Tsunade, Who Bears the Blame Even While Lying Down

Hearing Kisame say he was looking for Lord Fuji, Tsunade frowned, suspicion flickering in her eyes. Especially when Kisame claimed he was concerned for Lord Fuji’s safety—she was even more convinced he was spouting nonsense.

“It’s like this,” Kisame explained earnestly, “I just ran into Lord Fuji’s bodyguards outside the hotel, and they said he wasn’t with them. I was originally assigned to the film crew to protect Lord Fuji and play a small part on the side. Now that filming’s finished, I naturally need to find my employer, report in, and make sure he’s safe before I return to the village and complete my mission.”

So that’s how it is. Tsunade nodded, no longer suspicious. After all, Lord Fuji wasn’t her employer—she had no reason to worry about him. Not to mention, she didn’t like the man at all.

She waved over a hotel staff member to exchange the coins she’d won from the slot machine for cash. As she did so, she remarked with disdain, “That guy just tried to chat me up with a bottle of expensive liquor, actually had the nerve to invite me to the rooftop for a private rendezvous. What an overconfident fool! I rejected him flat-out, and he stormed off upstairs with a dark look.”

“Thank you,” Kisame said, having learned what he needed. He strode straight into the elevator and pressed the button for the rooftop.

One minute later.

Lord Fuji leaned against the rooftop railing, drinking alone in the night breeze, his cold gaze surveying the throngs on the town’s streets below.

Footsteps sounded behind him.

“Is everything done?” he asked without turning, his voice cool.

“All done—just waiting on you,” came the reply.

Lord Fuji started at the words, spinning around abruptly, instantly sobering up.

Standing before him was not the pair of elite jonin bodyguards, but Hoshigaki Kisame—who, by all rights, should be dead.

Impossible!

Two elite jonin of the Land of Fire, former members of the Guardian Twelve, couldn’t handle a newly promoted Mist ninja? Lord Fuji had never foreseen this outcome.

“What do you want?” he barked, regaining his composure, trying to intimidate Kisame.

He was the scion of the Fuji family—a clan whose influence and power stretched through all five great nations. With status, wealth, and authority, how could he be cowed by a mere ninja?

But before he could finish speaking, the world blurred—Kisame, who had been several meters away, suddenly appeared right before him.

Looking down from above, Kisame raised his right index finger and placed its cold tip against Lord Fuji’s brow, making the latter’s hair stand on end.

“How dare you—” Lord Fuji tried to speak.

But in the next instant, Kisame’s needle-like finger shot forward, piercing straight through his brain.

With a dull thud, Lord Fuji collapsed. His face froze in a mix of rage, fear, and horror—but above all, disbelief.

Even in death, he could not comprehend that Kisame had dared to kill him.

Kisame crouched beside the corpse, observing it thoughtfully.

There was something he had never understood. In a world blessed with supernatural powers, shouldn’t those who wielded them rule over ordinary people? Yet in the world of shinobi, powerful ninja obediently served a handful of mundane feudal lords whose greatest talent was playing mahjong.

In the original tale, even the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, remained humble before the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, who would lecture her and, at a whim, threaten to destroy the Hidden Leaf.

Those in power—mere mortals or wealthy families—constantly lorded it over ninja, lacking even basic respect.

How had this absurd order come about? Kisame could only surmise the usual reasons: “titles,” “bloodlines,” “birthright.” This world was steeped in a deeply entrenched hierarchy, a rigid sense of status and class, handed down from ancient times.

Faced with the aristocratic class perched atop their heads, neither the samurai of old nor the ninja who replaced them ever seemed to consider rebellion—or usurpation.

But now, the times were changing—because Hoshigaki Kisame had arrived.

He would never acknowledge something as foolish as bloodline supremacy.

He recognized only strength—might makes right. What did it matter if you were a daimyo, magnate, or noble? If you had the courage to stand before him, did you have the guts to take a punch?

Kisame hoisted Lord Fuji’s corpse, and with a sharp motion, threw it over the railing.

A few seconds later—

Bang!

Lord Fuji’s body plummeted headfirst to the hotel entrance, striking the ground with a heavy thud.

Everyone at the cast’s celebration in the lobby was immediately drawn by the commotion, their eyes turning as one.

After a brief, stunned silence, chaos erupted as the victim was recognized.

“Half his skull is shattered…” Shizune examined Lord Fuji’s body, murmuring with a frown. Not even a miracle could bring him back.

Tsunade came to look, and as expected, her hemophobia kicked in. Shizune quickly helped her to a sofa to rest.

At that moment, Kisame emerged from the elevator, face solemn, hurrying to the scene.

“Damn it,” he cursed, slamming his fist into a pillar, expression full of regret. “I was Lord Fuji’s bodyguard. I was supposed to protect him, but I failed my duty. I must return to the Mist Village and accept my punishment.”

“Kisame, what happened here?” Director Yamamoto, regaining his wits, rushed over and grabbed his arm. From Kisame’s expression, it was clear he knew why Lord Fuji had fallen.

Kisame glanced at Tsunade, sighed, and spoke slowly: “Lord Fuji confessed his feelings to Lady Tsunade, but after being rejected, he went up to the rooftop to drink away his sorrows. In a moment of despair, he leapt to his death. Unfortunately, I arrived too late…”

He hadn’t even finished his sentence—

“Pfft!” Tsunade, just sipping water to calm herself, spit it out, choking and coughing in disbelief.

He was blaming her?

Tsunade wasn’t stupid; she immediately understood that Kisame had killed Lord Fuji and was now shifting the blame onto her.

She gathered herself, anger flaring, ready to confront him.

But Kisame was a step ahead. He seized her wrist and whispered urgently in her ear, “Lady Tsunade, Lord Fuji’s two bodyguards are dead. Once their bodies are examined, the potent sedative you prepared will be found in their blood. That won’t look good for you. I saw their bodies in the nightclub on the next street—you’d better go deal with it.”

Tsunade’s eyes flew wide in shock.

“Hoshigaki Kisame!” she snarled, her fury overwhelming even her hemophobia, unleashing a surge of chakra that shattered the tiles around her.

Seeing the situation turn dangerous, Kisame didn’t wait for her punch. He immediately leapt back and vanished in a flash, using his body flicker technique to escape without a trace.