Response, Tsunade

Land of Rivers, Konoha Camp.

After treating all five people, Taiichi plopped down on the edge of the bed. He was already exhausted from developing the antidote, and now he had just gone through a great battle. Although his Chakra had been replenished due to the Yin Seal, his mind was far from recovered.

Reflecting on his battle with the Kazekage, Taiichi gained a clear understanding of his own strength. Unlike the last time he had managed to entangle the Kazekage with a sneak attack at night, this time it was a real head-on confrontation.

Taiichi was quite satisfied with the result. Without using all his methods, he was able to fight the Kazekage to a standstill. If they were to meet one-on-one in the wild, he might actually be able to kill the Kazekage.

Of course, this is just Taiichi's own imagination. He himself has some trump cards up his sleeve, and Kazekage must also be holding back some as well.

But regardless, with his current strength, he can be said to be more than capable of saving his life in the Ninja World.

To relieve his mental fatigue, Taiichi got up and walked out of the tent. It was already dark. The bright moon hung on the branches, and the stars were scattered across the sky. There were braziers burning everywhere in the camp, and patrolling ninjas came and went between the many tents from time to time.

Taiichi walked slowly through the camp, and every patrolling ninja he encountered stopped and bowed to Taiichi.

"Lord Taiichi ----"

"Lord Taiichi ----"

The greetings made Taiichi realize that his prestige in the Camp was no less than that of the veteran Jonin, and perhaps even greater.

This is understandable. Just from the many people he greeted along the way, Taiichi recognized at least seven of them as people he had treated, and two others as people he had fought alongside.

No wonder Teacher Tsunade was so popular when she became the Fifth Hokage, even after leaving the village for so many years. She was such a good Medical Ninja, so compassionate, and she also had considerable strength. It was impossible not to respect her.

Before arriving at the Central Army Tent, it was still brightly lit. From the arguments coming from inside, it was clear that even at this late hour, the people in the command post were still busy, working tirelessly for all the ninjas in the camp.

Taiichi sent the ninja guarding the gate in to report, while he waited in front of the tent. He knew that Yohei and Kakashi's matter would definitely need to be reported.

Although we don't know what mission they were carrying out, being hunted by so many elite Sunagakure Ninja and even encountering the Kazekage during the mission was definitely no small matter, and the command headquarters had to be informed.

But Yohei and the others were all exhausted, so it was naturally up to him, the former Captain, to clean up the mess.

"Lord Taiichi, Lord Jiraiya requests your presence." The guard who had just gone in came out and respectfully addressed Taiichi.

Taiichi nodded in thanks and stepped into the Central Command Tent.

Coincidentally, Taiichi saw Minato, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, in the camp. This was the first time Taiichi had seen Minato since they came to the Southern Camp together. He had heard that Minato had been carrying out a secret mission behind Sunagakure, and now he had returned.

Upon seeing Taiichi arrive, Minato secretly winked at Taiichi as a greeting.

Taiichi naturally returned the greeting in the same manner.

"Taiichi, I heard you have something to report. Is it because you've made progress on the poison from Sunagakure?"

Jiraiya ignored the interaction between the two and was quite pleased to see Taiichi. He had just heard Fujita's report earlier that antidotes for eight poisons had been developed; now that Taiichi was here, did it mean there was new progress?

"The matter of the antidote is still the same for now, but I have already written to Teacher Tsunade for help, and I believe I will receive a reply soon." Taiichi did not hide anything and openly stated that he had asked Tsunade for help, without showing any embarrassment.

But this made Jiraiya very happy. Tsunade had been away from the village for too long, and there had been no news of her at all. Although the village could occasionally get information about her, it was all outdated information.

Jiraiya consider trying to bring Tsunade back, but considering Tsunade's personality and past experiences, he had no choice but to give up.

So Jiraiya was just a "Pervy Sage" in name only; he was a virgin with only theory and no practical experience. No wonder he remained a bachelor his whole life, completely unaware of what women truly wanted.

Putting all that aside, Jiraiya hearing that it wasn't the antidote, was also puzzled. "Weren't you researching the antidote all day? If it's not this, then could it be—"

Jiraiya seemed to realize something and looked at Taiichi in surprise, "You weren't at the Camp this afternoon!"

It's no wonder Jiraiya was surprised. With Taiichi having unlocked a new use for the Flying Thunder God Technique, it's hard to say where his real body is. After all, without special means, no one can distinguish between Shadow Clone and the real body.

Taiichi nodded, first confirming Jiraiya's guess, then explained, "This afternoon, while I was resting, I received a distress call from Yohei— "

As Taiichi explained, everyone's attention was drawn to what Taiichi was saying—good heavens, it hasn't been that long, and he's already fought with the Kazekage again. Do you have a grudge against the Kazekage?

Of all the people here, apart from Jiraiya, none of you have met the Kazekage since the start of the war. Yet you fought him twice by yourself and didn't suffer a loss either time!

"Shikaku, what kind of mission did Yohei's team take on?!" Jiraiya had no time to think about these things; he immediately noticed the problem.

"Reconnaissance behind enemy lines." Shikaku blurted out the mission details without hesitation, proving himself to be the smartest person in Konoha.

"Have any teams that carried out the same mission returned to report in the past two days? How did it go?" Jiraiya asked seriously as he continued.

"One team came back yesterday, and another one came back today. Nothing special to report." Shikaku about the mission log he'd received that day before giving his answer. Before Jiraiya could ask further, he added, "This mission was arranged on the same day. A total of 10 teams were dispatched, and apart from the 3 that have returned, the others haven't made any moves yet!"

At this moment, the others also realized the problem. Based on the Resupply the ninjas carried, the teams that went out should have returned in the last two days, but only three teams had returned, one of which was rescued while being chased.

The other seven teams have probably also encountered sniping, and their current situation is likely extremely dangerous. As for the two teams that returned, they were simply incredibly lucky to escape being discovered by the Sand Village Ninja.

"Lord Jiraiya, we need to send reinforcements! Those are seven elite squads; we can't just let them be lost like this."

"One of the staff officers suggested."

Seven elite squads, each with at least seven Jonin, would be a significant blow to Konoha if they were lost.

However, judging from the arrangement of the Sunagakure Shinobi Army, while maintaining the frontline battle with Konoha, they also need to spare manpower to carry out encirclement and capture operations in the rear, and the number of these manpower will not be too large.

So at least from the current perspective, those seven teams will not be completely wiped out, but how to rescue them is a real problem.

They had no direct means of communication with the squad that had infiltrated behind enemy lines, and they didn't know where the squad was located. Even if they wanted to rescue them, they didn't have a specific target.

"How about launching a large-scale offensive? By applying pressure on the main battlefield, we can force Sunagakure to reduce the number of their pursuing forces, thereby indirectly relieving their pressure." Shikaku suggested a solution that wasn't really a solution, just as they had been discussing when to launch another attack on Sunagakure.

The group looked at each other, and after thinking about it carefully, they realized that the suggestion was indeed good, as it resolved the issue they had just discussed.

Jiraiya no one else raised any objections, Jiraiya immediately made the decision, "Alright, tomorrow morning, double the manpower for a focused attack on all the patrol teams and outposts of Sunagakure. Also, Minato, tomorrow you go and patrol the rear of Sunagakure to see if you can run into any of our people."

"Yes!" Everyone stood at attention and nodded, accepting the task.

Just when everyone thought the arrangements were over, Jiraiya suddenly called them back, "Also, tell the ninjas who will be on a mission tomorrow to be careful. Sunagakure already knows that the encirclement force has been discovered, and they might also guess our movements, so they have strengthened their defenses as well. Therefore, we must not let our guard down."

Everyone understood; indeed, this was an area easily overlooked. If they misjudged the enemy's strength before tomorrow's battle, they might be caught off guard by the Sunagakure, and the losses would be far greater than those of seven squads.

Jiraiya his seemingly unreliable nature, Jiraiya is quite dependable when it matters and is a Commander you can trust.

"Taiichi, you still need to hurry up and develop an antidote. Tomorrow the battle will be larger in scale, and the damage from that toxin will definitely increase exponentially. Without an antidote, the treatment provided by Medical Ninja alone will be far from sufficient."

"Yes, I will definitely try my best!" Taiichi nodded solemnly, as this was exactly what he was going to do later.

After leaving the Central Army Tent, Taiichi went straight to the Medical Camp. Tomorrow was going to be a big battle, and if he could develop one more antidote, the medical pressure would be reduced. This was definitely not the time for him to rest.

Entering the Laboratory, Taiichi once again immersed himself in the research of poisons. Various test tubes and instruments played their respective roles under his operation, either refining and purifying them or mixing them for reaction. Taiichi was also participating in tomorrow's battle in his own way.

Meanwhile, in the distant Land of Iron, a neutral nation...

Inside a small inn, Tsunade, wearing a bathrobe, was leaning against the bed, one leg resting on the edge of the bed while the other dangled casually by the side. Her toes, painted with red nail polish, drew red lines in the air. At first glance, it was an absolutely erotic picture of a beautiful woman emerging from a bath.

No one would guess that this beautiful woman, who looks to be only in her early twenties, is actually a middle-aged woman nearing forty.

At this moment, Tsunade was reading Taiichi's letter in one hand and holding a sake bottle in the other, occasionally taking a sip. Her life couldn't be more enjoyable.

Tsunade read the letter, she couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for Taiichi's recent ordeal.

If what he said in his letter wasn't an exaggeration, then even she might not be able to defeat him now. She never expected that the disciple she had taken in out of pity would already possess such abilities, which surprised her and made her admire Taiichi's hard work.

To have this level of ability at this age, talent alone is not enough; it is absolutely impossible without daily training.

Then came Taiichi's concern for her, and his usual endless flattery. It was astonishing that he could even say such things; she felt embarrassed just watching him.

But it must be said that Tsunade seemed to enjoy it quite a bit; even her swaying legs became more energetic.

The letter ends with Taiichi's ultimate goal in writing it: how to cure Sunagakure of Chiyo's poison.

In the letter, Taiichi clearly recorded his analysis of the composition and toxicology of the poisons, as well as the symptoms caused by each poison, his own feelings during treatment, and all the information that could help Tsunade with the analysis.

In closing, Taiichi recounted the dire situation at the Konoha Camp, where poisoned patients were everywhere, and he himself had been working for two days and two nights without sleep, urgently needing Teacher Tsunade's help.

Originally, after reading the above content, Tsunade was genuinely worried about the current situation in the Camp. After all, just from the drug analysis, she could see how troublesome these poisons were. Over the years, Chiyo Sunagakure had not only not regressed in her poison-making skills, but had actually improved quite a bit.

While she was still hesitating about whether she really wanted to go to the front lines, Taiichi's last few words completely dispelled her worries.

She had some understanding of her disciple. He might not genuinely like the village's higher-ups, even the Third Hokage, but he was extremely attentive to the village and the people he cared about.

If the Camp were truly as wretched as he claimed, ravaged by the poison, the overall style of the letter would never be such a mix of reminiscing and flattery.

Tsunade waved the letter in her hand, sat up straight, and chuckled dismissively.

You think you can fool me with this level of skill? You should practice for another 100 years!

Just then, there was a noise coming from the door. Tsunade didn't even need to look to know that Shizune had returned.

"Lady Tsunade, what's so funny? I heard your laughter before I even came in."

As soon as Shizune entered, she saw the letter in Tsunade's hand. Without even looking at it, she knew it Taiichi have been written by Taiichi. Since leaving Konoha, Taiichi had occasionally written to them; the others hadn't made a sound.

At first, Shizune felt sad and sometimes felt sorry for Tsunade, but as time went on, she calmed down and it didn't bother her anymore.

At least in Konoha, there's still Taiichi who cares about them, and that's enough!

"It's Taiichi letter! No wonder you can still laugh out loud. You lost a million ryo before, and we don't have enough for food today!" Shizune is used to it now and no longer acts like she used to when Tsunade lost money.

Tsunade's face immediately darkened. "You really have a sharp tongue. You always bring up the things you don't want to talk about."

With a dark expression, Tsunade walked to the study next door, slammed the door shut, and left with the words, "I'm going to take care of that brat Taiichi. I'm skipping dinner," thus avoiding any further trouble.

She was too ashamed to face Shizune. Every time she lost money, Jingyin would give her a good lecture. What a little tyrant!

But she was such a gambler, and only when she gambled could she forget her troubles.