"Forget it, saying these things is meaningless now," Raizen said with a bitter laugh.
"Hatake Sakumo must have already reported our secret conversation to the Hokage, adding fuel to the fire for my death."
"Tsunade, from today on, we sever all ties, and have nothing to do with each other anymore."
"And one more thing, I'll say it again, you are not allowed to attend my funeral. If you do, I won't let you off even as a ghost."
"Farewell forever," When Raizen said these three words, it was as if he had used up all the strength in his body. Tears immediately welled up in his eyes, and his voice became hoarse from trembling.
At the same time, two streaks of bright red blood mixed with tears streamed down from Raizen's eyes.
And the irises of his eyes suddenly, seemingly out of control, turned red, revealing the three tomoe inside.
This scene scared Tsunade stiff, but Raizen seemed to have made some firm decision and turned around to leave without hesitation.
The atmosphere had already been built up to this point; staying any longer was meaningless.
Originally, Raizen wanted to slowly tell Tsunade these matters through the Pharmaceutical Department.
But Tsunade suddenly pulled a move like drawing firewood from under the cauldron, forcing him to change his plan on the spot.
From the effect, this result was even better, because Tsunade already felt guilt to the point of being unable to recover.
But relatively, the risk was much greater.
If Tsunade once again acted on her own and made reckless moves, he would really be close to death. If he had known this, why did he even offend Koharu Utatane, that crazy old hag?
He had even thought through how to phrase things to Tsunade, but she just wouldn't play by the rules.
Now he could only gamble.
Gamble that for the sake of his many years of great contributions to the village, Hiruzen would delay his decision.
Gamble that Tsunade would react fast enough to ask Uzumaki Mito for help before Hiruzen made up his mind to eliminate him.
'Damn Konoha, as long as I survive this crisis, I'll make everyone pay.'
'Having laid out plans on Tsunade for so many years, there ought to be some results.'
Raizen bitterly smiled in his heart. To survive, it really hadn't been easy for him.
The words just now, aside from exaggerating Tsunade's faults to evoke deep guilt in her, everything else was basically true.
Now that the crucial moment had come, whether he lived or died depended on this final struggle.
But he had only walked a few hundred meters when Sakumo suddenly appeared in front of Raizen.
"Haha, Sakumo, are you going to attack me now?", Raizen fell into despair.
This was frigging Hatake Sakumo, not that useless Koharu Utatane.
How could he possibly fight?
Having no combat experience, he absolutely wasn't this guy's match.
"Kill you?", Sakumo looked confused. "Why would I kill you?"
"Didn't Lord Hokage send you to kill me?", Raizen asked again.
"What Lord Hokage? I didn't even go see him."
Sakumo's words reignited hope in Raizen's heart, "Why didn't you go report what just happened to the Hokage?" Raizen asked puzzledly.
"What business is it of yours?", Sakumo didn't want to explain too much, "Hurry and walk ahead. I still need to continue monitoring you."
Raizen laughed, laughed heartily.
He suddenly understood why Hiruzen had never liked Sakumo.
Coming from a samurai family, Sakumo was different from other ANBU ninja; he clearly had his own ideas.
While other ANBU ninjas obeyed Hiruzen's orders unquestioningly, Sakumo only did what he thought was right.
Sakumo was actually very loyal, but his loyalty was to Konoha, not to any individual.
As long as it benefited Konoha, he would do it. If it harmed Konoha, he wouldn't do it, and he wouldn't be influenced by anyone's will.
How could Hiruzen tolerate that?
That's why Sakumo was later transferred out of the ANBU, because Hiruzen didn't want to see him anymore.
After walking another few dozen meters, hurried footsteps suddenly came from behind Raizen.
'Finally reacted?'
Raizen was speechless, 'What kind of person is frozen in place by just a few words?'
He had almost been scared to death by Sakumo just now.
Although Tsunade at this moment wasn't a match for Sakumo, with her present, even if Sakumo received the order, he wouldn't act in front of her.
Actually, in Raizen's years of speculation, there was a high chance that Hiruzen wouldn't directly give ANBU ninjas an order to assassinate him.
What he said earlier about sensing killing intent in the chakra of the ANBU ninja was just to deceive Tsunade.
He wasn't a Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, how could he sense good or evil in chakra?
Since the founding of Konoha, there has never been a single Hokage who directly ordered ANBU ninjas to publicly attack an innocent citizen.
That would shake the foundation.
Once that kind of thing became habitual, Konoha might completely lose its stability.
That kind of thing was only something Root would do, but at this time, Root hadn't even been established yet.
Root's founding happened on the eve of the Second Ninja World War.
At that time, to prevent infiltration by enemy spies and due to urgent need for wartime intelligence, Hiruzen agreed to Shimura Danzo's proposal to form Root.
But even if Root ninjas did such things, it couldn't be out in the open. They couldn't be exposed, and would instead do it more stealthily and without a trace.
But faced with death, Raizen dared not have even a shred of wishful thinking.
As the footsteps got closer and closer, Raizen suddenly, as if by instinct, dodged to the side.
Tsunade, with arms wide open, passed directly through the spot Raizen had just been in.
Missing the hug, Tsunade immediately felt extremely aggrieved, and tears welled up in her eyes again.
She had already made up her mind, even willing to throw away her pride to beg for Raizen's forgiveness, even at the cost of revealing her long-hidden feelings.
But Raizen had actually predicted her prediction, and dodged aside.
If it were usual times, Raizen wouldn't have minded letting Tsunade take advantage a bit.
But now, this was a matter of life and death.
At this moment, the more guilty Tsunade felt, the more likely she would help him at all costs.
Once her guilt lessened and sweetness increased, she'd start overthinking again, which would instead ruin things.
"Raizen, your eyes…", Tsunade's eyes were already red. She reached out to wipe away the blood tears from Raizen's face and check his eyes.
But Raizen stepped back, wiped it casually with his sleeve, and showed a despairing smile full of mixed emotions, saying, "Tsunade, go back! There's no need to waste feelings and tears on someone who's about to die."
"Raizen, I'm sorry!", Tsunade apologized very sincerely.
"Apologies are the most useless thing at a time like this," Raizen only shook his head and said, "You say one sorry, and I don't have to die?"
"No!", Tsunade quickly shook her head, "You don't have to die, there must be a way."
"Don't forget, Hiruzen is the Hokage. If he really wants to kill me, you can't stop him," Raizen reminded her.
"There must be a way. Come with me!", Tsunade grabbed Raizen's hand and ran toward the Senju clan's compound.
"Let go of me. I want to go home. I want to see my adoptive parents and younger brother one last time," Raizen kept struggling.
"I won't let go!", Tsunade was determined to bring Raizen to meet Uzumaki Mito.
In her eyes, her grandmother was always so wise, she would definitely have a way.
———
The two of them, hand in hand, ran through most of Konoha.
Countless people were stunned by the sight.
'Weren't there rumors that Lady Tsunade and Doctor Raizen are like fire and water?'
'Do young people's feelings change this fast?'
"GRANDMA, GRANDMA!" As soon as she entered the Senju clan grounds, Tsunade shouted impatiently.
"Sis, you're back… uh…", Nawaki, who was playing, had just greeted her when he saw Tsunade pulling Raizen in, and immediately ran toward the backyard shouting, "GRANDMA, GRANDMA!"
"BIG SISTER BROUGHT HER BOYFRIEND HOME!"
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