Chapter 11: Welcome to the Real Konoha
Tsukasa Kaede also calmly began assisting Morino Idate, pressing one hand on Feizhu Qingting's forehead, as a faint blue chakra began to emerge from his palm.
"It's you..." Feizhu Qingting mumbled groggily.
"You know him?" Morino Idate, seriously putting on his gloves, asked casually.
"Yes, I know him. I partnered with him once two months ago."
"Then you should know even more what needs to be done. He might have overheard some of our conversation just now. When it's time to make a decision, you absolutely cannot hesitate. This is a quality a qualified ninja should possess." Morino Idate meticulously put on his protective suit.
Feizhu Qingting wanted to struggle, but found he could do nothing. He immediately showed an expression of despair; it wasn't just the pain of facing death, but also a sense of collapse as his worldview shattered.
Is this Hidden Leaf Village? Is this what Konoha ninja should be doing? Is this the result he, Feizhu Qingting, got after risking his life on the battlefield? Yes, everything was real.
"Feizhu Qingting, welcome to the shadows beneath the flourishing great tree. In this place where sunlight struggles to reach, this is the real Hidden Leaf Village."
And this was the Hidden Leaf Village during a relatively "gentle" period of its history.
After all, it was the late stages of the Second Great Ninja War, and the war was difficult, so some extreme individual incidents could still be understood.
After the Second Great Ninja War ended, during the period of peace before the Third Great Ninja War broke out, many crazy operations carried out by Hidden Leaf Village, with the Third Hokage's tacit approval or even personal nod, truly shattered one's worldview.
It wasn't until the Naruto and Sasuke era that the atmosphere of Hidden Leaf Village would significantly improve. Sunlight, after the First Hokage, once again spread to every corner, embedding the Will of Fire, which had become distorted beyond recognition at some unknown point, into everyone's hearts.
Tsukasa Kaede said, "Your fate is sealed. This is an order from our superiors. I don't have the right to resist now. If I don't do it, someone else will. If I do it, perhaps I can lessen your pain."
The dust of an era falling upon a person is like a great mountain. In the Naruto World, this is manifesting in an even more cruel way.
Kaedemply by using Feizhu Qingting as a living subject to understand the toxin from Hidden Sand Village and provide Tsunade with some reference, it was already a B-rank mission, serving as a piece of the larger mission for Tsunade.
That meant Tsunade's action of developing an antidote for this toxin was at least an A-rank mission, or even an S-rank mission.
An S-rank mission normally required facing multiple Jonin, or even confronting Kage-level powerhouses in an extremely difficult mission.
"Hidden Sand Village, huh? I hear it's a village that's very skilled at using poison, especially those puppeteers." Tsukasa Kaede suddenly spoke.
Morino Idate said, "You wouldn't want to fight ninja from Hidden Sand Village. The Land of Wind is the country with the weakest overall national strength among the Five Great Nations. Hidden Sand Village also has the most strained financial situation among them. But they are very skilled at using various troublesome potent poisons to compensate for their lack of military strength. And every new poison means a large number of ninja die without being able to get an antidote in time."
Breaking down toxins and developing antidotes takes time, and even more, it requires Konoha ninja to risk their lives to identify the dangers—without sacrificing some lives to confirm a new potent poison has been used, how can we be sure Hidden Sand Village has deployed a new potent poison?
Without sacrificing the lives of some Konoha ninja to determine the basic characteristics of a toxin, how can we help those developing antidotes reduce their research time? Can we rely entirely on medical ninja of Tsunade's caliber to constantly rush to the front line and observe every toxin used by Hidden Sand Village up close? That's simply impossible; there's only one Tsunade in all of Konoha.
Just like now, if the life of an ordinary ninja like Feizhu Qingting is used to save Tsunade even a little time, it would absolutely be worth it in the eyes of Hidden Leaf Village's higher-ups. Because Tsunade would develop antidotes faster and distribute them to ninja on the front line, thereby saving more lives.
Perhaps, a seemingly ordinary action made by a high-ranking ninja contains the results of bottom-tier ninja like Tsukasa Kaede risking their lives.
The accumulated achievements developed by countless lower departments, piled up layer by layer, only then held enough value for an important figure like Tsunade to give them a glance or ponder for a few seconds, ultimately translating into an insignificant sentence within a decision impacting many.
"Then I'll begin."
Tsukasa Kaede guided his chakra along the forehead and into Feizhu Qingting's dying brain. As he watched this comrade he had once fought alongside, Feizhu Qingting's eyes gradually lost their luster and slowly closed.
Not long after, the corpse's eyelids twitched slightly, and a death rattle, like a dying swan, emerged from its mouth.
A colleague jumped in surprise. "Oh, is this also one of the effects of the potent poison? It actually stimulates human nerves; I thought it would paralyze them."
Morino Idate's expression subtly shifted. He glanced at Tsukasa Kaede and said, "Now is not the time to use your Soul Death Technique for corpse modification. Even if you have the ability to improve and further develop this jutsu, this corpse is of great importance."
Tsukasa Kaede, his face calm, said, "Perhaps some nerves haven't been completely eroded by the toxin yet, and are reacting now that they're stimulated. I said earlier I would lessen his pain, and this is one of the few things I can do... Mercy, in a department like ours, is truly a luxury."
He diligently carried out his work, consuming his scarce chakra. As he threaded needles, it seemed as if he was truly preparing for the Soul Death Technique—merely to fool Morino Idate and Root ninja. Subsequently, he completely cut open the chest with a scalpel. The others also began to move, with one person specifically responsible for recording, compiling a neat, easy-to-read, and understandable report.
The shadowless lamp cast a cold light on Feizhu Qingting's purplish-blue face. Tsukasa Kaede's rubber-gloved hand slid over the purplish-black holes in the corpse's neck. Viscous poisonous blood dripped along the dissecting knife's groove into a glass petri dish, making a corrosive sizzling sound.
"This toxin is practically a perfect combination of different chemical agents... It must have been developed by ninja of the caliber of the Third Kazekage, Chiyo, and Ebizō."
Morino Idate used tweezers to pick up a piece of necrotic liver. Tissue fluid was corroding imperceptible indentations into the metal tweezers. "This toxin primarily destroys glands. Salivary glands swell, yet tear glands dry up like a snake's shed skin after three days in the sun."
Tsukasa Kaede's scalpel tip prised open the chest cavity. Clumps of cotton-like black matter surged from the lungs. This was not ordinary tissue necrosis—the toxin was transforming the organs into a kind of fibrous cocoon. He dabbed poisonous blood onto a slide. Under the microscope, the cells resembled pupae constricted by spider silk, and the Chakra Pathway System exhibited an eerie hue.
"It's mainly a neurotoxin, mixed with extremely fine mineral sand crystals."
Tsukasa Kaede cut off a piece of blackened heart tissue. The ninja next to him quickly made a record.
Everyone present was experienced. They quickly completed all the records. The entire process was exceptionally efficient.
Not long after, this analytical report was delivered by a Root ninja to the relevant department, and would soon appear in Tsunade's hands.
(end of chapter)