The Mystical Palm Technique wasn't a unique jutsu invented by Tsunade, but a high-level medical ninjutsu.
Throughout Konoha and other villages, many medical ninja could perform this technique.
However, when Chiyo observed Sakura using the Mystical Palm Technique to ease Kankuro's suffering, Tsunade's name immediately surfaced in her mind.
Though Sakura and Tsunade bore no physical resemblance, Chiyo recognized echoes of Tsunade in Sakura's technique, prompting her question.
"Lady Tsunade is my teacher!" Sakura promptly replied.
Among Team 7, Sakura had been least influenced by Richard's presence.
Over the past three years, she had successfully established herself as Tsunade's student and successor.
Before accepting Sakura, Tsunade had specifically consulted Richard about taking her as an apprentice.
This wasn't because Tsunade suspected any connection between Richard and Sakura, but because she knew Richard had facilitated Sasuke's departure to Otogakure to become Orochimaru's student.
Though Tsunade held some reservations about Richard's role in sending Sasuke to Orochimaru, she wasn't particularly upset.
She understood that if Sasuke hadn't wanted to find another teacher, Richard wouldn't have intervened.
In other words, the initiative to leave Konoha had come from Sasuke himself, with Richard merely assisting.
When Tsunade had asked his opinion, Richard had responded that it made no difference to him whether she accepted Sakura or not.
Though Jiraiya and Orochimaru had each taken new students, this didn't automatically mean Tsunade would accept Sakura as her apprentice as in the original timeline.
Richard had no particular interest in whether Sakura would become Tsunade's successor.
After careful consideration, Tsunade had decided to accept Sakura and began training her as a medical ninja.
"No wonder your Mystical Palm Technique reminds me of that woman," Chiyo sighed.
Without waiting for Sakura's response, she continued: "Since you're that woman's student, you must have expertise in poison extraction. Can you neutralize the toxin affecting Kankuro?"
Sakura didn't answer immediately, instead examining Kankuro thoroughly.
After several minutes, she declared, "Yes, my master has taught me how to counteract this type of poison."
Hearing Sakura's affirmation, Chiyo exhaled with relief.
Though she'd disliked Tsunade in her youth, she had to acknowledge Tsunade's superior antidote creation skills.
During the Second Great Ninja War, Tsunade had proven this conclusively.
Chiyo had developed numerous poisons targeting Konoha shinobi.
Yet Tsunade had systematically neutralized every one of them.
"Then I'll leave him in your care," Chiyo said solemnly.
Though Kankuro wasn't her grandson, as a Sunagakure citizen, she didn't wish to witness the death of the Fourth Kazekage's son and Fifth Kazekage's brother.
After her grandson Sasori abandoned Sunagakure to become a rogue ninja, Kankuro had emerged as the most talented puppeteer among the village's younger generation.
To be precise, if Chiyo herself remained inactive, Kankuro would be Sunagakure's premier puppeteer.
Should Kankuro perish now, Sunagakure's puppet master tradition might face extinction.
In recent years, numerous powerful jutsu had disappeared from Sunagakure due to broken lines of succession.
Unlike Konoha with its abundance of talented shinobi, Sunagakure consistently produced fewer exceptional ninja.
Even Konoha occasionally lacked suitable successors for certain disciplines—Sunagakure's situation was far more precarious.
"I'll do my utmost," Sakura replied earnestly.
Satisfied with her answer, Chiyo turned to Richard and the others. "Everyone not directly involved should wait outside the medical room to avoid interfering with the treatment."
Richard and Kakashi complied without comment, exiting the medical room and settling on benches in the corridor.
Chiyo also departed, accompanied by her brother Ebizo.
Left alone with Sunagakure's medical staff, Sakura immediately began treating Kankuro.
Though she had only practiced medical ninjutsu for a few years, her apprenticeship under Tsunade had elevated her skills beyond many experienced medics.
More importantly, Tsunade had specifically briefed her about the poison afflicting Kankuro.
The toxin had concentrated around Kankuro's heart.
To successfully neutralize it, she needed to extract all the poison gathered there.
For most medical ninja, this represented an extraordinarily difficult challenge.
Fortunately, Sakura knew precisely how to approach it.
Additionally, beyond the extraction method, Tsunade had taught her how to prepare the necessary antidote.
While Sakura focused on Kankuro's treatment, Richard alleviated his boredom by using his enhanced vision to observe Sunagakure.
Though Sunagakure's living conditions couldn't compare to Konoha's comfort, the village possessed its own distinctive character.
Due to the constant presence of wind and sand, Sunagakure's architecture, clothing, and jutsu all displayed highly distinctive regional characteristics.
Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari exemplified this distinctiveness.
Unlike Konoha's standard shinobi attire—dark pants with green flak jackets—Sunagakure's uniform differed not only in color but notably in that most Sand shinobi wore white headscarves.
Though this was the Naruto world, Sunagakure's attire reminded Richard of the phrase "I am the richest in the world with just a cloth on my head."
Of course, Sunagakure was far from being the world's wealthiest village.
Richard calmly observed Sunagakure with his enhanced vision.
Meanwhile, Kakashi, Guy, and the others sat silently on benches, replenishing their depleted chakra and stamina.
Unlike Richard, they had marched continuously for three days.
Just minutes after Sakura began treating Kankuro, Temari—eldest daughter of the Fourth Kazekage and Kankuro's sister—arrived outside the medical room, spotting Richard's group in the corridor.
Upon learning of the Konoha reinforcements' arrival, she had hurried over from her home.
In the original timeline, when Gaara was captured, Temari had just departed from Konoha.
After encountering Kakashi's team, she had learned about Gaara's abduction.
Here, however, she had remained in Sunagakure and hadn't visited Konoha.
Moreover, she had battled against Obito Uchiha disguised as "Tobi."
The outcome was predictable.
Even with Obito masquerading as the comical, seemingly incompetent Tobi, Temari had been thoroughly outmatched.
Despite employing her full arsenal, she hadn't managed to inflict any damage on Obito.
Upon seeing Richard and the others, Temari first approached Chiyo and Ebizo, bowing respectfully.
Though Chiyo and Ebizo appeared frail now, possibly nearing the end of their lives, they had once been Sunagakure's most prominent figures.
Even the Fourth Kazekage, were he still alive, would have addressed them with deference.
After greeting the elders, Temari approached Richard with a grave expression. "I'll accompany you to rescue Gaara."
"He's not only Sunagakure's Kazekage but also my brother. I must participate in his rescue."
Objectively speaking, Temari possessed both attractive features and an impressive physique.
If she had any shortcoming, it was that her hairstyle detracted from her appearance.
With a different hairstyle, her charm would undoubtedly increase.
"Don't look at me that way—I'm not responsible for leading this mission," Richard replied casually.
"What?" Hearing his response, Temari, Chiyo, and Ebizo simultaneously expressed surprise.
Given Richard's extraordinary reputation over the past three years, validated by impeccable accomplishments, when they had seen him arrive with Kakashi, they had naturally assumed Richard commanded the rescue operation.
"I'm not a Konoha shinobi, so I lack the authority to direct Konoha forces."
"If you wish to join the rescue effort, you should consult Kakashi and Guy, not me," Richard explained, indicating the two jonin.
As he finished speaking, Kakashi's voice emerged.
"The more participants in the rescue operation, the greater our chances of retrieving the Fifth Kazekage."
"If you're willing, you're welcome to join us."
In terms of numbers, Team 7 now lacked only one member from its original composition.
However, the reality extended beyond mere numerical deficiency.
Though Sai possessed considerable strength—surpassing Naruto and Sasuke from three years ago—he hadn't properly integrated into Team 7.
More accurately, Sai resented his placement in Team 7.
He had joined solely because Richard had eliminated Danzo, resulting in Tsunade reassigning him to Team 7.
Though Tsunade held the position of Hokage, Sai belonged to Root and had been indoctrinated with numerous subversive concepts by Danzo.
For instance, beliefs that the Hokage might endanger the village, and that the Hokage's orders weren't necessarily to be obeyed unconditionally.
This problem wasn't unique to Sai—many Root members harbored similar perspectives.
Superficially, they demonstrated loyalty to the Hokage.
In reality, their true allegiance wasn't to the Hokage but to Danzo.
Regarding Tsunade's assignment of Sai to Team 7, Kakashi had initially expressed dissatisfaction.
However, after discussing it with Tsunade, he had accepted her decision.
Tsunade hadn't placed Sai in Team 7 merely to fill a vacancy.
If that had been her sole motivation, she could have assigned any qualified shinobi.
Her actual intention was for Kakashi to guide Sai—who had been misled by Danzo—back toward a healthier perspective.
Kakashi possessed exceptional abilities and extensive teaching experience.
More significantly, he had once navigated his own period of darkness.
Among Konoha's elite jonin, Kakashi and Sai shared comparable life experiences, making Kakashi better suited than others to mentor Sai.
Despite Tsunade's planning and Kakashi's diligent efforts, Sai still hadn't fully integrated into Team 7.
His reticence provided the clearest evidence.
Since joining Team 7, Sai had barely spoken.
Even when Kakashi or Sakura directly addressed him, he offered only the most minimal responses—yes, no, and similarly brief acknowledgments.
After hearing Kakashi's response, Temari first thanked him.
She then inquired, "Is Richard also part of our team?"
"No, he operates independently," Kakashi promptly explained.
Temari turned toward Richard, but without further comment, found an empty seat and sat down.
Time passed gradually.
After more than half an hour, Sakura successfully extracted all toxins from Kankuro's heart, pulling him back from death's threshold.
Though Kankuro wouldn't recover completely for some time, at least the immediate threat from Sasori's poison had been neutralized.
Upon regaining consciousness, Kankuro immediately provided valuable intelligence.
A cloth fragment from Sasori's cloak!
As a puppeteer, Kankuro's skills paled compared to Sasori's.
Fortunately, Sasori hadn't immediately killed him, instead engaging him with the casual attitude of toying with an inferior opponent, granting Kankuro an opportunity to secretly snag a portion of Sasori's cloak.
Without this stroke of luck, given Sasori's formidable abilities, Kankuro's puppets would never have managed to approach him, regardless of Kankuro's efforts.
With Kankuro's cloth sample, Kakashi immediately performed a summoning jutsu, calling forth his "Eight Ninja Hounds."
Pakkun, Biscuit, Akino, Guruko, Uhei, Urushi, Shiba, and Bull!
Though not exceptionally powerful individually, Kakashi's ninja hounds rivaled those trained by the Inuzuka clan in tracking ability.
While Kakashi's hounds couldn't perform human transformation jutsu like the Inuzuka dogs, they possessed their own unique advantages.
Additionally, all eight of Kakashi's ninja hounds were pedigreed tracking breeds.
After summoning his pack, Kakashi immediately tasked them with locating their targets based on the scent from the cloth fragment.
Within seconds, the eight ninja hounds departed from the medical room and began tracking Sasori's trail.
Half a day later, Kakashi's ninja hounds—specifically Pakkun—delivered on expectations, successfully locating Sasori and the Akatsuki hideout before returning to Sunagakure with this intelligence.
As Richard had anticipated, after abducting Gaara, Deidara, Sasori, and Obito had transported him to an Akatsuki hideout in the Land of Rivers.
Though Pakkun hadn't entered the sealed hideout, it was evident that under Nagato's direction, the Akatsuki had employed the Sealing Jutsu: Nine Phantom Dragons to extract Shukaku from Gaara's body and seal it within the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.