was being lectured by a brat made her incredibly uncomfortable.

Taiga shot her a sideways glance and chuckled. "Don't look at me like that. I'm in a bad mood right now. If you don't want to get beaten up, you'd better get out of my sight."

A vein throbbed on Tsunade's forehead. She furrowed her brows, narrowed her eyes, and gritted her teeth, lowering her voice.

"You little brat, who do you think you're talking to?"

Her voice wasn't loud, but every word carried weight.

Taiga didn't even look her in the eye. His gaze fell on the plate of kelp salad on the table, his tone casual.

"You're the princess of Konoha, born into a special status. But I'm not from Konoha. Where do you get the nerve to speak to me in that tone?"

He looked up, meeting Tsunade's eyes directly.

Those pure white eyes, as clear as glass, held no emotion—only an almost apathetic stare.

But under that gaze, Tsunade's body suddenly stiffened.

She understood that look.

For a fleeting moment, within those pristine white eyes, she seemed to see a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

White snow, red blood, black scorched earth, bodies piled high, and a boy standing in the middle of the carnage, drenched in blood and entirely expressionless.

A fierce, murderous aura washed over her, as if an invisible hand had clamped down on her throat.

"You..."

She only managed a single word before her voice caught in her throat.

Her hands began to tremble, but not out of fear.

She was Princess Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin. She had witnessed countless life-and-death struggles; she wouldn't be terrified by a mere boy's glare.

This was a different kind of trembling, seeping out from her very bones, as if something uncontrollable was churning inside her.

Hemophobia!

Tsunade's face turned pale, her breathing grew ragged, and her pupils slightly contracted.

The hand gripping the bottle shook violently, causing sake to slosh out and spill onto the table.

She curled up, arching her back and pressing her other hand against her chest, as if trying to suppress something.

Seeing her like this, Taiga was completely stunned.

His mouth twitched, and his eyelids fluttered. His expression shifted from calm to bewildered, and then to utter helplessness.

He had only released a tiny bit of his aura—he hadn't even used any chakra—and she was already reacting like this?

He didn't even know what to say.

Taiga turned his head to look at Yugito.

Yugito looked just as bewildered. She was still holding her chopsticks with a piece of fish pinched between them, her mouth slightly open. She blinked, then shrugged, signaling that she had no idea what to do either.

Taiga let out a helpless sigh.

"Take your people and leave this place soon."

He turned back to the still-trembling Tsunade, his tone growing a bit more serious.

"I'll be leaving shortly as well. It won't be long before this area becomes a battlefield."

He paused, as if remembering something, and added one last remark.

"After today, the ninja world is going to change completely. That's all I have to say."

Having said his piece, he lost his appetite. He pulled a few bills from his pocket, placed them on the table, and stood up, walking around the table toward the door.

Yugito put down her chopsticks, grabbed her backpack, picked up her three ninja swords and sealing scrolls, and followed right behind him.

Tsunade remained in her chair, her body still trembling slightly.

She watched Taiga's back disappear beyond the door curtain, watched Yugito follow him out, and watched the curtain fall back into place with a soft rustle.

Her trembling slowly subsided.

Tsunade straightened up, leaning against the back of her chair. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again.

Her gaze lingered on the curtain, her expression turning complex. She opened her mouth to speak, but ultimately said nothing.

She reached out, grabbed the bottle of sake from the table, took a large swig straight from the neck, set it down, and wiped her mouth.

Shizune stood up from a nearby table, walked over to her, leaned down, and asked softly, "Lady Tsunade, are you alright?"

Tsunade shook her head, stood up, draped her coat over her shoulders, and tucked the sake bottle into her jacket.

"Let's go."

"Where to?"

"We're following that brat."

Shizune froze for a moment but didn't ask any questions. She picked up their bundle from the table and followed Tsunade out of the izakaya.

Outside the town, the sky had completely darkened.

There was no moon, but the sky was densely packed with twinkling stars, looking as though someone had scattered crushed silver across the heavens.

The night breeze blew past, carrying the chill of early autumn and rustling the grass along the roadside.

Taiga walked ahead in silence. His strides weren't hurried, yet his pace was incredibly fast—a contradictory sight, but this was the result of integrating the Body Flicker Technique into his natural movements.

He crossed the town's main intersection and headed straight for the outskirts.

Yugito followed behind him without a word, only occasionally glancing back over her shoulder.

She could naturally sense someone trailing them from a short distance away, but since Taiga hadn't said anything, she kept quiet as well.

The two left the town and walked for a few more miles before stopping on a small hill.

The hill wasn't high, but it offered a wide field of view. They could see the lights of the distant town and the dark silhouettes of the mountains beyond. Even the starry sky above seemed a bit more brilliant from here.

The wind swept across the hilltop, fluttering their hair and clothes.

Yugito set her backpack down by her feet and leaned her three ninja swords against it. She stared at Taiga's back, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke.

"Was everything you said earlier true?"

Taiga didn't turn around. His gaze remained fixed on the distant darkness as he nodded, the corners of his mouth curling into a faint, enigmatic smile.

"Of course."

His voice was calm.

"For the past few days, there have been quite a few eyes watching us. I'd be an idiot if I didn't realize what was going on."

He had noticed it long ago.

Ever since leaving Konoha, he had occasionally felt an inexplicable sense of being watched, as if something was observing him from the shadows.

He knew exactly what it was.

White Zetsu!

Those things lurked underground, hid in the shadows of trees, and blended into crowds. They were pervasive and completely silent.

But he didn't care. A bunch of creatures that couldn't even show their faces in the light weren't worth his time.

However, over the last few days, the situation had changed.

For two days, the feeling of being watched vanished.

Then, the White Zetsu reappeared. But this time, they didn't bother hiding their tracks. They blatantly showed up at the edge of his perception, and their numbers had more than doubled.

With such blatant surveillance, it was impossible for Taiga not to notice.

The conclusion was obvious: someone was coming for him.

As for who it was, Taiga was certain it wasn't Uchiha Obito.

He had already beaten that piece of trash like a stray dog; Obito lacked both the courage and the capability to come knocking on his door.

Since it wasn't Uchiha Obito, the person coming had to be stronger than him. Taiga had a few guesses as to who it might be, but given the current timeline, it was hard to be absolutely sure.

It didn't matter. He just had to wait, and they would eventually show up.

Just as he was thinking this, footsteps sounded behind him.

There were two sets of footsteps. Both were light, but in the silence of the hilltop, they were crystal clear. Taiga didn't turn around, but the smile on his lips deepened.

The footsteps stopped a short distance behind him.

Taiga sighed softly and spoke. "By the way, I'm waiting for someone. What are you waiting for?"

The arrivals were, of course, Tsunade and Shizune.

Tsunade stepped forward, her elegant brows furrowed. "So, who exactly are you waiting for?"

Taiga grinned, shook his head, and sat down cross-legged right where he was.

"Just wait. I have a feeling we'll find out very soon."

Tsunade scoffed coldly at his response but didn't say anything more, simply crossing her arms and standing to the side.

Time ticked by, and the night grew deeper, but the group remained in place without leaving.

It wasn't until midnight that Taiga looked up toward a specific direction and licked his lips.

"Finally here, huh? This kind of aura... I see. Hahaha!"

Tsunade was startled; she hadn't sensed anything at all.

But a moment later, her expression changed drastically, and she whipped her head around to look in the direction Taiga was facing.

"How is this possible? It's him..."

In the distant, dark horizon, a figure seemed to step out of the shadows, slowly walking toward them.