Chapter 78

As Tsunade's consciousness began to fade, her senses sharpened, and she became acutely aware of the presence behind her. With a surge of adrenaline, she forced herself to turn, her gaze locking onto the figure looming over her—a figure shrouded in chakra yet unmistakably menacing.

Kakuzu stood tall and imposing, his expression twisted into a wicked smirk as he reveled in the moment of triumph. His eyes glinted with malice, reflecting the cruel satisfaction of a predator closing in on its prey. With a cold, calculated demeanor, he raised his hand, the deadly threads of his heart-stealing jutsu coiling around his fingers like serpents poised to strike.

"You Senju are always so predictable; that's the easiest 100 million that I have ever made," Kakuzu taunted, his voice dripping with contempt. "You truly believed you could outwit me, the great Kakuzu? Such arrogance."

But just as Kakuzu was about to revel in his victory, a chilling whisper echoed in his ears—a voice that seemed to slither through the shadows like a serpent's hiss. "Was it really so easy?" it murmured, a hint of mockery tainting the words.

Confusion flickered across Kakuzu's face, his smirk faltering for the briefest moment as doubt crept into his mind. Before he could comprehend the meaning behind the ominous voice, Tsunade's body before him began to waver, its form shifting and distorting like a mirage in the desert.

With a sudden surge of panic, Kakuzu realized the truth—he had been deceived. The Tsunade before him was nothing more than a mere clone, a wood clone crafted with intricate precision. A technique long believed to have been lost since the time of Senju Hashirama. But before he could react, a searing pain erupted in his chest as Tsunade materialized behind him in a blur of motion.

With a savage strength born of sheer will and anger, Tsunade ripped out Kakuzu's heart with a single, merciless thrust, her eyes ablaze with righteous fury. As Kakuzu staggered backward, clutching his wounded chest, Tsunade's voice cut through the air like a blade, dripping with scorn and disdain.

"Is this all you're capable of, Kakuzu?" She spat, her tone laced with derision. "A pathetic attempt to assassinate a Senju with such feeble strength? Did you think you could kill me with nothing more than a coward's sneak attack?"

A triumphant smirk graced Tsunade's lips as she held Kakuzu's beating heart in her hand. Her mocking words made Kakuzu's eyes burn with fury.

As Kakuzu staggered back, clutching his wounded chest, a sardonic grin twisted his lips, his eyes gleaming with a glint of defiance amidst the pain. "Don't be so arrogant just because you managed to escape a sneak attack," he sneered, his voice laced with bitter amusement. "Remember, I am the one who survived even after attempting to assassinate your grandfather. You underestimate me at your own peril, Senju."

But Tsunade's laughter rang out like a bell, echoing across the battlefield with a chilling certainty. With a casual flick of her wrist, she crushed Kakuzu's still-beating heart beneath her heel, the sickening sound of its demise punctuating the air like a death knell. Yet, even as she disposed of the organ, her gaze remained fixed on Kakuzu, her eyes glinting with an unwavering resolve.

"Throwing a kunai at my grandfather from a mile away and calling it an assassination attempt?" Tsunade's voice dripped with mockery, her laughter ringing with the confidence of a warrior unyielding. "Is that the best you can do, Kakuzu? How pathetic."

With a swift, fluid motion, Tsunade shifted into a combat stance, her muscles coiled like a spring, ready to unleash its fury. "Let me show you what it means to face a true Senju in battle," she declared, her voice resonating with an unspoken challenge.

As Kakuzu summoned forth his masked beasts of wind and fire, Tsunade's eyes narrowed in concentration, her focus unwavering as she prepared to meet this new threat head-on. With a series of handsigns, she commanded the earth to obey her will, invoking the power of Mokuton.

"[Mokuton: Daisōju]" (Wood Release: Great Spear Tree)

From the fertile soil beneath their feet, towering spears of wood erupted with explosive force, hurtling toward Kakuzu with deadly precision. The air crackled with tension as the massive tree spears zeroed in on their target, their sharp points gleaming in the sunlight like the teeth of a hungry predator.

But Kakuzu was no ordinary foe, and he met Tsunade's assault with a fierce determination of his own. With lightning-fast reflexes, he maneuvered his masked beasts into position, their elemental powers swirling around him in a chaotic whirlwind of wind and fire.

As the wooden spears closed in, Kakuzu unleashed a barrage of fireballs and razor-sharp gusts of wind, deflecting the deadly projectiles with skillful precision. But Tsunade was relentless, her onslaught unyielding as she continued to press her advantage with unrelenting force.

With a sudden burst of speed, Tsunade closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye, her fists wreathed in a halo of chakra-infused energy. With a thunderous roar, she unleashed a devastating flurry of blows, each strike landing with the force of a battering ram against Kakuzu's defenses.

Despite his best efforts, Kakuzu found himself overwhelmed by Tsunade's relentless assault. With each passing moment, his defenses began to crumble under the weight of her onslaught, his masked beasts faltering under the relentless barrage.

With a mighty display of strength, Tsunade tore through one of Kakuzu's masked beasts, its form dissolving into nothingness as another of Kakuzu's hearts was destroyed in the process. Despite the pain coursing through his battered body, Kakuzu remained defiant, his eyes burning with determination.

"That's two down, three more to go," Tsunade taunted, her voice laced with scorn. She could see the toll her attacks had taken on Kakuzu; his body bruised and broken from their fierce battle. As a skilled medical ninja, Tsunade could assess the extent of the damage she had inflicted, though she couldn't help but wonder about the mysterious technique that had kept Kakuzu alive for so long.

But there was no time for idle speculation. The battle raged on, and Tsunade knew she had to end it swiftly. With the bijuu still at large, there was no telling what havoc it could wreak if left unchecked.

As Kakuzu struggled to his feet, fear and panic gripped his mind at the Senju's blatant revelation of his well-kept secret, the source of his supposed immortality. All he wanted now was to flee from the monster standing before him. He had overestimated himself, and this battle with the Senju made him relive the day he tried to assassinate Hashirama. He had been outmatched even before he could mount a decent defense, saved only by the man's mercy. And now, faced with the same humiliation at the hands of the man's granddaughter, Kakuzu's anger surged.

With a desperate resolve, the masked fire beast began gathering chakra at an alarming rate, intending to overload the chakra heart and trigger a devastating explosion. Tsunade quickly understood Kakuzu's intentions. Too close to retreat, she weaved hand signs swiftly.

"[Mokuton: Mokujin no Jutsu]" (Wood Release: Wood Golem Technique)

"Kabooooom!" A deafening explosion tore through the battlefield, ripping the walls of Tsunade's earlier earthen arena to pieces. But as the smoke cleared, a massive wooden golem shielded Tsunade completely from the blast.

Kakuzu attempted to flee using an earth escape technique, but Tsunade was ready. Before she could intercept, a massive bijudama hurtled towards her. With quick thinking, she manipulated her wooden golem to intercept the attack, swatting the beast bomb away effortlessly.

"Tch, run, Kakuzu. Someday, I will find you," Tsunade declared firmly, her voice echoing across the battlefield. With those words, she turned to face the restrained bijuu once more. The wooden golem had already rushed towards the creature, pinning it down in a powerful chokehold. The entire battlefield now bore witness to the emergence of a new Mokuton user, none other than the Senju princess herself.

Stepping forward, Tsunade approached the weakened bijuu, which struggled futilely against the wooden golem draining its chakra. "Han, this farce has gone on long enough. It's time we end this war," she commanded, her voice cutting through the chaos of battle.

With a determined stride, Tsunade directed her golem to drag the now-restrained five tails towards the designated capture location. The sight sent shivers down the spines of Iwagakure Shinobi, many of whom had already begun to retreat out of fear. None dared to challenge the Senju princess as she boldly and unapologetically dragged the bijuu through the battlefield, signaling a turning point in the conflict.

**********

On the Kirigakure front, Uchiha Fugaku found himself panting in exhaustion as his Golden Susanoo engaged in a primal brawl with the Three Tails. Both combatants were battered and bruised, and despite his massive chakra reserves, Yagura, the host of the Three Tails, failed to overpower the Uchiha clan head.

"Give up, Uchiha. This fight is futile. None of us can come out on top. Just return to your defense lines, and we can call it a day," Yagura commented, offering a temporary ceasefire. He knew that the Kirigakure army was sustaining too much damage.

Contrary to Yagura's expectations, the Uchiha leader simply smirked and released his Susanoo. For a moment, Yagura thought that the enemy commander was agreeing to his offer of a ceasefire, but his next words sent a chill down Yagura's spine.

"Sure enough, just like the intel stated, you are weak against Genjutsu attacks. You aren't even aware that you have willingly entered a trap and surrendered yourself," Uchiha Fugaku said, completing his mission. His eyes shifted from Mangekyou to a regular three-tomoe Sharingan.

Yagura, who had been carefully watching his enemy's actions, was confused. Suddenly, the scene around him changed. He found himself in the center of a massive fuinjutsu circle, with a large number of pitch-black chains unknowingly wrapped around his bijuu form. The earlier fight with Fugaku had left him weakened, so he couldn't break free from the restraints.

"Genjutsu!" Yagura finally understood. He had somehow fallen into a Genjutsu, and he didn't know when he had come under its influence. He turned his attention to the Three Tails' consciousness; even the bijuu was in a trance. Now he realized that the target of the Leaf armies was him from the beginning. However, it was too late, as he was completely restricted by the massive formation. Each passing second made him weaker, as the fuinjutsu actively drained a vast amount of chakra from his body.

A few miles away from the formation, Zetsu watched the entire scene in shock. He wanted to intercept and help the bijuu escape, but the looming threat of Uchiha Shisui kept him at bay. Shisui hadn't yet been seen on the battlefield, and Zetsu was sure he was somehow masking his presence, waiting to launch a sneak attack. Zetsu had to let Obito know that something major was happening in the Shinobi world, so he quickly merged into the tree to meet Obito.

********

On the Kumogakure front, the Raikage was desperately trying to break away from Jiraiya, who had single-handedly kept him occupied. The Raikage found himself in a desperate situation as he finally realized the enemy's objective: their bijuu. Shikaku had used himself as bait to lure Yugito into a head-on clash with the enemies, breaking away from the vanguard to pursue the Nara and settle the score for her earlier humiliation at his hands.

But all of this was a carefully laid-out trap. Right now, Yugito was trapped behind enemy lines, confined within a massive fuinjutsu barrier and besieged by the combined assault of the Nara, the Hatake ninja, and lastly, a taijutsu ninja who had risen to prominence in the recent war.

"Jiraiya, what are you trying to achieve? Do you want to forsake any chance of reconciliation? I will personally raze Konoha to the ground, and we will fight Konoha to the last shinobi if you harm our Jinchuriki," Ay exclaimed in frustration. Despite his superior speed, he felt powerless against the Toad Sage as the enemy commander easily intercepted him with the help of a fuinjutsu barrier.