Chapter 138: Tsunade vs. Chiyo

Patting his summoned beast, showing affection to the large head, Toshirou jumped down from the eagle's back and watched the people waiting there begin unloading the cargo.

Now, he wasn't just helping his clan transport supplies; sometimes, when the village had an emergency, they would ask him to make a trip.

For instance, most of the cargo this time consisted of urgent medicinal supplies brought from the village.

He didn't refuse. After all, he was still wearing the Konoha forehead protector!

After completing the handover of the supplies, unlike usual, Toshirou didn't return to his tent to rest.

Instead, he went to the medical tent, intending to help out as much as he could.

He didn't know what had happened, but in the past two weeks, the Sand Shinobi on the other side had gone crazy, sending their elite forces for a frenzied attack.

It was as if they didn't care about their own lives at all.

Not only did their own side suffer heavy casualties, but Konoha's side wasn't much better off.

The number of injured ninjas increased rapidly, making the frontline hospital even more short-staffed.

This made even someone like him, an "unofficial member," have to make use of every minute.

"Toshirou Chuunin! You came at the right time. This is an antidote sent from the rear hospital—the latest one effective against Sand Shinobi's new toxins. Please take it to the medical tent; they are urgently awaiting it!"

Before Toshirou could leave, the logistics personnel who were receiving the cargo handed a large box to him and asked him to deliver it to the medical tent.

Seeing the Konoha ninja who had hurried over after spotting the "Sanza" in the sky, Toshirou didn't refuse. He took the box readily, ready to hand it over to Sister Mikasa.

Feeling the weight in his hands, he knew that the medicines inside were life-saving. He didn't dare to delay.

Tsunade was indeed generous. After accepting Uchiha Mikasa's medicines, she often sent her own "specialties" in return.

These were antidotes targeted at Sand Shinobi's poisons.

The two sides exchanged what was needed, temporarily putting aside past grievances between the Uchiha and Senju clans.

On this frontline facing the Sand Shinobi village, the most troublesome thing wasn't their strong wind-element jutsus.

The most troublesome thing was the variety of toxins used by the Sand Shinobi puppet troops. Especially those concocted by their elder, Chiyo, which struck fear into everyone.

Some less effective antidotes couldn't even delay the onset of these poisons. Saying "instant death" might be an exaggeration, but if untreated within half an hour, the victim was basically done for.

To make things worse, these poisons were not only used by the Sand Shinobi puppet masters but even ordinary ninjas would occasionally coat their weapons with Chiyo's toxins.

As ninjas, they didn't follow any warrior ethos. To kill their opponents, they used every possible means.

Poisoning was just basic practice!

This made Konoha ninjas tread lightly around Sand Shinobi, unable to fully utilize their strength.

A small cut could mean big trouble.

Only antidotes personally prepared by Tsunade had a decent effect. They could alleviate the symptoms caused by these poisons.

But most times, it was just alleviation!

There was no other way; most of the poisons were complex mixtures. Given the varying ingredient compositions, the difficulty of creating an antidote increased exponentially.

It was a race between Tsunade's antidotes and the poisons!

Though Tsunade had worked tirelessly, as the one creating antidotes, she was always on the defensive, inevitably falling behind.

It wasn't that Tsunade's medical ninjutsu wasn't as good. If it came to pure medical skills, Tsunade could still easily surpass Chiyo.

But concocting a new poison took much less effort compared to developing an antidote.

Samples had to be extracted from patients, the components analyzed bit by bit, and then the antidote had to be formulated.

Only then could a targeted antidote be made!

Fortunately, previously made antidotes weren't completely useless and had good alleviating effects on new poisons.

Upon administration, they could prolong the lives of poisoned individuals, giving medical ninjas time to treat them promptly.

This was because Tsunade gradually understood the methods and habits Chiyo used in poison-making. She consciously added substances that could inhibit these poisons to her antidotes.

"Don't worry! I will deliver these immediately!"

Since it was urgently needed, Toshirou didn't delay. He swiftly arrived outside the medical tent.

After pulling open the curtain, he was surprised not to see Sister Mikasa.

"Strange, where is everyone? Could they be in the treatment room?"

The medical tent was quite large, with treatment rooms, a supplies storage area, and a patient resting area, all fully equipped.

But at this moment, these places were eerily quiet and empty.

This made Toshirou wonder if something had gone wrong. Otherwise, the medical tent couldn't be this deserted!

"Sister Mikasa! Everyone…"

"What happened?"

Calling out while walking toward the treatment room, Toshirou wondered if something had gone seriously wrong. If not, how could the entire medical tent be empty?

Or was he trapped in an illusion cast by some expert…?

Before he reached the treatment room's door, he saw from afar a large group of people gathered outside.

[Is there some big shot in there?]

Seeing this, Toshirou slowed his steps, wary of attracting attention with his footsteps.

It was better to stay low-key at this moment. If a family member lost control of their emotions and noticed him, he'd be in trouble.

These situations often occurred inside the treatment room, where people unable to control their grief over losing loved ones would cause disturbances. He had seen it many times.