"Tsunade-sama, there are too many injured," Rin said, her voice tight with worry. "I don't think we have enough people."
The battlefield was littered with wounded, far more than their initial casualties, and many of them were poisoned. A standard medical-nin couldn't handle this, it would take a careful combination of medicine and the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique to save them.
"Gather everyone who isn't poisoned into one group," Tsunade ordered without hesitation. "You and the others prioritize the poisoned. I'll join you once I'm finished here."
She had to maintain her distance for now, just long enough to ensure the Sunagakure ninja didn't see through her ruse at the last moment. To prevent any accidents, the wounded were being carried from the field one by one.
From afar, Rasa looked back and saw the Konoha ninja beginning to treat their wounded. He felt a sharp pang of envy. Konoha's medical system, bolstered by Tsunade, was leagues ahead of Suna's. It was that very system that had allowed them to win battles where they were severely outnumbered.
Still, the thought that Tsunade was now crippled by hemophobia brought a cruel satisfaction to his face. It was the one piece of good news in this disaster.
'But first,' he thought, 'I have to get Elder Chiyo back.'
Chiyo's status in Sunagakure was comparable to Tsunade's in Konoha. She was the master of their most advanced medical techniques, their deadliest poisons, and their most intricate puppetry. Sunagakure could survive without Ebizo, but it could not afford to lose Chiyo. Rasa knew this, and he knew Konoha understood it as well, which was why they had released her brother while keeping a firm hold on her.
"Take our wounded and our dead with us," Rasa said, his voice heavy. "They are heroes of our village."
"Yes, Kazekage-sama."
The Suna ninja moved with a mix of exhaustion and reluctance. They followed the Kazekage's orders, but a seed of doubt had been planted. Then again, what choice did they have? Who could have known Konoha would be this strong?
"We will discuss the details when we return," Rasa announced, his tone serious. "The situation was urgent, so I have already re-sealed the tailed beast inside my body. I expect you all to keep this matter strictly confidential."
Not everyone had seen what happened up close. He had, in fact, begun the unsealing jutsu, so his story was believable to all but the few high-ranking jonin who knew the truth.
The mention of the tailed beast stirred complicated feelings among the shinobi. They had always regarded it with fear and awe, isolating its jinchuriki as a result. But now, Shukaku didn't seem so overwhelmingly powerful. With the right methods, a skilled ninja could restrain and even seal it. The black cat's chaotic assault had beaten the reverence they held for the tailed beast right out of them.
For the jonin who knew the real story, the feeling was even more complex. 'The tailed beast isn't resealed,' they thought, exchanging uneasy glances. 'It's gone.' Sunagakure no longer had a jinchuriki. The Kazekage's words were a necessary lie to hold the village together, but it felt like they were standing on hollow ground.
Orochimaru observed Rasa's predicament with great sympathy, which was to say he almost laughed out loud. Sunagakure was devastated but not destroyed, the best possible outcome. After the wounded were moved, he glided over to offer a few hollow words of comfort before leading his own people away.
--**--**
In the temporary camp at the rear, the wounded were separated into two groups: poisoned and non-poisoned. Members of the Hyuga clan patrolled the perimeter, their Byakugan scanning for any approaching enemies.
Rin watched, her curiosity piqued. She had heard stories about Tsunade's ability to heal entire groups at once, but she had never seen it herself.
"Alright, all of you focus on the poisoned patients," Tsunade announced to the other medics. "Leave these ones to me."
"Yes, ma'am!" The medical-nin seemed to draw strength from her presence, and a hush fell over the injured as well.
A moment later, Tsunade summoned a slug. She hadn't used much chakra, so only a small portion of the great slug Katsuyu appeared, a creature still a bit larger than an ox. Rin glanced over from the patient she was tending to just in time to see it divide into countless smaller slugs, each one crawling onto an injured ninja.
'A slug?' Rin thought, her eyes widening in understanding. 'So that's how it works. She uses the unique properties of her summoning animal to perform mass healing.'
It sounded simple, but Rin knew the chakra control required must be immense. A person's stamina was finite. Only a medical-nin as powerful as Tsunade could treat so many people at once. If it were her, even with a summoning contract, she knew she wouldn't have the reserves to do it. Rin had always been good at knowing her own limits.
Nearby, Takeshi was resting with his eyes closed and had unknowingly drifted off to sleep. He was completely drained. He had pushed his Sage Art: Gate of the Great God to its absolute limit to suppress Shukaku, and then immediately fought a round with Pakura.
Looking back, he wondered if he had overdone it. 'Shukaku was so weak,' he thought fuzzily. 'Did I really need to go all out? Sixty or seventy percent probably would have been enough.'
But even if he could do it again, he knew he would make the same choice. Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit. You only get one life, and he wasn't about to gamble with his.
He wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep, but a growing clamor eventually pulled him from his daze. He squinted against the light, trying to ignore it, but finally gave up and opened his eyes.
Orochimaru's squad had returned from clearing the battlefield, with many of them carrying large crates. He realized he'd been moved from the temporary frontline post back to the main encampment. Takeshi stood up on his hind legs and looked around.
'Whoa...' They were ninja tools recovered from the battlefield. But a lot of those looked like they belonged to Suna. Things like kunai and shuriken were partially reusable, if there was time, most ninja would choose to recover them. Among the tools Orochimaru's team had gathered, Takeshi could clearly see some with a distinct Sunagakure style, like the uniquely shaped shuriken used by puppeteers.
'That sly snake,' Takeshi thought with a silent laugh. 'Rasa is probably furious. The Land of Wind isn't exactly rich in iron ore.'
On the other side of the camp, Tsunade and Rin had finished their work and were sitting down to eat hot pot and chat. Takeshi trotted over eagerly.
As he drew closer, he heard Tsunade's voice.
"So, you saw the jutsu I used this afternoon, right, Rin?"
"I did, Tsunade-sama. It was incredible. I still have so much to learn."
"Hahaha, are you tempted?" Tsunade said with a grin. "If you are, you could always make a pact with the slugs. Just forget about that grumpy cat. He wants to establish his own 'Holy Land,' and if you follow him, you'll run into trouble eventually, you know?"
Rin blinked. "Tsunade-sama, do summon beasts fight amongst themselves?"
"Of course," Tsunade said, her tone turning more serious. "Conflict is an instinct. The beasts of Mount Myoboku and Ryuchi Cave are still fighting to this day. Considering Takeshi's bloodline, I suspect the extinction of his clan wasn't so simple." She paused, swirling her chopsticks in her bowl. "Establishing a Holy Land isn't easy, but wiping one out is even harder."
"Think about it. Their territory withered? They could have just found a new one. At the very least, a large portion of the cats should have survived. It's almost impossible for a clan like that to be driven to complete extinction. So, unless the black cat is lying, the only other possibility is that an external force intervened, and he was too young at the time to know the truth."
Though it was just speculation, Tsunade felt she was close to the mark. If Takeshi tried to rebuild his clan, he would likely have to face those old enemies again, not to mention the ninja and other beasts who would covet the power of his sage techniques. More than trying to sway Rin to Shikkotsu Forest, she was warning her. As the Nin-Neko Clan's contractor, Rin's fate was tied to the black cat's. If his clan was truly wiped out, her life wouldn't be easy either.
'So, Takeshi's situation is...' Rin's mind raced. She didn't know the saying about how possessing a treasure can make an innocent man guilty, but she understood the principle. His power made him a target.
Thinking back, she felt a wave of relief. It was a good thing Takeshi was so strong now, otherwise, he would have been in constant danger. That relief was quickly followed by a sharp pang of guilt. 'I can't believe I never thought of any of this.'
"Meow! I wake up only to hear you trying to poach my contractor!"
Takeshi leaped silently onto the ground next to Tsunade. She was just lifting a piece of fish with her chopsticks when, with a *swoosh*, a black paw snatched it out of the air.
He swallowed it whole, a perfect act of revenge.
===============
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