The next morning, inside the Konoha front line camp.
Sunlight spread through thin mist onto the tents. The air was filled with the clean scent of medicinal herbs.
The medical ninja had already begun their day's work, changing dressings and checking injuries for the wounded in an orderly manner.
Tsunade stood in front of the central tent with her arms crossed, her gaze sweeping over the movements of each person.
"Move faster!"
Her voice was cool and clear.
"Every second on the battlefield concerns life and death. If you are one step slow, another comrade may fall."
The medical ninja heard this and moved their hands with even more efficiency.
A young female ninja formed seals with practiced ease. A pale green chakra light rose from her palms and pressed precisely onto a wounded soldier's injury.
The wound healed at a visible pace. A trace of color finally returned to the pale face of the wounded ninja.
"Well done."
Tsunade gave a small nod. A flicker of approval passed through her eyes.
The young female ninja broke into a delighted smile.
"Thank you, Lady Tsunade!"
Not far away, Chiya was guiding several medical ninja through the practice of preparing antidotes.
When it came to other areas of medicine, he certainly could not match Tsunade, a true medical ninja.
But in preparing antidotes, Chiya was quite skilled.
After all, what stood out most during the Second Shinobi World War was poison and Water Style.
As someone who had knowledge from another life, even without the System back then, knowing things in advance had naturally led him to make some preparations.
Not only antidotes, but he had also studied a great deal of Water Style jutsu.
"Remember, the key to preparing an antidote is precision and speed. On the battlefield, every second can decide life or death."
He picked up a bottle of pale green liquid medicine and shook it gently. The medicine sent ripples spreading through the bottle.
"This is a herb extracted from plants in Amegakure. It can neutralize most poisons. But its active properties are strong, so it must be prepared within a short window of time."
Chiya handed the medicine to a young medical ninja whose hand trembled slightly, clearly a little nervous.
"Don't be nervous. Follow the steps."
Chiya said in an encouraging tone.
The young medical ninja took a deep breath and began to operate with careful, deliberate movements.
He poured the medicine into a ceramic bowl, then added a few drops of clear liquid.
Chiya stood to the side with his gaze fixed on every movement the ninja made, without a trace of looseness.
"Slower. Watch your chakra control."
Chiya spoke up suddenly, his tone carrying a hint of sharpness.
The medical ninja's hands paused. Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
"The chakra must be distributed evenly through the medicine. That is the only way to ensure the effect stays stable."
Following Chiya's guidance, the medical ninja's movements gradually grew more practiced.
When the last medicinal herb was ground into powder and lightly sprinkled into the bowl,
the medicine instantly gave off a faint blue glow, then gradually became clear and transparent.
"It worked!"
The medical ninja raised his head. A flash of surprise lit up in his eyes.
Chiya gave a slight smile and nodded.
"Good. You did very well."
He turned toward the other medical ninja, a trace of seriousness in his gaze.
"Remember, preparing antidotes is not only a technical skill. It is also a form of responsibility. Every single step concerns the life and death of ninja at the front. You must achieve total precision."
The medical ninja exchanged glances. A look of determination passed through all their eyes.
"Lord Chiya, we will do our best!"
Outside the camp.
Hatake Sakumo heard the conversation from inside. A sense of ease he had not felt in a long time passed through his eyes.
'This is an entire unit of medical ninja!'
'These people still look young and inexperienced.'
'But once they grow, no one knows how many Konoha comrades they will save on the battlefield in the future.'
Hatake Sakumo did not know why the village had suddenly begun "training" medical ninja at such a critical time. But no matter what,
this business of training medical ninja was a good thing in any case.
"Scree!"
The cry of a messenger hawk rang out from the sky.
Hatake Sakumo looked up almost instantly, and his mind settled.
The hawk folded its wings and landed inside the camp.
"Lord Sakumo, a message has come from Konoha headquarters."
A communications ninja came hurrying over with a scroll in hand.
Sakumo took the scroll and opened it quickly.
A moment later, a look of satisfaction appeared in his eyes.
The day before, he had not only reported to the village about the situation with Tsunade and Chiya's medical ninja.
He had also mentioned the "trouble" they had encountered, the fact that Chiya had swept through it alone.
Just as expected.
The orders from the village had come down today.
Among the things mentioned concerning Tsunade and Chiya, beyond their responsibility for the medical logistics of the main war effort, there was also mention of a temporary staff advisor position.
As temporary staff advisors, they would be able to come and take part in upcoming Konoha military operations and offer their views.
Uchiha Chiya had made a good impression on him. After all, someone who protects their comrades could not be a bad person no matter how you looked at it.
"Pass this matter on to those two."
Hatake Sakumo had just started to give the order to the communications ninja when he suddenly stopped.
"Never mind. I will go myself."
Hatake Sakumo turned and walked into the camp.
...
At the same time, in the Sunagakure front line camp, inside a large tent, the atmosphere was heavy enough to suffocate.
The camp's elders, advisors, and elite ninja had all gathered together. Their gazes were all fixed on the center of the conference table, where a map of the Konoha front line was laid out, covered densely with all kinds of symbols and markings.
"The situation is very bad."
An aged elder spoke. His voice was hoarse and low, carrying a trace of anxiety.
"Both our surprise attack and our frontal assault have failed completely."
"It is truly hard to believe. Lord Ebizo brought so many elite fighters and still lost."
"These back-to-back failures have brought problems that are far too serious. If there is no turnaround, we may well lose this war."
The room fell silent. Everyone was thinking about what to do next.
They had to find a way to turn the tide of battle, or at the very least allow Sunagakure to lose without too much humiliation.
"So what do we do now?"
A young ninja asked. His voice carried a trace of unease.
"We must take action now and completely eliminate Konoha's medical ninja unit."
"This is our only option. Without their medical ninja, their morale will be affected, and we will have a chance to turn things around."
The room fell silent again. Everyone knew this was a difficult decision.
Eliminating the medical ninja unit meant facing a full counterattack from both Tsunade and Hatake Sakumo. This would be an extremely dangerous mission.
"I will go."
A firm voice rang out.
Everyone looked up at once. A young ninja stood at the other end of the conference table, a glint of resolve in his eyes.
He was Chiron, one of Sunagakure's elite ninja.
"I will go as well."
Another ninja stood up. She was Maya, the wife of Chiron who had just stood.
"Are you certain?"
The elder's gaze swept over the two of them. His voice carried a trace of worry.
Chiron gave a nod.
"We are confident we can complete this mission. For the victory of Sunagakure, we are willing to pay any price."
"For the specific plan, I believe we should choose a flanking route and use the front line to create the appearance of an attack. Maya and I will infiltrate Konoha's medical ninja unit."
"As long as we succeed, we can win Sunagakure a brief advantage."
The room fell silent. Everyone was thinking about whether this plan could work.
In the end, the elder gave a slow nod.
"Very well. This mission is in your hands."
"We will launch an attack to coordinate with your operation."
"But you must be careful. Kill as many medical ninja as you can. And avoid a direct confrontation with Hatake Sakumo and Tsunade as much as possible. Neither of them is an easy opponent."
"Understood."
The two answered in unison.
After the meeting ended, Chiron and Maya left the camp quickly.
They both knew the difficulty of this mission was extremely high.
But they also understood this was Sunagakure's only chance to turn the tide of the war.