Chapter 404 - Who Is Mister Tai?
While all these fights were happening, Tsunade patiently sat on top of the Hokage Tower with a slightly irritated expression on her face. So far, she had to heal a total of three people. A small child that tripped over a stone, resulting in a small wound on his right knee. A young boy that got punched in the face by another young boy because he said he preferred pie of cake. And an old man that complained of pain in his back.
Well, no one getting seriously wounded was obviously a good thing, but Tsunade couldn't help but feel slightly useless.
An additional factor that was gnawing at her patience was…
"Well, I wonder if we will be able to see any flashy jutsu from here, you know."
"Nah, Yuna-sama said she would pay for parts of the damage, so I bet she forbid everyone from doing anything flashy, you know."
"Are those giant snakes?"
"Ohh! As expected of Anko, she is as bold as ever, you know!"
"HAHAHA, AWESOME, A MONSTER FIGHT, YOU KNOW!!!"
…the Uzumaki clan members upholding the barrier around her. Despite Konoha being under attack, they all chatted nonchalantly with each other while treating the situation like a show.
Well, the barrier surrounding them was solid without the slightest fluctuation despite their chatting, so Tsunade decided not to scold them… yet.
Moments later, an additional person descended onto the Hokage Tower a few meters away from Tsunade and her guards, instantly making all of them vigilant. Well, the ANBU got vigilant, while the barrier team only looked at the newcomer with interest.
"Oh!? Is that one of those Pain dudes?"
"Must be. He has those stupid-looking piercings I heard all of them have, you know."
"Yeah, definitely one of them. Look, he has the Ringeyes, you know."
"Wasn't it Rinnegerundayo?"
"Huh? I thought it was Ramengan!?"
Tsunade's eyebrows twitched in irritation at the ridiculous conversation happening around her and focused her attention on Pain instead.
"Six piercings in the nose and seven in each ear, huh? You must be the one using gravity pulls and pushes."
Although Pain was irritated that Tsunade knew his ability, for some reason he couldn't understand, he decided to push away his irritation for now.
"I have wanted to talk with you."
Tsunade's eyebrows rose when she heard that comment. Naturally, she recognized the person in front of her as one of the three people Jiraiya decided to train years ago but didn't expect him to have anything to say to her. After all, Yuna already informed her of who Pain really was and that the person in front of her was only a dead body that was controlled by Nagato, another person Jiraiya accepted as his disciple years ago.
"Oh? I don't think there is much we could talk about. What do you want?"
Pain noticed that Tsunade clearly recognized him but didn't say anything about it, so he decided to do the same and just continue the conversation.
"Hand over the nine-tails. There will be a war soon, a war, which we will control. If you are willing to cooperate, Akatsuki is willing to cooperate with you as well. Surely, you will put the safety of your village above the security of a single person."
Tsunade almost laughed out loud when she heard Pain's words. She understood why Pain made such a ridiculous claim since he did not possess the same information Tsunade did.
Naturally, Tsunade knew that there were spies in Konoha. Only an idiot would assume that there were no spies in a village as large as Konoha. Detecting every person who tried to gather information about the village was simply an impossible feat, so Tsunade didn't even bother to pretend that it was possible.
BUT, there was one thing Tsunade had not a single doubt about. It was absolutely impossible for these spies to gather information from within the Uzumaki compound, no matter how skilled. Hell, even Jiraiya frequently failed simply infiltrating the bathing area, so Tsunade didn't even dare to guess what ridiculous defenses were in place at the actually essential facilities.
Additionally, every single person Yuna associated with would involuntarily become a monster, and as Konoha's Hokage, she had easy access to all mission reports, so unlike the people who only occasionally got a report about the missions people closely associated with Yuna participated in, she got the full spectrum of it.
Hinata was like a ghost, never contacting a single person more than necessary while killing those she needed to.
Anko was like an inferno, burning everything opposing her with flames so hot that not even bones were left behind.
Karin was acknowledged as a seal grand mistress who used seals so complex and diverse that no one could face her.
Naruto, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, was pretty much acknowledged as an unstoppable force with his wind style and control over the Kyuubi's chakra.
Haku, whose ice style could even freeze fire itself, who was only behind Yuna's ice in power.
Ino, who could shred apart someone's mind and read it with a single glance.
And finally, Yuna, the biggest monster of them all.
S-Rank! No matter how Tsunade looked at these people, all of them were at least S-Rank shinobi. Why should she fear an organization that had a bunch of S-Rank shinobi when her village had a ridiculous amount of people with the same strength? Additionally, why would she offend the source of all these ridiculously strong shinobi due to the thread of an outsider?
So what if Akatsuki had collected the chakra of seven of the nine Bijuu? Weren't there already 3 Jinchuuriki wandering around the Uzumaki compound to match that power? Additionally, wasn't the Uzumaki clan stuffed to its seams with sealing prodigies, one of the Bijuus' most significant weaknesses? What was there to fear?
A disdainful sneer appeared on Tsunade's face as she answered Pain's inquiry.
"Laughable. Your suggestion is beyond unreasonable. You do not possess the power to make such a claim. The safety of the village? What a joke! No matter what you do, you are incapable of shaking this village. You will be crushed under the power of the one you want to capture."
"Ohh~ Nice speech, you know!"
"As expected of Hokage-sama, you know!"
"Haha, he has eyes but fails to recognize Mister Tai, you know."
"Who is Mister Tai?"
"No clue, but I once heard Yuna-sama say something like that, and I think it was an insult."
"Oh? Then it must be a good insult!"
"Haha, he couldn't see Mister Tai at all, you know!"
"Indeed, you know!"
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