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Taiichi's voice wasn't loud, but it hit the medical tent like a thunderclap. Every conversation died instantly. Even the patients' groans paused for a heartbeat.
"Really? Taiichi, that fast?" Director Fujita's eyes widened in disbelief. The good news had come so suddenly it almost didn't feel real.
"Of course!" Taiichi grinned, full of confidence. "Just like I thought—it's based on that red scorpion venom. Now that I know exactly what I'm dealing with, I can have the antidote ready in a day at most!"
"Great! Excellent!" Fujita paced back and forth, too excited to stay still. Then a thought struck her. She turned to the other medics in the tent. "Distribute the painkillers to every patient. No more rationing. Let them finally catch a break."
The whole tent erupted in cheers. Wounded shinobi and exhausted medics alike shouted their thanks to Taiichi and the director.
"Taiichi, go start compounding the antidote right away. I need to report this to Lord Jiraiya immediately—he's been losing sleep over this poison for weeks."
"Got it. Go ahead, Director." Taiichi turned to Rin. "Stay here and help out. I'll head straight to the pharmacy."
Rin nodded eagerly. Even though she had only been fetching water and handing over tools, she felt a surge of pride when the patients thanked Taiichi. For the first time, she saw her own ninja path clearly.
---
Taiichi worked through the night in the pharmacy, testing ratios and combinations without stopping. By noon the next day, he had a working antidote formula.
When the pharmacy door finally opened, Director Fujita—who had been waiting outside—shot to her feet. The sight that greeted her was Taiichi: bloodshot eyes, clothes stained with unknown powders, but grinning ear to ear.
"Done, Director!" He waved a sheet of paper and a small bottle. "I made a few test pills. Let's try them right away."
He handed both the formula and the bottle to Fujita. She didn't waste a second—she immediately called for two of the worst cases to be brought over.
At the same time, she scanned the formula. It listed seven or eight ingredients and a complex preparation method. She understood roughly half the pharmacology. The rest was clearly Taiichi's own insight.
Fujita looked up at the exhausted but still buzzing young man and opened her mouth, but no words came out. Anything she could say felt too small for what he had just accomplished.
Two patients were helped in by nurses. Both were still in the early-to-mid stages of poisoning—conscious enough to grit their teeth and stay quiet.
Fujita didn't hesitate. She poured out two pills and handed them over.
The men took them without question and swallowed.
Taiichi started to warn them—"It's going to taste—" but it was already too late.
Half a second after the pills went down, both men's faces twisted in disgust. Director Fujita tensed up and shot a worried glance at Taiichi.
He just shook his head calmly. It's fine.
The patients gulped hard, then immediately started shouting at the nearest nurse. "Water! Quick—give me water!"
The young nurse blinked in surprise but fetched two cups anyway, muttering under her breath, "They're not little kids… who needs water to take medicine?"
The two men didn't care. They snatched the cups, chugged them down in one go, then dropped onto stools like they'd just been released from torture.
Everyone stared, confused.
Only Taiichi remained perfectly calm. "Pain gone?" he asked.
The men finally remembered where they were. They patted themselves down, flexed their arms, and looked at each other in shock.
"Yeah… it's really gone. No dizziness, no numbness… this stuff works fast!"
One of them added, completely deadpan, "Tastes like absolute shit, though. I never want to eat that again in my life."
"Same here. Never again."
"Enough!" Director Fujita snapped, losing patience. "You think these are candy? You're cured—now get the hell out of my tent. Don't you know we're overflowing with patients?"
"Yessir!" The two men helped each other up and hobbled out, still complaining about the taste.
"Taiichi… what was that about?" Fujita asked, turning to him once the men were gone.
"Nothing serious. The medicine just tastes terrible. You can mix a little honey in during production to make it easier to swallow." Taiichi shrugged. His medicines had never tasted good anyway—he was used to it.
Fujita broke into a wide smile. She looked at the three remaining pills in the bottle, then immediately called a nurse over. "Give these to the three worst cases right now."
She studied the formula again, then glanced at Taiichi, who was already yawning. Realizing he had worked straight through the night on pure brainpower, guilt washed over her.
"Taiichi, go get some rest. I'll handle the production from here."
"Sounds good. I'll head back and sleep." Taiichi gave a tired wave and shuffled out of the tent on unsteady legs. He really was exhausted.
Fujita watched him disappear, then picked up the formula and hurried toward the logistics and pharmacy section. They had their own compounding team here—on the front lines, you couldn't wait for the village to solve every problem.
Once everything was set in motion, she didn't stop. She headed straight for the main command tent. News this important had to go to the supreme commander immediately.
---
"You're saying the antidote is already finished? That quickly?"
Jiraiya's face lit up with pure delight—the best news he'd heard in weeks. The constant screams of the poisoned shinobi had been hammering morale into the ground.
"Yes, Lord Jiraiya. Taiichi worked through the night. They're already compounding more as we speak. In another day or two, every shinobi heading out will carry an antidote pill."
"Heh heh!" Jiraiya grinned like a proud parent. "That's my student for you! Takes after his master—whatever he sets his mind to, he gets done." He paced the tent, muttering happily to himself. "My student…"
Fujita Sana couldn't watch anymore. She distinctly remembered Taiichi being Lady Tsunade's disciple.
"Lord Jiraiya, I've delivered the report. I still need to oversee production, so I'll take my leave."
Before Jiraiya could reply, she turned and left.
---
Only after she was gone did Jiraiya snap out of his happy daze. He looked around the empty tent and bellowed, "Shikaku! Shikaku, get in here! We've got good news!"
A young man soon entered—the Nara clan's own Shikaku, currently serving as Jiraiya's staff officer.
The moment his advisor arrived, Jiraiya grabbed him and excitedly laid out the antidote situation in a few sentences.
"Well? Think we can use this to give the Sand a proper bloody nose?"
Shikaku's eyes narrowed as he thought. "You mean… show them weakness… lure them deep… then surround and annihilate."
With every word Shikaku spoke, Jiraiya's grin grew wider. The two old schemers huddled together, whispering and refining the plan for nearly an hour.
At the end, Shikaku asked one careful question. "Sir, the later phase requires pulling the camp back. Shouldn't we report this to the village first? Otherwise we might face consequences later."
Shikaku meant well, but Jiraiya waved it off. The plan was bold and risky. If it succeeded, the rewards would be massive. But the current village leadership—obsessed with playing it safe after Orochimaru's earlier stunt—would almost certainly shut it down.
This kind of golden opportunity didn't come twice. Miss it now, and who knew when the next one would appear?
"No need. If anything goes wrong, I'll take full responsibility." This was the weight and responsibility that came with being one of the Sannin and the Hokage's direct student.
Shikaku nodded, relieved. He personally agreed with the plan, but he lacked the authority to push it alone. With Jiraiya's backing, they could move.
Orders went out immediately. Sealed instructions reached logistics, medical, and every shinobi who knew about the antidote. The already-cured patients were ordered to pretend they were still badly wounded and be transferred rearward in plain sight.
When Taiichi finally woke up, the first thing he received was one of those sealed orders. Right after that came the full details of the plan.
As expected, he thought. The village still has real talents. Turning an impossible situation into a trap, seizing the one thread that could unravel the enemy—Jiraiya and Shikaku were masters at this.
With nothing urgent to do, Taiichi headed back to the medical camp. Yohei and Saori were out on missions, as they had agreed earlier. Their squad was simply too strong. Unless it was a village-mandated operation, there was no need for all four of them to tackle the same task—especially when their captain split his time between the front lines and the medical tents.
Inside the medical area, he spotted Rin working. Minato-sensei still hadn't returned from his mission, so she had been helping out here. After a full day on the job, she was already starting to fit in.
Taiichi quietly walked up behind her and watched as she used the Mystical Palm Technique—still a little clumsy but correct—to stop a patient's bleeding, then wrapped the wound with steady hands. She hadn't made any major mistakes.
When she finished and turned to the next patient, she finally noticed him standing there. A bright, happy smile lit up her face.
Taiichi gave her a thumbs-up. "Nice work, Rin. Looks like you've settled in well."
"It's all thanks to Director Fujita. She told everyone to help me because you asked. I really have to thank you, Taiichi."
Taiichi waved it off. "Seeing you doing this well puts my mind at ease. Keep following your instincts. If you're not sure about anything, come find me. I'm going to check if anyone else needs a hand."
He turned and waved, heading toward the busiest section of the tents.
---
Over the next few days, everything unfolded exactly as Jiraiya and Shikaku had planned. More and more poisoned shinobi were quietly transferred to the rear and hidden away.
This created the appearance of severe manpower shortages on the front lines. Leaf casualties slowly began to rise.
Taiichi watched the steady stream of wounded coming into the medical camp and felt a pang of discomfort. But he also understood—this was part of the plan. Victory always demanded sacrifice.
Then came the order.
Team Taiichi was to advance, intercept Sand squads, and support any friendly forces that had been pushed back.
This, too, was part of the deception: sending elite squads forward to "stabilize" the collapsing line and sell the illusion that Leaf was desperate.
---
The area near the border between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Wind had thin forests and rolling hills. Countless tributaries of the Shinano River cut through the landscape.
Taiichi's team moved swiftly between the woods and streams, patrolling the wide zone.
Because of the manpower shortage, ordinary Leaf ninjas were rarely sent this far forward anymore. This was already considered Sand territory.
They hadn't been searching long when Taiichi's senses picked up a Sand squad.
"1 o'clock, two kilometers out. One squad of Sand chunin. Let's hit them with ninjutsu—make it loud."
Taiichi changed direction and laid out the plan.
Two kilometers was nothing to ninja at full speed. In three or four minutes they were close.
On Taiichi's signal, Yohei and Saori prepared their techniques, keeping them at the ready.
The moment they had line of sight, Taiichi unleashed Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. Yohei's Great Fireball and Saori's lightning net followed right behind, streaking toward the distant figures.
The Sand squad never saw it coming. They had grown cocky after a string of easy victories and had let their guard drop.
By the time they noticed the incoming storm of fire and lightning, two of them were already dead.
The remaining two reacted quickly and barely escaped the blast radius, but their luck ran out immediately.
Before they could even turn around to see what had happened, two shadows appeared on their flanks. A blade slashed across one throat; a kunai punched through the other's heart. They died without a sound.
The fight was over in under twenty seconds.
Taiichi glanced at the scene, then turned away without a second look. No need to clean up—they wanted the Sand to find this.
The three regrouped and left without a backward glance, continuing their hunt.
This was only the beginning.