Chapter 33: Detoxification
Lately, the entire camp had been gripped by a tense and uneasy atmosphere, all because of a new type of poison that had surfaced on the battlefield.
The pressure wasn't just on the front-line combatants—even the medical teams in the rear were stretched thin and under immense stress.
More and more Konoha ninjas were becoming reluctant to engage in close combat with the Suna (Sand) shinobi, fearing they might get poisoned during the scuffle.
As a result, they were forced to rely on long-range ninjutsu and weapons like kunai, which consumed significantly more chakra and ninja tools. And even then, the results were far less effective.
While this strategy did lower the chances of being poisoned, it also had a negative impact on the overall war effort.
To make things worse, the medics still had no reliable way to detoxify those already afflicted.
Even without close-quarters fighting, the Sand shinobi were cunning. They set up traps or coated senbon, kunai, and other ranged weapons with poison, ensuring their enemies still suffered.
The number of poisoned ninjas kept increasing, while the existing patients remained difficult to treat—a situation that strained the front-line medical units to their limits.
In response, headquarters approved a request to send reinforcements—additional medical ninjas, including Nan.
This wasn't just to brainstorm ways to neutralize the toxin, but also to ease the crushing workload that had been overwhelming the medical corps.
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As soon as Nan arrived at the front-line camp, he could feel the tension in the air. There was no time for rest or orientation—the reinforcements were immediately assigned to urgent tasks.
Their first job: stabilize newly discovered poison victims whose conditions were rapidly deteriorating.
Although the reinforcements had endured a long and tiring journey, they were still in far better shape than the local medics, who had been running on fumes—physically, mentally, and in chakra reserves.
So it was only natural for Nan and the others to step up and take over where they could.
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Everyone quickly split off to attend to different patients. Nan gravitated toward a severely poisoned ninja, whose symptoms appeared more critical than the others. He prioritized him and prepared to begin treatment.
But just as he was about to place his hands on the wounded man, two people blocked his way.
They were the patient's teammates, visibly tense and cautious.
Their squad had just returned from a skirmish with the Hidden Sand...
The two squads had clashed in battle, but fearing the Sand's poison, the Konoha ninjas chose not to engage in a prolonged fight. They delivered a few blows and quickly prepared to retreat.
However, an accident occurred during the retreat—one of their teammates was struck by a poisoned needle from a Suna puppet master.
Shortly after returning to camp, that teammate began to exhibit clear signs of poisoning.
They rushed him to the medical center for emergency treatment, but there were already too many poisoned waiting to be treated, and they were told they'd have to wait.
To their surprise, the one who eventually arrived to help was a six-year-old child.
Could a child that young really be a medical ninja? Of course, they didn't believe it—and so, they tried to stop Nan from treating their friend.
Nan understood their reaction. Medical ninja training is no easy feat. Most begin studying medical ninjutsu only after graduating from the academy, and it takes years to master the necessary techniques. By the time one becomes fully qualified, they're typically around sixteen or seventeen years old.
Nan, looking no older than six, understandably didn't inspire much confidence. His age had become an obstacle, again.
But the poisoned ninja's condition was deteriorating quickly—every moment of delay could be fatal. Nan had no time to argue or explain.
Instead, he decisively activated his Sharingan and cast a genjutsu on the two men trying to block him.
They were merely mid-level chunin and had no chance to resist. The moment they saw his Sharingan, they were caught in the illusion and froze in place.
Nan calmly stepped past them and began his treatment.
Unlike other medical ninjas who might immediately use Healing Jutsu or the Mystical Palm Technique to stabilize the patient's vitals, Nan didn't rush. He knew those techniques simply stimulate the body's natural recovery, and while useful, they did little to counteract poison directly. At best, they bought time—they didn't cure.
Instead, Nan closely examined the patient's condition with his Sharingan, carefully observing the symptoms. From this, he deduced a rough composition of the toxin.
This was clearly a complex compound poison, far beyond the reach of conventional antidotes. The only real solution would be to create a specific antidote.
Fortunately, Nan had already seen the intelligence reports: the source of the poison was Chiyo, the legendary puppet master of Sunagakure.
Chiyo was no ordinary shinobi—she was a Kage-level threat. Even assuming she hadn't personally entered the field, no one knew where she was, and even if they did, who could force a Kage-level opponent to give up her secrets?
Since retrieving an antidote from the Sand was out of the question, their only option was to synthesize one themselves.
But how could ordinary medics counter a poison concocted by Chiyo herself?
Back in the Second Great Ninja War, Konoha had once suffered greatly at her hands—until Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin, stepped in and developed a cure, turning the tide.
Unfortunately, Tsunade had since abandoned Konoha after the death of her younger brother and lover. Now, there was no one left in the village capable of matching her expertise.
But Nan… was different.
His understanding of how various substances affected the body was far deeper than most medics could ever dream of. Just by observing, he could estimate the components of the toxin.
Still, knowledge was one thing—curing it was another entirely.
From what he could discern, the main component of the poison was a type of bacteria. Though the bacteria here differed from those in his previous life, the fundamentals were similar enough.
If he had antibiotics, this would be easy to solve.
But because medical ninjutsu dominated this world, antibiotics had never been developed in the Shinobi World.
Given his limited resources and understanding of the local herbs, he couldn't yet craft a proper antidote—so he would have to take a different approach.
He decided to use the technique Sakura had once used to save Kankuro in the original timeline: the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique.
This technique reduces the poison's concentration within the body, giving the patient's immune system a fighting chance. Once that's done, Mystical Palm could help the body naturally eliminate any remaining traces.
Normally, this technique causes immense pain, and patients struggle violently, which is why medics need multiple assistants to restrain the patient.
But Nan didn't need help. His genjutsu was powerful enough to immobilize the patient, even through agony. Not even the searing pain of the extraction could break his illusion.
He also had another advantage—Water Release jutsu.
Using it, he gathered moisture from the air and created the water sphere required for the technique, eliminating the need for a separate water source.
A technique that usually required a full team of medics—Nan performed alone.
Once the procedure was complete, Nan immediately noticed: the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique was remarkably effective against Chiyo's poison.
As he'd predicted, the Sand Village had not anticipated this kind of response—their poison had no countermeasures against it.
With most of the toxins removed, the patient's condition quickly stabilized.
Wasting no time, Nan followed up with Mystical Palm to purge the residual poison.
Soon after, with his Sharingan still active, he observed the patient's chakra flow—it had returned to a mostly normal state.
This indicated that the remaining toxins were nearly gone, and whatever trace amounts were left would be cleared naturally by the body's immune response.
He released the genjutsu and saw that the ninja had already fainted from the combined pain and exhaustion.
It would take at least a week for him to fully recover, but thanks to the timely treatment, there would be no lasting damage. He was essentially cured.
The poison that had left Konoha's entire medical corps helpless… had been neutralized by Nan alone.