Secret Medicine

Nara Motonari's personality was lazy, and his self-management skills were worryingly poor.

But since he could become a Jonin-in-charge recognized by the village, his professional competence and work ethics were evident.

Hundreds upon hundreds of missions and killings had long since tempered his heart to be harder than steel; by the standards of ordinary people, Nara Motonari was absolutely a cold-blooded serial killer.

Yet in the world of ninjas, this approach was unexpectedly beyond reproach.

After all, statistically speaking, commissioning a small organization like Takigakure to carry out high-difficulty missions above B-rank was always a gamble where success or failure depended on fate.

From a personal perspective, the ruthless killing increased the efficiency of the transport brigade in gathering intelligence; from a macro perspective, it freed up more salary budget for the struggling Takigakure.

Combined, it was an excellent decision that resulted in a win-win for both sides.

Nara Motonari understood this logic, and Soji was also very clear about it in his heart.

Therefore, when Nara Motonari discovered that the third unlucky soul he had cornered was drenched in cold sweat from the pressure of death looming inches away, yet still refused to spill, he decisively summoned his prized student—who was a qualified medical professional—and ordered the latter to use his unique weapon, the "Glass Wire," to perform a full set of acupuncture therapy that would make anyone with trypophobia pass away on the spot!

Benefiting from the extensive medical knowledge learned at Konoha Hospital, Dr. Yamada lived up to expectations and performed this surgery with exceptional success.

--The Mystical Palm Technique combined with the secret art of Rain Woman's Heart achieved a perfect chemical reaction where one plus one was greater than two; the boundary between life and death was manipulated with extraordinary precision by the young man!

So much so that the patient endured unimaginable suffering during the most fulfilling 3 minutes and 21 seconds of his life, and until the very moment he lost his vital signs, his facial expressions remained in a state of total loss of control.

Such an unsettling interrogation method indeed yielded miraculous results.

After witnessing the entire cycle of despair where itch and pain repeated endlessly, the last surviving Takigakure assassin finally had his mental defenses broken.

Trembling, he confessed everything, including the mission details and everything he knew about the client, ultimately receiving a fast, painless one-way ticket to hell.

However, the sequelae caused by this attack did not end there.

Because according to the man's statement, the ones who commissioned Takigakure to attack the Konoha medical team were ninjas from the Land of Earth.

They had offered a price twice the standard market rate for this, and there were far more than just this one group in the village who had accepted the mission.

Consequently, when Nara Motonari shared this intelligence at the briefing that evening, most of the Konoha ninjas responsible for the escort mission fell into silence.

A moment later, it was the energetic girl Erina who first expressed her opinion!

"Teacher, since it is now confirmed that Rock Ninja are taking hostile actions against us through hiring, the situation at the border has fundamentally changed. I believe we should suspend construction and return to the village to report to the Hokage!"

As soon as Erina finished speaking, the assembled ninjas began to whisper—most of them agreed with Miss Sarutobi's view. Only Soji, who had been acting alongside Nara Motonari, and another female ninja with neat short hair remained silent.

Sure enough, when the discussion became uncontrollable, Nara Motonari immediately raised his hand to signal everyone to stay quiet.

Only then did he speak his mind, starting from the simple to the profound: "Everyone, the more critical the situation, the more we must remain calm—think carefully, we have only obtained a confession lacking corroboration from a few outlaws.

Not to mention that these Takigakure ninjas might not be telling the truth, even if they subjectively had no intention to conceal anything, we cannot judge the international situation based on such second-hand intelligence."

Nara Motonari's voice was not loud.

But his solid and firm tone, coupled with the strength he had shown in instantly subduing four attackers, immediately suppressed the opinions of the other teammates.

...Just as he said, in the treacherous world of ninjas, means like framing others were never rare.

Even the group of muscle-headed brutes from Cloud Ninja Village had all sorts of hidden agendas, which showed the level of integrity among the major powers in the ninja world.

Who could guarantee that what happened tonight wasn't a meticulously planned conspiracy?

No one present dared to make that guarantee, so when Nara Motonari spoke again, everyone's attitude softened significantly.

"With the help of various miraculous ninjutsu, many things might not be reality even if seen with one's own eyes; how can we make hasty decisions based on one-sided words?

If we turn back halfway and delay the construction progress of the field hospital, the border troops will suffer even more severe losses, which is something the village absolutely cannot accept.

Moreover, according to the intelligence department, the relationship between the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning has recently become tense; it is hard to imagine that the new Tsuchikage would aim his spearhead at the Land of Fire."

Motonari paused here, letting everyone ease their tense emotions.

Once everything settled down, he turned to the short-haired female ninja who hadn't spoken earlier to add another layer of insurance to his decision.

"Of course, one must be wary of others. Even if the probability is small, the frontline medical brigade cannot travel with doubts.

Miss Inoue Reina, I believe your communication squad should immediately find a way to transmit the news back to the village. On one hand, let colleagues in other departments along the route prepare for support; on the other hand, we can verify this intelligence as soon as possible through Anbu channels."

"Yes, Lord Nara. This subordinate will go and confirm the status of the Reverse Summoning Scroll."

The woman who was named bowed and saluted, then immediately stood up and left the tent.

Her movements were extremely agile, and she looked slightly older than the three 11 or 12-year-old children of Team Five; from this, it could be inferred that she likely performed well in terms of actual combat ability.

...Of course, compared to her personal ability, what concerned Soji more was the other party's surname.

Although Inoue, like Yamada, was a common name found everywhere, connecting the cause and effect of this trip, the boy couldn't help but suspect whether she had any kinship with Director Inoue Hisahide.

But before Soji could think further in this direction, Nara Motonari began assigning tasks again, and he had no choice but to pull his thoughts back and refocus on the predicament at hand.

Since the enemy situation had changed, the protective measures of the escort team naturally had to be more cautious than previously arranged.

Specifically, Nara Motonari increased the number of night patrol sentries, expanded the scale of traps around the camp, and made subtle adjustments to the original marching route.

But after the round of task assignments, Soji's actual workload was unexpectedly reduced quite a bit...

The boy noticed the anomaly immediately, so after the meeting, he found an excuse to separate from Erina and Todo, and walked into the commander-in-chief's tent once more.

There, Nara Motonari was indeed waiting for him.

Compared to the noisy situation earlier, the master and apprentice meeting in private no longer required so much superficial talk. As soon as Motonari opened his mouth, he immediately switched to "real mode"...

"To be honest, although the words of a Waterfall Ninja assassin may not be entirely trustworthy, there is indeed a possibility that the Rock Ninja are colluding with the Sand Ninja."

"...If that is the case, why do you still insist on continuing the mission?"

"Because this is part of the plan itself."

Motochika rubbed his chin and glanced at Soji: "You don't seem particularly surprised. Did you receive news about this through other channels beforehand?"

"No, this is indeed the first time I have heard the inside information you mentioned."

Soji's tone was firm, devoid of any unnecessary body language.

"This student simply felt that, given that Dean Chosokabe is personally participating, dispatching only three squads to guard such precious medical resources seems far too trivial."

"Tsk, you really are a clever child... How about it? Do you want to know the details?"

"Please allow me to refuse." Soji shifted his kneeling legs backward, using his actions to make his stance clear.

Seeing this, Motochika only smiled even more happily, pulling an opaque brown vial directly from his robes and placing it in front of his student.

"Since you aren't interested, it would be inconvenient for me to say more. Keep this potion safe; there is still a part where you will need to make a magnificent entrance."