The Power Called "Miracle"!

"Where is Tsunade's squad now?!"

Orochimaru raced through the forest in the Land of Rain, his eyes darting from side to side as he searched for Tsunade's squad.

"Dan! Hang on! I'm here! I can save you!"

Tsunade's voice was filled with a fear and grief she had never felt before. Despite having reached the pinnacle of Medical Ninjutsu, she could feel her subordinate's life slipping away at an alarming rate.

The venom on the spikes was viciously potent. It wasn't just eating away at his flesh; it was also destroying his chakra pathways and internal organs.

The worst part was the several puncture wounds, which had struck nearly every vital organ in his chest. His liver, kidneys, intestines... all had been severely damaged by the venomous spikes.

"Cough... cough... I... don't want to die yet... There's still so much I want to do..."

Dan Katō's body convulsed violently. Each spasm tugged at his wounds, causing large amounts of blood to seep out...

His once handsome face was now expressionless and numb-looking. His lips had lost all color, save for the purplish-black hue of the poison. His consciousness was like a candle flickering in the wind, quickly fading beneath the dual onslaught of agony and cold.

"Stop talking, Dan!"

Dan's unfocused gaze struggled to settle on Tsunade's face, stricken with fear and grief. His lips moved, but all he could manage was a faint whisper:

"I... can't just die here..."

"It's all right. I've already stopped the bleeding... You'll be fine now. You're going to make it, Dan..."

Tsunade's voice choked with tears. Though she had long grown used to partings and death, it still hurt every time she watched someone she knew slowly lose their life right before her eyes.

"Is... that so? Thank goodness..."

Hearing Tsunade's reassurance, Dan felt a wave of relief. His lips strained to form the faintest smile, and then he lost consciousness completely.

Tears mingled with the cold rain as they rolled down Tsunade's cheeks. Her mind was racing faster than ever. The Mystical Palm Technique flowing from her hands was stronger than she had ever managed before. Its green light gave off an extraordinary heat, even forming a tangible halo around her hands.

"The general antidote is starting to work. The poison's been suppressed for now. I just need to reconnect the blood vessels, stop the heavy bleeding, and keep his organs functioning. Then I have to make a new antidote before the poison fully takes effect..."

Tsunade bit her lip. Blood mixed with rainwater and trickled from the corner of her mouth. She pushed her knowledge and her chakra control beyond their limits, using vast amounts of life-infused chakra to stitch together the ruptured major blood vessels. She even poured chakra into Dan's nearly stopped heart, trying to make it beat again!

At the same time, she enveloped the poison inside him with a massive amount of chakra, preventing it from flaring up again anytime soon!

This was no different from burning through Tsunade's life force, draining her mental strength, and consuming what little chakra she had left!

"No! The poison is too strong. The general antidote has stopped working altogether! Now... I can only use the Chakra Scalpel Extraction Technique to draw the poison out of his body, then fully heal his wounds..."

Though tears streamed down her face as she sensed the rapid changes in Dan's body, Tsunade's mind remained clear enough to make the most rational decision.

As the seconds passed, Tsunade first stopped the heavy bleeding from Dan's many wounds, then painstakingly extracted the poison from his body, leaving no trace behind.

At last, after all her relentless effort, she drew a pool of foul-smelling, purplish-black poisoned blood out of Dan's body. But just as she prepared to treat his remaining wounds, she realized she no longer had enough chakra to perform even one more jutsu.

Tsunade stared helplessly at her trembling hands. Then her body went limp, and she collapsed onto the ground.

"I'm... out of chakra..."

"Life is always so fragile..."

Orochimaru had finally found Tsunade's squad. He looked down at Dan, who was on the verge of becoming a corpse, and Tsunade, who had exhausted her chakra and collapsed in the mud. A drop of liquid—whether sweat or rain, he couldn't tell—rolled from the corner of his eye.

Suddenly, just as Orochimaru was lamenting, a pale golden chakra miraculously welled up from Tsunade's body as she collapsed from exhaustion onto Dan's "corpse."

The chakra spread outward until it enveloped both Tsunade and Dan, then finally settled.

To Orochimaru and the other Konoha Ninja's astonishment, the strange pale golden chakra rapidly healed Dan's wounds. In just a few blinks, the several wounds on his body had closed completely, leaving not even a trace of injury!

"That's...!!!"

In the eyes of the Konoha Ninja,

perhaps Tsunade's Medical Ninjutsu had pushed beyond its limits and forcibly kept Dan alive;

perhaps Dan's own powerful will had clung tight to his devotion to his family, Konoha, and the future, even in the boundless darkness;

or perhaps fate, cruel as ever, had merely grudgingly granted him a sliver of "luck."

Dan's already faint heartbeat, spurred on by Tsunade's desperate efforts and blessed by a "miracle," began to beat again—weakly and irregularly!

He... had survived!

But Orochimaru alone knew that this was no miracle, nor was it the Sage of Six Paths showing him favor.

It was the same pale golden special chakra that had appeared once before in his dying disciple, Nawaki!

It was a special chakra that only members of the Uzumaki Clan could possess after their Kekkei Genkai had awakened to a high degree!

It was the chakra possessed by Uzumaki Mito—or Qi Luna Uzumaki!

Orochimaru stared at Tsunade, who was already showing signs of waking despite having been enveloped by the pale golden chakra only moments ago. His golden, slit-pupiled eyes were full of shock.

"Kono chikara... subarashii! Uzumaki..." (This power... is wonderful! Uzumaki...)

A powerful desire surged in Orochimaru's heart. He was desperate to study the Uzumaki Clan's extraordinary bloodline!

His hands clenched into fists, and a crazed light gleamed in his eyes.

Just then, Dan slowly opened his eyes. He looked around in confusion, seeming unable to grasp that he had really returned from the brink of death.

"Kore wa... ore wa ikiteru ka?!" (This is... I'm still alive?!)

Dan said weakly.

Tsunade also slowly came to. Seeing that Dan was safe and sound, she wept with joy, feeling that all her effort had finally paid off.

Suppressing the urge surging inside him, Orochimaru stepped forward and said:

"Tsunade, Dan the Jonin surviving wasn't just a miracle."

"I'm more interested in that pale golden chakra. Could you spare me some to study?"

Tsunade eyed Orochimaru warily. The fervor in his eyes especially made her suspect that his motives weren't so simple.

"Orochimaru, I don't even know how to control this chakra. If you're really interested, then wait until the war is over and go find Qi Luna yourself."

Tsunade frowned slightly. Though she had a quarter of the Uzumaki Clan's blood, she had never awakened any of their Kekkei Genkai abilities, so she couldn't freely control the pale golden chakra in her body.

Besides, neither the time nor the place was right to discuss such a thing!

Orochimaru frowned slightly. He knew this wasn't the time to devote himself wholly to research. Just as this attack on Tsunade's squad had shown, the borders between nations might seem peaceful, but undercurrents were churning, and danger lurked everywhere!

Even so, the outline of a major plan had begun to take shape in his mind...