NOVEL NEXT Chapter 53 - Tsunade Is Broken!
In the distance, Tsunade felt her heart ache at the scene.
Then, the illusion shifted again, transitioning to another battlefield.
Once again, it was members of the Senju Clan, the ones who inherited the name, who were fighting.
Their fates were no different than the one before. In their most unguarded moment, they were each stabbed through the heart by their own trusted comrades.
And again... the scene changed.
Kaede wove together the battlefield memories from Tsunade's own mind, blending them with the bitter truths—replaying, again and again, the moments of betrayal and the deaths of her clan members.
This was Tsunade's inner world.
This was the root of her hemophobia.
At last, her younger brother Nawaki appeared in the illusion.
Beside Nawaki stood a sneering Orochimaru, with two tomoe spinning in his pupils.
Finally, Tsunade stirred.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she gripped Kaede's arm tightly. He could feel her trembling.
"Please... don't make me watch this... don't make me watch this again..."
"Please..."
Kaede's face was expressionless, his eyes devoid of emotion.
He reached out and forcefully turned her head back toward the illusion, forcing her to watch what came next.
Then he leaned in, whispering into her ear:
"Face the truth, Tsunade. Look into your own heart."
Tsunade tried to close her eyes, but Kaede held them open with his fingers.
Suddenly, another shinobi entered the scene, running up to Orochimaru and reporting casually, "Orochimaru-sama, we've already checked ahead. No traps."
"Good. Let's move." Orochimaru nodded, then turned to Nawaki and waved him forward.
Nawaki and the scout dashed ahead.
"Don't go!" Tsunade cried instinctively in anguish.
She already knew what would happen next.
But this was only her inner world. The outcome couldn't change.
And then...
BOOM!
The explosion thundered across the sky.
Nawaki's charging figure was instantly engulfed by the blast.
"No!!"
Watching her brother vanish in the flames, Tsunade screamed in grief.
This—this was the memory she dreaded most. The moment Nawaki died.
"Damn it!"
In the illusion, Orochimaru's face twisted in rage as he turned to glare at the scout.
The scout, miraculously unharmed by the blast, locked eyes with Orochimaru—then pulled out a kunai and took his own life.
Maybe it was guilt. Maybe something else...
Orochimaru stared blankly for a moment, then closed his eyes in pain.
Tsunade couldn't breathe. Her chest felt crushed by grief.
This memory had been buried deep, a scar she had never dared confront.
And now Kaede had torn it open, exposing it raw and bleeding.
"That was the clan member betrayed by his comrades. And this was Nawaki, tricked into a trap."
"And in the end, only you were left."
"This is the village you've clung to so dearly."
"This is the true face of those Konoha elders."
Kaede's voice was dark and devilish, echoing beside Tsunade like a demonic whisper.
"This is just the first day…"
Scene after scene of clan members dying in agony. Nawaki's shattered corpse, burned and bloodied…
All of it repeated over and over in Tsunade's mind.
No one knew how long it went on.
Tsunade's eyes began to lose focus. They turned dull and hollow.
She no longer needed Kaede to force her to watch. She stared unblinking at the endless, looping memories.
Kaede's voice dripped like venom.
"You integrated the Senju into Konoha, and all that remains is your clan's name."
"Then why were your clan members still sent to fight? Who was it that pushed them forward?"
In a flash, Tsunade thought of the four elders Kaede kept mentioning—Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others.
Trapped in the illusion where time had no meaning, she slowly began to believe every word Kaede said.
A voice in her heart whispered:
Kaede is right. He would never lie to me.
Seeing this, Kaede tore away the last of her resistance.
"So this hemophobia of yours—it's not some medical condition."
"It's guilt. A grief so deep it paralyzed you."
"You didn't dare face the truth. You couldn't bear to look your dead clan in the eye. You felt like you betrayed them."
"That's why you fear blood. Because it reminds you of Konoha's sins and your own powerlessness to avenge them."
As the mask she wore in the real world cracked, Tsunade's true emotions surfaced.
Hatred. Rage. The thirst for vengeance...
Negative emotions flooded her heart.
But this wasn't some genjutsu or mind control Kaede had cast.
No—every breath Tsunade took drew in the power emitted by the Shinju (Divine Tree) around them.
Over time, she wouldn't even need suggestion. She'd fall under Kaede's sway completely.
But Kaede didn't want a mindless puppet.
That's why he did this.
All of these illusions—they came from Tsunade's own heart.
He simply triggered them.
This was the truth hidden deep in her soul. The side of her that she could never show to the world. That she drowned in alcohol to silence.
And now, that darkness had awoken.
In the real world, Tsunade opened her eyes—blank, hollow.
Looking at Kaede, she rasped:
"Uchiha…"
Kaede lifted her chin with a smirk, almost teasing.
"So? Have you finally seen the truth?"
Tsunade said nothing. She turned her head away.
Kaede chuckled softly. "As I said… we share the same enemies."
"Come. Let's destroy this rotten village together."
Suddenly, Tsunade snapped her head back toward him.
"But the civilians… they're innocent."
Kaede smiled.
Hearing her say that proved she had accepted the truth in her heart.
But still—some things had to be corrected.
"Maybe some of them are innocent… but most don't deserve mercy."
Kaede leaned in close again.
"Think of your cousin's son."
"I revealed that he was the son of a hero. And what did the villagers do?"
"How do they treat Naruto now?"
Tsunade closed her eyes in pain.
Most of the villagers… simply ignored Naruto now.
When he passed by, they treated him like he didn't exist.
That was worse than the open hostility he once faced.
At least back then, someone acknowledged him—even with hatred.
Now… it was like he wasn't even there.
"This is the ugliness of humanity," Kaede whispered. "How many people would dare admit their own unforgivable sins?"
"Especially when those sins are lower than beasts."
Faced with this bloody truth, Tsunade couldn't respond.
After a long silence, she finally muttered:
"I'll do as you say…"
Kaede smiled.
Three days of mental torture, enhanced by the power of the Divine Tree strengthened by the system… Tsunade had been completely indoctrinated.
Konoha…
Are you ready for your own Hokage's wrath?
(End of Chapter)
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