A Special Toxin

"Tianyeshui was actually killed by a brat? How is that possible?!"

"Be careful. Tianyeshui's death is strange. His corpse seems... different."

"It must be poison. Cover your mouths and noses, and approach carefully!"

Even if the enemy could kill an elite chunin, the Mist ninja were confident they could kill him with three people attacking together.

However, once they entered a certain range, they felt a burning heat spread through their bodies. Pus-filled blisters began to form on their skin.

"When were we poisoned?"

All three of them had the same question. Even antidote pills could not resist this toxin. Only after they moved away from Uchiha Yū did the deterioration begin to slow.

Watching them flee, he had no ability to stop all three of them. However, the cells throughout their bodies had already been destroyed. Even after leaving the radiation range, they would slowly be killed by it.

Their deaths might even be more horrifying than Tianyeshui's.

"You think running away means you'll be fine?"

Uchiha Yū tore open a gap amid the chaotic battle, allowing the ninja behind him to retreat quickly.

Meanwhile, Tsunade kept Mishita Tanaka occupied, preventing him from acting freely and slaughtering Konoha's ninja without restraint. She glanced behind her and saw a corpse lying before Uchiha Yū, while several other ninja were rapidly retreating, afraid of being caught up in it.

"What did he do?"

According to Orochimaru, he had the strength to contend with a chunin, but being able to kill an elite chunin was beyond Tsunade's expectations.

Mishita Tanaka saw the miserable state of his subordinates. His expression turned grave as he demanded in a low voice, "What are you three idiots doing?!"

The three rebuked ninja wore bitter smiles. They only felt excruciating pain throughout their bodies, as though something were tearing their muscles apart. Enduring the agony, they answered, "Lord Mishita! We've been poisoned by an unknown toxin. Antidote pills are useless against it."

Seeing their suffering, Mishita Tanaka suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his own body as well. During the intense battle against a powerful opponent, he had ignored his physical condition. Now, in the brief lull, he carefully examined himself and confirmed that it was no accident.

When had he been poisoned?

All the Hidden Mist Village ninja present sensed that something was wrong with their bodies. However, they had inhaled only small amounts of radiation, not enough to be fatal.

Mishita Tanaka gave Tsunade a deep look, believing that she had silently poisoned them. Helplessly, he led the remaining men away. They had failed to kill Tsunade this time, but they had killed nearly half the injured ninja, so the mission was not exactly a failure.

They had even killed a medical ninja!

The mist appeared again. By the time Tsunade tried to chase after them, no one was left.

"Damn Hidden Mist Village ninja. I'll remember this!"

She glared hatefully into the distance. Once the mist dispersed, there was no trace of the Hidden Mist Village ninja left. Yet seeing her companions' miserable deaths only fueled Tsunade's rage.

Turning to the survivors, Tsunade asked with some concern, "You, you weren't hurt, were you?"

"I'm fine."

He absorbed the radioactive elements around them with all his strength. Once the radioactive elements remaining on his companions' bodies had been drawn back into him, they only needed to rest and recuperate for a while to avoid any danger to their lives.

Noticing Tianyeshui's gruesome corpse, Tsunade wore a strange expression as she looked suspiciously at Uchiha Yū.

If she had heard correctly, those three chunin had seemed to say that Uchiha Yū had poisoned them.

"Was this the poison you gave them?"

Tsunade crouched down and examined the corpse on the ground. She found that he had bled throughout his entire body; both his internal organs and muscles had dissolved, creating an utterly horrifying sight.

It reminded her of when she had examined You in the hospital and lifted his white bandages. The flesh she saw then had looked exactly the same.

"It is indeed a kind of poison, and there is no antidote for it. At least, no common antidote. Only I can take it back."

Because he had withdrawn the radioactive elements in advance, the corpse was now merely a corpse and posed no risk of indirect transmission. Tsunade collected some material, intending to examine it after returning.

Before an antidote could be developed, even Tsunade was deeply wary of this potent poison. It was more terrifying than any poison she had ever seen.

Only a few minutes had passed from the start of the battle to its end, yet they had already been reduced to such miserable states.

"What a terrifying ability. You must not accidentally hurt your allies. I wouldn't want you to be forced to leave the village because of a single war."

Tsunade's concern was not unfounded. Whether in terms of the poison's potency or its range of spread, the moment Mishita Tanaka, who had been at the center of the battlefield, showed signs of discomfort, she had keenly noticed it and seized the chance to suppress him.

"Don't worry, Lady Tsunade. This ability is under my control."

After forcing back the enemy, they needed to transport the wounded. To save time, they treated those with lighter injuries first, restoring enough mobility for them to move, before carrying the more severely injured.

Just as Uchiha Yū was treating someone, a ninja in critical condition woke up. After dazedly coming to his senses and seeing Tsunade beside him, he said weakly, "Cough, cough... We found traces of Hanzō's forces..."

"Their target is the vanguard. We have to hurry..."

After saying that, he seemed to lack the strength to continue and fell unconscious again. Tsunade was immediately shocked upon hearing the news.

"We need to transport the wounded back now."

You noticed the obvious change in Tsunade's expression. Just as he was about to send someone to check on the vanguard, Tsunade stood and instructed him, "I'll personally go to the vanguard. Take the wounded and leave as quickly as possible. Don't waste any time on the way."

"What?"

Uchiha Yū thought he had misheard her.

This place was not near the center of the battlefield, but they had just suffered an attack. She wanted him, a genin, to escort the wounded back?

Thinking he had heard wrong, he stressed his words. "Lady Tsunade, I can't guarantee the team's survival rate. This is the front line of the battlefield. There isn't an elite jonin in the team. If we encounter danger, the entire unit could be wiped out."

Hearing Uchiha Yū's questioning tone, Tsunade realized her mistake. She had just received urgent news, which had made her speak carelessly.

After calming down, Tsunade lowered her head and apologized. Even if she was worried about the troops' safety, she could not abandon the wounded before her.

"Let's head back quickly and report the latest situation to Orochimaru."

"Hanzō's forces are the most elite ninja. Their deployment must have been premeditated."

More than anything, it was because of an inner sense of unease. For some reason, Tsunade felt that something bad was about to happen.

That was why she was so desperate to return.