116. Abducting Shizune

Soon, Kisame arrived at the bustling hospital lobby. The flow of people was relentless, and the medical staff were extremely busy. Numerous injured patients were placed on mobile beds, coming and going in a constant stream.

Kisame’s gaze swept through the crowd, immediately catching sight of a familiar and striking figure.

It was Tsunade.

At this moment, Tsunade had shed her green coat emblazoned with the character for “gamble” and donned a white lab coat. With gold-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, she wore a serious expression as she examined the wounds of the patients.

As Tsunade’s attendant, Shizune was indeed present, clutching a large stack of files and trailing closely behind her.

After inspecting the lobby, Tsunade briskly headed toward her office, busy with official duties.

Kisame quietly followed.

“Tsunade-sama, I need... to use the restroom,” Shizune said, blushing as she spoke in the corridor. Having been busy all morning, she was desperately in need.

“Hmm, hand me those files,” Tsunade replied, taking the documents from Shizune’s hands before turning into the office.

“Phew,” Shizune exhaled in relief and hurried down the hallway to the restroom at the end.

A perfect opportunity.

Kisame emerged from the shadows and, upon seeing this, immediately used his transformation technique to assume the appearance of a female nurse.

Just as he stepped into the restroom, he heard the sound of water flushing.

Shizune, feeling relieved, stepped out from a stall and turned on the faucet.

Kisame swiftly approached from behind and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Shizune-sama, you’ve worked hard. You look exhausted. How about I help you to the lounge to rest a while?”

He feigned concern.

“Thank you, but no need. I still have a lot to do,” Shizune replied with a polite smile, gently declining the nurse’s offer.

What she didn’t anticipate was the sudden change in the other’s expression after her refusal—a coldness replaced the concern.

“I told you to rest. Can’t you understand human words?” Kisame said coldly. With forceful pressure on Shizune’s shoulder, she gasped sharply, pain flashing across her face.

“You...” Shizune was angry and shocked, about to resist, but suddenly felt an overwhelming suction from Kisame’s body.

The next moment, her entire form twisted as if pulled by an invisible force and, with a swift motion, Kisame absorbed her into the face tattoo on his chest, sending her into the Prison of Bliss.

After ambushing Shizune, Kisame immediately opened the restroom window and escaped by climbing out.

Fifteen minutes later.

Inside Tsunade’s office.

“Where is she? How could she take so long just to use the restroom? That Shizune—could she be hiding somewhere to slack off?” Tsunade muttered, frowning as she stood and searched around.

But even after scouring the entire building, she found no trace of Shizune. Asking passing doctors and nurses yielded no sightings either.

A dreadful premonition crept over Tsunade.

Shizune’s gentle and quiet nature had always been a comfort to her. If Shizune left the hospital suddenly, she wouldn’t disappear without a word.

Unless something had happened.

Her expression darkened at the thought. She hurried back to her office, prepared to change clothes, and rushed out to search the village for Shizune.

But as she stepped inside, she noticed a kunai stabbed into the desk, with a note tied to its handle.

It had flown in from the window.

Tsunade quickly tore off the note and scanned it with her eyes.

It read:

“Tsunade-sama, long time no see. You still look as energetic as ever. I suppose your blood phobia has improved nicely. My prison recently had a furlough, so I took the chance to roam around. I plan to undergo a little surgery, so I borrowed your disciple Shizune for a while. Don’t worry about her—I will care for her like my own sister.”

The signature bore no name, only a crooked shark emblem.

Prison… shark… and he even knew about her blood phobia.

At that moment, a figure suddenly flashed through Tsunade’s mind.

“Kisame Hoshigaki…”

She clenched her fist tightly and slammed it down on the desk with a bang, scattering papers and pens all over the room.

Over the past several months, Tsunade had nearly forgotten about Kisame, as the intelligence Jiraiya brought back had said he was sentenced to Hozuki Castle Prison—a forgotten place from which no one returned.

But now, the prison furlough had occurred.

Tsunade could never believe such nonsense. She knew—Kisame had escaped.

What did that man want with Shizune?

Desperate to save her disciple, she dashed out of the hospital like the wind, heading straight to the Hokage’s office, urging the Third Hokage to mobilize personnel for a massive search throughout the village.

No sign of Shizune was found, but they did discover an unconscious Uchiha Shisui in a nearby alley’s trash bin.

It was him.

Seeing Shisui bound by chakra threads, Tsunade’s expression grew grimmer, confirming her suspicion that Kisame was behind this.

Meanwhile, Kisame had long since vanished, leaving Konoha Village behind.

Kisame needed a safe place to perform the transplantation of the Japanese fire belly newt’s poison sac. Konoha was definitely out of the question, so he had taken Shizune back to the Land of Water.

Several days later.

In a small town within the Land of Water, Kisame found a private clinic. Under cover of night, he broke in, knocked out the doctor, and took over the operating room.

He tapped the face tattoo on his chest and pulled out the bodies of Yagura, Shizune, and the freezer containing the fire belly newt’s poison sac all at once.

“It’s you?!” Shizune gasped as she regained consciousness, clutching her head and finally realizing who had kidnapped her.

“Don’t be nervous or afraid. I just need your help with a small favor. Once it’s done, I will let you go immediately,” Kisame smiled, showing Shizune the poison sac and requesting her to perform the transplant.

“You want to implant that thing inside your body?” Shizune’s eyes widened when she understood what the sac was. Her first thought was that Kisame must be reckless, truly insane.

“Kisame, I trust you. This level of transplant surgery shouldn’t be much of a problem for you, right?” Kisame said as he removed his shirt and lay down on the operating table.

Shizune glanced at Kisame, then at Yagura standing silently beside her, who was glaring at her with a burning ball of Scorch Release chakra floating in his palm.

It seemed if she refused to assist Kisame, Yagura would immediately reduce her to a charred corpse.

Helpless, Shizune had no choice but to accept her situation.

However…

“I... I’m not confident,” she hesitated, honestly admitting that while she had done many internal organ transplants before, this kind of dangerous surgery was her first time.

She had no experience.

Shizune knew that if the surgery failed, she would hardly escape death.

So she asked Kisame for a few more days to prepare thoroughly before proceeding.

“No need to bother so much. I happen to have a successful case here. You just need to follow it exactly. It’s very simple,” Kisame said.

He then took out the corpse of Hanzo the Salamander and laid it on another operating table.

“H-He is...” Shizune stared at Hanzo’s body, her expression growing more horrified by the moment.