Tsunade stared blankly at Naruto, his confident smile and his words about never giving up seemed oddly familiar.
Oh right, the last time she saw something like this was when Nawaki insisted on going to battle. The time before that was when she stood on the bridge with Dan, and they both said the same thing.
"Sister (Tsunade), my dream is to become Hokage."
For that, he would pay the price of his life.
Wanting to become Hokage was about wanting to protect everyone. But even without that title, they still defended the village, sacrificing their lives to create a wall that kept enemies outside.
For some reason, tears flowed from the corners of Tsunade's eyes as she hugged herself. The cold necklace around her neck felt warm against her chest.
Tsunade cried, "You idiot kid, I've suffered all this time because I chose to back down."
"Then set sail again," Naruto waved his hand carelessly.
"We've already come this far. Even if the mast breaks, we'll still paddle to our destination. Stopping halfway? So what? The boat isn't broken; there are plenty of ways to start again!"
"If you don't take a look for yourself, how will you know what's on the other side of the sea? Like Kurama said, maybe there's a clown waiting for us over there?"
Kurama rolled his eyes in his mind. "First of all, that's not what I meant. Secondly, can you not twist my words? You don't even know what it means. It sounds great to others, but to me, it's just noise."
Naruto was still rambling on, and Orochimaru seemed to have a similar taste for awkwardness. After hearing so much from Naruto, he could barely hold back.
"Uzumaki Naruto, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, I indeed underestimated you. Even your parents weren't as annoying as you."
"Thanks for the compliment," Naruto politely bowed his head in thanks.
Wait, was I really complimenting you?
This left Orochimaru speechless. After not returning to Konohagakure for so long, had the ninja school started teaching people how to distract others with words? He almost wanted to tear the teacher apart for that lesson.
The killing intent in his eyes grew stronger. The next moment, he opened his broken mouth, and an unknown liquid sprayed out.
A perfectly intact arm reached out from his mouth, grabbing at his bleeding mouth. Little by little, a man wrapped in the unknown liquid crawled out from inside.
It was Orochimaru's Substitution Jutsu; Kurama recognized it.
Naruto didn't know that he almost vomited. He pointed a trembling finger at the unharmed Orochimaru, saying, "Y-You're not telling me that water on you is saliva, right?"
"I think it's stomach acid," Kurama quietly added.
Orochimaru: ?
Wait, isn't your focus a bit strange? Shouldn't you be surprised that I appeared here unharmed?
Orochimaru's face turned even paler. "Uzumaki Naruto, I have to admit, you've really provoked me. It's been a long time since I've felt such overwhelming killing intent toward someone. Even if the Nine-Tails breaks free today, you'll die here."
Risking being hunted by all of Konohagakure, Orochimaru was determined to take down Naruto today. He meant it; no one could stop him.
Naruto glanced at Tsunade, who was standing nearby, lost in thought. He turned to Kurama and asked, "Kurama, if I use your chakra again, how much will it hurt?"
"A bit more painful than when the Fourth Raikage smashed you," Kurama replied with a straight face.
Naruto instinctively clutched his chest, feeling a wave of dread.
Kurama continued, "And I can guarantee that even if you survive this time, your injuries will be so severe that Tsunade won't be able to heal you. You might need about twenty years to recover. Just think about it."
Since his chakra had already been fully withdrawn, Naruto couldn't forcefully use it even if he wanted to.
"Tsk, then I guess I'll just hold onto Tsunade's leg," Naruto said quietly as he took a couple of steps back, trying to maintain a serious expression.
Meanwhile, Tsunade stood there, her gaze unfocused. She looked at Naruto, but in her mind, she saw Nawaki, the fool who always said he wanted to protect Konohagakure and become Hokage. Now he was just a handful of dirt.
Retreating only leads to aging, and cowardice brings death... Naruto, you might also become part of that handful of dirt, but you won't regret it, right? If you could, you'd even willingly welcome that kind of ending, choosing to protect your dreams even knowing you're destined to die, right?
Tsunade clutched her necklace tightly, tears streaming down uncontrollably.
Damn it, Dan, Nawaki, you two are really the worst. For the sake of dreams, for something like that... not retreating, not being afraid, but here I am, slowly growing old, and my heart has already died.
Dreams like that...
"I don't have a dream, but I can protect someone else's dream."
Tsunade's eyes widened as she looked at Naruto, who had said this.
Naruto just smiled at her. "Kurama told me this, but he said it wasn't originally his saying; it was from someone he really admired. That person seems to be named... Grandpa Kyo?"
"I have a dream, but I can also protect others' dreams. To become Hokage for those who can't become Hokage, to protect the village for those who can't protect it, to keep living for those who can't live on."
"I'm not that noble…" Tsunade said, her voice trembling.
She was just a selfish woman.
In the distance, Orochimaru watched the self-mocking Tsunade, feeling a strange sense of foreboding rising within him. He no longer hesitated. Taking advantage of Tsunade's distraction, he stretched his neck and shot his head forward like a sharp arrow toward Naruto, his fangs gleaming like blades.
Naruto realized something was wrong and instinctively tried to gather chakra to dodge, but seeing Tsunade beside him completely unresponsive, he gritted his teeth and raised his hands to shield her.
Then...
Boom—
Tsunade punched Orochimaru's head, shattering it completely. Blood mist and shattered debris flew everywhere, and pieces of flesh scattered.
"Gulp—" Naruto swallowed hard, cold sweat forming on his forehead.
Tsunade ignored Orochimaru and looked up at Naruto, her smile as gentle as it had been when she faced Nawaki.
A dark purple pattern spread from Tsunade's forehead, stunningly beautiful. Holding the necklace at her chest, she softly asked, "Naruto, do you like this?"
Naruto glanced at the necklace and hurriedly shook his head.
Tsunade chuckled lightly. "This necklace was left by my grandfather, the First Hokage. It holds his chakra. It might not be worth much, but it truly represents Konohagakure."
Naruto blinked. "So you're talking about the necklace…"
Kurama was facepalming. "What were you thinking?"
Naruto looked serious. "I was thinking about the necklace too."
Kurama: "…"
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