Moonlight was still, shadows dancing across the trees.
The group that had spent the entire day on patrol was finally enjoying a rare moment of peace.
But then, suddenly, the alarm from the barrier unit shattered the calm.
[Enemy attack! Alert! Hospital direction!]
Seiki Shimaseki, who had been sitting in his small tent thinking about their next move, immediately stood up. He activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and instantly teleported to the temporary hospital.
Inside the hospital, there was some chaos, while outside rang loud sounds of fierce battle.
Seeing Seiki Shimaseki's arrival, the doctors and nurses quickly gathered around him like someone finding support.
"Seiki, thank goodness you're here!"
"Phew! Now that Seiki-sama is here, we can relax!"
The enemies outside clearly noticed his presence as well.
"It's Seiki Shimaseki! Damn it, this mission has already failed!"
"Retreat! Don't get caught up in fighting!"
Seiki didn't chase after them. His priority was protecting the doctors and patients. As for chasing enemies, other jonin would naturally handle that.
Seeing this, the people inside the hospital calmed down.
Sighing, one said, "How many times has this happened already? Those Kumogakure ninjas just won't give up, will they?"
Another added, "Who knows what they're thinking. If they get discovered sneaking into our main camp, they'll be finished!"
Seiki reassured everyone, "Everyone, please return to your posts. This commotion should settle soon enough."
However, two minutes passed.
Rather than fading away, the noise outside grew even louder.
Furrowing his brow slightly, Seiki felt something wasn't right—the disturbance within the camp shouldn't have lasted this long.
"Could it be… that the enemy who infiltrated this time…" Thinking of a possibility, unease crept into Seiki's heart.
Just then, Gaku Inuzuka rushed over anxiously, shouting, "Seiki! Quickly come with me!"
Seiki, however, shook his head slightly. "Though I'm not sure what's happening right now, I can't rule out the possibility that you've fallen for the enemy's trick—helping them lure me away from the hospital!"
Gaku froze—he realized something like this had indeed happened before.
But he quickly shook his head again, speaking urgently. "It's because Jiraiya-sama is seriously injured—he might not make it!"
"What?! Where is he now?" Seiki asked in shock.
"At outpost number seven!" Gaku Inuzuka replied swiftly.
Placing his right hand on Gaku's shoulder, Seiki hesitated briefly, then formed a hand seal to create a shadow clone before finally teleporting with Gaku using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
As those in the temporary hospital witnessed the scene, they all exhaled in relief—they couldn't help but feel moved; Jonin Seiki Shimaseki truly was reliable.
At outpost number seven, the scene was in complete chaos.
Minato and Orochimaru had Raikage surrounded, while other jonin couldn't intervene and could only engage along the battlefield's perimeter.
Far away, Jiraiya leaned against a large tree, a horrifying hole torn through his chest.
Several ninja with basic medical ninjutsu desperately worked beside him, tearing open medical scrolls without hesitation.
On the battlefield,
Minato—who was usually gentle and reserved—now raged like a volcano ready to erupt, launching relentless attacks at his foe.
Orochimaru's already effeminate presence grew icy cold, like he could freeze the very air around him. He didn't utter a word, yet every jutsu he unleashed was vicious and deadly.
Yet the Raikage didn't show even a trace of fear from their joint attack.
"Ahahaha! Are you two brats trying to kill me with just your eyes? Attacks of this level can only tickle me!"
And honestly, he had every right to say that. Minato might've been extremely fast, but his techniques lacked real destructive power—fine against ordinary shinobi, but totally useless against the Raikage, the ninja with the absolute best defense in the shinobi world.
At least in the Raikage's opinion, the threat posed by Minato and Orochimaru together was nowhere near as serious as when Jiraiya and Orochimaru teamed up.
Some other jonin launching long-range distractions couldn't help but curse aloud: "Such shamelessness! The great Raikage disguising himself as a spy? That's going too far!"
Who would've guessed that wave after wave of spies and undercover agents hadn't been targeting the medical scroll at all?
The Raikage snorted coldly, "As long as we win this war, I'll throw my dignity on the ground for you all to stomp on!"
"And come to think of it," he added, "I've sent so many of our ninja straight into your hands. Now it's Cloud Village's turn to reap the rewards!"
Hearing that, both Orochimaru and Minato were filled with bitterness.
They'd really been blinded by the seemingly favorable developments over the past couple of years, failing to detect Cloud Village's true intentions.
Or perhaps they'd underestimated the Raikage's decisiveness.
Sacrificing so many elite ninja just to lull them into lowering their guard—only for him to disguise himself as a spy and strike back fatally when pursued.
Just then, space rippled.
Seiki appeared holding Gaku Inuzuka.
Naturally, the Leaf shinobi were overjoyed; Seiki's medical ninjutsu was clearly leagues beyond theirs!
Though slightly concerned, the Raikage wasn't overly worried.
No one knew better than he did the sheer devastation of Four-Tailed Fang Hand—it was a technique even the Eight-Tails feared.
Jiraiya was finished. Not even the Sage of Six Paths could save him!
Rushing quickly to Jiraiya's side, Seiki immediately signaled those nearby to step aside.
"It's worse than I thought!" Seiki frowned deeply. Part of Jiraiya's chest had been completely hollowed out, while arcs of lightning danced across the wound like a curse, hindering any recovery.
[Hakke no Jin (Sealing Thunder Formula)]!
With a grim expression, Seiki carefully absorbed and sealed away the crackling electricity clinging to Jiraiya's torso.
"There's no need to push yourself. I know my own body best. With injuries like these, there's simply no saving me."
Jiraiya chuckled bitterly. "What an embarrassing end! I imagined all sorts of ways I might die, but never expected to be killed by my own carelessness! At least it was someone like… cough… cough… the Raikage. Doesn't feel quite so shameful after all!"
"Please apologize to Master for me—the story about him peeping through the Telescope Technique came from me. And Orochimaru, whenever people caught me during my wilder days, they always mistook me for you. Oh right, tell Tsunade—"
"You can explain all of this to Master yourself. And if you keep babbling like this, you really will die!" Seiki snapped solemnly.
Jiraiya blinked his eyes. "Wait... I still have a chance?"
Seiki said confidently, "Of course not! I've made quite a bit of progress these past two years!"
As he spoke, Seiki released his Yin Seal, letting chakra surge continuously from within his body. Then, he placed both hands on Jiraiya's chest.
In the very next moment, an extremely powerful Yang Release chakra stimulated Jiraiya's cells to rapidly divide.
[Ninpo: Creation Rebirth - Modified!]
Actually, this was an external-use version of [Creation Rebirth]!
In fact, Tsunade wasn't supposed to develop [Creation Rebirth] until over a decade later, but due to his "accidental" hints, she had managed to move up its development by more than ten years.
After all, in the original timeline, she had spent over a decade in depression, and her condition had even deteriorated significantly. Compared with that version of herself, the current Tsunade actually wasn't weaker at all.
So, with Seiki's hint, it made perfect sense that Tsunade developed the technique years ahead of schedule.
As for Seiki's contribution, he just tweaked it a bit to create this external-use version of [Creation Rebirth].
"Even the shattered organs are regenerating!" Jiraiya realized the change in his body and felt immense shock inside, "Has Seiki's medical ninjutsu really reached this level?"
But the next second, he snapped out of his excitement, his face paling, "Wait a minute—I think I just said quite a few things I shouldn't have... Is it still possible for me to play dead now?"
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