Chiye looked at the familiar surroundings and breathed a sigh of relief.
He had finally returned to the Konoha front-line camp.
However, the sight of the camp made him pause.
The once-disorganized camp was now orderly, with three-colored tents neatly arranged according to the severity of injuries, and Medical Ninja wearing green armbands moving through them, each with a calm focus on their faces.
These Medical Ninja, judging solely by their current state, had changed significantly since they first arrived.
Indeed, only war was the "shortcut" to rapid growth for a person.
A young Medical Ninja finished his report and happened to see Chiye when he turned around, his eyes lighting up.
"Chiye-sama! You're back!"
Chiye nodded in acknowledgment.
"Where is Sakumo-sama?"
"Sakumo-sama is in the command tent."
Chiye nodded and quickly rushed towards the command tent.
Pushing aside the tent flap, Sakumo Hatake was at the sand table discussing tactics with several Jonin.
His silver-white short hair was damp with morning dew, and there were faint dark circles under his eyes, indicating his exhaustion.
When he saw Chiye arrive, a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.
He hadn't expected Chiye to return so quickly!
"Mission successful?"
"Yes, successful."
"That's good. Oh, right, what's the situation with the Hidden Cloud Village?"
"They're preoccupied and probably won't bother Konoha in the short term."
Chiye walked closer to the sand table, looking at the edge.
"However, before I came here, I discovered Iwagakure Ninja; they've probably already infiltrated the border."
Sakumo's finger tapped lightly on a spot on the sand table.
"As expected. I've already reported this to Hokage-sama. Hokage-sama's intention is to have Root personnel make contact."
"We don't need to worry about Iwagakure."
After Sakumo Hatake finished speaking, a hint of a smile flashed in his eyes.
"You just completed a mission; you should go back and get some good rest first."
Chiye glanced at him in surprise.
He nodded, bowed, and exited.
He passed through several tents.
And arrived at the medical area.
What met his eyes was the central white tent, which, just from the outside, appeared twice as large as the surrounding ones.
Seven or eight smaller tents were set up around it.
The moment he pushed aside the tent flap, a strong scent of medicinal herbs wafted out.
Over a dozen injured individuals lay quietly on temporary beds, while five or six Medical Ninja were performing healing Ninjutsu, the glowing green light of Chakra forming a continuous expanse within the tent.
"Next."
Tsunade wrote in a medical record without looking up, her hair bun slightly loose, a strand of golden hair hanging by her cheek.
Chiye deliberately made his footsteps heavy as he walked to the examination table.
Tsunade frowned and looked up. When she saw it was Chiye, her eyes widened instantly.
Her pen clattered onto the table.
"You..."
She stood up abruptly, her chair scraping against the ground with a harsh sound.
In a blink, she was in front of him.
She immediately reached out, feeling him all over.
"Are you injured? The Eight-Tailed Jinchuriki..."
"Perfectly fine."
Chiye held her slightly trembling hand that she had placed on him, then pulled Tsunade into his embrace.
Tsunade struggled for a moment, then finally buried her face in his shoulder, feeling his familiar scent.
A few restrained chuckles sounded in the tent, and the Medical Ninja discreetly averted their gaze.
"Bastard... Someone saw us."
Tsunade muttered, her ears turning red as she pushed Chiye away.
"If they saw us, they saw us! What do we care about them! Let's continue!"
Hearing this, she uncharacteristically didn't retort.
The two embraced for a moment of tenderness before separating.
"Come with me."
The back tent was filled with medicinal herbs and scrolls. Tsunade took a sealed water flask from a cabinet and poured a cup of water.
"That Chiyo from Hidden Sand Village isn't all that great either..."
As she spoke, she suddenly smiled, the corners of her eyes curving with pride.
"Do you know how quickly I deciphered her poison?"
Tsunade's face was alight with excitement.
"From the first poisoned Ninja being brought in to formulating the antidote, I only took half a day."
Her eyes sparkled in the morning light.
Seeing her proud expression, Chiye also smiled.
"Lady Tsunade, it seems besides the title of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, your Medical Ninjutsu will also shake the Ninja World!"
"What Legendary Sannin of Konoha? A title for losers, what's there to be proud of!"
Tsunade snorted coldly.
Tsunade wasn't fond of the term 'Legendary Sannin of Konoha'.
"My last battle against that person from Hidden Rain Village made me realize many shortcomings more clearly, especially regarding Medical Ninja.
Nowadays, as long as one is called a Medical Ninja, they give the impression of only being able to heal, with a significant lack of combat ability and strength.
Medical Ninja have the ability to recover and precise Chakra control.
Using these two points, I want to develop a new Ninjutsu.
A Ninjutsu that can allow Medical Ninja to go to the front lines, not fearing war!"
Hearing Tsunade's suggestion, Chiye was somewhat lost in thought.
Was this Tsunade's original intention for developing Medical Ninjutsu?
It seemed that the demigod from Hidden Rain Village had a strong motivating effect on Tsunade!
Chiye then thought of the other two.
Orochimaru, who had been active on the battlefield before, seemed to have begun to change since being defeated by that person from Hidden Rain Village.
Orochimaru's figure was almost never seen on the front lines anymore.
Thinking about Orochimaru and Danzo earlier...
Orochimaru had probably made some deal with Danzo and was temporarily placed in Root.
What else could he do after entering Root besides facilitating his experiments?
As for Jiraiya, he had been assigned to the Hidden Rain Village battlefield, where the situation was becoming increasingly clear.
This was probably Jiraiya's request to go there.
After all, on the battlefield in Hidden Rain Village, he could also look after those three little ones.
"Developing Ninjutsu isn't that simple; take your time!"
Looking at Tsunade's serious face, Chiye patted Tsunade's soft shoulder.
"Mm, I think so too. I'll start developing it after the war ends."
Suddenly, urgent footsteps were heard outside the tent.
"Lady Tsunade! New seriously wounded!"
Tsunade immediately straightened up.
She grabbed her medical bag and walked out, pausing briefly at the tent entrance.
"Come to my tent tonight."
Her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible.
...
Sand Ninja front line.
Inside the dim main camp, a group of high-ranking officials sat around a long table, the atmosphere so heavy it was almost suffocating.
Chiyo and other high-ranking Sunagakure officials sat in the main seats.
Her fingertips tapped lightly on the table, her stern face showing no emotion.
"Latest battle report: Sakumo Hatake led his team and killed a hundred of our Sand Ninja combat troops. The previously released poison jutsu has been confirmed to be completely deciphered by Tsunade, and the losses of the Puppet Brigade... have also exceeded expectations."
Upon hearing this battle report, everyone immediately became agitated.
"What?! Lady Chiyo's poison was deciphered so quickly?! That's a highly potent poison that even that demigod from Hidden Rain feared!"
"Tsunade... As expected of a descendant of the Senju Clan, she's truly troublesome. Do we have no way to counter Tsunade?!"
"..."
Subsequently, the meeting room fell into a brief uproar.
The Sunagakure Advisor sighed, then dropped another bombshell.
"The most troublesome thing is that the Daimyo has already issued an order, demanding that we cease hostilities as soon as possible."
"The Daimyo?"
The Sunagakure Advisor nodded.
"The war has lasted too long, and the Land of Wind's economy can no longer bear it. The Daimyo is unwilling to invest more resources."
Upon hearing this explanation, an elite Jonin couldn't help but speak up.
"But do we just surrender like this?! Konoha's morale is high now; if we retreat, they will surely seize the opportunity to counterattack!"
Chiyo, the former goddess of Hidden Sand Village, admired by many Hokage fans, also broke her silence at this moment.
She took a deep breath and spoke.
"The problem now isn't whether to retreat or not, but... whether we can still win."
Originally, Hidden Sand Village's greatest advantages were Chiyo's poison Ninjutsu and the Puppet Brigade.
Now, the poison Ninjutsu has been deciphered, the Puppet Brigade is suppressed by Konoha's combat troops on the front lines, and there's also the news that the Daimyo wants to cut expenses at this stage...
"Our previous plan to raid Konoha's medical camp also failed. Now, Tsunade's Medical Team has become Konoha's strongest defense line."
"Is there really no other way?"
"No, there's one last path."
Everyone looked up, their gazes focused on Chiyo.
"Concentrate all our forces and launch one final general offensive."
Everyone was shocked.
"Lady Chiyo, that's too risky! If it fails..."
"If we do nothing, Hidden Sand Village will truly be finished."
She looked around at everyone, her voice low and resolute.
"We can only gamble now!"