Naruto, my father's name is Uchiha Madara.

Page 170

Consciousness was like being submerged in a murky deep sea, blurred and indistinct.

There seemed to be a buzzing noise in my ears, or like someone was talking. The voice was sometimes near and sometimes far, and I couldn't hear it clearly.

"...I never expected that after searching for so long, you would come to me first."

A familiar voice, tinged with helplessness and amusement, drifted in; it was Jiraiya.

Immediately afterwards, an unfamiliar female voice, slightly cool yet with a mature charm, rang out.

His tone was clearly reproachful and tinged with disbelief: "Rasengan, Chidori... you really dare to teach these two ninjutsu to kids this young? And you even made them forcibly fuse them? Do you think they have too many lives?"

"Hey! I'm not taking the blame for this!"

Jiraiya's voice immediately rose, filled with grievance: "Chidori is Kakashi's signature move, he taught it to Sasuke! As for the Rasengan..."

He paused, his voice lowering noticeably with guilt: "...Uh! Anyway, I didn't teach them! It was...cough, in short, this fusion ninjutsu thing was definitely something they messed up themselves! It has nothing to do with me!"

Naruto's eyelids felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead. He struggled and finally managed to pry them open a crack.

The blinding light made him squint instinctively, and it took him a while to adjust before he could see the scene before him clearly.

At this moment, he was lying on the floor of a clean and tidy Japanese-style room.

His body was wrapped in white bandages, and the strong smell of herbs mixed with a faint scent of disinfectant filled his nostrils.

Although the wounds on his body were still throbbing slightly, they had clearly been properly treated and bandaged.

"Uh...Perverted Sage?" Naruto's throat was dry, and his voice was hoarse as he spoke.

"Oh? Naruto, you're awake?"

Jiraiya's large, concerned face came closer, blocking some of the light.

Naruto turned his still somewhat stiff neck and immediately saw Sasuke lying not far from him, also wrapped in bandages.

Sasuke was pale, his eyes were closed, and his breathing was weak but still relatively steady.

"Sasuke!" Naruto's heart tightened, and he struggled to sit up.

"Don't move!"

Jiraiya grabbed him and said, "Don't worry, brat, you're tough. You're more seriously injured than me, but you won't die."

"The wound has been treated, but the body was too exhausted and is still in deep recovery. It will wake up soon."

Hearing Jiraiya's assurance and seeing that Sasuke was unconscious but not in mortal danger, Jiraiya was deeply moved.

Naruto's tense nerves finally relaxed, and he let out a long sigh of relief, lying back down and muttering, "Is that so...that's great..."

The images of that fierce battle from before instantly flooded my mind.

Kimimaro's hideous cursed seal form, the shattered bone drill, the terrifying explosion... he couldn't help but shudder.

Looking at his barely surviving state, Jiraiya abandoned his usual carefree attitude and reprimanded him with a serious expression: "You two have really gone to the extreme of chaos!"

"You actually dared to forcibly fuse the Rasengan and Chidori together? Do you know how dangerous that is?!"

"If you're not careful, the energy backlash from a failed fusion will kill you all first! It's practically gambling with your lives!"

Naruto grimaced, the movement pulling at the wound on his face, causing him to gasp in pain.

But his eyes were unusually firm: "At that time... there was no other way. That guy's bones were too hard. Ninjutsu couldn't break through them, and I couldn't beat him in close combat. I could only... take a gamble."

"A gamble?"

Jiraiya snorted, "If it weren't for your good luck, plus..."

"And then I met him."

The cold, clear female voice rang out again, interrupting Jiraiya.

It was only then that Naruto, following Jiraiya's gaze, truly noticed the third person in the room.

A woman was sitting cross-legged by the window in the room.

Her dazzling long golden hair was casually tied back, with a strand of bangs hanging down her forehead.

She was wearing a loose, dark green robe with a striking white "gamble" character on the back.

Her face was mature and beautiful, with a languid air of someone who had experienced the world and a hint of weariness that was not easily detected.

But those amber eyes were deep and sharp, as if they could see right through people's hearts.

At that moment, she was leisurely sipping a small wine dish.

Isn't this the person they've been searching for with all their might, like looking for a needle in a haystack in the Tanbata Street casino?

Is she Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin, granddaughter of the First Hokage, and a renowned medical expert?!

"Forget it,"

Tsunade put down the wine dish, her tone calm, even with a hint of self-deprecation: "I just happened to be passing by and saw two brats being beaten half to death, so I just tended to their injuries."

She glanced at the unconscious Sasuke and the bandaged Naruto: "To be able to push a Shikotsumyaku bloodline limit user to that extent, even to the point of mutual destruction... that's quite an achievement."

Jiraiya sighed deeply as he looked at Tsunade's aloof demeanor. He knew his old teammate all too well.

The tragic deaths of his younger brother, Nawaki, and his lover, Kato Dan, are like a wound that can never heal.

This filled her with fear and aversion towards the position of "Hokage," a position that carries too much responsibility and sacrifice.

This also led her to indulge in gambling and alcohol to numb herself.

Jiraiya decided to temporarily set aside the topic of the Hokage and instead inquired about what happened before Naruto and Sasuke woke up.

He lowered his voice, his expression grave: "So... what have you thought about what happened before? Orochimaru contacted you, right?"

When Orochimaru was mentioned, Tsunade's eyes instantly turned cold, like frozen amber.

She sneered, her tone full of sarcasm and resolve: "Become Hokage? Ha, only a fool would take on that hot potato! As for Orochimaru..."

She paused, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes: "The conditions he offered were quite tempting."

"What are the conditions?" Jiraiya's heart sank.

After Tsunade's brief explanation, Naruto and Jiraiya finally understood.

While they were engaged in a fierce battle with Kimimaro in the abandoned courtyard.

Orochimaru and Kabuto have quietly found Tsunade "relaxing" at another casino.

Although Orochimaru tried to hide his disheveled state, Tsunade immediately noticed the terrible energy conflict within his body.

Then, Orochimaru offered Tsunade a bargaining chip that shook her to her core—

In exchange for reviving Nawaki and Kato Dan, Tsunade would treat the horrific, almost incurable injuries he sustained during the clash between Madara and Hashirama in the Konoha Crush!

This condition precisely struck at the most vulnerable and desired corner of Tsunade's heart.

On one side is the faint hope of resurrecting her deceased loved ones; on the other is Konoha Village, the place that gave her birth and raised her…

Tsunade was caught in an unprecedented struggle and wavering.

She both hated Orochimaru's betrayal and harm to Konoha, yet she couldn't resist that faint but incredibly alluring hope.

Just when she was torn between her inner thoughts and her own, and was almost bewitched by Orochimaru, she was in a critical moment.

Jiraiya arrived just in time, following the clues, and interrupted the dangerous transaction.

Seeing that the situation was not good, and given his extremely poor physical condition, Orochimaru had no choice but to quickly flee with Kabuto Yakushi.

"Resurrection... Rope Tree and Broken..."

Jiraiya muttered, his face extremely grim: "Orochimaru is really going to have no bottom line anymore! How could he utter such blasphemous lies about the dead!"

Tsunade abruptly looked up, her amber eyes fixed on Jiraiya, a hint of barely perceptible expectation mixed with even more pain: "How do you know it's definitely a lie? Orochimaru's forbidden technique research..."

"Just because of this kind of boring reason?!"

A cold voice, filled with extreme sarcasm and impatience, suddenly rang out, rudely interrupting Tsunade's words!

Chapter 192 Madara: I don't mind cleaning up Hashirama's house!

The voice did not come from Jiraiya, nor from Tsunade.

Instead... it was Naruto who had just woken up and was still wrapped in bandages!

However, this voice was completely different from Naruto's usual energetic and youthful voice!

He was deep and dignified, with a kind of indifference that came from a life of experience and an arrogance that looked down on the world!

It's as if a different soul is speaking!

Jiraiya froze, cold sweat instantly soaking his back! He looked at "Naruto" in horror.

There, leaning against the wall, was "Naruto," his body still weak and wrapped in bandages.

But his entire demeanor underwent a dramatic change!

Those eyes, which were originally a clear, bright blue, now shimmered with a deep, unfathomable darkness, like an abyss.

It seemed as if scarlet magatama were slowly rotating within it.

He tilted his head slightly, a cold and piercing smile curving his lips.

His gaze swept over Tsunade as if she were an ant, his eyes filled with immense pressure and a chilling intensity that pierced her very soul.

This instantly put Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin, on high alert, causing her muscles to tense and her chakra to circulate instinctively!

"who are you?!"

Tsunade shouted sharply, her amber eyes filled with surprise and unprecedented solemnity!

She clearly sensed that the one occupying Naruto's body at this moment was definitely not the blond boy himself!

That vast, ancient will, filled with the aura of destruction, made her tremble deep in her soul!

Naruto—or rather, Madara Uchiha, who was currently in control of this body—completely ignored Tsunade's questioning.

He spoke as if stating a simple fact, his tone full of disdain and contempt: "Resurrecting the dead? Ha, that's nonsense that wouldn't even fool a three-year-old."

"You, as Hashirama Senju's granddaughter, are actually wavering?"

"Even a forbidden technique of Izanagi's caliber can't revive someone whose soul has long since returned to the Pure Land. How can Orochimaru, that shameless snake who plays with corpses, possibly do so? He's utterly foolish!"

His icy gaze was like a tangible blade scraping across Tsunade's face, carrying a condescending, judgmental tone: "The descendants of the Senju clan have now stooped to such indecisive and self-deceiving behavior."