Yuri Inuzuka and Tsunade in Leopard Print

Two months passed in a blink.

During those two months, Tsunade's relationship with the Ino–Shika–Cho wives...

Grew by leaps and bounds.

Their weekly "tea and massage gatherings" went ahead without fail.

She had become as close as sisters with Yamanaka Sora, Ria Nara, and Lola Akimichi.

Of course, Tsunade had kept up her own training too.

The mark of her Yin Seal had grown clearer, and her mastery of the first four gates of the Eight Gates had steadily improved.

One day, Tsunade was training in her backyard, drenched in sweat.

An ANBU operative arrived.

"Lady Tsunade, the Third Hokage has a mission for you."

"The old man has another mission for me?"

Tsunade stopped and grabbed a towel to wipe away her sweat.

"A Ninja Hound from the Inuzuka clan is sick. It's a difficult case."

"The Third Hokage wants to know whether you have any experience treating Ninja Hounds and if you can help."

Tsunade pursed her lips.

"That old man never misses an opening. Does he want me to lead the way with Medical Ninjutsu again?"

Still, she didn't mind. It was what she did best, after all.

Besides, Konoha had only so many major clans.

She had already won over the Ino–Shika–Cho clans and the Hyuga clan.

And in the Uchiha clan, she had a little admirer in Uchiha Mikoto.

Once she won over the Inuzuka clan, she would have just about everyone covered.

"Wait, wasn't there another clan?"

Tsunade frowned. She felt as if she had forgotten one.

"Oh well. If I can't remember, I won't worry about it."

She waved to the ANBU operative.

"Got it. I'll change and head over."

Two minutes later, Tsunade emerged in leopard print.

If she was visiting the Inuzuka clan, she might as well dress a little wild!

Tsunade in leopard print~

The ANBU operative swallowed and stole a glance, but didn't dare comment.

The operative led Tsunade toward the Inuzuka clan.

The Inuzuka Clan Grounds lay on the other side of Konoha, near the Training Forest.

The moment she entered, she heard dogs barking all around her.

The person who came to greet her was the Inuzuka clan's current leader.

Yuri Inuzuka.

Her name sounded gentle, but she looked anything but.

She appeared to be around thirty.

She had healthy, wheat-colored skin and neatly cropped hair.

Two red, inverted-triangle markings crossed her cheeks, and her gaze was sharp.

Dressed in a close-fitting combat outfit that allowed her to move freely, she carried herself with capable, spirited confidence.

"Lady Tsunade, sorry for the trouble of coming all this way."

Yuri Inuzuka's voice was a little hoarse, with clear traces of exhaustion and worry.

"Don't worry about it. Tell me what's going on."

Tsunade got straight to the point.

"It's my Ninja Hound, Fuga."

Yuri Inuzuka spoke quickly as she led Tsunade inside.

"He's been with me for over ten years. He's my old partner."

"A while ago, he grew listless. His belly swelled, but the rest of him kept getting thinner."

"Our Veterinarian examined him and found worms in his belly."

Tsunade nodded. It sounded like a parasitic infection, which wasn't uncommon in dogs.

Yuri Inuzuka continued, her expression darkening.

"If they were ordinary parasites, our herbal remedies or deworming medicine would take care of them."

"But these are different. The worms seem... unusual. Almost intelligent."

"We tried several treatments, but none worked, so we asked someone from the Aburame clan to take a look."

The Aburame clan?

Tsunade froze for a moment, then remembered.

That's right! Konoha has a clan of ninja who control insects!

They keep such a low profile that I completely forgot about them!

Yuri Inuzuka didn't notice Tsunade's distraction and went on:

"The Aburame said these were Mutant Parasites they'd never seen before."

"They're incredibly resilient, and they seem to have developed a resistance to ordinary deworming medicine."

"The Special Deworming Medicine they prescribed only quieted the worms for a while. It couldn't get rid of them."

"At this point, our only option may be surgery to remove them."

"Then why not operate?" Tsunade asked.

"We're not sure we can do it safely."

Yuri Inuzuka sighed and pushed open a door.

"Fuga is very weak now. The worms aren't just in his stomach and intestines. They may have burrowed deeper."

"Ordinary surgery would be too risky. We didn't dare try it, so we had to ask you to come."

The room was dim, and the smells of herbs and a faint fishy odor hung in the air.

A large, black-and-gray Ninja Hound lay on a soft mat on the floor.

Tsunade stepped closer and immediately frowned.

The Ninja Hound was skin and bones, every rib visible beneath his dull coat.

Only his belly protruded slightly.

It stood out sharply against the rest of his wasted body.

His eyes were half closed, and his breathing was faint and rapid.

"How did he get this thin?"

Tsunade crouched beside him and began her examination.

"We're afraid to feed him much,"

said an Inuzuka Veterinarian quietly from nearby.

"The more he eats, the more fiercely the worms fight over the food. They seem to multiply faster too."

"They've taken nearly all his nourishment."

Tsunade nodded. The worms were ravenously stealing nutrients from their host.

She held out a hand. Green Chakra glowed in her palm as she began a careful examination.

As her Chakra slowly seeped into Fuga's body, her expression grew grave.

It was worse than she had expected.

These weren't merely ordinary intestinal parasites.

They were tiny but tenacious.

Some clung tightly to the walls of his stomach and intestines.

Others had burrowed deep into his organs.

They had spread too far and too deep.

Even if surgery removed the worms from the main sections of his intestines, clearing out those buried in his organs would be difficult.

And in Fuga's current condition,

even if he survived major surgery, his body would be ruined.

He certainly wouldn't be able to fight as a Ninja Hound again.

He might even struggle to walk normally.

He wouldn't live many more years.

Tsunade withdrew her hand and looked at Yuri Inuzuka gravely.

"It's bad."

She gave her diagnosis without softening it.

Yuri Inuzuka went pale.

She clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"Is there... no other way?"

Her voice trembled slightly.

The sight left Tsunade feeling awful too.

She searched her memory for an answer.

Surgery was the conventional approach, but the lasting damage would be severe.

What if I could make the worms come out on their own?

An idea suddenly struck her.

She remembered a scene from a television drama she had once watched in her previous life.

Wen Sankua's Deworming Method.

The principle was to let the patient go hungry for a few days.

The patient would be hungry, and so would the worms.

Then the patient would be given a measured dose of poison.

The worms would rush to consume it. Even those buried deep in the organs would emerge to feed.

That would kill them.

But the risk was enormous.

Controlling the dose was crucial.

A slight miscalculation, and the poison might kill the Ninja Hound before it killed the worms.

Besides, the worms were "almost intelligent."

Could they react in some other, unpredictable way?

But right now, there seemed to be no other option.

After weighing it for a moment, Tsunade said,

"There is another way. It's riskier, but if it works, it may cure him completely."

Yuri Inuzuka jerked her head up. "What way?"

"Poison."

Tsunade gave the one-word answer.

Seeing Yuri Inuzuka's stunned expression, she immediately explained the principle.

After giving her time to take it in, Tsunade said seriously,

"As things stand, you have two choices."

"The first is surgery."

"It's somewhat safer, but the lasting damage will be severe. Fuga will likely never recover fully."

"The second is poison."

"It's high-risk and could kill him outright. But if it works, he may make a full recovery."

"The decision is yours."

Yuri Inuzuka struggled with the choice.

The air in the room seemed to freeze.

Just as her lips trembled and she tried to force herself to decide,

a weak, hoarse voice suddenly sounded in the room:

"I... choose... the second..."

The voice hadn't come from Yuri Inuzuka.

It had come from the floor.

From the emaciated Ninja Hound—

Fuga!