You'd Better Have Healing Like Tsunade's, Too

"All right, now that everyone's here, let's begin arranging our tactics. According to the intelligence gathered by Jonin Sakumo, the Sand Shinobi will be here, here, and here..."

Looking at the now-settled crowd, Nara Rurin spoke in a low voice, drawing everyone's attention.

After the meeting.

"You're still as impulsive as ever."

The now-empty command room held only Tsunade, Nara Rurin, and Uchiha Gen. Looking at Tsunade, Nara Rurin spoke with a helpless sigh.

"Uncle Rurin, you know what I'm like. I'm just like my grandmother—I'm fiercely protective of my own."

Although Nara Rurin hadn't been a disciple of the Second Hokage, he was the Nara of the previous Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Thanks to his connection with Torifu Akimichi, he was also fairly familiar with Mito Uzumaki.

He regarded Tsunade as a younger generation member of the family.

"You really need to change that temper of yours. Are you sure you can use that technique? You already gave me your assurance once, but this is a decisive war, so I need to confirm it again."

Nara Rurin shook his head slightly. Then his expression turned serious as he looked at Tsunade and asked quietly.

"I've mastered Katsuyu: Great Healing Technique. With the chakra stored in my Yin Seal, as long as the Katsuyu attached to each Konoha Ninja in battle doesn't suffer fatal damage, I can keep healing them from a distance."

Tsunade answered confidently. She had absolute faith in her ability in this regard.

"Good. I'm counting on you to keep our soldiers safe."

Reassured by Tsunade's confidence, Nara Rurin nodded.

Then Nara Rurin glanced at Uchiha Gen, who was quietly cultivating qi nearby. Seeing the clan crest on Gen's clothes, a flicker of unreadable emotion passed through his eyes.

"You must be Gen, right? May I call you that?"

Nara Rurin smiled at Uchiha Gen as he spoke softly. Gen had recently become a widely discussed name in Konoha's rear camp, and as the overall commander, it would have been hard for him not to hear about him.

"Please, call me whatever you like, Commander."

"Gen, about what happened earlier, please don't take it to heart. Yue had his reasons. The Hyuga Clan... sigh."

Nara Rurin sounded regretful. As the overall commander, he'd worked alongside Hyuga Yue for a long time and knew him fairly well.

Hyuga Yue was usually quiet, but he cared deeply about his relationships with his comrades. He also often worked silently without expecting anything in return.

But Yue's actions today had been unusual. It didn't take much thought to guess why.

"The Caged Bird. Hah. Having your fate controlled by a bunch of worthless people like that... It's downright tragic."

Uchiha Gen curled his lip. The Caged Bird did protect the Byakugan, but it also placed far too many restrictions on its bearers.

If a technique like that had been used in the Uchiha Clan, blood would have been spilled long ago. Trying to control the Uchiha? Then be prepared to stare down the Sharingan.

"Ahem. Try not to say things like that in public, Gen. Tsunade has told me about you. She vouched for your strength, but this is still a battlefield, and your medical skills are extremely important to Konoha. So I want to urge you: don't let your emotions get the better of you in battle.

"I know there's no way to keep you off the battlefield and have you stay obediently in the Medical Department at the rear. After all, you're an Uchiha Ninja, so please be sure to protect yourself.

"Also, what I said earlier about you being exceptionally promoted to Jonin was something I made up. The Hokage never issued such an order, so you need to show the strength Tsunade vouched for as soon as possible. Do you understand?"

Nara Rurin glanced around in alarm at Gen's words. After making sure nobody had heard, he turned to Gen and spoke with a grave expression.

He knew what the members of the Hyuga Main Family were like. If Uchiha Gen's words reached their ears, Konoha would probably be thrown into chaos again.

Thinking of this, Nara Rurin immediately changed the subject, still speaking sternly to Gen.

"You'll see what I can do."

Uchiha Gen smiled faintly in response.

Sand swirled across the battlefield.

Killing intent filled the air.

The Sunagakure Ninja lay hidden in the sand, watching the Konoha Ninja ahead of them with malice.

At that moment, the only sound across the battlefield was the howling wind. The eerie silence felt deeply unsettling.

Until—

"Konoha! Hand over Hatake Sakumo, and Sunagakure will withdraw at once! That bastard dared to kill Hirochi and Mia! How dare he?!"

Ebizo strode out from the Sunagakure ranks, his eyes bloodshot and his voice brimming with hatred as he shouted at the Konoha side.

After hearing of Sasori's parents' deaths, Ebizo had been consumed by guilt. He'd sent Sasori's parents to attack Konoha's rear, but they'd ended up in the Pure Land.

The outcome had left him panicked and remorseful. He... couldn't face his older sister, or Sasori, the little boy waiting for his parents to come home.

So... he had to take Hatake Sakumo, the man who'd killed Sasori's parents, back to Chiyo to face judgment.

"Ebizo, spare us the nonsense. Jonin Sakumo killed nothing more than a group of enemies trying to attack Konoha's rear.

"As for who they were or what their names were, none of that matters to Konoha. They got what they deserved."

Nara Rurin, the overall commander, immediately answered Ebizo's challenge.

"Hmph. If you won't hand over Hatake Sakumo, then you'll all be buried in this sand! Attack!"

Ebizo's eyes were bloodshot. He waved his hand, and the Sunagakure Ninja beside him charged toward the Konoha Ninja.

"For Konoha!!"

Seeing this, Nara Rurin also waved his hand, shouted, and led the charge.

Tsunade, standing behind them, activated her Yin Seal at the same moment. Her immense chakra flooded her body, then rapidly flowed into the Katsuyu attached to the Konoha Ninja.

"Katsuyu-sama, we're counting on you."

"Mm, leave it to me~"

"Katsuyu: Great Healing!"

In an instant, green light shone from the chests of all the Konoha Ninja.

On the battlefield, the Konoha Ninja caught up in the melee glanced at the cut on his hand from a Ninja Blade. The bleeding had stopped quickly, and the wound was already beginning to heal. A fierce grin spread across his face as he looked at the one who'd caused it.

"Sand brat, you'd better have healing like Lady Tsunade's, too."

As soon as he spoke, the Konoha Ninja charged toward the Sunagakure Ninja.