A few hours ago
POV: Tsunade
I plunged deeper into the darkness of the cave, my quick steps splashing through the viscous liquid covering the ground. A putrid smell lingered in the air, one I couldn't identify, but it turned my stomach. Yet, I had no luxury to stop, nor even to ponder what it could be. Shikai... My Shikai... My precious nephew. All that remained of my family. I had to find him. I had to save him.
With each step, I felt myself inching closer to horror. The cave walls, illuminated by the flickering light of the lanterns, oozed with a dark substance, almost alive. The ground liquid, sticky and cold, now reached my knees, but I couldn't stop. I couldn't think about what it was. My mind was fixed on one thing: Shikai. I had searched for him, lost him, and I couldn't fail again.
After what felt like an eternity—twenty minutes, perhaps more—I emerged into a vast chamber. And there... There, the world crumbled around me.
The flickering lantern light revealed a scene my mind initially refused to comprehend. The chamber was an embodiment of my nightmare, my deepest fears. The floor was covered in flesh, human and inhuman pieces, torn and spread out like grotesque trophies. Organs hung, suspended from rusty hooks, dripping with blood into the water covering the ground. No... Not water. Blood. It was blood. A scarlet pool that seemed alive, pulsing softly beneath my feet.
And at the center of this abomination... Shikai.
I saw him, suspended by rusty chains that dug into his flesh. His frail, battered body seemed barely able to support its own weight. Tubes emerged from his arms, legs, and torso, connected to machines that emitted irregular beeps, like dying heartbeats. His head was tilted, his hair soaked with sweat and blood. His feet floated on the surface of the scarlet pool, as if he were but a broken puppet.
"Shikai..." My voice broke into a whisper. My legs gave way beneath me, and I fell to my knees in the blood. "No... No, no, no..."
I crawled towards him, my hands trembling, my nails digging into the viscous ground. My mind was a whirlwind of incoherent thoughts, a mix of despair, rage, and madness. 'How could I have let this happen?' 'How could I have failed so badly?' 'I should have protected him. I should have been there for him. And now... Now, he was here, suspended like a corpse, his body barely alive.'
"Shikai..." I repeated his name, over and over, like a mantra, as if it could bring him back to me. My hands finally reached his feet, cold and lifeless. "I'm here... I'm here, my precious. I'll get you out of here."
But he didn't move. He didn't respond. And then I heard it. A whisper. Faint, almost inaudible. I wasn't sure if it was real, but his lips seemed to move, forming words I couldn't understand.
I straightened up, my hands gripping his legs, my eyes searching for his. "Shikai! Speak to me! Tell me you're here!"
His eyes opened slowly, empty and dull, as if looking right through me. And then, he spoke. His voice was a mere breath, barely audible, but the words he uttered pierced me like blades.
"You failed... to protect me... because of you, I'm dead..."
I stepped back, as if his words had physically struck me. My heart constricted, my breath became erratic. "No... No, it's not true... I'm here now! I'll save you! I will..."
But he wasn't listening. His eyes closed, and his head fell forward. I felt something break inside me. A crack, a snap, as if my mind could no longer bear the weight of reality.
"No... No, no, no!" I started laughing, a hysterical, uncontrollable laugh, as hot tears streamed down my face. I laughed, unable to stop.
"You're mine, Shikai..." My voice was a mix of softness and madness. "No one will take you. No one will hurt you. I'll save you, my precious, I'll save you... and those who did this to you... I'll destroy them. I'll tear them apart."
I stood up, my hands trembling with anger and madness, my eyes fixed on the chains that held him. I didn't know how to break them. I didn't know how to free him. But I knew one thing: I wouldn't leave without him. I wouldn't leave him here, in this hell.
My laughter echoed through the cave, a pure madness reverberating. My mind was shattered, but I didn't care. All that mattered was him. My Shikai. My precious nephew. My everything.
But as I stood up, my hands shaking with rage and madness, a laugh echoed behind me, cold and mocking.
"Kukuku..."
I turned abruptly, my bloodshot eyes fixing on the shadow that had just appeared. A man dressed in dark robes, with a cape floating slightly behind him, stood there. His twisted smile revealed an insufferable arrogance, and his eyes gleamed with malice that made my teeth grind.
"Master Orochimaru didn't tell me this waste had a connection to the legendary Sannin..." he said, his voice dragging and venomous.
I was no longer listening. The mere mention of that name... *Orochimaru.* It was him. He was the culprit. The one who had orchestrated all of this. My thoughts clouded, replaced by a single certainty: this man had to die. Now.
"It seems she even has an unhealthy affection for him. Kukuku... But I must say—"
Before he could finish his sentence, my hand reached out, blurred by speed, and grabbed his face. I felt the cold, rough texture of his mask beneath my fingers, but I didn't stop. My grip tightened, and a sinister crack sounded as his eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets.
"Wait!" he cried, his voice trembling with panic, glancing hastily at Shikai's location. "It's not supposed to go like this! It wasn't the contract—"
I didn't hear the end of his sentence. I didn't need to. My fingers clenched with inhuman strength, crushing his skull like an empty shell. The nauseating sound of his bones breaking echoed in the room, followed by silence. His body collapsed, inert, like a disarticulated doll, his head deformed by the pressure I had exerted.
I stood there, motionless, staring at the remains of this stranger. My breath was rough and uneven, and my hands still trembled, covered in the blood and brain fragments of the man I had just torn apart. But I felt nothing. No remorse. No satisfaction. Just an emptiness, a black void that threatened to swallow the little reason I had left.
"Orochimaru..." I murmured, my voice barely audible.
That's when Jiraiya also entered the room, looking alarmed.
"What the hell is going on— Shit!"
He rushed over to Shikai. But I remained there, watching him, his words seeming so distant. As I felt myself about to faint.
I heard Jiraiya say, "Tsunade! Come to your senses! He's still alive!"