Just as Orochimaru had predicted, even though Rasa had been injected with an antidote to alleviate the symptoms of poisoning in his body.
However, the discomfort in his body still affected his performance.
He was always a step too slow in the face of Orochimaru's attacks, and was almost hit by Orochimaru several times. As a result, he found it increasingly difficult to withstand Orochimaru's offensive.
"No, this can't go on. I'm very likely to be defeated by Orochimaru and fall into Orochimaru hands."
"If that time really comes, I won't have the face to succeed as the Fourth Kazekage. The village's higher-ups also won't accept a ninja who was captured by Konoha as the Fourth Kazekage."
The more Rasa thought about it, the less his fighting spirit grew. He knew that once he lost the position of Kazekage, his idea of changing Sunagakure would never be realized.
Such severe consequences made him want to quit.
After narrowly dodging Orochimaru's attack once again, he endured his physical discomfort and used Sand Body Flicker three times in succession to increase the distance between himself and Orochimaru.
This behavior greatly surprised Orochimaru, who wanted to continue his attack. He didn't expect that the poisoned Rasa could still use the Sand Body Flicker Technique, and even three times in a row.
However, Rasa's behavior also sent him a signal: Rasa wanted to run away.
Realizing this, Orochimaru immediately provoked him loudly, " Rasa- kun, are you just going to run away like this? This is not the behavior expected of a leader of the younger generation in Sunagakure!"
He didn't want to let this opportunity slip away; he wasn't going to let such a rare chance to gain a deeper understanding of Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai slip by. So he shouted as he quickly approached Rasa.
The Sunagakure and Konoha, who were engaged in battle nearby, also heard Orochimaru's shouts and all looked towards the battlefield between Orochimaru and Rasa.
On the battlefield they had specially reserved for Rasa and Orochimaru, only Orochimaru was present, while Rasa was far away.
Furthermore, judging from their expressions, Orochimaru clearly had the upper hand in the duel, while Rasa's disheveled appearance clearly indicated that he was at a disadvantage.
Once they understood this, the morale of the Konoha side soared, while the morale of the Sunagakure side plummeted.
Rasa, who was on the run, was furious at Orochimaru, but he was helpless. He was currently unwell and unable to fight Orochimaru, so he could only run away.
However, as the leader of Sunagakure, he couldn't stand by and watch his demoralized Sunagakure die under Konoha's blades. He shouted an explanation, "I've been poisoned by Orochimaru and can no longer restrain Orochimaru. To minimize our losses, we'll retreat to camp and settle accounts with Konoha after we've regrouped."
Rasa's meaning was simple: it wasn't that he couldn't defeat Orochimaru, but rather that he had been ambushed by Orochimaru. This explanation indeed revived the morale of the Sunagakure, who had previously been completely demoralized.
Driven by their will to survive, they struggled to break free from the enemies in front of them and retreated towards their own camp.
Seeing that the Sunagakure had begun to retreat, Rasa's feet rose into a cloud of Gold Dust, carrying him through the air at high speed to evade Orochimaru's Release Technique attacks.
Orochimaru, who had been relentlessly pursuing Rasa, was dumbfounded by Rasa's shameless tactics and could only watch helplessly as Rasa escaped through the air, his heart filled with frustration and anger.
To vent his frustration, he began to pursue the Sunagakure who were fleeing the battlefield, and with his addition, the Konoha Ninja's pursuit efforts became even more fruitful.
Ultimately, they escaped the battlefield and returned to Sunagakure's base after Sunagakure paid the price of nearly eight hundred corpses.
Thus, Konoha's plan to launch Sunagakure attack on Konoha was severely thwarted, and Konoha achieved a great success.
However, despite such a great victory, the Konoha side was not overly happy.
Because their losses were also considerable, with more than two hundred ninjas dying directly on the battlefield, and many others suffering injuries of varying degrees, with a considerable number even becoming disabled and unable to continue as ninjas.
Therefore, Konoha actually lost more than 300 combatants. Don't underestimate 300-plus people; this loss is almost one-tenth of the total number of people in Konoha's camp.
Such losses are considerable. If we also consider the ninjas who are injured and unable to return to the battlefield for a short period of time, as well as the logistical troops, then Konoha now only has a little over three thousand people who can truly fight.
It's fair to say that Konoha is now facing a manpower shortage.
Meanwhile, Kōki, the protagonist who triggered this surprise attack, was still busy at Konoha's medical camp.
Because of the Sunagakure's surprise attack, wounded ninjas kept being sent to the front lines. This forced Kōki, who was originally by Rin Takakura's side, to take on a leadership role. There was no other way; there were simply too many wounded, and the medical unit was completely short-handed, so they had to put a newcomer like Kōki in.
Kōki was also exceptionally talented. After only a few on-site lessons from Rin Takakura, he had already learned basic medical techniques and was able to treat some simple injuries on his own.
Learning from Rin Takakura this time was a profound experience for Kōki, who realized how rudimentary his previous use of Medical Ninjutsu had been.
Some injuries could be treated with other, more suitable Medical Ninjutsu, but he only knew how to rely on the powerful effects of advanced Medical Ninjutsu to heal his injuries.
It's not that this method is ineffective, but rather that such medical procedures would increase his own Chakra consumption. It would deplete his already limited Chakra even faster, making it a complete waste of resources.
" Kōki, you've seen me treat ninjas a few times already. We're short-handed right now, so I have to ask you to fill in. If you encounter any cases you can't handle, let me know immediately so we don't miss the best time for treatment."
This is what Rin Takakura said when she left Kōki to deal with the injured ninja alone.
Under this critical mission, Kōki began his treatment journey.
" The Flesh Stitching Technique "
A silver needle with a pale blue Chakra Threads tied to its end swiftly pierced through a ninja's chest, and the wound on the ninja's chest, originally inflicted by Sunagakure blade, disappeared as the needle passed through.
Then, a simple healing technique is used to allow the wound to heal and scab over.
In just a few moments, a severely wounded ninja was successfully healed by Kōki, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, he would be able to return to the battlefield after a few days of recuperation.
In the past, Kōki would directly use the Mystical Palm Technique to heal such injuries, which was not only extremely taxing but also unsustainable. Now, with a more suitable Medical Ninjutsu, he can achieve the same effect while reducing his own consumption and saving more lives.
This is the result of his learning from Rin Takakura.
After healing the ninja, Kōki moved on to the next ninja with similar injuries.
Even though Rin Takakura temporarily assigned Kōki to treat this external injury, Kōki still displayed exceptional medical talent.
Kōki's exceptional learning ability and quick adaptability, he heals faster and more effectively than other experienced medical-nin.
This made Rin Takakura, who had witnessed Kōki's healing abilities firsthand, even more amazed.
"This is a genius whose medical talent rivals that of Lady Tsunade!"