Chapter 253: The Cursed Necklace
Deep night
On this night that should have been quiet and still, Kusagakure — nestled inside the Land of Grass along the Land of Fire's border — remained restless, figures still moving through the streets. Squad after squad of shinobi filed out into the darkness, and only slowly did the tension that had gripped the village these past two days begin to ease.
But while the shinobi outside were gradually thinning out, the Five Kage's residence still blazed with light.
The modest sitting room was now packed shoulder to shoulder.
Beyond the five Kage residing there, freshly healed Deidara and Sasuke were present too. Alongside them stood Baki of Sunagakure, Kitsuchi of Iwagakure, Tsuchidai of Kumogakure, Chōjūrō of Kirigakure, Hanzō the Salamander of Amegakure, and Tsunade, who'd only just arrived in Kusagakure.
A dozen or so of the most significant figures across the Five Great Villages had all gathered here in one room.
Pull any one of them out at random, and you'd have a shinobi of considerable renown and formidable strength.
And beyond all of them stood the very center of this entire crisis.
The Shrine Maiden, Shion.
"So you're telling me this Obito Uchiha, on top of his own Sharingan, has also mastered Wood Release, Storm Release, Swift Release, AND Steel Release?"
"That's genuinely hard to believe."
Ōnoki — the oldest, most well-traveled, and most experienced shinobi in the room — couldn't help but sound grave.
"Wood Release..."
Tsunade, still in full battle gear, leaned against the wall, chewing lightly at a fingernail, her expression darkening.
As Hashirama Senju's own granddaughter, she understood better than anyone what Wood Release truly represented.
"But why wouldn't he keep something like that hidden? Instead, he just handed over all that intelligence freely?"
Baki, standing behind Gaara, looked puzzled.
By all conventional logic, shinobi combat was fundamentally a battle of information. For an enemy to reveal that much about himself so openly made little practical sense.
"...The Uchiha are, at their core, an arrogant clan."
"Compared to most shinobi, who prefer to conceal their capabilities, Uchiha tend to favor showcasing elaborate, high-difficulty techniques with their Sharingan — what amounts to sheer showmanship."
"Combining that with the intelligence Konoha's provided on Obito Uchiha specifically, my guess is this was likely deliberate on his part."
Ōnoki glanced at Baki, having already worked out roughly seven or eight parts of what was likely going through the man's head.
Sakura had nothing to add to that — though her gaze drifted, unremarkably, toward Hanzō the Salamander, sitting quietly off to the side sipping tea.
Obito Uchiha belonged to Akatsuki. And this "Hanzō the Salamander" was very clearly Akatsuki too.
She had no idea who exactly was behind the disguise — but the two thousand Amegakure shinobi he'd brought along were real enough, no faking that.
Helping Mōryō with one hand, helping the shinobi coalition with the other.
Letting two sides exhaust each other while the third profits, is that it?
Interesting...
Sakura had no interest in exposing him right now. He'd already handed her two thousand shinobi, after all.
Wouldn't be right not to take full advantage of Amegakure's generous little gift, would it?
"The most important thing right now is rescuing Kakashi and the others. The Obito Uchiha matter needs to be set aside for now."
Tsuchidai spoke, and quite a few in the room nodded along.
Yes, Obito had captured Shion and handed her to Mōryō — but through Kakashi's squad's desperate efforts, she'd been successfully rescued. And even when Obito had crossed paths with Shion a second time later, he'd clearly handled things very differently that time. With the chance to seize her right there, he'd chosen instead to fight Sasuke Uchiha.
Clearly, Mōryō's revival wasn't something Obito personally cared much about, one way or the other.
After all, with Kamui at his disposal, whether to fight or flee had always been entirely his own choice to make.
"Lord Hokage. What's your read on this?"
Tsuchidai turned to Sakura, currently flanked by Sasuke and Tsunade.
"My position is that we keep the main force marching toward the Land of Wind as planned, while simultaneously deploying an elite squad to rescue Kakashi and the others."
Sakura glanced at the man she found herself disliking more by the minute.
Something about him just felt wrong to her.
"But... even Kakashi and Darui went down..."
Utakata spoke, hesitant.
Who exactly was Kakashi Hatake? Son of the White Fang, Sakumo Hatake. The legendary Copy Ninja. And even without his Sharingan now, his actual combat power had only grown, not diminished — on top of his famously level-headed judgment.
In this very mission, he'd risked himself at the critical moment to save the pivotal figure — the Shrine Maiden herself.
And the squad under his command included Darui, Temari, and Deidara — each renowned, top-tier talents in their respective villages.
For a group like that to end with only Deidara escaping was genuinely difficult to accept.
Not a single person in this room would claim confidence that even three shinobi handpicked from across the Five Great Villages could reliably overpower that same squad.
Unless, of course, you assembled a team out of the Fire, Lightning, and Earth Kage themselves.
"This is..."
"Should we perhaps reconsider?"
Ōnoki still didn't seem inclined to push for a rescue mission for Kakashi and the others.
As far as he saw it, Mōryō's true objective was Shion. Kakashi's squad had already completed their assigned task — and if Mōryō ended up getting his hands on Shion through some careless misstep now, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Not a price comparable to the three of them, by any measure.
"I'll go."
The moment Ōnoki finished, Gaara spoke up immediately.
To him, Temari wasn't just a formidable Sunagakure shinobi — she was his own right hand, and his blood sister besides.
There was no way he'd sit by and watch her die.
"Mm, count me in too."
"I've got a score to settle, anyway."
Deidara chimed in at once.
But the moment he spoke, Ōnoki shot him a glare.
"I'll also—"
Sasuke, beside Sakura, started to speak, but was cut off by another voice.
"Might I offer my own thoughts, everyone?"
Tsuchidai spoke up.
"Please, Lord Tsuchidai, feel free."
Ōnoki responded.
As Kumogakure's chief strategist, holding the title of Raikage's court minister, the man had already served three successive Raikage across his career. An opinion from someone with that kind of standing carried significant weight, even in a gathering like this.
"I believe we should attempt negotiation."
Tsuchidai's suggestion drew visible surprise from more than a few in the room.
Negotiation?
Sending an envoy?
Even setting aside the old convention that envoys aren't to be killed between warring nations, that principle had always applied to conflicts between humans.
Right now, they were dealing with a demon a thousand years old.
Sakura sat with her arms crossed, leaning back on the couch, eyes closed as if resting — genuinely curious what brilliant insight this man she disliked so much was about to offer.
Tsuchidai gave a brief glance toward Sakura before continuing.
"Mōryō's objective is the Shrine Maiden Shion. We can use her as leverage — offer a prisoner exchange in return for our own people."
There wasn't a single fool in this room. A prisoner exchange? Obviously whoever moved first would try to strike preemptively.
Mōryō's side wanted Shion. Their side wanted Kakashi and the others back.
Shion herself crouched quietly in a corner, not daring to make a sound.
If not for her own reckless choices, none of this would have unfolded the way it had.
"The method's a bit clichéd, but it's genuinely workable."
"After all, Kakashi and the others mean little to nothing to Mōryō — while the Shrine Maiden is the single key to his revival."
"So we simply need someone to go negotiate directly with Mōryō."
Tsuchidai's suggestion, frankly, offered nothing Sakura's own rescue plan hadn't already covered — the two amounted to roughly the same thing.
Which made sense, of course — the enemy held their people, and their side held what the enemy needed. In a standoff like that, both sides would be forced to hesitate.
And according to Deidara's own account, even without a physical body of his own, Mōryō — possessing Yomi — had shrugged off Thunder Tiger Annihilation and Reduction Chain Element with nothing more than raw physical resilience.
Clearly, his combat strength was nothing to underestimate.
"Then you go."
Sakura opened her eyes, giving Tsuchidai a flat, unimpressed look.
The room fell into an awkward silence at that.
Kumogakure was already running dangerously thin on top-tier talent, with Darui currently trapped behind enemy lines — and now sending their own court minister directly into Mōryō's camp to negotiate, one wrong move, and they might simply lose him outright.
But on reflection — this particular Raikage's court minister had always been renowned for his sharp mind and quick thinking. If anyone could pull off a negotiation like this, he was genuinely a qualified candidate.
The trouble was...
This was the kind of thing only the man himself could volunteer for. Coming from anyone else, it would look uncomfortably like a targeted attack.
"Hokage."
Killer Bee lifted his gaze toward the calm, composed pink-haired girl not far off.
Even behind his sunglasses, everyone in the room could feel the cold edge in his stare.
"Relax. I'll have the Flying Thunder God squad carve a marker on him. If things go south, all Lord Tsuchidai needs to do is channel his chakra into the marker, and he'll be pulled out of danger instantly — no delay whatsoever."
Meeting Killer Bee's icy glare, Sakura matched it evenly.
Black Zetsu opened his mouth, then found himself at a loss for words.
He'd actually been planning to volunteer to go himself.
But with the Hokage phrasing things this way now, he found himself hesitating.
The Flying Thunder God Technique — Tobirama Senju's own space-time jutsu, allowing the caster to instantly travel to any location bearing his marker.
"So how exactly do you plan to remove that marker afterward?"
"Are we supposed to just amputate the marked part of his body?"
Killer Bee's tone was icy.
At that, Sakura's brow lifted slightly, her voice carrying a faintly pointed edge:
"You've actually fought Minato Namikaze in person, haven't you?"
"Why would you assume the marker needs to be carved into someone's actual flesh to enable a space-time jump?"
"What, you think my Fourth Hokage was chucking pieces of his own body around every time he fought you?"
Killer Bee froze at that, momentarily unable to respond.
Overcome by worry, he'd apparently forgotten entirely about Minato's signature Flying Thunder God kunai.
"Since the Hokage has thought this through so thoroughly, I'll gladly accept the assignment."
Black Zetsu — Tsuchidai — let out a small, quiet breath of relief at that.
Even though placing his own safety in Konoha's hands did stir a certain unease, the Hokage had already arranged an escape route so thoroughly that refusing at this point felt genuinely awkward.
From there, the assembled group moved on to discussing logistics for the main force's march toward the Land of Wind — though the Five Kage had already hashed most of that out beforehand, and simply used this gathering as an opportunity to formalize it, so the discussion didn't take long.
As Kumogakure's court minister, Tsuchidai had already made contact with the Flying Thunder God squad — led by Genma Shiranui — and had a Flying Thunder God marker carved onto one of their kunai.
Watching Tsuchidai disappear into the night, Tsunade, standing beside Sakura, frowned in silence.
"What, you have some issue with that guy?"
At Tsunade's silence, Sakura nodded frankly and said:
"That guy gives me a bad feeling. I think something's wrong with him."
By now, with her Yang-Release cultivation steadily strengthening her over time, Sakura's instincts had become remarkably reliable.
As if some sixth sense simply told her — this thing, this person, is wrong — and nine times out of ten, that instinct proved correct.
It had stopped being mere "intuition" at this point. It deserved a different name entirely.
Instinctive certainty.
Facing most situations, most people, she could cut straight to the heart of the matter with near-perfect precision.
Or, put another way: if she felt something was off about you, then something genuinely was off about you.
But hearing Sakura's words, Tsunade didn't seem inclined to pursue the subject further, waving a hand instead as if to leave.
Just as Tsunade turned to go, though, Sakura spoke up out of nowhere:
"Sorry."
"About the old man..."
At the time of Hiruzen's death, Tsunade had been stationed at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain, unable to make it back to Konoha in time.
And now she'd rushed straight here with forty-five hundred troops without pause.
She still hadn't had a single chance to visit Hiruzen's grave.
Tsunade's steps paused, and she answered, as if it didn't matter much either way:
"It's fine. That old man..."
"...he was lucky, in the end."
As one of the few Kage in history to live out their days peacefully within the village, Tsunade genuinely believed that counted as fortune.
Still — there was something she regretted.
Not getting to see the old man one last time.
"I see..."
Hearing Tsunade's answer, Sakura wasn't the type to press further, and let the matter drop, turning to leave — only to walk straight into Tsunade instead.
"Senior?"
Sakura blinked, confused, looking up at the statuesque woman.
"Sakura..."
Tsunade pulled Sakura gently into an embrace, her strong arms surprisingly soft and gentle in that moment.
"You're the one who's inherited every hope that old man ever held."
"Don't let him down."
Tsunade's words settled softly over Sakura, drawing a small, faint smile to her lips.
"Of course. I'll never..."
Before she could finish, something warm and soft pressed against her forehead.
Sakura froze for a moment at the touch.
But what Tsunade did next left her completely speechless.
Tsunade reached up, unclasped the jade-green necklace hanging around her own neck, and — under Sakura's stunned gaze — draped it over her head.
"You're not just Hiruzen's successor. You're the Fifth Hokage."
"And both the First Hokage's great-grandfather figure and the Second Hokage's grand-uncle figure think very highly of you too."
"As for me — I feel exactly the same."
"So, for the sake of every Hokage who came before you—"
"Do your best."
Tsunade smiled warmly at the pink-haired girl before her, and even offered her a small encouraging fist-pump gesture, the way one might cheer on a favorite pupil.
Sakura blinked at the beautiful woman before her, opening her mouth to say something — then finding she had nothing at all to say.
Tsunade's death kiss, plus a cursed necklace, on top of it all.
Refusing wasn't an option, obviously. But...
That damned instinctive certainty of hers seemed to be whispering that, someday, something genuinely horrifying was waiting to happen because of this.
Damn it!
There's always some rotten commoner out there trying to ruin my day!
(End of chapter)
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