"Three kiloters away! The poison mist is coming!"
Kitahara Kaede pulled back the curtain and stepped outside.
In the distance, the curtain of rain had been stained a dark purple. The mist surged along the ground; it wasn't particularly fast, but its advance was steady and relentless.
Hanzo's poison differed from Chiyo's; this was a toxic gas sprayed over a massive area into the air. One breath was all it took to go down.
At the front lines, the mont the purple mist touched the first row of defenses, people began to collapse in waves. There was no struggling, no screaming. They simply inhaled, their legs gave way, and they slumped into the muddy water like lted wax, their faces turning purple as their limbs convulsed.
"Fall back! Everyone, fall back!" the commander scread, his voice cracking from the strain.
But the soldiers were no match for the speed of the purple mist, which swallowed the middle of the position in an instant.
"Damn it!"
Tsunade bit her finger and imdiately ford a hand seal.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A burst of white smoke erupted, and dozens of Katsuyu of various sizes landed on the edge of the battlefield.
"Get on them!"
Tsunade slamd both palms onto the main Katsuyu beneath her, flooding it with chakra. A green light spread, and the clone slugs quickly climbed onto the critically wounded who were still breathing.
However, they couldn't reach those further out.
"We can't pull back the ones on the periter!" a dical Chunin shouted from the rear.
Tsunade didn't answer. She snatched three high-concentration antitoxin needles and turned to charge into the purple mist.
"Tsunade!"
Jiraiya chased after her for two steps, but the residual toxins drifting from the edge choked him. He retreated several steps, covering his mouth and coughing violently, tears streaming from his eyes.
Soone was faster than Tsunade.
Kitahara Kaede blurred past the flank, his speed unwavering as he plunged headfirst into the purple haze.
Tsunade was crouching beside a foaming-at-the-mouth Chunin, administering a needle, when she caught a glimpse of that shadow from the corner of her eye. She snapped her head up.
"Get out of there!" she roared. "Once you breathe that in—"
The words caught in her throat.
Kitahara Kaede was standing right in the middle of the poison mist. He wore no mask and held no antidote to his mouth; his breathing was steady and normal, exactly as if he were standing in an ordinary rainstorm.
Tsunade froze. "You—"
"Save the people first."
Kaede leaned down, grabbed a wide-eyed Chunin by the collar with one hand, hoisted him onto his shoulder, and ran back. As he passed a collapsed Genin, he used his free hand to snag the other's collar, dragging him along as well.
He made one trip. Then another.
He wasn't poisoned. There wasn't a hint of grey or blue on his face; his complexion was excellent, and his pace hadn't slowed a bit.
Tsunade stared at his silhouette, swallowing the barrage of questions she had prepared. She looked back down and continued desperately injecting the wounded at her feet.
***
On a distant highland, rain pelted Hanzo's deep blue armor. He stood atop Ibuse, his chain-sickle hanging by his side. Ibuse's mouth was open, continuously spewing waves of poison mist.
Hanzo's gaze pierced through the rain, locking onto the center of the purple haze. Soone had been running in and out of that mist for six minutes with no protective gear.
Hanzo narrowed his eyes.
The last person to crack his poison was Chiyo of Sunagakure. Chiyo had used an antidote. But this kid had nothing.
Had the poison been neutralized?
Hanzo looked down. Within the range of the mist, other Hidden Leaf shinobi were still collapsing in droves. The poison hadn't been neutralized. It was just that this one person was unaffected.
"...Interesting."
Hanzo shifted his gaze to the rear. That female dical ninja was frantically fighting for lives, her dozens of Katsuyu glowing green as they forced the wounded to stay alive. One person was retrieving the victims, while the other was keeping them from dying.
Hanzo tapped the hilt of his chain-sickle.
"Withdraw."
Ibuse closed its mouth, and with a flash of white smoke, the massive creature vanished on the spot. Without its source, the poison mist began to thin under the washing of the rain.
***
As the poison mist dissipated, the front-line ninjas hadn't even co to their senses yet. The commander stood on the high platform.
"Hanzo... retreated?"
Once the purple haze was completely gone, the ground was littered with casualties, though there were far more survivors than expected.
"Hanzo's summoning beast voluntarily deactivated," a ssenger ninja reported with a bow.
The commander didn't respond. He looked at Tsunade, who was still treating the wounded, and then turned his gaze toward Kitahara Kaede.
The man who had carried people across the entire zone was now crouching in the mud, handing the last casualty over to the dical team.
"He didn't use any antitoxin, and he was active in the poison zone for at least six minutes," the ssenger continued.
The commander stared at that back. Hanzo's retreat was definitely not a whim.
***
Late at night, in the rear camp.
Rain drumd rhythmically against the top of the tent, but the noise inside was louder.
*SNORE—*
Jiraiya was sprawled out on his bedding, mouth wide open, letting out wave after wave of thunderous snores.
Beside him, Tsunade, wrapped in a blanket, had tossed and turned twelve tis. Finally reaching her limit, she threw off the blanket and sat up. As she passed Jiraiya, she delivered a precise kick to his calf.
Jiraiya let out a grunt and rolled over. His snoring changed pitch, but it didn't stop.
He was a lost cause.
Tsunade cursed under her breath and looked toward the corner. Kitahara Kaede was leaning against a gear bag, his eyes closed and breathing steady.
He wasn't asleep. He was thinking.
Today's poison mist had proven one thing—his Toxin Immunity Constitution actually worked. But it only worked for him. Tsunade and Jiraiya weren't immune, and the ordinary ninjas on the battlefield were even less so. If Hanzo attacked again, he could ensure his own safety, but he couldn't protect everyone.
Then, a question occurred to him.
Hanzo's summoning beast, Ibuse, had a limited capacity in its poison sacs. He rembered Chiyo ntioning a small weakness of the giant salamander during their fight—after each spray of poison, it needed about five minutes to recharge its toxins.
Five minutes. That was a window. If he could close the distance during the five minutes the mist was gone...
But what happened after he got close? Hanzo's chain-sickle technique and taijutsu were both Kage-level. In a close-quarters brawl, Kaede wouldn't have the advantage.
Before he could figure out a solution, soone grabbed his wrist. Kaede opened his eyes.
Tsunade was crouching in front of him, pointing toward the tent curtain.
'Co out,' her lips moved, but she made no sound.
The two of them slipped outside. The night wind, laced with rain, hit them instantly, making Tsunade shiver. She found a sheltered spot beneath a protruding rock and sat down heavily.
Kitahara Kaede walked over and sat beside her. Rain stread down the rock wall, dripping steadily.
"Finally, so peace," Tsunade exhaled deeply.
Kaede leaned against the stone wall and tilted his head to look at her. "You drag out into the cold wind at midnight just to avoid Jiraiya's snoring?"
"What else? I have to save people tomorrow, and he's making my brain rattle," Tsunade snapped. She reached into her pocket, searching for sothing, but found nothing.
Silence fell between them, filled only by the sound of the rain. Kaede looked at the curtain of water and didn't speak.
Suddenly, Tsunade turned and stared intently at him.
"What exactly was the deal with you in the poison mist today?"
She finally asked. Kaede had already prepared his excuse.
"Luck. I accidentally ate so wild herbs and got poisoned in the past. My body probably developed so resistance."
"Bullshit."
Tsunade grabbed his left hand. She placed two fingers on his pulse, sending her chakra directly inside. She traced the flow through his ridians.
There was nothing. It was clean. His ridians were clear, and there wasn't a trace of toxin residue in his blood.
"Eating the wrong herbs gave you the ability to withstand Hanzo's lethal poison?" Tsunade glared at him. "Then what happened last ti when you were nearly killed by Chiyo's poison in my arms? Where was your 'resistance' then?"
Kaede couldn't answer.
Tsunade stared at him for a few seconds, and the anger in her eyes slowly shifted into sothing else. It wasn't that she was angry he was lying.
She was afraid of what he was hiding.
The mont he charged into the toxic mist today, the mory that flashed through her mind was from their ti at the field hospital—the image of him handing her a poison sac just as his heart stopped beating.
That terror of almost being too late had returned today.
She didn't want to experience it a third ti.
Kitahara Kaede remained still, allowing her to grip his wrist.
"Tsunade, I'm really fine."
Tsunade didn't let go, nor did she speak. She looked down at his hand. His palm was facing upward, rough and covered in calluses.
By the faint glow of the distant campfires, she saw it. Right in the center of his palm.
A deep, old scar that ran from one side to the other.
Tsunade froze. Her hand, which had been about to release him, stopped mid-air. She turned his palm over completely, extending a finger to touch the start of the old wound.
Slowly, she traced it. She followed the line all the way to the end.
It tickled slightly. Kitahara Kaede instinctively tried to pull his hand away, but Tsunade only tightened her grip.
"That survival exercise back then," she whispered, her voice so low it was nearly drowned out by the rain. "To push out of the way, you caught that Mist Village Missing-nin's kunai with your bare hand."
The blade had nearly pierced through his entire palm.
"It left such a long scar." Tsunade turned her head away. "It looks hideous."
Kitahara Kaede looked down. Her fingertips hadn't left his palm yet; her flushed skin rested gently against the white, raised ridge of the scar.
He flipped his wrist, catching Tsunade's hand in his own.
Tsunade stiffened. She looked up, locking eyes with him.
"This scar is the most valuable thing I own."
Tsunade's breath hitched. The firelight reflected on his face, his expression serene, but the weight of those words left her chest feeling tight.
The most valuable. Because he had gained it while saving her.
Tsunade felt her ears begin to burn, the heat spreading from her neck up to her cheeks.
"D-don't try that with !" she snapped, jerking her hand back so violently that her back slamd against the rock wall. "It's just a scar! How is that valuable? Tomorrow I'll find so scar cream for you to put on!"
She pointedly turned her face toward the curtain of rain, but her ears were glowing bright red—a blush that no amount of darkness could hide.
Kitahara Kaede withdrew his hand, curling it into a loose fist on his knee. The warmth of her palm still lingered on his fingertips.
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