Dosuke explained the situation to Orochimaru as he tidied the mess on the ground caused by the recent explosion.
"When I was training in the Shikkotsu Forest, I accidentally discovered a type of pool water that has the unique property of storing chakra."
"Tsunade-sensei and I had the idea to store healing ninjutsu within this special water to create a kind of Medical Solution. After many experiments with the mixture ratios, I managed to create a base liquid that can temporarily store chakra."
"Orochimaru-sama, Konoha's medical-nin are simply not enough. If this Medical Solution can be successfully produced, it wouldn't just vastly improve the survival rates for our shinobi, it could give the village a decisive advantage in this war."
Orochimaru carefully stepped around the lines drawn on the ground and reached for a bottle of light-green liquid on a shelf. He shook it gently, watching dense bubbles rise from the bottom.
"Dosuke, does your solution contain natural energy?" Orochimaru brought the bottle to his nose and inhaled.
"Orochimaru-sama, you're familiar with natural energy?" Dosuke asked, slightly surprised.
According to his understanding of the timeline, the Orochimaru of this era shouldn't have begun his experiments with cursed seals and other forbidden techniques yet.
"Heh. Once, a fool showed off a method for absorbing natural energy in front of me. Besides, Ryūchi Cave and Shikkotsu Forest are two of the Three Great Sage Regions. It's only natural I would know of it."
Dosuke nodded. He had a good idea who that 'fool' might have been.
"I blended natural energy into the solution. Natural energy can autonomously absorb the free energy in the atmosphere. Because of that, it can greatly extend the preservation time of the stored medical ninjutsu within the liquid."
"When I was in the village, I kept trying to perfect the ratio of natural energy in the Medical Solution to maximize how long the medical chakra would remain viable."
"But no matter what I tried, the effective time of this solution caps at one hour. After that, the healing chakra dissipates and it turns into ordinary water."
As he said this, Dosuke turned to look at Orochimaru, a bitter smile on his face. Anyone would feel disheartened after failing repeatedly.
"And what of the natural energy that nearly injured Fugaku today?" Orochimaru's voice was devoid of personal emotion, cold and machinelike. "You must understand, an incident like this could damage the relationship between the village and the Uchiha clan."
Dosuke internally scoffed. Here comes the heavy-handed framing. The Uchiha themselves had already said they wouldn't hold him accountable. What Orochimaru really wanted to know was his method for extracting natural energy.
"That concentrated natural energy was extracted from the special mucus secreted by the slugs of the Shikkotsu Forest. The Slug Sage herself gave it to me. I don't know the precise extraction method." Dosuke finished gathering the scattered materials from the floor, placed them on a table, casually pulled over a crate in the tent to sit on, and shrugged.
The extract of natural energy really had been a gift from the Slug Sage. This liquid form was relatively stable and gentle, purified by the slugs themselves after they absorbed the ambient natural energy of the forest using their own unique methods.
Dosuke had stayed with Tsunade in the Shikkotsu Forest for a long time to research this Medical Solution. If the Third Great War hadn't broken out, he'd probably still be there, puzzling over the formula.
"I see," Orochimaru said with a slow nod.
"Dosuke-kun… perhaps I can help you." Orochimaru stared at Dosuke, his hoarse voice uttering words that sent a thrill through both of them.
Orochimaru Aunt Snake was the foremost scientific mind in the Naruto world. His input couldn't be ignored. If he genuinely helped, the Medical Solution might truly become a reality.
Hearing Orochimaru's words, Dosuke felt as if a holy light had suddenly begun to emanate from the Sannin standing before him.
"Really? Orochimaru-sama?" Dosuke shot up from the crate.
"Of course. I will assist you."
---
Time flashed by. In the blink of an eye, more than two months had passed.
The war between Konoha and Sunagakure was now in full swing across the Land of Rivers.
Every day, wounded were delivered to Konoha's medical department in a steady, grim procession.
Dosuke spent his days treating injury after injury. Suna's widespread use of poisons meant there were many lethal cases that the current Konoha medical-nin simply couldn't handle. For poisons that weren't common antitoxins, apart from Dosuke, even experienced medics like Yamamatsu Taiga and Ayase Asami could only watch, helpless, as the wounded died in agony.
Dosuke had witnessed too much death during this time.
Ninjas died every day. Many perished directly on the battlefield. Others, whose wounds couldn't be effectively treated in time, died before they could even reach the camp.
During this period, Dosuke had also accompanied teams from the medical department to support troops directly on the front lines. The reality of war meant the civilians of the Land of Rivers were living in misery, many unable to secure basic food or shelter.
Fight between ninjas without touching civilians. That was just talk. In the heat of a real battle, with large-scale ninjutsu flying, it was impossible to neatly separate combatant from non-combatant.
Dosuke had seen it with his own eyes: a three-man Suna squad, seeing no route of escape, detonated the poison gas bombs they were carrying. A nearby village of thousands was wiped out instantly by the toxic cloud. No one survived. The fields were strewn with corpses.
---
Dosuke stood atop a relatively high rock within the Konoha camp. His open white medical coat snapped sharply in the biting wind, the attached hood swaying from side to side. With one hand, he pushed back the hair that had fallen over his eyes and stared fixedly toward the distant camp gate.
"Dosuke, you should go back and wait inside." A ninja in a black shirt stood behind him. In his scarlet pupils, three black tomoe spun slowly as he carefully observed their surroundings.
"Fugaku-nii, just a little longer. I'll go back soon." Dosuke's fair face now held a maturity that didn't match his age.
No wonder my teacher developed hemophobia, he thought. Without being baptized by the battlefield, one could never truly understand the cruelty of this era of strife.
In just two months, Dosuke's psyche had undergone a tremendous transformation.
"Dosuke, they're back!" The voice of Uchiha Fugaku behind him now carried a distinct note of excitement.
Hearing this, Dosuke's hands clenched into fists.
"Quickly! Fugaku-nii, let's go down to meet them!" Dosuke vanished from the spot in an instant.
Uchiha Fugaku, standing behind him, watched the space where Dosuke had been and allowed himself a rare grin. Then he, too, disappeared.