Nagato

Tsunade decided to guide Yuhi Kurenai and Hyuga Kiyomi not merely to give Hyuga Mirai a "surprise." She also wanted to win the two of them over—one was a well-known Jonin specializing in Illusion Techniques within Konoha, while the other was an Elder of the Hyuuga Main House who might even become the Hyuga Clan Head upon returning.

If she were to peacefully liberate Konoha and even the Land of Fire in the future, Tsunade needed to gather more subordinates and Ninja Clans around her.

Yuhi Kurenai and Hyuga Kiyomi had initially been somewhat suspicious and surprised by Tsunade’s offer of guidance and recruitment, but after giving it some thought, they accepted. After all, Tsunade was both the Fifth Hokage and Konoha’s strongest female ninja. Receiving her guidance would be a tremendous help to both Yuhi Kurenai and Hyuga Kiyomi.

Moreover, as Konoha Ninja, they should have obeyed the Hokage’s orders to begin with. Hyuga Kiyomi had been involved in political affairs more often and vaguely guessed at Tsunade’s intentions. However, she had always looked down on that cowardly Third Hokage. With a new Hokage in place, Hyuga Kiyomi would definitely be the first to side with Tsunade.

Whoosh.

Boom!

The sound caused by the signal flare immediately drew the attention of most of the Konoha Ninja in the camp.

When they saw the ring of red fireworks in the sky, many Konoha Ninja were shaken. They had only gone through this not long ago—had another such powerful enemy come again?

"Enemy attack!"

There was practically no need for messengers. The moment they saw the warning signal, everyone immediately set aside what they were doing and began packing up the camp for evacuation, just as they had last time.

To detect enemies in advance, all of Konoha’s patrol and reconnaissance ninja had been sent out. Their warning perimeter now extended three kilometers out.

"Tsunade-sama!"

Nara Shikaku, Hyuga Kiyomi, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Ōnoki, and the others all arrived at Tsunade’s side. She was now in charge of the camp.

Boom!

Before Tsunade could speak, a perfectly synchronized explosion sounded outside. Judging from the five or six bursts of flame, it was clear that more than one location had exploded, yet they had all detonated at once, their roars merging into one.

The scale of those explosions was at least equivalent to dozens of Exploding Tags.

Tsunade frowned and called out, "Kiyomi."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama. Byakugan."

Hyuga Kiyomi immediately formed hand seals and activated her Byakugan. After seeing the distant scene, she frowned and said, "Tsunade-sama, the patrol squad due south has been wiped out. There are two enemies, and they’re heading this way. One of them has used the Summoning Technique."

There were only two enemies, yet they had wiped out five mission squads in an instant. That level of strength made Nara Shikaku, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and the others’ hearts sink.

Had Tsunade not warned them, they might truly have remained ignorant as they tried to uncover the secrets within the corpses, overlooking the possibility of another enemy attack.

"Old man, stay behind and evacuate the other ninja. You few, come with me to stop the enemy."

Tsunade issued the order with a frown. There were still Genin and Chunin in the camp. If the enemy broke in, it would be a disaster for the weaker ninja.

With that, Tsunade took the lead and charged toward the enemy. Hyuga Kiyomi and the others followed after her. As for Sarutobi Hiruzen, upon hearing Tsunade’s words, he felt both disappointed and faintly relieved. He then immediately went to arrange the evacuation of the camp’s ninja.

In the forest outside the Konoha camp, Nagato retracted the Five-Finger Missile from the arm on his back. To better make use of the Asura Path, he was not even wearing Akatsuki’s Black Cloud Cloak.

Nagato said calmly, "As expected, using the Rinnegan’s abilities with my actual body gives far greater power and precision."

If the Asura Path had used the Five-Finger Missile just now, it definitely would not have possessed such power or accuracy. It might have struggled to kill even one person.

"Konan, stay here."

"Understood. It’s only a Paper Clone anyway."

Konan’s real body had already made arrangements. The Paper Clone remained here only to gather information.

"Then next, let’s make sure not a single Konoha ninja escapes. Summoning Technique!"

Bang.

A massive cloud of smoke billowed out. Centipede, Rhino, Yata Crow, Split Dog, and a series of other Summoning beasts, directed and controlled by Nagato, moved in from different directions to surround the Konoha camp. Their purpose was to scatter the Konoha Ninja.

"Get back!"

A thunderous roar rang out. Then Nagato saw the Summoning beast Rhino get struck head-on and sent flying back through the air.

"Such terrifying Monstrous Strength…" Nagato extended a hand and immediately used Shinra Tensei, smashing the seven- or eight-meter-tall Rhino back. Tsunade then kicked it aside again.

"So it’s you after all, Fifth Hokage."

Nagato’s pale purple, ripple-patterned Rinnegan looked toward Tsunade as she arrived in a Body Flicker. He had heard that she had become Hokage, but he had not expected Tsunade to come to the front line. That meant there were now two Hokage on the Rain Country battlefield.

"So it really is you…" Upon seeing Nagato’s red hair, Tsunade gradually recalled the three children she had encountered on the Rain Country battlefield long ago. One of them had possessed a head of bright red hair.

"You bastard—"

Before Tsunade could finish, she suddenly felt a bit of nanomaterial split off from the ring on her hand and travel up her arm into her ear, transforming into a fixed miniature earpiece.

Then Tsunade heard Hyuga Mirai’s voice. "Princess Tsunade, when you encounter an enemy, it’s better not to talk too much. Just settle it with your fists."

"But he’s an enemy—"

Tsunade replied somewhat indignantly. Why would he not let her talk? She considered herself quite eloquent.

"Precisely because he’s an enemy, you need to let strength do the talking. Tsunade, think carefully about why you used to chat with me so obediently. Wasn’t it because you knew you couldn’t beat me?"

Upon hearing that, Tsunade immediately snapped, "You damned kid!"

Hyuga Kiyomi, standing nearby, was slightly surprised when she heard Tsunade say that. Why was she cursing the moment she saw the enemy?

"It’s nothing. This man is very strong. He possesses every Rinnegan ability you have seen before. Unless you find a suitable opportunity, do not rush in. Supporting me from a distance will be enough."

Tsunade said through gritted teeth, with more than half the anger in her heart directed at Hyuga Mirai, who was far away.

Tsunade then released the Cursed Seal on her body. Red cloud patterns emerged from her neck and spread across her entire body within seconds, entering Cursed Seal Transformation Stage One. The red cloud patterns then connected into a single mass, while two horns slowly grew from the top of Tsunade’s head and her skin turned pale.

However, Tsunade’s aura was far stronger than before, and her Chakra had abruptly doubled.

So this is the cursed seal he left behind…

Seeing the changes in Tsunade, Hyuga Kiyomi could not help thinking to herself.

In the distance, Hyuga Mirai took note of Tsunade’s Cursed Seal Sage Mode and pondered, Changes to the genes may affect the cursed seal’s Sage Mode. Tsunade’s original second state didn’t look like this. I can find an opportunity to study it later…

"Here I come!"

After activating Cursed Seal Sage Mode, Tsunade felt that both her speed and strength had far surpassed her former self.

With a loud shout, she raised her fist and charged at Nagato in an instant.

So fast!

Nagato’s heart jolted. He hurriedly raised his right hand and activated the Rinnegan’s ability. "Shinra Tensei!"

In an instant, a terrifying repulsive force spread outward from him. The rocks and earth on the ground, along with the surrounding trees, were directly shoved away by the force.

Boom!

Tsunade’s fist struck the repulsive force of Shinra Tensei. Her punch carried tremendous power as well, and when it collided with Shinra Tensei’s force, the sheer impact even made Nagato feel himself being pushed back.

Not just her speed—even her strength…

As Nagato watched Tsunade’s fist and Shinra Tensei’s repulsive force remain locked in midair, his pale purple Rinnegan narrowed slightly. The repulsive force expanded again, directly blasting Tsunade away. She flew back dozens of meters, crashing through four or five massive trees before finally coming to a stop.

"Tsunade-sama."

Before Hyuga Kiyomi and the others could rush over, they saw Tsunade smash apart the huge tree pinning her down with a single punch, then walk out.

"I’m fine."

She had only suffered minor injuries, but after walking a dozen or so steps, the small wounds on her body were already nearly healed. Even Tsunade was somewhat astonished by such recovery; she had not even used the ninjutsu Creation Rebirth yet.

Was this the healing ability Grandfather had possessed back then?!