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The sky over Sunagakure was covered with the sand. It rolled through the sandstone corridors as medical-nin rushed the Third Kazekage into the infirmary. His breathing was faint... each inhale tearing through his throat like the scrape of steel.
Chiyo followed closely behind, her robes half torn and stained from the battle. Her hands trembled from exhaustion and adrenaline that refused to subside. Even with decades of knowledge in field surgery behind her, she had never seen Saoi... her Kazekage, her peer... reduced to such fragility.
"Vitals dropping!" shouted one of the medics. "His breathing is collapsing from inside!"
Chiyo slammed her palms on the table. "Clear the room. Everyone out except Ebisu!"
The old puppeteer-medic stumbled forward, hesitating. "Nee-san, what are you—?"
"I don't have time for your questions," she snapped, already laying out scalpels and sterile linen. "His internal damage is deep. Too deep for mere chakra sensing."
Ebisu blinked, following her frantic motions. "You mean… you can't locate the wound with normal diagnostics?"
Chiyo stopped, her expression tightening. "The Lightning Release that pierced him must have diffused its energy through metallic particles in his blood. My chakra scans can't accurately can how critical he is. But I can't pinpoint what's killing him."
Ebisu hesitated again, voice lowering. "Then… what do we do?"
For the first time, Chiyo looked him dead in the eyes. "Bring me the containment capsule."
He froze. "The Byakugan?"
"Yes," she said simply. "I'll implant it."
"W-Without council approval? Nee-san, you can't—"
"Do you see a council here?" she snapped. "Do you see a choice? He'll be dead in an hour!"
Her voice cut through the room like a whip that silenced him.
Minutes later, the lamps dimmed as Ebisu held the sterilized Byakugan with trembling hands. Chiyo sat upright, her body braced, the scent of antiseptic mixing with sand and blood. "On my signal," she murmured.
The moment the scalpel touched, she didn't flinch. Pain ran down her skull like fire, but she forced the chakra into her optic nerve. Veins pulsed and swelled. For a moment, she couldn't see anything... it's like seeing through your elbow. What do you see? Nothing. Then slowly the senses started to come back. She did hand signs and focused her chakra on her byakugan eye.
The world became translucent. Every sinew of Saoi's body, every vein, every nerve fiber glowed in intricate webwork. Her breath caught.
"So this is… the Byakugan…"
She guided her chakra scalpel with newfound precision. "Rib puncture, vagus nerve cut, pulmonary tear…" she muttered rapidly. "We can save him but the chances are slim."
Ebisu moved instinctively beside her, following orders as her voice steadied. The chakra flow through her arms shimmered with near-surgical finesse. She was exhausted, but sharper than ever. The operation lasted hours.
Finally, when she sealed the final incision, Saoi's body relaxed. His breathing steadied.
"Pulse stabilizing," Ebisu said softly.
Chiyo exhaled, falling back against the wall. The Byakugan faded, the veins around her temple receding. Her head throbbed from overexertion, but she allowed herself a grim smile. "He'll live... but recovery will take time."
Then silence. Only the quiet hiss of wind outside.
Ebisu whispered, "You… saved him."
"No," Chiyo replied. "The Byakugan did." She looked toward the darkened window. "And that means Sunagakure must never lose what I now possess."
She didn't need to say more. The potential was obvious... puppetry integrated with human sensory expansion. Poisons refined with microscopic precision. Temporary vision sharing with seals. Even the council, when they learned, would be forced to recognize the possibilities.
By dawn, the council did more than recognize it. With Saoi comatose, they named Chiyo the Acting Kazekage.
She got to the job immediately. She merely said, "Prepare the laboratories. We have work to do. And Keep an eye on the both Iwa and Konoha."
--
The air shimmered, the ground cratered and slick with mud. For the past one hour, neither side gained an inch. Choza Akimichi and Inoichi Yamanaka stood back to back, breathing heavily, their vests shredded from the heat and friction of repeated collisions.
Across the field, Dodai wiped soot from his cheek. His palms dripped with melted rubber that hardened mid-air, forming long threads of elastic gum. Each movement of his fingers created another whip-like ribbon that stretched, snapped, and re-attached to the terrain.
Beside him crouched Sango Hibaku, the explosion-type shinobi. His palms glowed faintly with the orange hue of Bakuton. Sweat dripped down his jawline as he muttered, "Dodai-sama, their formation's breaking. But they're still syncing their rhythm. If that Yamanaka lands another mind transfer—"
Dodai didn't look at her. "We move before that. I've studied their rhythm."
He extended his hand, molding a blob of semi-liquid rubber. He hurled it toward Choza's massive frame. It slapped onto Choza's forearm and instantly stretched like molten gum, sticking his arm to the nearest tree trunk.
Choza growled, expanding his other arm to break free from tree trunk, but Dodai's rubber caught it too. Within seconds, Choza was bound at two points, struggling against material that bent but wouldn't tear.
"Not enough," Dodai murmured, studying the way the rubber reacted. "Elasticity too high. Needs more density." He adjusted his chakra ratio and hurled another lump... this time it hardened mid-flight, bouncing instead of sticking. "Still unstable…"
While he was experimenting, Sango unleashed a short explosive burst that threw dust into the air, blinding the Konoha flank. His detonations were small but strategically placed... designed to interrupt chakra synchronization between Inoichi and Choza.
"Dodai-san, the Yamanaka's trying again!" he shouted.
Dodai raised his arm just as he felt the subtle static of a mind-transfer attempt. A moment later, he stumbled back... not from the technique, but from Sango's sudden push.
The Bakuton user had seen it... Inoichi's spirit form aiming straight at Dodai. He shoved him aside and took the hit himself. For a second his eyes rolled white. Then his body stiffened.
"Sango!" Dodai barked.
Inoichi's consciousness now inside Sango turned his body toward Dodai, forming hand seals to detonate his stored chakra. Dodai's eyes widened.
The explosion ripped across the field, flames bursting upward. The shockwave tore the rubber that held choza but didn't completely burn it... it stretched, absorbed, and contained the blast but it started to melt. Smoke and melted gum splattered in every direction. It gave a chance for choza.
Through the haze, Choza's voice boomed. "Now!" "Super Multi-Size Technique"
Inoichi's real body had collapsed nearby, motionless. But even unconscious, he'd timed it perfectly. Choza expanded... massive, towering, a human giant blotting out the sun. The shockwave of his size change flattened the nearby trees.
Dodai braced, sending new rubber tendrils deep into the earth to anchor Choza. "So this is the Akimichi clan's full scale…"
--
A/N: Third Kazekage was saved and recovering. Chiyo became temporary kazekage. How will put byakugan to use. What changes will suna make... the possibilities are endless.
Next Raikage & killer Bee enters.