As soon as those words were spoken, Tsunade and the other three hesitated slightly, then exchanged glances before simultaneously nodding.
If it were anyone else, they wouldn't have the authority to participate in this meeting.
But Minato held a special position—he was the intelligence courier for this operation against the Land of Wind, with an outstanding combat record. Most importantly, among the four of them, three already held admiration for him.
Tsunade and Sakumo Hatake were obvious examples, but even Hiashi Hyuga had been deeply impressed by Minato's battlefield performance during the war, despite the boy being under the age of eleven.
Minato's strength now ranked as the strongest among the Konoha forces, apart from the four of them.
Even elite ninjas like Junko Watanabe, who had originally belonged to ANBU, couldn't compare with this young prodigy.
"Thank you," Minato said respectfully. Then he removed the ninja pouch at his waist and continued, "I know you're all troubled by a certain matter, but I believe I can resolve it."
"Oh?" All four expressed surprise.
Buzz.
As Minato spoke, a layer of chakra solidified in his palm, forming something akin to a glove.
[Chakra Projection!]
When Tsunade and the others saw this, they were slightly startled. To condense chakra into a tangible shape like a glove required extremely precise chakra control.
They themselves could naturally achieve this, but Minato was still quite young.
Just this level of chakra manipulation surpassed what most jonin could accomplish.
Still more curious was why Minato had covered his hand with chakra.
Meeting their astonished and questioning gazes, Minato reached into his ninja pouch using the chakra glove for protection.
After a brief search, he pulled out a kunai knife—nothing special at first glance, except its blade carried an unusual coloration.
At that moment, the chakra on Minato's hand began turning purple, as though contaminated.
"Chiyo's Poison"—it truly lives up to its reputation.
Muttering softly, Minato gave a slight flick of his wrist. The chakra layer on his hand peeled off directly, carrying the kunai with it, landing onto the sand before them.
At his words, the expressions of Tsunade and the others changed dramatically.
By now, how could they not realize—the sample Minato had just revealed was exactly what they needed?
"To manipulate chakra to such an extent..."
Among the four, only Orochimaru showed genuine shock at Minato's technique. The method of projecting chakra outward and flinging it away bore resemblance to the [Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm].
This was far more difficult than basic chakra projection or shaping techniques.
Hearing this, Sakumo Hatake merely smiled faintly, the least surprised among the four.
He had already witnessed Minato's exquisite chakra control long ago. The morphological transformation required for the Rasengan was even more challenging than these demonstrated techniques.
"This kunai—you retrieved it during your fight against the Suna Ninja, didn't you?"
Tsunade frowned slightly, but quickly caught on to what had happened.
"Ah, I took them when I was destroying those puppet masters' puppets," Minato explained. Following his earlier method, he pulled out various ninja tools—kunai, steel cords, and more—from his ninja pouch one after another.
The four people in front of him exchanged stunned looks.
When Minato tossed the final tool onto the sandy ground before Tsunade and the others, the arm that had been emitting chakra twitched slightly.
Minato frowned and pushed the strange sensation aside.
"Although your injuries have mostly healed, your chakra still needs time to recover. Performing such precise chakra control so suddenly is too much for your still-developing chakra pathways, which naturally caused a spasm."
Tsunade slowly walked toward Minato as she spoke, forming hand seals as she went.
Buzz.
Standing beside Minato, her palms glowing faintly with chakra, she placed her hands gently on his shoulders.
As she used Medical Ninjutsu to help Minato recover, Tsunade kept questioning him.
"How did you come up with bringing these toxic samples back?"
There was strong admiration in her eyes. After all, under those circumstances, thinking of this wasn't simply due to talent alone. What was needed more was analytical and rational thinking about battlefield situations. Judging from this, Minato's strategic mind might even surpass all four of them combined.
Minato smiled and said, "Earlier, Nawaki Sempai was poisoned by Chiyo, an incident that left a deep impression on me. Coupled with many comrades dying from this same poison, I thought it best to bring back specimens and deliver them to Tsunade-sama."
"I believe within today's Ninja World, no one else besides you could possibly counteract Chiyo's Poison."
From Minato's past memories, he didn't know the details of the Second Great Ninja World War clearly enough. However, the clash between Chiyo and Tsunade was widely known among ninja in the Ninja World.
His comrades had been hit twice by this poison—how could Minato not take extra care?
"You're just kissing up to me again..." Tsunade chuckled lightly, then turned her gaze toward Sakumo and the other two, shrugging as she said, "Looks like we four got tricked by a kid."
"Haha, indeed."
Sakumo and Hiashi Hyuga gave indifferent smiles. A flicker of something unreadable passed across Orochimaru's face as he looked at Minato.
Minato noticed it, but didn't dwell on it.
Regardless of what plans Orochimaru might be contemplating, right now they were still comrades from Konoha.
Knowing that was enough.
A few minutes later, Tsunade removed her hands from Minato's shoulders and said, "Just as Sakumo said, your physical recovery ability is extraordinary. If given the chance, I really would like to study it thoroughly."
After Tsunade's treatment, Minato felt relaxed, and even his chakra flow seemed smoother than before.
"Thank you, Tsunade-sama."
Minato thanked Tsunade, but she shook her head and said, "If it weren't for you, kid, we'd have been in deep trouble today. It seems you'll be promoted again soon after becoming a Tokubetsu Jonin."
Minato smiled. He never really cared for that kind of recognition anyway.
Tsunade walked over to where the ninja tools were scattered on the sand in front of Minato. She squatted down, formed a protective layer of chakra in her palm, and then picked up one tool to examine closely.
Minato couldn't help but notice how slowly the poison was spreading across Tsunade's chakra membrane. It had drained his own chakra in an instant.
This was naturally because Tsunade's chakra control surpassed his own. Although it was also a chakra membrane, its density was different.
"Hope emerges from darkness… [Heaven hasn't abandoned us after all]." Sakumo Hatake remarked with a smile (the term 'Heaven' reflects the original cultural expression).
This seemingly minor action by Minato during the battle had once again shifted the tide of victory toward Konoha.
The four occupants in the tent fell into silence, each hoping Tsunade would find a way to neutralize Chiyo's Poison — a deadly toxin known for its slow and insidious effects.
Of the four, Minato alone wore an air of complete calm.
Because he already knew the outcome.
...
...
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