Temari pulled Ryou by the hand and hurried toward the underground space of Chiyo's house.
Chiyo's basement housed the puppets she had crafted as well as the poisonous creatures she cultivated.
Chiyo was both a Puppeteer and a Poison Master.
Top-tier Puppeteers were all Poison Masters, possessing a mastery of poison techniques.
Most toxins used by Puppeteers were natural: animal toxins, plant toxins, and microbial toxins.
High-level Puppeteers could even create synthetic poisons.
The poison Sasori created was a synthetic blend of various natural toxins.
Chiyo also needed poison to complement her puppets, so she raised several poisonous creatures.
Poisonous scorpions, poisonous spiders, poisonous centipedes...
Kankuro had accidentally slipped into the Poison Cultivation Room and was inadvertently stung by a poisonous scorpion.
By the time Ryou and Temari arrived, Chiyo, Ebizo, Pakura and her disciple Maki, and Yashamaru were already treating Kankuro.
Poison and medicine go hand in hand; besides being a Poison Master, Chiyo was also a high-level medical practitioner herself.
In the original work, it was Chiyo who neutralized the deadly poison of Hanzo's Salamander.
Yashamaru was also a Medical Ninja, specifically a high-level Medical Ninja within the Sunagakure Anbu.
But even with two high-level Medical Ninja helping Kankuro suppress the toxin, his complexion remained very pale, and the wound where the scorpion had stung him was frightfully swollen and red.
Because that was no ordinary scorpion; at that moment, the scorpion was sealed in a glass box by Chiyo.
The scorpion was not large, covered in a red and black carapace, with two needle-like chelae protruding forward like miniature scythes, gleaming with a cold light.
The venom sac at the tail was a plump sphere, deep in color and appearing red.
Like a red ghost in the shifting sands, beauty and deadly toxicity coexisted.
Chiyo explained, "This is a Red Tail Scorpion recovered from Sasori's home earlier. Its toxin takes effect instantly; a Ninja who encountered it before died within three minutes."
"This kind of poison is not easy to neutralize!"
Not easy didn't mean impossible, just that it was very difficult to treat, and there wasn't enough time.
Everyone's expressions were somewhat grim.
The servants were kneeling all over the floor, all because they had failed to watch Kankuro, allowing him to slip into the Poison Cultivation Room.
Actually, the place Kankuro wanted to go was the Puppet Room next door.
But he accidentally ended up in the Poison Room, was attracted by the beautiful Red Tail Scorpion, and was stung when he opened the box.
Temari pulled Ryou by the hand as they walked down the steps from above.
"Grandmother, I've brought Lord Sasori over."
Yashamaru quickly came over and said to Ryou, "Sasori, quickly look at Kankuro's poison. You raised the Red Tail Scorpion; do you have an antidote?"
"Alright, alright, let me see."
Neutralize the poison? What poison would Sasori know how to neutralize?
Sasori only ever killed and never saved; he wouldn't even know how to neutralize his own poisons.
He only kills, never saves!
Ryou squatted down and grabbed Kankuro's hand, which was blistering from the Red Tail Scorpion's sting.
Kankuro was in so much pain that tears welled up.
"...Lord Sasori, please save me!"
Ryou looked at Kankuro's hand and, judging by his experience as an old practitioner of traditional medicine in his past life, said, "There's no other way; we'll have to saw your hand off."
"Ah?!"
Kankuro was startled.
Ryou laughed, "Just kidding. Don't move, it'll be over in a moment!"
Ryou infused chakra into Kankuro's arm and performed Medical Ninjutsu.
Delicate Illness Extraction Technique!
Before everyone's eyes, a layer of vibrant chakra appeared on Ryou's hand, covering Kankuro's arm.
In just a couple of moments, the deadly poison in Kankuro's arm was sucked out, and the swelling subsided in the blink of an eye.
Temari and Kankuro's eyes widened.
Chiyo and Yashamaru, both being Medical Ninja themselves, stared with eyes even wider than theirs.
Sasori knows Medical Ninjutsu?! And such a high-level Medical Ninjutsu at that.
The Delicate Illness Extraction Technique was a Medical Ninjutsu exclusive to Tsunade in Konoha; in the original work, Sakura relied on this technique to extract the poison from Kankuro's body.
At this moment, Ryou did not use the unreasonable devouring nature of Wood Release to consume the toxins in Kankuro's body, but instead used conventional Medical Ninjutsu.
But his chakra was anything but conventional, and the Medical Ninjutsu formed by his chakra was likewise extraordinary.
When the Medical Ninjutsu Mystical Palm Technique is performed, it emits a pale green light, which is the morphological color of Yang Release chakra.
The Medical Ninjutsu Ryou performed glowed with a deep green light.
This proved that the Yang Release chakra he exerted far exceeded that of ordinary Medical Ninjutsu.
From Chiyo's experience, even a Sainthood of Medical Ninjutsu like Tsunade could not possibly perform a Medical Ninjutsu so brimming with vitality.
Is this guy really Sasori?
Chiyo fell into doubt once again.
Her fists clenched and relaxed, relaxed and clenched, as she fell into a state of great internal conflict.
On one hand, Chiyo was pleasantly surprised by Sasori's change; he was no longer lonely and withdrawn as before, becoming more like a normal person.
On the other hand, the change was so rapid that it felt somewhat alien to Chiyo.
The poor old woman could only deceive herself in her heart: he was Sasori, he was her grandson.
Ryou let go of Kankuro's hand and gave it a little poke.
"There, Kankuro. Don't go running around other people's houses so recklessly in the future."
"Thank you, Lord Sasori!"
Kankuro was full of excitement and stood up straight before Ryou.
"I want to, I want to..."
Kankuro wanted to ask Sasori to teach him the Puppet Technique.
Temari also had a look of yearning; the Medical Ninjutsu Ryou had just performed had completely won her over.
She also wanted to possess such miraculous Medical Ninjutsu like Ryou, so she could treat her family whenever they were injured in the future.
Ryou gave Kankuro a smack on the head: "Get lost, I won't take such a stupid brat as my disciple."
"Waaaah—"
Kankuro immediately went to the side and started crying silently.
Neither Temari nor Yashamaru paid him any mind.
Because Kankuro had truly been too reckless this time.
Yashamaru had a gentle temperament and wouldn't scold Kankuro, but Temari would.
If they weren't in Chiyo's house right now, Temari would have already started berating Kankuro.
Chiyo asked curiously, "Sasori, your technique?"
Ryou replied casually, "I learned it while I was a rogue. Back then, I was injured and didn't dare see a doctor, so I had to treat myself."
"I see!"
Chiyo clenched her hands.
Did he think the world of rogue ninja was a world of cultivation, where finding any random cave led to supreme opportunities?
Outside of the Five Great Ninja Villages, where in the Ninja World could such miraculous Medical Ninjutsu be found?
There were places, like the Shikkotsu Forest, but that place bore a deep imprint of the Senju Clan and also fell within Konoha's sphere.
But Chiyo could only choose to believe Sasori; after all, the reason Sasori revealed his Medical Ninjutsu was to treat Kankuro.
Why was she unwilling to believe that Sasori had become kind?
Yashamaru thanked Ryou profusely.
But Ryou's attention was on the Red Tail Scorpion in the glass box.
This was a poisonous scorpion Sasori had raised in Sunagakure, containing powerful neurotoxins.
Seeing Ryou's gaze, Chiyo took down the glass box and gave it to him.
"Sasori, it seems your poison techniques have already surpassed mine, to be able to cultivate such a powerful poisonous scorpion."