Chapter 36: The Necklace

In the rain Tsunade was utterly bewildered.

What shocked her even more was yet to come.

Suddenly... whoosh, Dan extended his left arm from under his cloak, parallel to the ground.

That massive arm, thicker than Tsunade's thigh, boasted a deltoid muscle bulging like a tire, a bicep as full as a lotus root, a robust tricep, and a forearm as solid as steel.

Perfect lines, a powerful sense of strength.

This arm was a work of muscular art.

The next second, Dan's palm opened, and a blue crystal necklace fell down.

This necklace... looked familiar.

Tsunade looked down sharply, seeing her chest bare, she realized that the necklace she usually wore around her neck had somehow vanished.

And ended up in Dan's hand.

This crystal necklace was a relic of the First Hokage, it contained his sealed chakra, possessing the power to suppress the Nine-Tails.

It was one of Tsunade's most treasured possessions.

And now, Tsunade felt a faint pain in her chest, as if the necklace had been violently ripped off her, stolen.

"How is this possible?!"

Upon seeing the crystal necklace.

Tsunade finally lost her composure, her mind buzzing, completely unable to comprehend what had happened.

"This is the last warning. If you continue to pester, I will not show mercy." Dan said, while putting away the crystal necklace, treating it as a trophy of war.

He was not a man to kill indiscriminately, and he had no grudge against Tsunade. The previous fight with Tsunade was initiated by him, so she was not to blame.

But if she sought death, Dan would have to oblige.

"..."

Tsunade remained silent, her gaze fixed on Dan's back. Although she still looked defiant, her body was very honest.

Under Dan's warning, she dared not move a muscle.

After a few seconds.

Under Tsunade's watchful gaze, Dan, who had been facing away from her, finally slowly turned around.

This time, he walked step by step towards Tsunade.

Wherever Dan went, the rainwater automatically parted, not a single drop fell on him.

Gulp.

Tsunade swallowed, subconsciously clenching her fists, her eyes unblinking, her body taut to the extreme.

Ten meters, five meters, one meter.

Until zero distance.

In the heavy rain, Dan didn't glance sideways, didn't look at Tsunade once, just brushed past her.

Tsunade, in the end, didn't dare to make a move, she just twisted her head stiffly at that moment, catching a fleeting glimpse of Dan's face under his hat.

And the purple pentagram birthmark under his left neck.

Dan left, disappearing into the rain, disappearing into the depths of the forest.

Tsunade slowly turned her head, no longer able to see Dan's figure, unable to sense his presence.

Thump.

Finally, she relaxed, collapsing on the spot, letting the rain continue to pelt her body.

...

On the border of the Land of Fire.

Boom.

In a canyon, accompanied by the explosion of an explosive tag, a fire rose to the sky.

As the Third Hokage had predicted, the Panna group from the Land of Wood betrayed Konoha. After being discovered by Might Guy, a battle broke out between the two sides.

Guy's team was already strong, not to mention the assistance of Kakashi from the Anbu.

So, this battle was one-sided and ended quickly.

On the open ground.

With a shocked expression on Guy's face, Itachi silently held his ninja blade, finishing off the enemies lying on the ground one by one. With each chilling scream, not a single one was spared.

Mercilessly killing all enemies, this was the duty of the Anbu.

The sunny and kind-hearted Guy couldn't do such a thing, but for Itachi, who started killing at the age of four, it was routine.

Itachi would never forget when he was brought to the battlefield by his father as a child, everything he saw: Ninjas from different villages, the same twisted faces of death, bodies strewn everywhere, rivers of blood, it was like a scene from hell.

At that moment, Itachi's young heart was deeply shocked.

It was also from that time that he dreamed of becoming the best ninja - the Hokage, so he could change the world and eliminate wars.

And now, a war seemed imminent between the Uchiha and the village.

Itachi calculated the time, if he hurried back now, he should be able to attend the clan meeting.

Thinking of this, he let out a sigh of relief.

On the way back.

Itachi suddenly asked Kakashi:

"Captain, you're not an Uchiha but you have the Sharingan and can use the power of the Uchiha. Does that power ever make you question which side your loyalties should lay?"

Is it on the side of the Uchiha, or the side of the village?

At this moment, Itachi was not only asking Kakashi, but also asking himself.

"I've never thought about such a question."

Kakashi shook his head, showing no interest in choosing sides, he simply said, "This Sharingan was entrusted to me by a friend, it reminds me not to forget the most important thing, that is, not to let my comrades be killed."

Upon hearing this, Itachi was thoughtful.

He had heard before that Kakashi would kill his comrades to complete a mission, but it seemed that might not be the case.

However.

For the Uchiha and Konoha, for his own identity and position, Itachi, who did not get an answer from Kakashi, was still very confused.

In Konoha Village.

Dan walked into the familiar alley, and from a distance, he saw that the gym had opened for business early.

As always, there were hardly any customers.

He pushed the door and entered.

"Boss, you're back." Samui looked pleased.

"Nothing happened while I was out, did it?" Dan asked casually.

"Nothing, everything is fine."

"Hmm." Dan nodded.

He had thought that after the failure of Danzo's assassination attempt, he would kidnap Samui, this employee, to threaten him, or simply kill Samui out of spite.

Now it seems that Danzo still had some sense of scale, albeit not much.

After asking, Dan carried the box filled with banknotes and headed towards his room. But after only two steps, he stopped, turned back and asked Samui:

"Is your birthday coming up soon?"

"Yes, it's in three days. Thank you for your concern, boss." Samui bowed.

Dan thought for a moment, took out the crystal necklace he had taken from Tsunade, and casually handed it to Samui as a birthday gift.

Samui was immediately flattered and quickly handed the necklace back with both hands:

"Boss, this is too valuable, I can't accept it."

She could tell at a glance that this necklace was made from rare crystal ore and was very finely crafted.

"This is something I bought casually on the side of the road, it's not valuable."

Dan made up a reason on the spot, and without waiting for Samui to speak, he walked away.

He knew that this necklace once belonged to Hashirama Senju, it contained Wood Release chakra, and could suppress a Jinchuriki.

It was extremely precious.

But Dan also knew that Tsunade had given this necklace to her brother and lover, and they both ended up dead.

The necklace seemed to carry a curse of death.

Dan wanted to know if this was true, so he impulsively decided to use Samui as a test subject under the guise of giving a gift.

After all, she was a spy from the Hidden Cloud Village, and in the end, she wasn't one of his own.

Samui was completely unaware of Dan's sinister intentions.

She went to the mirror, carefully put on the necklace, and watched as the blue crystal sank into her chest, feeling a chill.

She quite liked it.

"Could the boss really be trying to woo me?"

Samui played with the necklace while murmuring to herself, her thoughts somewhat complex.