Because the pit was quite large, it didn't feel crowded even with two people inside.
Tsunade's grip was strong. Haruto Saito, whose left hand was being tightly held by her, twitched the corner of his mouth. Then, he raised his right hand and let a green pendant, attached to a black silk thread, dangle from his palm.
That pendant again!
"Hmm?" Tsunade frowned and quickly patted herself down.
Gone! It really was hers.
"When did you take it?"
"Just now, when you jumped down."
"Liar!"
"Hey! How am I lying? You know I'm skilled in sleight of hand. My hands are very fast!"
Tsunade kept a stern expression, glanced at the pendant once more, then said, "We'll talk about this later. First, let's discuss the hypnosis. Right now, you can't use chakra. Come on! Hypnotize me. If you can't do it... hmmph!"
A sharp glint flashed in Haruto's eyes. He shook his hand. "Look here!"
Tsunade cooperated and fixed her gaze on the swaying pendant.
Seconds ticked by. Tsunade kept staring, completely unaffected.
Haruto, however, was watching her closely. Suddenly, he spoke. "Hey! You have to cooperate with me. How am I supposed to hypnotize you if you're not cooperating? Even Sharingan genjutsu requires the target to look into the Sharingan for it to work. You weren't like this before."
"Alright then, tell me how I should cooperate with you." Tsunade smirked. "But if you still fail to hypnotize me, you're dead meat!"
She didn't believe him at all. She just wanted to expose his lie.
"Alright! Listen to me. I need you to relax. You're too tense. Last time, when I hypnotized you, you weren't like this. Relax your mind. Take a deep breath. That's it, deep breath. Relax the center of your forehead—don't frown. Relax your shoulders. Yes, very good. Keep looking into my eyes. Don't get impatient. Stay focused but relaxed. Don't slack off. Good… now, look here!"
Snap!
Haruto snapped his fingers, spread his palm open, and let the pendant dangle and sway.
"Watch the pendant. Watch it swing."
Haruto stopped speaking. This time, the hypnosis was different from before. It was much more difficult, so he needed more time to prepare. Tsunade still wasn't relaxed enough.
Her eyes followed the pendant, subtly moving along with its rhythm.
Haruto stared into her eyes, observing the changes in her gaze.
Tsunade was fully cooperating with him. She didn't believe she could be hypnotized, so she wasn't on guard. She had no idea what the consequences of her cooperation would be.
Time passed.
Haruto suddenly moved closer, standing on tiptoe and whispering into Tsunade's ear in a deep, magnetic voice.
"Now you're going to relax... All you need to do is listen to my voice, and you will feel at ease… Listen to my voice. Let yourself become more and more relaxed, peaceful… Just focus on my soothing words… You feel happy… More and more relaxed… Calm… Serene… Imagine the wind… the waves… You are lying in a small boat, floating on a lake… You are lying on a soft cushion… The sky is blue, with white clouds drifting by… You see scattered trees along the shore… Small ripples form along the riverbank… You feel the boat rocking gently… You feel drowsy… You close your eyes…"
The environment in the pit was ideal for hypnosis. It was dim, with most sunlight blocked out. The surrounding earth was still, reducing external distractions.
Haruto's right middle finger trembled slightly to keep the pendant in perpetual motion.
He controlled its swinging frequency carefully—this was crucial.
Tsunade's eyelids began to droop.
"You're tired. You need rest. Close your eyes! Keep them shut comfortably. Keep your mind clear. Don't think about anything except my words. Your arms and legs feel heavy. Relax. Relax completely. You'll feel even more at ease… Even more comfortable… Even more comfortable…"
The pendant's swaying gradually slowed. At the same time, Tsunade's eyes closed.
Hypnosis successful!
She had cooperated so fully that if Haruto had failed, he might as well have smashed his head against a wall.
But it wasn't over yet!
Any small noise could still wake her up. Although Haruto could wake her himself—he had already proven his ability—he still had revenge to take!
Last time, he had only hypnotized Tsunade into a light sleep. In that state, people could easily wake up and even dream. Many could recall their dreams upon waking, and some could even realize they were dreaming while still in the dream.
This time, Haruto planned to hypnotize her into deep sleep—an extremely deep state, akin to unconsciousness from heavy drinking.
In this state, a person would lose all external awareness, stop dreaming, be very difficult to wake, and even slight physical pain wouldn't rouse them.
It's worth noting that some people naturally enter this deepest sleep stage, and among them, some develop "sleepwalking disorder." Many believe sleepwalking happens in light sleep, but that's incorrect. It actually occurs in deep sleep. Since the person is completely unconscious, they cannot remember what they did while sleepwalking.
Medications used to treat sleepwalking typically work by extending light sleep and reducing deep sleep duration.
"Mmmhmm… ooh la la dee…" Haruto hummed a tune into Tsunade's ear—a melody with no lyrics, just hypnotic rhythm.
He had composed this lullaby himself.
It was incredibly effective in quickly guiding someone from light sleep into deep sleep. Haruto had tested it countless times in his past life.
Time flew by.
Twenty minutes had passed.
Only now did Tsunade show signs of entering deep sleep. For an ordinary person, it would have taken just three minutes. Tsunade's subconscious vigilance was too strong. Most ninjas were like this; unless hypnotized or under genjutsu, they rarely entered deep sleep, as light sleep allowed them to wake instantly at the slightest sound during missions.
Finally.
Tsunade's body lost its support and slumped down. Her grip on Haruto's wrist loosened.
Haruto caught her, shifting her into a horizontal position. Even such a large movement didn't wake her.
"Damn you! Trying to bury me alive? Bury me, huh? You heartless woman…"
Haruto placed her back down, grabbed a handful of dirt, and smeared it all over her face. Then he pulled open her clothes and stuffed mud inside. Next, he lifted her sleeves and filled them with dirt. Finally, he showered her with soil, covering her entire body in dark brown mud.
Tsunade remained motionless, still asleep.
"Oh, right! That golden hair of yours—so special, huh?" Haruto spread out her golden locks and smeared them with mud.
Despite his cleanliness obsession, he didn't care this time. This was payback!
Tsunade was now a complete mud person.
"Hmph!" Haruto jumped to the edge of the pit, looked down at her, hands on his hips, then sighed.
Sigh! This was all he could do!
He didn't dare truly harm her. If he did, his only option would be to defect from Konoha and be hunted down by the ANBU for the rest of his life.
"Sleep tight!" Haruto grumbled, dusted off his hands, and turned toward the bathhouse.
Another bath!
Fortunately, he had plenty of clean clothes stocked up.
Half an hour later, freshly cleaned, Haruto returned to the pit. Tsunade was still sleeping soundly, breathing evenly.
He kicked some dirt down at her before swiftly heading back to his cabin, disguising himself and packing his gear.
Time to escape!
Not defecting—just taking on a mission. Hiruzen Sarutobi had already approved his request. As long as he took on a mission, he could officially leave Konoha.
He just needed to stay out of Tsunade's sight for a while!