S-rank mission

With things having come this far, Katsuyu could only nod helplessly.

"Then how should I wake you up?"

"It's simple," Yui said. "You just need to stimulate my brain to wake me."

Katsuyu looked puzzled. "Stimulate it?"

"What kind of stimulation?" she asked Yui.

She had to get this straight now. Otherwise, things could go terribly wrong if something unexpected happened later.

"Uh..." Yui raised a hand, slowly gathering a pale blue ball of light in her palm.

"Something like Lightning Release..."

"Lightning Release?" Katsuyu rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

Something like Lightning Release? Unfortunately, she couldn't use it. Otherwise, she wouldn't have needed to think so hard.

Most of her healing techniques were gentle in nature. She did have ones that provided stimulation, but she didn't know whether they would produce the desired effect.

"Yui, hold out your hand and see if this kind of stimulation will work." Katsuyu raised a hand, and wisps of mist suffused with white light formed in her palm.

Yui obediently held out her hand.

"Hiss-" The instant she touched the white mist, waves of stinging pain shot through her hand, and she instinctively pulled it back.

The stinging felt strange, accompanied by waves of numbness. It hurt even more than ordinary Lightning Release.

"Katsuyu, is this a healing technique...?"

"It hurts so much..." she complained. "What kind of healing technique hurts this much?"

"But this kind of stimulation will work."

Only after hearing that it would work did Katsuyu relax.

Otherwise, she really would have been out of options.

"As long as it works," she said. "This technique is called Acid Mist Healing."

"It can stimulate cellular activity."

"It's a form of Senjutsu. If you master sage chakra in the future, you'll have a chance to learn it too."

"Oh, so that's how it works!" Yui nodded in understanding.

"All right, let's start!"

At that, Katsuyu's expression turned serious.

"Phew..."

After taking a deep breath and preparing herself, Yui resolutely lay down on the bed.

"Katsuyu, I'm starting now..."

Katsuyu nodded. She was ready.

After mentally preparing herself, Yui gradually gathered blue Lightning Release chakra in her hand.

She had researched a drug in the laboratory that could induce a deathlike state, but unfortunately, she hadn't brought it with her.

That left her with no choice but to use Lightning Release.

The drug worked by numbing the brain and stimulating it into a deathlike state.

Lightning Release could accomplish the same thing.

Compared with the drug, however, Lightning Release had a major drawback: it could take longer for the brain to enter that state.

It would also hurt more, which meant Yui might have to endure the pain for longer.

A deathly silence instantly fell over the room.

Katsuyu watched Yui's movements anxiously.

"Lightning Release?" She frowned, but didn't stop her.

Yui raised the hand holding the gathered Lightning Release chakra and slowly pressed it against her temple.

"Aah-!"

She cried out in pain, squeezing her eyes shut.

Waves of sharp, prickling pain spread through her brain, as though needles were being driven into it one after another.

The Lightning Release chakra in her hand flickered in and out, looking as though it might vanish at any moment.

Yui knew she couldn't give up now. If she failed the first time, she might have to endure even more pain on her second attempt.

She endured the pain, keeping the Lightning Release chakra steady.

After an unknown length of time, the Lightning Release chakra in Yui's hand dissipated, and her arm fell limp.

Katsuyu knew she had entered the deathlike state.

Through her senses, she felt the activity in Yui's brain gradually cease.

Even the connection through the Summoning Contract disappeared.

Outside the door, Xiao You froze in the middle of drinking water, then turned toward Yui's room.

"I can't sense her anymore..."

Xiao You lowered its head, an increasingly intense sense of dread welling up inside its body.

Still, it didn't dare enter the room to investigate. It knew Yui was removing the Cursed Seal and couldn't disturb her.

Watching Yui's condition, Katsuyu took a deep breath.

Green light radiated from her palm as she slowly placed it over Yui's eyes.

She would wait only fifteen seconds. If the Cursed Seal hadn't disappeared by then, she would wake Yui.

Otherwise, something would truly go wrong.

"One, two, three..."

In a forest in the Land of Grass.

Jiraiya stood atop a large tree, using the Brass Telescope to gather intelligence on the camp ahead.

A little later, he jumped down from the tree to join the other two below.

"Reconnaissance complete. There are six rogue ninja, no more, no less," Jiraiya said with a grin.

"Let's go wipe them all out now. I've gained some new power recently, and I've been itching to show what I can do!"

Orochimaru wasn't convinced. Nor could he agree with Jiraiya's reckless confidence.

"The mission intelligence clearly stated that they fled in different directions. It's only been six hours. How could they have gathered together again already?"

Annoyed at being contradicted, Jiraiya bristled.

"Are you saying you don't trust my intelligence?"

"Nothing stays the same forever!"

"Especially not a bunch of rogue ninja."

"Let's go wipe them out now, before they get away again."

Orochimaru smiled. Seeing that he couldn't get through to Jiraiya, he decided not to argue any further.

"In that case, you two can handle this mission. I'll head back to the village," Orochimaru said, turning to leave.

"All right, all right, stop arguing." Tsunade caught Orochimaru before he could leave and tried to smooth things over.

She thought it over, and before long, a good idea came to her.

"How about this? Orochimaru, Jiraiya, both of you send in a summoning beast to scout again."

"That way, we can verify the information."

"After all, three of them are jonin. What you saw through a telescope might not be accurate."

Orochimaru readily agreed to Tsunade's suggestion.

"I agree with Tsunade."

As he spoke, Orochimaru formed hand seals and used the Summoning Technique to summon a small snake.

Jiraiya was unhappy with Tsunade's proposal, but he stopped insisting that they charge in.

After all, they were a squad. They had to work together.

Besides, this mission was crucial to all three of them. Whether they could advance to jonin depended on its success.

Promotion to jonin required completing an A-rank mission alone and participating in a successfully completed S-rank mission.

Naturally, all three of them had already completed A-rank missions on their own.

Now it all came down to whether they could complete this S-rank mission.