Seeing the frail old woman charging toward their position, Temari quickly reacted, realizing that this reclusive elder had misunderstood the situation, and rushed to block her in the middle of the corridor.
"Granny, wake up! Sunagakure and Konoha are allies now!" Temari hurriedly explained.
Chiyo's narrowed eyes opened slightly.
"To think Sunagakure would actually form an alliance with Konoha, once our enemy… how pathetic this village has become."
The next moment, her gaze landed on Kakashi, with his head full of white hair.
"Hmph! The White Fang of Konoha! You killed my son, and yet you dare show your face here in Sunagakure! I'll avenge him right now! (ꐦ ಠ 皿 ಠ)"
Naruto quickly jumped in front of Kakashi-sensei, pointing at Chiyo and asking,
"Oi, is this old lady senile or something?"
Temari winced, looking apologetic.
"Please don't mind her… These two have been out of touch with the world for years and don't really know the current situation. Plus, she's… well, she's getting old, so her memory isn't the best…"
"You little brat, watch your mouth! The one with no brains here is you! This old woman hasn't forgotten the blood debt owed by Konoha's White Fang! (′д｀σ)σ"
Chiyo's cloudy eyes filled with anger.
Just then, the old man standing beside her spoke up.
"You really are mistaken. The White Fang of Konoha died decades ago."
"You even regretted back then that you couldn't take revenge with your own hands."
Hearing this, Chiyo paused, looked carefully at Kakashi, and muttered,
"Hmm… he does look similar, but… I guess he's not the same person after all…"
Her cloudy eyes gradually cleared up. The wrinkles on her face trembled slightly as she revealed an embarrassed expression.
"Ah… looks like this old woman really is getting on in years."
Chiyo then shifted her tone, putting on a kind smile as she called out,
"You must be the Konoha shinobi sent to assist Sunagakure, right? Why are you all standing around outside the ward?"
The gathered shinobi fell silent.
Temari stepped in to explain, "Kankuro's been poisoned. The Konoha medical-nin are inside treating him."
Chiyo frowned deeply, sighing.
"For Sunagakure to have fallen so far… not even having a proper medical-nin anymore… depending on Konoha like this is unacceptable…"
"Oi, granny, you sound like you've got a real grudge against Konoha's shinobi. Ծ‸ Ծ" Naruto couldn't hold back anymore.
Chiyo turned and glanced at the loudmouthed Konoha genin.
"Of course. Back then, Sunagakure and Konoha were locked in fierce battles."
"And it was Konoha's shinobi who took my son's life… leaving my poor little grandson an orphan…"
"Speaking of your grandson…" Temari looked a bit awkward. "The one who poisoned Kankuro… was Sasori."
Chiyo: Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
"That boy… defected from Sunagakure over twenty years ago and now dares to attack the village?!"
Suddenly, Chiyo's expression changed as something clicked in her mind.
"If that's the case, then Kankuro's in real danger! Sasori isn't just a master puppeteer, his skills with poison are unmatched! Σ( ° △ °|||)︴"
Temari nodded grimly. "Yes. Sasori said himself… a poisoned Kankuro won't last more than three days."
Chiyo grew even more alarmed.
"Quick, open the door! That kind of poison isn't something just any medical-nin can handle! ╭(°A°`)╮"
"I need to check on Kankuro myself!"
With that, the elder of Sunagakure stepped up and knocked firmly on the ward door.
From inside came Shinju's irritated voice: "I told you, I'm in the middle of surgery! No one bothers me unless you want to make things worse!"
Chiyo frowned at his tone and snapped back.
"Open this door right now! If something happens to the boy, you'll pay with your life!"
The moment those words left her mouth, the entire corridor fell silent.
Dead quiet.
The silence lasted for a solid thirty seconds.
Then, the door creaked open, and Shinju stepped out slowly, wearing a surgical mask and gloves. His sharp gaze swept across the group.
"Who just said I'd be paying with my life? Step forward."
"I did!" Chiyo raised her head, looking at the young medical-nin.
"So young?" Her eyes widened. "They sent someone this young as Sunagakure's medical support?!"
"How could a kid like you have any real medical skills?! Clearly, Konoha doesn't take this alliance seriously!"
Shinju stared at the old woman, speechless with irritation.
But since she was elderly, he restrained himself. Beating up an old lady wasn't exactly his style.
Instead, he pushed the ward door wide open and stepped aside.
"Whether my skills are good enough… isn't really up to some half-buried old radish like you to judge."
The door opened, and Temari rushed straight to Kankuro's bedside.
Inside the ward, every monitor showed stable life signs.
Even more shocking, all visible symptoms of poisoning had completely disappeared.
Temari let out a huge sigh of relief and quickly bowed to Shinju.
"Thank you! And please, don't take Chiyo's words to heart. She's… not at her sharpest anymore…"
Shinju waved dismissively. "It's fine. I'm not about to argue with someone who won't be around much longer anyway."
Chiyo: "Such an ill-mannered brat from Konoha! (ꐦ ಠ皿ಠ)"
Determined to find fault, she walked up to Kankuro's bed, carefully examining the instruments and checking his pulse.
After a while, her expression shifted to utter shock. ∑(°Д°)
"Stable heart rate… toxins completely neutralized!"
"And during surgery, you also fixed the chronic damage to his chakra pathways caused by years of puppeteering?!!! ∑(°Д°ノ)ノ"
Chiyo stared at Shinju in disbelief.
Shinju crossed his arms, pouting slightly. "What can I say? I'm a doctor. If I see a problem, I fix it. ┐(´-｀)┌"
Chiyo: --003d͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪ ‧̣̥̇)
The elder of Sunagakure suddenly felt ashamed!
Compared to this young shinobi from Konoha, her long-standing hostility seemed… petty.
As a puppeteer herself, she knew exactly how years of manipulating puppets with chakra threads caused irreversible damage to the body's meridians.
Yet somehow, this young medical-nin from Konoha had repaired Kankuro's injuries!
No one in Sunagakure could do something like this.
It was undeniable — the young man she had looked down on not only possessed astounding medical skills, but also an incredible generosity of spirit.
"…This old woman was wrong."
Chiyo lowered her head toward Shinju, her cloudy eyes now filled with complicated emotions.
Thinking there was no need to hold a grudge against a half-buried old lady, Shinju simply waved it off, showing he didn't take her earlier words to heart.
Then, turning to Temari, he asked, "Did you bring all the ingredients I asked for?"
"Yes! I brought everything!"
After witnessing Shinju's extraordinary medical abilities, Temari no longer doubted a single word he said. She quickly signaled the guards to set down the rare medicinal supplies.
Shinju then pulled out a scroll and calmly used a space-time ninjutsu to seal all the expensive ingredients away.
Standing nearby, Naruto blinked in confusion, scratching his head. He leaned closer and whispered,
"Oi, Shinju… aren't those supplies supposed to be for Kankuro's treatment?"
Shinju grinned slyly. "Who said that? These are my medical fees from Sunagakure. ❛‿˂̵✧"
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