Late at night, Konoha Hospital, third basement level.
There was none of the disinfectant smell found in ordinary wards here. Instead, the air was oppressive, mixed with herbs, blood, and a certain scent of decay. The walls were unpainted concrete, with a dim wall lamp every five meters or so. The light barely illuminated the corridor, only making the shadows seem heavier.
Tsunade pushed open a heavy iron door.
The hinges let out a dull creak that was especially piercing in the silent corridor.
The room was small, about twenty square meters. At its center stood a specially made medical bed, where the ANBU ninja Withered Wood lay covered in pale green sealing formulas. The milky-white tissue had already spread to his neck like living vines, slowly writhing beneath the suppression of the sealing jutsu.
Two people stood beside the bed.
One was a masked ANBU, code-named Raven, responsible for guarding the room. The other was a middle-aged female medical ninja, using chakra to maintain the sealing jutsu. Her forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat.
"Lady Tsunade." The two bowed at the same time.
Tsunade did not respond and walked straight to the bed. She extended her right hand, fingers spread three inches above Withered Wood's chest. Pale green chakra flowed from her palm and seeped into the patient's body like rippling water.
Three seconds later, she withdrew her hand.
"How much longer can the sealing jutsu hold?"
"At most twelve hours." The female medical ninja's voice trembled. "This thing learns too quickly. It's adapting to the chakra frequency of the sealing jutsu... Every hour, the seal's effectiveness drops by eight percent."
Tsunade's expression darkened terribly.
She turned to Hyuga Xiao. "Are you sure the Bait Method will work?"
"Theoretically, yes." Xiao stood in the shadows by the