Chapter 204: Poison, and Rising Danger
After returning to the battlefield, Taichi quickly cleaned up the traces he had left behind—especially anything that might expose the truth or prevent Sunagakure from drawing the wrong conclusion.
Once satisfied, he left without delay.
This battle alone had claimed 13 Cloud nin, including two jōnin. Losses like that would definitely sting the Third Raikage for quite some time.
And given that Kumogakure had already been planning to move against Sunagakure, such a mysterious loss would only fuel his anger further.
If things unfolded as expected, the Cloud Village's campaign against Sand would still happen—
And when it did, Konoha's pressure would ease significantly.
Maybe… it could even turn the tide enough to end this war with Sunagakure.
---
A few hours after Taichi left, a squad of Sand nin arrived at the scene.
The battle had taken place within the Land of Wind, and with large-scale ninjutsu and signal flares involved, the disturbance had been impossible to ignore.
After a brief investigation, they quickly reconstructed the general course of events.
The conclusion was clear:
A large group of Kumogakure nin had infiltrated the Land of Wind—and killed a returning Sand squad.
On the corpses, they even found intelligence scrolls detailing resource locations across the Land of Wind.
That alone was enough to confirm their purpose.
As for why those Cloud nin had died—
It seemed obvious.
They must have been wiped out by a passing Sand elite.
Beyond that, nothing more could be determined.
After gathering useful corpses and information, the Sand squad returned to the village.
Meanwhile, Taichi had already returned to the Konoha camp using Flying Thunder God.
With the plan successfully executed, he went straight to report to Jiraiya.
Inside the command tent—
Both Jiraiya and Nara Shikaku were visibly surprised after hearing his account.
They had expected Taichi to simply ambush a few Cloud nin and create a small incident to frame Sunagakure.
Instead—
He had completely crushed them.
And more importantly—
He had done it using Wind Release.
Now, even if Sunagakure denied responsibility, Kumogakure wouldn't necessarily believe them.
"You brat… you've been hiding quite a bit," Jiraiya said, staring at him with curiosity. "Your Wind Release is this strong too?"
He had always known Taichi excelled in Fire Release. Recently, Taichi had also shown impressive Water Release against the Fourth Kazekage.
And now—
Wind Release as well?
Not just proficiency—
But mastery beyond what most jōnin could achieve.
It was honestly shocking.
But after a moment, Jiraiya simply let it go.
If anything, a ninja who knew how to hide their true strength—
Was a ninja who survived.
Once your full capabilities were exposed…
You were already halfway to the grave.
---
"After taking such a loss, the Raikage will definitely retaliate," Shikaku analyzed calmly. "Now it depends on how intense the conflict becomes. Ideally, they'll draw away a large portion of Sunagakure's forces."
Konoha's current situation was precarious.
Facing multiple enemies at once, they urgently needed to resolve at least one front—
And Sunagakure was the most manageable target.
Both sides were waiting for a turning point.
"By the way, Taichi," Jiraiya suddenly added, "you'll need to stay at camp for a while."
Taichi frowned slightly.
"The medical camp?"
Jiraiya nodded.
"It seems your shadow clones haven't updated you yet. A new type of poison has appeared on the battlefield. Our current antidotes are barely effective."
Taichi's expression sharpened.
Poison… again.
Among Sunagakure's poison masters, aside from Sasori—whom he had already killed—only one remained.
Chiyo.
Looks like she had finally made her move.
"I understand," Taichi replied immediately. "I'll head there now."
Jiraiya nodded with satisfaction.
"Go on. I'm counting on you."
When Taichi arrived at the medical camp, the difference was obvious at a glance.
A new isolated tent had been set up on the right side—
And from within came continuous cries of pain.
He dispelled one of his shadow clones, instantly receiving all the information.
Since morning, poisoned patients had been arriving in waves.
Fifteen patients—
Eight different poisons.
The entire medical team had been caught off guard.
They were already stretched thin treating the wounded, leaving no manpower to focus on antidote development.
And yet—
If the situation worsened and spread, morale would collapse.
Everything Konoha had built—their momentum, their fearless push—
Could crumble overnight.
Taichi wasted no time.
He threw on a white coat.
The battle-hardened Taichi stepped back—
And Doctor Taichi took over.
But the moment he stepped into the poison ward—
Even he paused.
The scene was chaos.
Vomiting.
Convulsions.
Uncontrolled pain.
Loss of bodily control.
Each poison caused entirely different symptoms, and patients were mixed together in a mess of suffering.
Taichi frowned deeply.
"Go to the command tent," he told a nearby nurse. "Ask Jiraiya or Shikaku to send ten nin over here. Now."
"Yes—yes!" she stammered, rushing off.
He turned to the others.
"You—separate patients by symptoms! Don't lump them together like this!"
The corner of the tent was already filthy beyond words.
If the patients had any strength left, they'd be cursing nonstop.
"Move! Now!"
Watching the chaos, Taichi rubbed his temples.
No coordination at all…
Where was Director Fujita?
Then he glanced toward the main tent—
And saw Fujita working frantically among the wounded.
…Right.
They were simply understaffed.
Taichi formed hand seals and created three shadow clones.
"Start treating the poisoned patients."
He himself stepped aside and began reviewing all medical reports and test results.
Just as he expected—
A completely new type of toxin.
Its composition and design were entirely different from previous Sand poisons.
At Chiyo's age—
Still innovating like this?
Impressive.
Not long after, the nurse returned—bringing ten shinobi with her.
"Taichi-sama… they're here," she said, slightly out of breath.
"You did well."
He gave her a light pat on the shoulder, earning a flustered, bright-red reaction.
Then he turned to the group.
"Assist the nurses. Expand this ward—divide it into ten sections. Group patients by symptoms, then help with transport and care."
"Yes!"
The chaos began to stabilize.
But Taichi knew—
This was only the beginning.
Because poison…
Was far more dangerous than any blade on the battlefield.
With Taichi taking command, the entire camp snapped into motion.
In less than half an hour, the chaotic ward was reorganized. New partitions were erected, patients were sorted by symptoms, and the once-filthy tent was restored to a level of basic order.
Only then did Taichi finish reviewing all the medical reports.
He now had a preliminary understanding of the various poisoning symptoms.
Next—
He needed to examine them personally.
As a medical ninja, Taichi's chakra perception far surpassed ordinary instruments. It allowed him to detect subtle abnormalities no tool could identify.
He stepped up to one of the patients.
This one had been vomiting uncontrollably.
At this point, there was nothing left in his stomach—only bile—but the retching continued nonstop.
Without hesitation, Taichi formed hand seals.
A gentle, pale-green glow bloomed from his hands, expanding to envelop the patient's entire body.
Almost instantly, the man's expression eased.
Behind Taichi, several medical-nin-in-training exchanged relieved smiles, whispering among themselves.
"Don't celebrate too early," Taichi said calmly, cutting through their optimism. "That's just the calming effect of Yang chakra. It doesn't actually treat the poison."
He closed his eyes.
His chakra flowed inward, probing each organ, carefully tracing the toxin's behavior within the body.
Ten minutes later—
He opened his eyes and began treatment.
With his right hand, he drew in a sphere of clean water prepared nearby and pressed it directly into the patient's chest.
At the same time, he instructed a nearby assistant to record everything.
"Organs show no structural damage. This is a fat-soluble toxin dissolved in the bloodstream. It crosses the blood-brain barrier and directly stimulates the brain's vomiting center, causing continuous nausea."
"Draw blood. Send it for analysis. I want a full breakdown of abnormal components—immediately."
As he spoke, Taichi had already performed the technique multiple times—
Extracting the toxin from the bloodstream with precise control.
By the fourth cycle, the water sphere in his hand was nearly clear, with only a faint trace of blood remaining.
The patient's vomiting began to subside.
This was the power of the Delicate Extraction Technique.
It could isolate and remove harmful substances from the body based on the user's understanding.
Against poison—
It was extraordinarily effective.
But it had limits.
It was difficult to learn, and even more taxing to perform.
Most medical nin simply couldn't use it repeatedly.
Otherwise, poisoning wouldn't be such a persistent nightmare.
In the end—
The true solution was still an antidote.
Afterward, Taichi selected one patient from each symptom group and repeated the process, gathering comprehensive data.
Once he had everything he needed, he carried the results into the lab and buried himself in research.
While Taichi focused on developing antidotes, his teammates were far from idle.
A few days earlier, a joint team led by Yōhei and Kakashi had been assigned a reconnaissance mission.
Their objective—
Infiltrate the rear of Sunagakure, near the border region of the Land of Rivers, and monitor whether new reinforcements were being sent to the front.
Of course, if they encountered enemies they could easily handle—
There was nothing wrong with picking up a bit of merit along the way.
Now, after five days in the field, their supplies were running low.
It was time to return.
Beneath a concealed cliffside, the team regrouped.
"Any updates?" Yōhei asked, scanning the group.
Saori, Obito, and Rin all shook their heads.
They hadn't even seen any sizable animals today—let alone Sand nin.
"I found something," Kakashi said at last.
Everyone turned toward him.
"Ten kilometers northeast. A squad of Sand chūnin moving in from the Land of Wind. But they don't look like reinforcements… and they're not escorting supplies either. Their behavior is… suspicious."
He paused.
"And we're a reconnaissance team. Observation comes first."
The implication was clear.
They shouldn't engage recklessly.
Yōhei nodded, understanding immediately.
He wasn't the type to gamble his teammates' lives for a bit of merit.
"Alright. We're heading back."
Saori and Rin agreed without hesitation.
Obito, however, muttered under his breath:
"Another chance for merit… wasted…"
Still—
After everything he'd been through, he didn't act out.
At least, not this time.
But just as they prepared to leave—
None of them realized something crucial.
The Sand squad Kakashi had detected…
Had already detected him.
And they had been silently trailing him—
All the way back to this very location.
Hidden at a distance, the Sand nin observed quietly.
"Captain… is it them?" one asked in a low voice.
The middle-aged leader didn't answer.
Instead, he turned his gaze toward a teammate—
A ninja with his eyes closed.
They waited.
Moments passed.
Finally, the man opened his eyes.
The captain spoke immediately:
"Kāoru… well?"
"Can you confirm it?"
"Are they our target?"