Minato's face tensed as he spoke. When they heard that, Jiraiya and the others' eyes darkened, filled with killing intent.
Not long ago, when Iwa and Rain ninja launched a surprise attack on Konoha forces, Suna had sat back like a watching fisherman. It was only because Hanzo manipulated both the Iwa and Suna ninja that these people survived, instead of falling into Suna's hands.
Soon after that incident, Suna ambushed their reinforcement squad again.
The meaning was clear—cut off their supplies and trap all of them forever within the Land of Rain.
"Is Chiyo leading them in person?"
Orochimaru frowned tightly upon hearing this. He clearly understood the gap between Sakumo Hatake and Chiyo—though the former had formidable strength, there was no way he could rival Chiyo of Sunagakure.
"Move quickly!"
Although many complex factors were involved here, there wasn't time for excessive deliberation right now. Jiraiya issued orders immediately.
"Yes!" The Konoha ninja accepted the command and prepared to depart.
At this moment, Minato cut in, "Suna doesn't have too many forces, but Chiyo herself will be really tough to handle. Master and Senior Orochimaru, you two must head there as fast as possible. Please borrow Elder Toad's power."
In his anxiety, Minato inadvertently gave orders using exactly the same authoritative tone as his predecessor, the Fourth Hokage, drawing everyone's attention.
Realizing he'd spoken too authoritatively just then, Minato tried to steer the conversation elsewhere.
However, looking at him, Jiraiya simply said, "Understood. Orochimaru, let's go."
With those words, he directly leaped onto Gamabunta's head. Orochimaru glanced at Minato before following him up.
"Elder Gamabunta, we're counting on you," Jiraiya said, though privately unsure—Gamabunta had always been known for being unpredictable.
"Hold on tight."
Surprisingly, instead of behaving as expected, Gamabunta shot Minato a glance before suddenly jumping again, rushing toward the distance.
After Jiraiya and the others departed, the remaining Konoha ninja wasted no time either, quickly following suit.
Once everyone had left, Minato immediately collapsed onto the ground, gasping heavily for breath.
He had used about 80% of the Nine-Tails' chakra to summon Gamabunta. In addition, protecting Nawaki on top of Gamabunta's rapidly bounding head, even if some chakra remained, after enduring previous battles and all these efforts, he had already become completely exhausted.
Only Tsunade, who wore an anxious expression, and unconscious Nawaki remained with him here.
"Kid, are you alright?" After sitting down, Tsunade looked sideways at him and asked.
Lowering his gaze, Minato gasped, "Just… a little tired, that's all."
Looking at Nawaki in Tsunade's arms, he asked, "How is Nawaki Sempai…"
Upon hearing this, Tsunade hesitated slightly before replying, "Fortunately, the poison inside him hasn't penetrated deeply. Although its effects lasted quite some time, only causing nerve paralysis and unconsciousness, I've already halted the toxin's spread through his body. A few more doses of medicine and a few days of rest should bring him back fully."
She let out a sigh of relief. Tsunade realized that although Nawaki had been poisoned, the poison was spreading through his bloodstream at an extremely slow pace, which meant that since being poisoned, Nawaki hadn't exerted himself at all.
Yet the poison shouldn't have rendered him unconscious immediately, so... it must've been Minato's intervention.
"That's good."
Minato exhaled in relief—Tsunade truly lived up to her reputation as the greatest medical ninja. He never expected her to stabilize Nawaki so quickly.
Though, perhaps Chiyo diluting the poison beforehand helped.
"Thanks for stabilizing him, Minato."
At this moment, Tsunade actually bowed deeply to Minato, momentarily shocking him.
But when he thought about how important Nawaki was to her, it seemed only natural.
"Nawaki is my senior and good friend; naturally, I would do everything in my power to help him." Minato smiled, genuinely meaning every word—as if speaking directly to someone in particular.
In response came a faint cold snort.
"Nine-Tails, I did it!"
Inside Tsunade's embrace, Nawaki's breathing steadied, and the purplish-black poisoning symptoms across his body were gradually fading away.
Minato and Tsunade exchanged glances, both visibly relieved.
Only then did Tsunade finally calm herself enough to ask Minato for the full details of what had happened.
After listening, fury uncontrollably surfaced on her beautiful face.
"Hidden Sand Village! Old hag Chiyo—you're going to pay!"
Enraged, Tsunade smashed her fist into the ground, causing it to crack apart.
Seeing this, Minato instinctively winced. He wasn't surprised—he knew it was her precise chakra control that gave her that monstrous strength.
The broken ground clearly showed just how furious she currently was.
Nawaki was the last remaining family she had left in this world. Anyone who dared harm him—there was no way she'd let them go unpunished.
Even if that person was a powerful figure on par with the Third Hokage.
Minato couldn't help but inwardly sigh. Although history had changed slightly due to certain reasons, events still remained within the bounds of his understanding.
In the Great Ninja World War, the confrontation between Tsunade and Chiyo—who were considered the strongest female kunoichi of their respective generations—would later be frequently recounted...
Amidst towering mountain ranges, battles raged continuously between Konoha and Suna ninjas, though the battlefield advantage originally tilted toward Konoha was now shifting again.
Because in the clash among elites, Sakumo was beginning to feel the strain, barely dodging Chiyo's attacks at high speed.
However, doing so prevented him from stopping Chiyo from deploying other puppets from her Chikamatsu Collection to attack Konoha's ninjas.
As he watched one comrade after another fall, Sakumo was nearly overwhelmed with grief and fury. Yet he understood—if he stopped to protect them and fell himself, the losses on his side would become even worse.
Bang!
Right at that moment, the earth-shaking sound that had previously ceased resumed loudly. Soon, a massive figure could be seen leaping repeatedly over the mountain ridges, quickly approaching the battlefield.
Due to the great distance, even Chiyo could barely make out Gamabunta's silhouette.
However, a toad from Mount Myoboku returning was surely not a good sign.
"Fall back!"
After a brief moment of contemplation, Chiyo immediately issued the order to the Suna ninja.
"Tch tch!"
Yet no sooner had she spoken than a tanto crackling with lightning hurtled toward her.
"You're asking for death!" Chiyo's expression changed instantly. She quickly retracted all the puppets of the Chikamatsu Collection and unleashed a fierce assault on Sakumo.
The rapidly spinning [Chakra Blade] slashed toward Sakumo, but he barely managed to dodge in time. However, he had no strength left to deal with the next wave—an endless barrage of steel cords closing in on him.
Looking at Gamabunta, who was still at a distance, Chiyo's face flickered with a cold and deadly look. The next strike would surely end Sakumo Hatake's life!
"Boom!"
Right at that moment, however, a giant object crashed down heavily, blocking in front of Sakumo.
It was a colossal blade several meters long, completely shielding Sakumo behind it. None of the countless steel cords could reach the man hidden beyond the great sword...
"Elder Chiyo, you've gone too far this time! Do you truly believe Konoha has no capable fighters?"
Jiraiya's furious voice rang out.
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