Southwestern battlefield of the Land of Fire, Commander's tent.
Nara Mikage's face darkened as he read the intelligence report brought by his subordinates.
The number of shinobi Sunagakure had sent far exceeded his expectations.
It looked like they intended to seize victory in this battle in one swift blow.
Of course, he couldn't allow the Land of Wind to have its way. They had to win this first battle to boost the morale of the Konoha forces.
But what gave him a major headache was the poison developed by Sunagakure.
With every wave of their assault, more poisoned and wounded shinobi were being brought back from the frontlines.
If they couldn't develop an antidote in time, they'd be stuck at a disadvantage.
Once that happened, morale would begin to collapse.
And if morale collapsed, defeat wouldn't be far behind.
By then, their only option would be to retreat to the borders of the Land of Fire...
As the commander, Nara Mikage would never allow such a thing to happen. He had just been about to head to the medical unit to urge the med-nin to speed up the development of an antidote—
When a messenger ninja entered the tent.
"Mikage-sama, reinforcements from the village have arrived!"
Mikage's face lit up with joy as he exclaimed, "Reinforcements, finally!"
With support from the village, the pressure on the front lines could be eased.
That would give the medical unit more time to develop an antidote!
"I wonder how many reinforcements they've sent?"
Mikage quickly stepped out of the tent. But the moment he saw the three figures standing not far away, the smile on his face froze.
Unwilling to give up hope, he looked around, trying to spot a larger group.
But after scanning the area for a while, he found nothing.
Surely the Hokage-sama wasn't overestimating him this much?!
"Mikage-san, what are you looking for?" Renya asked with a puzzled look, following Mikage's gaze but seeing nothing out of the ordinary.
"Renya, did the village... only send the three of you?" Mikage asked.
Renya finally understood Mikage's earlier reaction.
"Mikage-san, it's not just the three of us. There are a hundred Chūnin on the way as well."
Hearing this, Mikage finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He had thought the Hokage-sama only sent three Jōnin as reinforcements.
With Renya and the other two, plus the hundred Chūnin on their way, he now had confidence they could hold out long enough for the med-nin to finish the antidote.
As long as they had an antidote, Sunagakure's poison wouldn't be a problem anymore.
With that thought, Mikage's mood greatly improved.
Smiling, he extended a hand and said,
"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm the commander of the southwestern battlefield, Nara Mikage."
"Nice to meet you, Mikage-san." Renya nodded and shook his hand. "We'll be following your orders from now on."
Mikage's lips twitched, but he didn't argue over the form of address.
"I'll explain the situation at the front. Sunagakure has sent ninja who are currently clashing with our forces.
They've developed a poison, and the medical unit hasn't been able to create an antidote yet.
So during battle, be especially careful..."
As he spoke, he suddenly noticed the strange expression on Renya's face and asked in confusion:
"Renya, is something wrong?"
"You said... the medical unit hasn't developed an antidote?" Renya looked utterly baffled. "But Sunagakure's poison isn't anything high-level. How come they haven't managed to do it?"
Mikage assumed Renya had just arrived and hadn't seen how dangerous the poison was yet. He patiently explained:
"Renya, you might not know—this poison is different from before. It's become more—"
Before he could finish, Renya interrupted him.
"You mean once poisoned, it's hard to circulate chakra, the wound starts festering, and the rot gradually spreads through the body?"
"How do you know that?" Mikage was stunned.
Could it be that Renya had already encountered Sunagakure's poison?
No, if that were the case, why would he treat it so lightly?
A wild thought crossed his mind.
Could it be... Renya had a solution?!
Very few people knew that Renya was skilled in poisons.
And those who did know were either close to him—or dead.
The enemies who had seen him use poison had all become corpses shortly afterward.
And corpses don't talk.
So practically no one in the village knew Renya could use poison.
"Renya, do you perhaps have a solution?" Mikage asked cautiously.
Renya nodded without hesitation.
"This level of poison? I can easily neutralize it."
Anyone who knows how to make poison must also know how to cure it. Otherwise, what if they accidentally poisoned themselves during the process?
Just like when Renya brewed poisons—he had to understand exactly how the poison worked.
Some poisons destroyed neural pathways, some broke down cells.
Once you understood the mechanism and weaknesses of a toxin, creating an antidote was like matching a key to a lock.
If he accidentally got poisoned, he could immediately take the corresponding antidote and save himself. It was one of the most essential survival skills!
After all, Renya wasn't the only poison-user in the shinobi world.
That's why he always carried various antidotes with him. If he were poisoned, even if he couldn't cure it instantly, he could at least delay the effects.
That would buy him enough time to formulate a specific cure.
Seeing Renya confirm it, Mikage excitedly grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the medical tent.
"That's fantastic! Renya, come with me quickly!"
Shun and Koharu exchanged glances and hurried after them.
...
Medical Unit.
As soon as Renya approached the tent, he heard heart-wrenching cries of pain coming from inside.
"Haigu, is the antidote still not ready?" a med-nin asked urgently. "The poison in the first group of infected shinobi is starting to spread!"
They had been using medical ninjutsu to suppress the spread of the toxins, but as time went on, it was becoming harder and harder to control.
At this rate, those shinobi would be in grave danger!
Cold sweat formed on Haigu Minne's forehead as she gritted her teeth and continued working on the antidote.
She hadn't slept for two days and still hadn't found a breakthrough.
At best, her treatments could temporarily relieve the symptoms—she couldn't cure the poison.
If she just had a bit more time, she was confident she could succeed.
But time was exactly what she didn't have right now...
If an antidote wasn't produced soon, more and more people would die from the poisoning!
It wasn't that her medical skills were lacking. Whoever developed this poison was simply a genius.
At that moment, Mikage entered the tent with Renya in tow.
Looking at the wounded writhing in agony on the beds, Mikage asked anxiously,
"Renya, can you handle it?"
He had never heard anything about Renya being able to detoxify poisons.
But with the situation so dire, he had no choice but to try anything.
As one of the village's genius Jōnin, Mikage didn't believe Renya would say something he couldn't back up.
Haigu Minne walked over to Mikage, confused.
"Mikage-sama, what's going on?"
Did she hear that right? This boy claimed to have a way to neutralize the poison?
The young man before her didn't look older than fourteen or fifteen.
How could someone like him possibly have an antidote?
Clearly, Mikage was grasping at straws in desperation.
Haigu Minne shook her head helplessly. She could understand Mikage's frame of mind.
But in the end, medical matters should be left to the professionals.
With that in mind, she returned to her seat and resumed working on the antidote.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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