Better to Kill the Wrong One Than Let One Go

Minato Namikaze and Uchiha Fugaku briefly discussed things together, then rushed out of the village at top speed.

On the road, Fugaku suddenly suggested, "Minato, use your Flying Thunder God. Let's go as fast as we can."

Minato nodded as well. "I was just thinking the same thing."

With Minato's help, the two of them reached Konoha's border in less than a day.

"According to the Anbu, the poison Jin was hit with is something only Sand Village jonin can use. Should we capture a Sand Ninja and ask?" Minato suggested.

Fugaku had no objection to that. "If we can't find the person who cast the jutsu, then we can only kill a thousand by mistake rather than let one go."

After greeting the Konoha guards at the border, the two left the border and headed toward the Sand Village.

As for infiltrating the Sand Village directly, Hiruzen had made it clear that it was too dangerous, and the Sand Village was too far from Konoha...

The two had no choice but to search nearby for Sand Ninja out on missions, but several days passed in a row, and the two of them did not even find a single hair from a Sand Ninja.

Meanwhile, in Konoha Village.

Tsunade practically soaked herself in the laboratory every day. Kato Dan saw it all and felt the pain in his heart. He badly wanted to persuade her, but he did not know how to begin... after all, if he encountered something like this, he would definitely be the same.

"Tsunade, the old man told me to come assist you." A cold voice rang out in the laboratory.

Tsunade replied impatiently, "Get lost. I'm annoyed right now!"

"Lord Orochimaru."

Tsunade did not see Orochimaru, but Kato Dan spotted him immediately and was secretly shocked. Why would they send Orochimaru here?

Only after Tsunade heard Orochimaru's name did she turn her head. Sure enough, Orochimaru stood there in a white lab coat, wearing gloves and a mask. Tsunade snapped, "What are you doing here? Do you know medical ninjutsu?"

"No," Orochimaru said honestly. "But I know poison. After all, I have met that genius once. I do not want to see a genius fall either."

"Heh." Tsunade rolled her eyes at him. Orochimaru ignored her. After so many years together, he had long since understood her personality.

He walked over to Tsunade on his own and looked at the experimental data. "A poison from the Sand Village... no wonder you're having such a headache, Tsunade."

"Cut the sarcastic remarks. Do you have a way or not?" Tsunade rarely allowed herself to relax and walked to the side. After studying day and night these past few days, she was already utterly exhausted... once that guy Jin recovered, he absolutely had to treat her to a good meal!

"No." Orochimaru shrugged. "I have never seen this poison either."

Tsunade, whose body and mind had finally relaxed a little, glared at Orochimaru. "Then why are you talking!"

"You..." Orochimaru said helplessly. "Listen until people finish speaking. As far as I know, Jiraiya's current journey happens to have brought him to the Sand Village."

"You even know where he is? Then what are you wasting words for! Tell Jiraiya to capture a Sand Village jonin and hurry back!" Tsunade urged impatiently.

Orochimaru truly wanted to turn around and leave at that moment. Having his words cut off again before he could finish felt truly unpleasant... "The old man has already sent word. Given Jiraiya's speed, he is probably almost back by now."

"Hmph!" Tsunade snorted coldly and lay down on the sofa. Kato Dan could not help smiling and shaking his head at the sight...

Somewhere in the Sand Village.

"Tch, that old man, honestly. I was still gathering material." A certain sage curled his lip. "Since the situation is urgent, then there's no helping it."

"Lord Hokage has notified us to go back. He says there is a way now," Minato said as he looked at the secret letter.

"What about this one?" Fugaku asked, pressing a blade against a terrified Sand Ninja.

"Bring him back," Minato said. Fugaku nodded, and his Sharingan lightly turned toward the Sand Ninja...

Two days later, on the rooftop of the Hokage Building in Konoha.

Minato bit open his thumb and wiped the blood across the palm of his left hand. "Ninjutsu: Summoning Technique!"

"Wahaha! Welcome the grand entrance of Lord Jiraiya the Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku with the warmest applause!"

After the white smoke dispersed, Jiraiya crawled out of a toad's mouth with a Sand Ninja under genjutsu and shouted loudly.

"Hurry up and come with me!" Tsunade stepped forward, grabbed Jiraiya by the collar, and urged him on. "Hey, hey, hey, Tsunade, honestly, I know you miss me, but you don't have to be this eager..."

Bang!

"Ah..."

Hospital research room.

The Three Ninja had gathered, along with Minato and Fugaku. Jiraiya sighed with emotion. "All because of this little brat, the three of us actually had to move together, huh."

"Doesn't he count as half your disciple too?" Tsunade asked back. "Didn't you teach him the Summoning Technique as well?"

"Haha, true, true." Jiraiya laughed loudly. Minato reminded him, "Big Brother Fugaku, begin."

"Good." Fugaku nodded. He propped open the eyelids of the two people they had captured, and his Sharingan spun.

A short while later, Fugaku told everyone the information he had read. "This is a poisonous gas newly developed by the Sand Village, spread through a mixture with Wind Release. As for the antidote... the Sand Village has not mastered one either."

"Can you find out the exact components of the poison?" Orochimaru asked. Fugaku said, "I did not find that."

At this moment, Minato was searching the two men's bodies for something... "Is it this?" Minato handed a small bottle of pale cyan liquid to Tsunade.

"Orochimaru, the two of us will test this medicine. Perhaps we can find a clue from it," Tsunade said in a low voice.

Orochimaru nodded as well. At present, this was the only method before them.

After Tsunade drove the others out, she and Orochimaru began a new round of research...

Inside the ward.

Mikoto and Kushina took turns taking care of Jin. And with the Ninja Academy on break, Kakashi and the others also came to visit Jin whenever they had time. Among them, Yuhi Kurenai came almost every day.

"Kurenai, thank you for your hard work," Mikoto said softly. Kushina also teased from the side, "That kid Jin is really blessed."

"Sister Mikoto, Sister Kushina." After what Kushina said, Kurenai did not dare look directly at the two of them and quickly changed the subject. "Is Brother Jin a little better today?"

"Sigh." At the mention of Jin, Mikoto could not help sighing. "The same as before..."

"Sister Mikoto, don't worry. This kid definitely won't be in trouble," Kushina comforted her, then relayed to Mikoto what Minato had told her. "Apparently Lord Orochimaru and Lady Tsunade are close to developing an antidote."

"Mm..."

After several days of research, Orochimaru and Tsunade finally analyzed the exact components of the poison, which meant they could start making an antidote.

But at this moment, Tsunade raised a question. "How do we... test it?"

"Use people," Orochimaru said without hesitation.

"Hm? Use people as lab rats?" Tsunade's brows furrowed. "Isn't that a bit..."

"Only by using people will the experimental data be the most real," Orochimaru said coldly. "As for where to find people, I imagine there is an organization that would be very suitable."

"You mean... Root?"

"Is there really no other way?" Hiruzen could not help asking.

Orochimaru looked at Hiruzen with complete indifference. "If you do not want that child to have any aftereffects, then no. After all, the longer this poison drags on, the more serious it becomes. Tsunade has only suppressed the toxin; the poison inside that child's body has not been completely eliminated."