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Chiyo clicked her tongue. But Chiyo's chakra reserves were nearly spent. The battle had been going on for hours, and even her precision couldn't hide the tremor in her hands. When Katsuyu spewed a wide wave of acid across the terrain, Chiyo's puppets scrambled defensively, several melting instantly under the corrosive mist.
Suna's remaining shinobi panicked. The battlefield spread into chaos.
A jounin landed beside Chiyo, whispering frantically into her ear. Chiyo's eyes widened slightly... the kind of widening that only came from bad news.
Her gaze darted between Tsunade, who was still trembling slightly but radiating raw chakra with full energy, and Pakura, who had been captured and restrained by Hiashi Hyuga.
For a brief second, Tsunade thought Chiyo might fight to the end. But instead, the old puppet master's eyes hardened.
"Withdraw," she ordered.
The Suna shinobi hesitated, shocked. Chiyo's voice cut sharper: "I said retreat!"
They obeyed immediately.
Tsunade stepped forward, wanting to pursue... to retrieve the Byakugan Chiyo had stolen. But then she saw Hiashi.
He was barely breathing. His chest was rising in shallow gasps, poison spreading fast through his system. Hizashi wasn't any better, lying limp nearby. Both had multiple puncture wounds and visible paralysis.
And there was Pakura, kneeling in the sand, disbelief clouding her eyes as she watched her mentor vanish into the dunes. A thought ran through her mind. She was abandoned.
"I can't chase after her," she muttered, voice low as she looked at hyuga brothers. "They'll die."
Katsuyu nodded. "Understood. I will begin treatment immediately."
"Split," Tsunade ordered. "Cover as many as you can. Prioritize the Hyuga brothers. And the Aburame if any are still alive."
The giant slug's body separated into dozens of smaller clones, each slithering toward the fallen. Tsunade took a deep breath and knelt beside Hiashi.
Her hands hovered over his chest, glowing faintly green. The poison had spread into his bloodstream... a mixture of neurotoxin and paralytic compounds. She could identify at least three distinct poisons, each binding differently.
She gritted her teeth. "Damn it, Chiyo… you layered them."
Her stomach twisted again as blood welled up around her hands. For a moment her vision swayed. She swallowed her own bile which was pushing to get out, steadying her breathing. Don't think about the color. Just the chemistry.
Just as she began working, a commotion stirred behind her.
A Konoha shinobi stumbled toward the camp, carrying someone slumped over his shoulder... a man with bright yellow hair matted with dust and sweat.
"Tsunade-sama!" he shouted, panting. "It's Minato Namikaze! He's been poisoned... lungs filled with fine iron dust! He is having a hard time breathing. He fought Third Kazekage. We fought their suna forces to bring him back but we could not secure their kazekage."
So that's why the old woman pulled back… it must mean the Third Kazekage's been injured.
Tsunade's heart jolted seeing Minato's condition. She moved immediately, barking orders. "Set him down! Carefully!"
Minato's chest rose unevenly, every breath wheezing. His usual calm expression was gone; his face was pale, his lips slightly blue.
Tsunade examined him swiftly. Fine metallic particles shimmered faintly under her diagnostic jutsu... Saoi's Iron Dust had infiltrated deep into the lungs, acting like microscopic blades.
"Fine iron dust… damn," she muttered. "If I mess up the extraction, it'll shred him from the inside."
She didn't have time to think.
She formed seals, pressed her glowing hands over his chest, and began drawing the iron out grain by grain, she noticed an even bigger problem the fine iron dust is sticking to red blood cells and iron in the blood. Every movement was delicate, every mistake potentially lethal. She had to seperate the blood cells from iron dust.
Minutes passed like hours. The metallic dust rose in black wisps from Minato's mouth, dissolving under her chakra.
Finally, he coughed... a sharp, painful sound came out
Tsunade exhaled slowly. "He's stable… for now."
She looked around. Katsuyu's clones were still moving, reporting conditions as they went.
"Hiashi's vitals faint but steady," one said."Hizashi unresponsive but breathing," another added."Minato's oxygen levels stabilizing."
Tsunade wiped sweat from her brow. She didn't realize her hands were trembling until she saw the faint blood smear across her gloves. The color hit her again... red against white. Her breath hitched. She froze for a second. She held her mouth as she threw up the bile she had been pushing down not bearing any longer... cleaning herself up.
Katsuyu's voice grounded her. "Lady Tsunade, you have exhausted yourself. Take a break."
"I know." She inhaled sharply and stood. "I'm not done yet."
She spent the next few hours concocting antidotes, each tailored to the poisons she'd identified in Hiashi and Hizashi's blood. Her tent smelled of bitter herbs and iron. Her stomach churned again, but she ignored it.
When the antidotes were ready, she handed them to Katsuyu. "Administer it directly through your clones. Make sure it's evenly distributed."
"Yes, Lady Tsunade."
As the clones absorbed the medicine and transferred it to the wounded, Tsunade finally sat down. Her arms hung limp at her sides, her body trembling from the strain of suppressing her phobia for hours.
She looked at her hands. The same hands that had failed to save Nawaki. Failed to save Dan. Failed to save her sensei. Failed to save her cousin.
But tonight, three people and many other konoha shinobi still lived to breath any other day because of her.
I have to stay strong… she thought, her hand resting gently on her stomach, fingers tracing the warmth there with quiet affection. I'm sorry, Dan… I was not sober that day. Please forgive me. But I have shall it.
A single tear slipped down her cheek, vanishing into the dirt below.
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A/N: With this konoha vs suna has ended. Pakura abandoned. Chiyo prioritized kazekage over pakura. Next will be Ay and Bee making their way back, after fighting Iwa and collecting four tails jinchuriki, to young Ay who is holding back fugaku.