Chiyo

"At most one week; beyond that, even I will be powerless to save her. However, doing this is also a futile effort. Life force is not like other injuries; healing the wounds does not mean the life force will be replenished. Everyone's life force is finite!" Tsunade explained helplessly.

Minato stood silent on the spot for a long time after hearing this.

"I have troubled you, Lady Tsunade. Even living one more day is a blessing." Minato looked at Kushina with tears in his eyes.

"Well, I actually know where to find a way to replenish life force, though I doubt you lot can get your hands on it." Uchiha Gen, who had been watching the show from the sidelines, finally spoke up.

"Kid, what kind of joke are you making? Life force is not some ordinary thing. Just looking at you, I can tell you don't understand medical ninjutsu." Tsunade rebuked him.

"I don't understand medical ninjutsu, and I don't know how 'extraordinary' life force is, but that doesn't stop me from knowing that others have it and others can do it!" Uchiha Gen retorted.

"Heh, I'm not bragging, but in the ninja world, no one surpasses me in medical ninjutsu. If I can't solve a problem, let alone anyone else."

"No, there is someone who solved the problem you couldn't, and you happen to be quite familiar with her!" Uchiha Gen looked at Tsunade with a hint of mockery.

"Who? Could it be... Orochimaru?" Tsunade looked at Uchiha Gen with a hint of hesitation.

"Uh, Orochimaru? Orochimaru could indeed save Kushina, but I suspect neither Kushina nor Minato would be able to accept the method! Besides, given Kushina's current condition, there isn't enough time to learn that technique!" Thinking about Kushina using Living Corpse Reincarnation to swap bodies—ugh, better forget it.

Orochimaru? That technique? Could it be!!!

Hiruzen Sarutobi, standing to the side, seemed to suddenly realize something upon hearing Uchiha Gen's words.

"It is not Orochimaru, but she is indeed an old acquaintance of Lady Tsunade."

"Not Orochimaru? Then who else could it be?" Tsunade asked again.

"You are familiar with the Sunagakure elder Chiyo, aren't you? After all, you were bitter rivals on the battlefield. She developed a forbidden technique called 'One's Own Life Reincarnation' that can transfer one's own life force to another. However, given the relationship between Sunagakure and Konoha, it is impossible for her to hand this technique over to you," Uchiha Gen stated.

"What? Kushina can be saved!"

"One's Own Life Reincarnation?"

"Chiyo?"

The three of them were focused on completely different things.

"Don't get happy too early. We just declared a ceasefire with Sunagakure, and I hear they are planning to negotiate peace with Kirigakure. They'll likely demand a heavy price; if we rush over to make this request now, we're just handing them the knife to slaughter us! We'll be the ones bleeding out. Besides, since it involves a forbidden technique, Chiyo might not be willing to help!" Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a worried expression.

"We can negotiate the terms, but Kushina must be saved!" Minato was uncharacteristically firm.

"Between villages, there are only interests. As an elder of Sunagakure, Chiyo shouldn't let emotions dictate her actions. Old man, I support Minato on this. Interests are secondary; if the person is gone, they are truly gone!" After all, Kushina was her relative; in terms of both reason and emotion, Tsunade could not stand by and watch.

"I didn't say I disagreed, it's just that this is difficult! Sigh! Minato, handle it as you see fit. The village can no longer withstand any more turmoil!" Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed helplessly. The Third Great Ninja War had just ended, and there were still small frictions between the villages that could trigger the next war at any moment. Konoha had fought for so many years and was already exhausted. Now, having to voluntarily offer themselves up to be fleeced by Sunagakure made Hiruzen feel terrible just thinking about it.

Minato was now single-mindedly focused on saving Kushina. If it meant sacrificing his comrades in the village to save her, he might not agree, but if it was just a matter of exchanging interests, it was not something he couldn't accept.

After the group discussed it, Minato set off for Sunagakure that very night with a few of his Hokage guards. He had originally wanted to take Uchiha Gen with him, but was politely refused on the grounds of physical exhaustion and the aftereffects of the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Tsunade continued to watch over Kushina, while the Third Hokage began to stabilize the situation and arrange for post-disaster reconstruction.

As for Uchiha Gen, he naturally went home to catch up on sleep. After all, he had been exhausted all night!

The morning sun emerged from the east, and the temperature in the desert began to rise slowly. By this time, Namikaze Minato had already arrived at Sunagakure with his few supporting guards.

Sunagakure~

Conference room!

The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, sat in the main seat, with Chiyo and Ebizo sitting on either side. Other high-ranking officials of Sunagakure were also present, while Namikaze Minato sat opposite them.

"Namikaze Minato, you show little respect for Sunagakure. We have only just ceased hostilities with Konoha, and you dare to come here and make such an unreasonable request?" Rasa said with a rather hostile attitude.

"Fourth Kazekage, let's speak plainly. The fact that you are willing to sit here and discuss this means there is room for negotiation. State your conditions!" Minato got straight to the point.

"Heh, you'll have to ask Elder Chiyo about that, as she is the one involved!" Rasa shifted the topic to Chiyo.

"I want to know where you heard that I possess the 'One's Own Life Reincarnation' technique?" Chiyo looked at Namikaze Minato with gloomy eyes. She had researched this technique alone for so long that even the Kazekage didn't know she possessed it, with the exception of her brother Ebizo, who had a vague idea. Yet, Namikaze Minato, all the way in Konoha, knew the name and effect of the technique clearly. This was truly chilling!

"We heard about it by chance." Minato did not want to expose his village's intelligence sources just like that.

"Oh, is that so? Then I refuse to provide the rescue!" Chiyo said, preparing to stand up and leave.

"Elder Chiyo, please wait! Fine, it was Uchiha Gen from our village who told me this information. As for how he knew, I have no idea!" Minato hurriedly called out to stop her.

"Uchiha Gen? Who is that?"

"Never heard of such a person!"

"Uchiha? Is he a member of the Uchiha clan, one of Konoha's two great noble families?"

"Fourth Hokage! If you don't want to talk, you don't have to fob me off with some random nobody!" Chiyo tried hard to recall, and after confirming that she had no impression of anyone named Uchiha Gen in her mind, she angrily questioned him.

"It was indeed intelligence provided by Uchiha Gen. We have no reason to lie about this. If Elder Chiyo does not believe us, we can invite Uchiha Gen to explain it in person!" Desperate to save her, Minato decided to sell out his teammate after much consideration. Although this was very unethical, saving Kushina was the priority. Once she was saved, he would find a way to compensate Uchiha Gen later!

"Is that so?" Seeing Minato's demeanor, the problem must lie with this person named Uchiha Gen. But how did he find out that she possessed this forbidden technique? Chiyo fell into deep thought.

"This can be discussed later. Elder Chiyo, would you be willing to part with the One's Own Life Reincarnation technique?" Minato was secretly anxious.