"I understand."
Qingshui nodded slightly and headed upstairs.
An injury that even Chiyo couldn't heal was indeed a tricky one.
Upon entering the intensive care room on the second floor, Qingshui immediately saw Chiyo sitting by the bed, performing Medical Ninjutsu on Rasa.
Rasa, meanwhile, lay on the bed with a pained expression, his upper body bare, revealing a spider-patterned tumor over his heart.
This is...
"Qingshui, you're here."
"Qingshui-kun! Please, you must save Rasa!"
The Third Kazekage moved aside slightly upon seeing Qingshui.
Karura, who had been waiting on Rasa's other side, also cried out, tears in her eyes, when she saw Qingshui.
"First, tell me what happened."
Qingshui glanced at Rasa's current state and spoke.
"It's the Daimyo's side."
The Third Kazekage spoke at this point.
"The Daimyo?"
Could the Daimyo's side really have experts capable of pushing a Kage-level threshold powerhouse like Rasa to such a state?
"It's not our country's ninja; it's from the Land of Cedar."
The Third Kazekage said.
"The Daimyo is dissatisfied with our long-term inability to thoroughly eliminate the rebellious forces. They may already suspect us of secretly supporting these rebels. Coupled with the instigation of merchants and nobles who are envious of the profits from the canal, production lines, and Chakra energy, the Daimyo has decided to directly cut off military funding to the Sand Village.
One objective is to try and coerce us into submission, but now the village's economic revenue and development speed have entered a positive cycle. Even if the Daimyo's military funding is cut off, it won't affect the village's stability in any way; it will only slow down the village's development speed to some extent.
The real trouble is that they plan to start fresh and establish another military force belonging to the Land of Wind."
Qingshui frowned slightly, offering his assessment:
"A foolish idea."
To re-establish another military organization belonging to the Land of Wind?
They should consider which other forces in the Ninja World can contend with the Land of Wind right now.
Aside from Konoha, none!
The other three major ninja villages, if they wanted to deal with the Sand Village, could only be described as having sufficient defense but lacking in offense. If they were to face an attack from the Sand Village, they would likely be barely able to defend their territory. To counter-attack, they would have no chance of winning without allying with other major ninja villages!
Just like in the original timeline, in every Ninja World War, Konoha was the one fighting multiple opponents.
Part of the reason was that the resources there were too rich, and everyone wanted a piece. Another reason, wasn't it because they couldn't win alone and had to gang up?
The Ninja World is currently in a bipolar struggle between Sand Village and Konoha. Any force outside of the Five Great Ninja Villages, if Sand Village decided to fight, would be directly overwhelmed!
This includes the Rain Village, which has Hanzo, and the Land of Iron, which has generals with Kage-level combat power.
How can one or two Kage-level powerhouses fight against an entire group?
For the Land of Wind's Daimyo to pull such a stunt only shows they aren't familiar enough with ninja power and don't understand the strength of the Sand Village.
"While I agree, they have a reason for doing this. Without some capability, Rasa wouldn't be in this state. Yesterday afternoon, Rasa received intelligence that a group of rogue ninja from the Land of Cedar, recruited by the Daimyo, had entered our territory. He took an Anbu squad to intercept them, but only he returned."
The Third Kazekage said with a heavy tone.
Is Rasa weak?
Among Kage-level powerhouses, he's considered relatively weak. Although he did learn the Breathing Style to compensate for his shortcomings, he was initially quite resistant to this special Nintaijutsu, which was nominally developed by Qingshui. It wasn't until most Jonin had learned the Breathing Style and improved their strength, and even the Third Kazekage had achieved a certain level of proficiency, that he realized its true value and went to learn it.
But that's among Kage-level powerhouses. Regardless, Rasa's strength is still at the upper echelon of the Ninja World.
The opponent already possesses the strength to threaten, or even kill, Kage-level powerhouses!
And it was a Kage-level powerhouse with an Anbu squad.
Rasa's abilities highly overlap with the Third Kazekage's. If the opponent could turn Rasa into this state, it's highly possible they could do the same to the Third Kazekage.
"The enemy uses insect manipulation similar to the Aburame Clan and the Shigaraki Clan, but their insect manipulation is even more bizarre. They manipulate flying insects the size of cells to invade the enemy's body. These insects feed on Chakra and grow inside the enemy. When they reach a certain size, the Chakra within these insects undergoes Nature Transformation and explodes along with the nitric secretions inside the insects."
Chiyo withdrew her hand, her expression serious, then looked at Qingshui.
"Compared to other Anbu members, Rasa's Chakra quality is higher, making it harder for the insects to digest. His internal Chakra can also suppress them for a certain period, so he didn't immediately self-destruct and die. But similarly, the power of this explosive insect will be even more terrifying. I no longer dare to use Medical Ninjutsu to suppress the insect's Chakra, because if I make a mistake, it will detonate prematurely. The explosive insect and tumor must be surgically removed as soon as possible.
If it were just this, it would be no problem; I could remove it now. But there isn't just one insect inside Rasa. This insect has just laid eggs and bred other insects. I'm worried about causing other chain reactions. Once this explosive insect is removed, if the other larvae leave their current positions and lose their precise location, it will be much more troublesome than it is now.
Therefore, I need a ninja whose perception and manual dexterity are at the cellular level, and who can precisely locate those larvae among the trillions of cells in the human body."
Qingshui swept Rasa's body with his Transparent World and immediately understood.
The situation was exactly as Chiyo described.
However, he felt that Chiyo actually had a chance to solve the trouble with Rasa.
In his judgment, if Chiyo were to act on her own, the probability of success would be around forty percent.
Calling himself in, on the one hand, was to avoid risking Rasa's life, hoping to increase the success rate of the surgery. On the other hand…
If he became Rasa's savior, then if Rasa ever wanted to compete with him in the future, he would already be at a disadvantage.
No, Rasa had already learned the Breathing Style, so he was already at a disadvantage.
That would make it a double disadvantage!
"Were those ninja called the Xuanyuan Group?"
Rasa's current condition was very similar to the methods of the Xuanyuan Group he remembered, but the enemies he encountered seemed even stronger.
However, the Xuanyuan Group was twenty years in the future. The people might not be the same group, but there must be a deep connection.
The Third Kazekage spoke at this point:
"No, that was an old man. According to intelligence, he seems to be about ten years older than me. He came from a small ninja clan from the Warring States period that controlled insects, called the Tsuruya Clan. But before the ninja village system was established, they were severely damaged by war, almost wiped out. Before this, we didn't even know if anyone survived. Now it seems someone hid in the Land of Cedar and is only now emerging."
The Third Kazekage was in his early fifties this year. Ten years older than him would mean around sixty years old, similar to Hanzo.
At that age, before the ninja village system was established, they would already have been well over ten years old.
"Prepare to transfer him to the sterile room, Teacher Chiyo."
"Excellent! I'll go call the doctors to arrange it!"
Karura released Rasa's tightly clasped hand and rushed out the door.
"Tell me your treatment plan, and let's see whose is better, yours or mine."
Chiyo said to Qingshui.
"First, use Sealing Jutsu to isolate the explosive bugs and the surrounding area, then directly cut out the larvae and that section of flesh, and then replace it with a mechanical heart made through Puppetry…"
"A mechanical heart can never compare to the body's own. Qingshui, if you do that, Rasa's strength will be much weaker in the future. He might even be unable to maintain high-intensity activity or continue as a ninja until he gets a more powerful and stable heart.
My plan also uses Sealing Jutsu to isolate, but only performs a small-scale surgery on the heart. Then you and I, along with three other outstanding Medical Ninjas, will jointly perform the Creation Rebirth Technique to repair Rasa's heart. This way, the success rate can approach sixty percent, but if it fails, Rasa will die completely."
Chiyo said to Qingshui.
Compared to Qingshui's drastic approach, Chiyo's was more refined, though the risk of death was higher. However, it had a greater chance of preserving Rasa's strength.
Of course, if the repair wasn't perfect, Rasa's heart might still have minor issues.
Rasa, wailing in agony on the bed, looked somewhat disheartened when he heard Qingshui's words. But when he heard Chiyo's words, he suppressed the pain and painstakingly uttered a few words:
"I… I choose… the second… one…"
The Third Kazekage stood by the window, arms crossed.
He could understand Rasa's thoughts.
Having his rival, Qingshui, save his life was already humiliating enough for Rasa.
If he then lost his power, that would be torture for Rasa.
However, the Third Kazekage could also understand Qingshui.
Although it was now largely confirmed that Qingshui would become the next Kazekage, Rasa still posed a slight threat. If Qingshui could, at this moment, without shedding blood, in a reasonable way, both cripple Rasa and save his life…
Moreover, this way, there would be no need to worry about the surgery failing and Rasa dying, leading to conspiracy theorists spreading rumors that Qingshui deliberately used this to kill Rasa, his rival.
If it were the Third Kazekage himself, he would very likely make the same choice.
However, the Third Kazekage felt that this seemed somewhat different from Qingshui's usual way of doing things.
He had thought Qingshui would choose a plan similar to Chiyo's.
Because he didn't seem like the type of person who would care about such things.
In reality, however, Qingshui simply had a better plan.
"Teacher Chiyo, you misunderstood."
Qingshui shook his head.
"The purpose of the mechanical heart is merely to temporarily supply blood and maintain life after Rasa's own heart is removed. We can remove the explosive bugs from the extracted heart, then slowly eliminate the larvae, and re-implant it into Rasa.
This approach carries less risk, ensuring Rasa's life is largely out of danger, and there's a high chance he'll recover his full strength.
Of course, the prerequisite is to maintain the heart's vitality, ensure the re-implantation process is accurate enough, and that the heart can be reactivated.
As for an even less risky method, there actually is one."
Chiyo nodded slightly.
This method was good, but the operational difficulty would be higher.
And, was there really an even less risky method?
"Qingshui, what do you mean by an even less risky method?"
"It's simple. I'll just use the Creation Rebirth Technique to create a new heart, won't I?"
Chiyo: …
She usually thought from the perspective of an ordinary Medical Ninja and almost forgot that Qingshui's Chakra amount had reached Tailed Beast-level, allowing him to use the Creation Rebirth Technique with almost no burden.
However, this meant her assessment of her disciple's strength would have to be even higher.
The Third Kazekage understood this as well.
A few minutes later, Rasa was swiftly moved to a sterile operating room.
Karura sat outside the door, her hands clasped tightly, looking anxious.
"Chiyo-sensei, you'll be making the mechanical heart. Rasa, I'm going to use a Sealing Jutsu to suppress the exploding insects and inhibit their Chakra activity. Your chest will feel very stuffy and painful, and the subsequent heart replacement surgery will be even more painful.
Throughout this process, I need you to channel your Chakra to help suppress the exploding insects and direct it to the correct location. So, you must remain conscious; I can't use anesthetic. However, I will block some nerves to reduce your pain, but you must maintain sensation in the affected area, so it will only be a partial block, not complete. It will still be very painful.
I need you to bear with it and try your best to keep your body stable to avoid making the surgery more difficult. Of course, we have equipment to secure your body."
Qingshui looked at Rasa lying on the bed, his torso, limbs, and neck secured with restraints, and began to speak.
Over twenty minutes later.
A spider, perched on a heart that had not yet stopped beating, was wrapped in specialized sealing cloth, bundled up like a zongzi. The sealing runes on it continuously moved before finally stabilizing, suppressing the activity of the exploding insects.
"The Evil Sealing Method will ensure the exploding insects don't mutate further for twelve hours. We need to find the larvae of the exploding insects before then and analyze their entire growth process into adults to find a way to counter this Ninjutsu."
Chiyo said to Qingshui, looking at the exploding insect sample sealed in a box.
"It's fine. Next time, if we encounter a ninja from the Tsuruya Clan, just let me handle them. My sensory abilities are precise enough even from a thousand meters away; I can use other methods to eliminate them remotely. Even if they truly invade someone's body, my Chakra can suppress the exploding insects longer than Rasa's, and I can directly extract them from the body using the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique. As long as that person appears within my sensory range, they won't survive."
Qingshui withdrew his hand from Rasa's chest, releasing his Medical Ninjutsu, and spoke calmly.
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