Cracking the Salamander's Poison

The Hidden Sand Village being driven out of the Land of Rain completely changed the situation on the battlefield.

Originally, the Hidden Leaf, Hidden Stone, and Hidden Sand had been locked in fierce combat in the Land of Rain.

The Hidden Leaf had even single-handedly opened three fronts, fighting the Hidden Stone, Hidden Sand, and Hidden Rain simultaneously.

Hanzō of the Salamander led the weakest faction, the Hidden Rain Village, mediating among them in an effort to secure the greatest possible benefits.

But now, the situation had been shattered!

With the Hidden Sand Village withdrawing from the conflict, the freed-up ninja would undoubtedly be deployed to other fronts.

"That old puppet hag Chiyo actually suffered such a crushing defeat." Inside the Hidden Rain Village's office building, Hanzō of the Salamander angrily slammed his hand on the desk and rose to his feet.

When the Hidden Rain Village had fought the Hidden Sand Village, Chiyo had effortlessly neutralized the salamander's poison and even discovered its weakness, leaving the Hidden Rain Village in an extremely difficult position.

If not for his strength as a "demigod," along with the favorable terrain of the Land of Rain at his back, he might not have held out until the war reignited.

Yet the Hidden Sand Village that had beaten the Hidden Rain Village so badly had now been forcibly driven out of the Land of Rain by the Hidden Leaf.

This made Hanzō of the Salamander feel the gap between the Hidden Rain Village and the Hidden Leaf Village even more directly.

Once high-spirited after defeating those samurai of the Land of Iron, he had now been awakened by the cold reality.

Perhaps his decision to proactively start a war in order to expand his territory had been a mistake.

But Hanzō of the Salamander did not regret it. He merely made the calmest assessment in his heart.

"Pass down the order. I will personally head out!"

After handing logistics, dispatching, and other matters to his most trusted guards, Hanzō of the Salamander immediately rushed to the battlefield.

Meanwhile, in the Hidden Leaf camp, Indra and Mikoto worked together under Tsunade's watchful gaze to operate on a seriously injured jonin.

"Chakra Scalpel!"

Indra gathered chakra in his hand to form a blade and easily cut open the jonin's abdomen.

Mikoto activated her two-tomoe Sharingan and placed her hand over the wound Indra had made.

"Delicate Illness Extraction Technique!"

Bit by bit, poison was drawn out through the wound, gathering in Mikoto's palm before being stored in a container.

After finishing all that, the two pressed their hands against the wound together.

"Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique!"

Using the injured man's own cells as a medium, they precisely controlled their chakra to alter the cellular ratio, repairing the wound at a speed visible to the naked eye.

As the treatment neared its end, Tsunade stepped forward to inspect it. Afterward, she nodded approvingly at the two of them.

"You two are both qualified medical ninja now!"

Tsunade's face was full of pride. "Especially you, kid. You've improved so quickly that you've actually caught up to Mikoto."

Uchiha Mikoto had awakened her two-tomoe Sharingan, so her rapid improvement was only to be expected.

But Indra's performance was quite unexpected. It was almost as if her dream had been real, as though she had occasionally given him private instruction.

With that thought flashing through her mind, Tsunade smiled and shook her head.

Compared with such an absurd idea, she would rather attribute it to the extensive practical experience gained on the battlefield.

Indra, having received the praise, immediately smiled. "Then, Teacher, since I've improved so much, is there a reward?"

"A reward?" Hearing those strangely familiar words, Tsunade's body involuntarily shuddered. She instinctively replied, "Don't even think about those kinds of rewards, you little pervert."

The moment those words came out, the atmosphere instantly froze.

Mikoto abruptly turned her head and stared suspiciously at Indra and Tsunade.

"I only meant that you should treat me to a meal when we get back. What nonsense are you talking about?" Indra hurriedly pinched Tsunade's waist and gave her a meaningful look.

Tsunade shot Indra an embarrassed, furious glare, then grabbed his cheek and said with a smile that did not reach her eyes, "Yes, that's exactly what I meant!"

Having "gotten back at him," Tsunade felt much better the instant she saw Indra's pained expression.

To change the subject, Tsunade promptly took out an A-rank mission scroll. "This operation was also an assessment. Both of you have passed."

"The battle with the Hidden Sand Village has temporarily come to an end. The Third Hokage has assigned Sakumo Hatake and the others the mission of pushing into the Land of Wind."

"And the Third Hokage intends to send us to the battlefield between the village and the Hidden Rain."

Tsunade spread out the mission scroll and pointed to a section as she explained, "The current leader of the Hidden Rain Village, Hanzō of the Salamander, is also an expert in poison. For now, you two will work with me to decipher the salamander's poison."

Tsunade then took out a bottle of purple-black deadly poison. It was salamander poison that had been sent along with the mission scroll.

Having judged through this assessment that Indra and Mikoto were qualified to participate with her in developing an antidote, Tsunade had brought them in.

Since Tsunade had put it that way, Indra and Mikoto naturally had no reason to refuse.

Still, Indra asked one more question about the merits. "Teacher, if I complete this mission, how much credit will I get?"

"It'll count as the credit for a B-rank mission. I won't shortchange you." Tsunade rolled her eyes at Indra. "What, are you afraid I'll pocket it?"

"Hard to say."

Indra's mutter made Tsunade flare up in fury. "Is that really the kind of person you think I am?!"

"Isn't it? I helped cover most of the debts you owed at the casino."

"..."

With a single sentence, Indra instantly rendered Tsunade speechless.

In that regard, the impression she had given Indra really was that of someone greedy for money.

"What nonsense. You're not allowed to talk now!"

Unable to outargue Indra, Tsunade simply chose to cover his mouth, while also resolving to teach him a lesson.

Since Indra had said that, she absolutely had to make a tidy profit when the time came!

Unable to fight strength with strength and having no way to deal with Tsunade, Indra also resolved to get his revenge by teaching her a lesson in his dreams!

The master and disciple each harbored their own schemes, leaving only Mikoto with relatively pure thoughts.

In less than a week, Tsunade successfully developed an antidote pill for salamander venom in the camp's crude laboratory.

"Compared to the compound poison Chiyo concocted, the venom of a summoned beast like the salamander is much easier to neutralize."

As Tsunade let out a breath of relief, she looked at Indra with a complicated expression. "I never expected you to have such talent in poisons as well."

By Tsunade's original estimate, she would have needed at least ten days to completely crack it.

Yet with Indra's assistance, they finished it in only six days.

Indra's unique understanding of poisons left even Tsunade dumbfounded from certain angles.

If she had not known that she had personally raised him, Tsunade would have suspected that Indra had been studying how to make poisons ever since he came out of the womb!

"Oh, it's all thanks to my teacher's excellent instruction."

Indra waved a hand and casually gathered up several poisons from the table.

Taking advantage of this research, he had used the herbs of this world to concoct them.

Some were lethal poisons that killed at the sight of blood, while others were toxic powders that paralyzed the body.

Indra's favorite among them was the poison produced from his improved [Qi-Blocking Powder] formula, capable of disrupting the flow of chakra.

Tsunade had merely taken a light sniff, yet the speed at which she could mobilize chakra had dropped by twenty-five percent.

When she learned that Indra had concocted it "by accident," her expression had been as though she had seen a ghost.