Before Tsunade could even finish her roar, Itachi Uchiha had already turned to face her.

"Amaterasu!"

A second black flame materialized before her.

"So fast!" Tsunade was stunned. Wasn't it said that the interval between casting Mangekyo Sharingan techniques was supposed to be long? How could a second Amaterasu appear so quickly?

Before she could process it, the slug hidden in her cleavage leaped out, intercepting Amaterasu's deadly blaze.

"Damn you!" The moment the slug fell, consumed by black flames, Tsunade could no longer suppress the fury burning in her chest. She swung her fist with all her might, aiming straight for Itachi's face.

"Go to hell!"

BOOM!

With that single punch, Itachi suddenly turned into a puff of smoke and vanished.

"A shadow clone?" Tsunade was caught off guard. "Damn it, when…?"

Behind her, Itachi's voice emerged, calm and cold. "Just when the slug on your chest appeared, I used a shadow clone."

Tsunade was shocked once more. Is this even human? What a terrifying guy. The speed at which he performs his techniques is unreal.

"Hmph! No wonder you're called the rare genius the Uchiha clan has seen in decades. You're definitely quite capable…"

"No," Itachi said, closing his eyes and slowly shaking his head. "Compared to Shiro, my talent is not even a fraction of his."

"Shiro…?" Tsunade seemed to have some recollection of the name. "You mean that kid!?" She remembered that the child named Shiro was someone Jiraiya had always kept an eye on.

As she was lost in thought, a sudden chill ran down her spine. Tsunade spun around to see Kisame Hoshigaki standing behind her, his massive sword Samehada swinging straight for her face.

"Damn it!" There was no way to dodge safely. At the critical moment, Tsunade sidestepped, but a chunk of flesh was instantly sliced off her shoulder by the jagged blade.

"Ngh!" Tsunade endured the searing pain and staggered back, leaning against a tree trunk. She tilted her head to inspect the injury on her shoulder. The bone was exposed.

"Hehe," Kisame hefted Samehada onto his shoulder and taunted, "Of course, you can dodge that. I was aiming to chop off your head."

Tsunade gasped for breath, staring at the seemingly unscathed Kisame with confusion. "You… what on earth is your body made of?! How could you wake up so quickly, without a single injury, after taking a full-strength blow from me?!"

"Tsk tsk tsk," Kisame mocked, "My self-healing ability is exceptional. Ordinary people can't kill me. And the stronger my opponent, the stronger I become. Now that I've taken out one of your arms, I advise you to get out of the way and stop interfering, Lady Tsunade."

"Hmph," Tsunade snorted, a sneer curling her lips. "It seems you can take a beating, huh?"

Kisame grinned. "I think you can tell just by looking at me that no matter what damage is done, my body can recover."

As she spoke, a striped curse seal slowly appeared on Tsunade's forehead. The moment the rune emerged, both Itachi and Kisame froze for a split second, watching her intently to see what she would do next.

"Yin Seal: Release!"

"Ninjutsu: Creation Rebirth: Hundred Healings Technique!"

A massive surge of chakra erupted from Tsunade's body. Soon, the curse seal on her forehead spread across her entire form. In the blink of an eye, the grievous wound on her shoulder healed completely, as good as new.

"Kisame, since you're so resilient, let me see just how long your body can hold out!"