Naruto: The Hidden Shadow Style

At a life-or-death moment, Haseo wasn't exactly unwilling to lose an arm… Well, okay, he was a bit—scratch that, extremely—reluctant. For a ninja, the importance of an arm could be compared to having a third leg.

The real issue was, even if Haseo had been ready to chop it off clean, the timing had already slipped—he was just a little too late. After all, those toxins would spread through his bloodstream and affect his entire body within just ten or so seconds. Therefore, amputating the arm couldn't completely eliminate the toxin source… The only good news was that Haseo's wound was very shallow, so the total amount of poison absorbed was minimal. Also, he'd soaked in water earlier without realizing it—most of the tiny bit of poison had already seeped out into the water.

So overall, while Haseo felt some tension about being poisoned, he wasn't overly worried. Using only one hand, he pulled out a small bottle from his ninja tool pouch, poured out several pills, and swallowed them directly… This was a commonly used antidote. During conflicts with Sunagakure, every frontline Konoha ninja was issued this antidote as standard equipment—to counter enemy ninja trained in poison techniques.

While Haseo took his medicine, Chichio respected his opinion. She didn't resort to dramatic chopping but instead used her kunai to make a large cross-shaped incision on Haseo's poisoned arm. Then she kept pressing around the cut, squeezing out as much stagnant blood and residual toxins from Haseo's body as possible.

There were no medical ninja in their team; emergency treatment could only go this far. Purple-colored blood dripped drop by drop onto the water surface, and by now Haseo's arm had already gone numb.

"We need to get him back to the frontline hospital fast… I'll stay here with Renjiro. Chichio, you take Haseo back." Nara made this judgment without hesitation. With no way to determine exactly how severe the toxin's effects on Haseo might be, they could only prepare for the worst-case scenario based on what little information they had. That meant Haseo needed proper medical care fast.

Chichio simply nodded to show she understood. Without any pretense or hesitation, she draped Haseo's arm over her shoulder and carried him on her back. Meanwhile, Nara and Renjiro remained behind to coordinate with reinforcements. She then took off quickly toward Konoha Headquarters with Haseo on her back.

The erosion of the toxin had already robbed Haseo of his ability to move independently. So although being carried by a woman seemed somewhat undignified, he certainly had no intention of dwelling on such trivialities right now. Well, when duty calls, appearances must give way—practicality above all… He even convinced himself like this: at least Chichio hadn't decided to carry him all the way to base camp, right?

This time, Haseo had learned quite a lesson. When dealing with enemies like puppeteers, either avoid close combat entirely or possess greater agility and speed than them; otherwise, visible blades can be dodged while hidden daggers strike unseen. Those puppeteers who kept relying on poison really undermined the honor of true ninjas… Well, actually, Menzuomen's actions perfectly matched ninja principles. What matters is winning—not playing fair. Fair play? Now that's a real punchline. Since when were ninjas supposed to be knights in shining armor anyway?

That one was more reliable, sure, but near impossible to pull off since ninjas always ended up in close combat anyway. As for the other option, it required improving one's taijutsu skills—which frankly didn't seem like something you could boost overnight.

But regardless, as a mere genin, Haseo had already pushed himself to his absolute limit. Whether or not Konoha's elite jonin squad could take down Menzuomen remained unknown.

Even at a moment like this, Haseo still had the mental clarity to think about all this... Well, he wasn't the one lugging someone around on his back, after all—he was the one being carried.

Chichio spared no energy and returned to the Konoha base at top speed with Haseo, immediately rushing him into the Frontline Hospital afterward.

This field hospital sat right in the center of Konoha's encampment, second only to the command headquarters in importance.

"What's the situation?" the medic barked the moment Chichio burst through the door with Haseo slung over his shoulder. The pace here was always fast—medics got straight to the point unless absolutely necessary.

"Poisoned. It's from Menzuomen, the Sunagakure puppet master. Dose was low, and initial emergency treatment has already been done," Chichio quickly reported Haseo's condition.

At that moment, Haseo felt completely alert mentally, yet couldn't even open his mouth to speak… If there'd been a mirror in front of him just then, he probably would've finally understood what "turning stone-faced" really looked like.

Upon hearing the name Menzuomen, the medic grabbed Haseo without hesitation and rushed him straight to a back tent within the hospital area.

Chichio tried to follow, but an outstretched arm stopped him. "We'll do everything we can to save him. You following us won't help. Just wait calmly—we'll inform you immediately no matter what happens."

Haseo couldn't help but feel the words carried a rather ominous tone.

Then, with a sudden gust of air whipping past his ears, he felt himself carefully lowered onto a hospital bed.

"Professor Kōga, victim poisoned by Menzuomen," the medic called out upon setting Haseo down, addressing another figure inside the tent—one apparently specialized in antidotes.

At the call, Haseo saw another person quickly approach beside him. He was certain they'd never met before, so it came as a surprise when the medic immediately called out his name upon seeing him:

"Haseo?"

"Sensei Kōga, you know him?" The first medic asked in surprise; he hadn't expected this young man to be someone familiar.

"No, I'm meeting him in person for the first time. However, I've often heard Sansho talk about this kid... So it's definitely Menzuomen's poison. You start the standard detox process while I analyze the toxin."

With that, Medic Kōga took a blood sample from Haseo's arm, then swiftly moved toward a table across the tent covered in various bottles and jars.

Everything looked rough around the edges, but the medical ninja worked calmly and methodically. At this moment, Haseo finally felt relieved—not because he trusted their sense of responsibility, nor because he believed in Konoha's advanced medical techniques, but because he finally realized one truth: he was, after all, a well-connected person.

Because of Sansho's involvement, at the very least, these two medical ninja wouldn't treat him carelessly or negligently.

A chill spread up Haseo's arm. Soon after, the numbness in his arm disappeared, replaced instead by an unbearable burning feeling. Then, that cooling sensation and his own burning sensation began to compete repeatedly within him.

He could tell—the burning came from the toxin in his system, while the coolness was the medical ninja's Medical Ninjutsu at work. Since they had already driven away the numbness and were now suppressing the toxin's spread, at least it showed the medical ninja's technique was working.

"I've figured it out," Lady Kōga announced shortly afterward while finishing her toxin analysis, bringing along some good news. "It seems Menzuomen has been stuck at the battlefield recently without returning to Sunagakure, so the poison he used this time hasn't changed much compared to the last sample we obtained. This kid is pretty lucky—he may have been poisoned, but we'll be able to make the antidote soon."

Poisons used by puppet masters weren't only vicious; more importantly, their formulas constantly changed. Without extensive research over a long period, discovering an antidote would be impossible. The problem, however, was that even if you did find an antidote, next time your enemy would simply switch to a different poison.

Precisely for this reason, Lady Kōga said Haseo was fortunate.

(Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone!)

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