"Idiot!"
Chiyo promptly kicked Baki's leg, tripping him.
Then she straightened her attire and walked toward Sakura, who was dragging the dragon out from the ruined wall. "Supporter from Konoha, you must be tired from your long journey."
"The Flower of the Desert, Chiyo."
Seeing the elderly woman before her, Sakura paused. "My apologies for damaging your outer wall. Let me fix it for you."
As she spoke, without forming any hand seals, she simply raised a foot and stomped heavily on the ground.
Earth Attribute Chakra poured into the ground. The massive amount of damaged earth and stone began to flow again, rapidly filling the breach in Sunagakure's stone wall.
It wasn't until the entire breach and all the guard posts atop it were fully restored that the massive tremors affecting all of Sunagakure gradually subsided.
Having caught a glimpse of Sakura's terrifying Chakra, and watching the huge dragon revert to human form, and the blond boy gradually reconstituting himself from shattered pieces of... 'wax'...
Chiyo couldn't help but sigh with emotion. 'Konoha remains the cradle of geniuses!'
As if sensing her somber mood, the sky began to rain.
A curtain of rain enveloped the arid desert, gradually moistening the surrounding land.
Treading through the rain, the figures of the boy and girl arrived before Chiyo, giving a polite bow.
"Konoha's Team 7, ordered to provide support to Sunagakure."
Sakura stood before the two. Naruto and Sasuke ceased their antics, quietly standing behind Sakura.
The three Haki practitioners fixed their gazes on Chiyo. Their formidable auras seemed to subtly warp the space around them.
"Follow me. Sunagakure has already prepared to receive you all."
As if facing a gentle breeze, Chiyo easily matched their auras with her own, not even letting a hint of excess pressure affect the people behind her.
Chiyo led them into Sunagakure, arranging accommodations for the three and preparing a banquet in their honor.
Normally, following standard procedure, this banquet would become a mutual probing ground, followed by evasions, bickering, and exchanges of interests.
However...
"Hey, now's not the time for this!"
Within Sunagakure's banquet venue, Naruto slammed the table and stood up. "Hurry up and organize people to rescue Gaara!"
Sasuke let out a deep sigh, covering his face with a hand as he leaned back on the sofa.
Upon hearing Naruto's words, the Sunagakure's higher-ups were stunned, their breathing growing heavy, smiles gradually spreading.
Baki and the Sunagakure's Jonin were even more dumbfounded.
'Could such a good thing really exist in the world?'
Up in the loft, the two truly in charge of the rescue operation sat facing each other, taking in the entire scene.
Sakura looked down at the boisterous Naruto and smiled.
"Curious. You're not stopping that boy."
Chiyo's gaze shifted from Naruto. "If he keeps making a scene, it'll be inconvenient for you to negotiate for benefits!"
"Isn't it good for a comrade to have his own ideals?"
Sakura picked up a small cup, draining the water inside. "Besides, always talking about benefits, benefits... People don't live for benefits alone, you insensitive old hag!"
"Hmph, youngster." Chiyo shook her head in denial. "Decision-makers like you and I should sacrifice everything for the village's benefit!"
"And then? Did Sunagakure, with all its people sacrificed, gain a bright future?" Sakura grinned, her smile so mocking.
Then, without waiting for Chiyo's answer, she waved a hand and walked down toward the noisy crowd below.
Sometimes, once interests get involved, things become incredibly complicated.
Yet if you set aside interests, things can often advance with astonishing speed.
For example, right now, Team 7 had already arrived at Sunagakure's hospital, meeting Kankuro, who had separately pursued and finally discovered the Akatsuki organization's movements.
However, he was currently unconscious, along with nine other Ninja in the hospital in the same state.
"This is truly awful!"
Entering the so-called hospital, Sakura's frown deepened enough to crush a fly.
Medicines were scarce, hygiene was poor, monitoring patients' vital signs relied entirely on a few roving Medical-Nin...
This was no treatment room… it might as well be called an execution chamber, a room where patients died in agony.
"Kankuro!"
Naruto tried to rush to the bedside but was pulled back by Sasuke, who had some medical knowledge.
By the bedside, Chiyo handed all the analysis reports to Sakura. "Everyone here is poisoned by that boy Sasori. I am powerless against it."
"A toxin that directly infects and destroys cells?"
After reading Sunagakure's diagnostic report, Sakura frowned.
She generally accepted the contents.
After all, Chiyo was once the Medical-Nin who single-handedly raised Sunagakure's impoverished, medicine-deficient medical level to wage biochemical warfare against Tsunade.
Her judgment regarding toxin types, onset times, accompanying symptoms, etc., shouldn't have errors.
"The toxin attaches to the heart's muscle cells. Conventional antidotes, entering cells through metabolism, would take at least three days. But this child's current state won't last two days!" Chiyo shook her head regretfully.
"Then, let me try."
Sakura stepped forward and, in front of Chiyo, clasped her hands together.
Immense Chakra stirred an invisible wind that swept through the entire treatment room. Countless grass seeds pushed through the floor tiles, taking root, growing, sprouting.
Writhing vines snaked forth. The aura of life permeated every inch of the treatment room's space.
Lush grass and flowers bloomed everywhere. The desolate Land of Wind witnessed such an emerald green wonder for the first time in ages, beautiful as paradise.
[Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees!]
No one knew how many Ninja witnessing this scene froze in place, collectively falling silent:
"Wood Release!!!"
This was no toy for planting flowers or building houses. This was the genuine, powerful Kekkei Genkai that once, in the hands of the First Hokage, defeated formidable enemies, pacified the Warring States Period, and established the One Village, One Country system that persists to this day!
"You're actually from the Senju Clan?" x2
Sasuke and Chiyo exclaimed simultaneously.
Seeing this scene, not only were allies shocked, even teammates from the same village showed expressions of confusion.
"Quiet, I'm saving people!"
Sakura reached out, clenching a fist toward the front. The vines grown throughout the room began to entwine, gradually taking the form of a girl.
Using the slowly blooming flowers nearby as pharmaceutical tools, Sakura infused Yang Release Chakra into the Wood Release, stimulating the vines to secrete an antidote, which finally overflowed from the flower buds like jelly.
Sakura and her wood clone extended their hands into the antidote, then activated the Mystical Palm Technique.
Hands enveloped in water spheres were placed on each patient's chest. The antidote was injected into their hearts, then conducted Yang Release chakra to draw out the toxins.
After repeating this action three or four times, the faces of all patients in the room gradually relaxed, their conditions stabilizing.
Finally, evaporating the remaining venom, Sakura clapped her hands, dispelling the Wood Release. The surrounding vegetation slowly dissolved.
"I've incidentally healed the others as well. Quickly wake your people and extract the information!"
Looking at the girl standing amidst the sea of flowers, offering her a radiant smile, Chiyo remained speechless for a long time. A thousand words condensed into a single sigh of helplessness.
"Sigh, perhaps this Sunagakure's Flower of the Desert has truly grown old!"