Even after suffering such grievous wounds, Sakada was still able to speak. Uchiha Hayashi couldn't help but admire the man's terrifying willpower.
Sakada used the last of his strength to form a final hand seal. The moment his fingers completed the sign, his body went limp and collapsed beside Hayashi's.
Then, the ground began to shake once more. The A-rank Earth Release technique that Sakada had cast earlier hadn't fully dissipated. With his final hand seal, the jutsu's remaining power detonated at once—uncontrolled and catastrophic.
A violent tremor tore through the battlefield. The shattered land rose and fell, splitting apart as jagged stone pillars burst upward from the ground. Hayashi was tossed around like a small boat caught in a storming sea. More spikes erupted toward him, cutting through the air.
He tried to lift himself, forcing chakra into his trembling limbs, but nothing responded. After a few seconds of futile struggle, he dropped his arms helplessly. His body collapsed against the cracked ground, breath shallow and ragged. His chakra—completely drained. His strength—gone.
Sakada's body lay nearby, lifeless. That final hand seal had cost him his life. But before dying, he had achieved his last goal—to drag Hayashi down with him.
Hayashi's blurred eyes drifted to the darkened sky. Night had fallen. The once-lush forest was reduced to rubble and dust. The air was cold, thick with the smell of scorched earth and blood.
He could feel the rough spikes of stone beneath his body, sharp enough to pierce through skin. Even if he somehow survived the collapsing earth, the poison coursing through his veins would claim him soon. The pain gnawed at him like a thousand insects beneath his skin, devouring him from within. His consciousness faded, his heartbeat slowing.
So this… is what dying feels like?
His mind slipped into a haze of hallucination. The ruined battlefield vanished. He saw the quiet village where he had spent nine years of his life. His friends were there, waving at him, smiling.
Then, another figure appeared in the vision, walking slowly toward him. Tsunade…?
As her image came closer, Hayashi's numb body suddenly felt warm again. The pain dulled. His fading senses flickered back to life.
And then—
"Heavenly Foot of Pain!"
A thunderous impact shook the earth. The ground exploded beneath him as a shockwave tore through the field. The immense force pulverized the stone spikes surrounding Hayashi and shattered the remains of Sakada's jutsu. A massive fissure ripped open the ground in front of him, freeing him from his rocky prison.
"Tsunade! Quickly, heal him!" a hoarse voice called out. Even through his blurred vision, Hayashi recognized that voice. Orochimaru… So it hadn't been an illusion after all.
Moments later, a gentle scent filled the air. Warm hands lifted him carefully. Tsunade's voice was low but steady. "I'll handle the healing. Orochimaru, check on Nawaki and the others." She glanced briefly toward the battlefield, sensing faint chakra signatures nearby. The others were alive, but injured.
"Understood," Orochimaru replied, turning away as Tsunade focused on Hayashi.
"Honestly…" she muttered, her eyes narrowing. "You're a stubborn one, kid. If I'd been any later, you'd be gone." Her tone was soft, but her expression betrayed her worry.
Hayashi felt a lump form in his throat. He'd never seen Tsunade look so… gentle. But the moment shattered when her voice rose sharply.
"Orochimaru! Are you dead or just standing there uselessly!? Move already!"
The warmth vanished in an instant. Ah, Hayashi thought weakly, that's the real Tsunade. Orochimaru exhaled quietly. "Hmph. So she does care after all." Then, without another word, he hurried off into the distance.
Tsunade immediately summoned her medical tools. A scalpel glinted under the dim light as she made several precise incisions to drain the poisoned blood. Her other hand began to glow a soft green—the light of the Mystic Palm Technique.
She sliced open Hayashi's torn clothes and pressed her glowing hand to his chest. "It'll hurt, but bear with it," she said quietly. Hayashi barely heard her before a wave of agony surged through his body.
"AAAHHH!" The scream ripped from his throat before he could stop it.
Orochimaru returned moments later, slightly out of breath. "The three of them are safe. Minor injuries. They'll recover." He leaned closer, glancing at Hayashi's wounds. "How's his condition?"
Tsunade didn't look up, her glowing hand moving across Hayashi's body. "Internal bleeding, displaced organs, three ruptures, two broken ribs. Chakra completely exhausted." Blackened blood oozed from the wounds as her chakra cleansed the toxins bit by bit.
Orochimaru nodded grimly, turning toward Sakada's corpse. He unsealed a scroll and stored the body inside. "It seems we might extract some useful information from him."
Tsunade frowned. "What do you mean?"
"This one was no ordinary Jōnin. He was the captain of a Sunagakure ANBU squad."
Tsunade's expression darkened. "That explains the poison."
"The Sand's neurotoxin has spread through his entire system," she continued. "But this isn't just that… There's another type of venom here—one I've never seen before." Her eyes hardened. "My Delicate Illness Extraction Technique can't remove it completely. We need to get him back to Konoha Hospital immediately. Treatment here is too crude."
"But we can't return by normal means," Orochimaru warned.
Tsunade didn't hesitate. She bit her thumb and slammed her hand to the ground. "Summoning Technique!"
With a burst of smoke, a giant slug appeared, its calm voice echoing. "What's wrong, Lady Tsunade?"
"I need to take him to Konoha. Slug, wrap us up and transport us back to Shikkotsu Forest."
As the slug nodded and began its preparation, Tsunade turned to Orochimaru. "Contact the village. Tell the Third Hokage to prepare Konoha Hospital and use my blood samples—they'll need them for the antidote."
Orochimaru gave a curt nod.
With a loud boom, smoke enveloped the area once more. When it cleared, Tsunade and Hayashi were gone—vanished back to Shikkotsu Forest.
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