Chapter 146: Chiyo's Poison - Sunagakure's Hidden Hand!
Beneath the night sky, on the vast desert, billowing dust rose high.
The colossal Manda, resembling a moving fortress, carried the members of the assault team at breakneck speed toward the border of the Land of Wind, where red smoke billowed.
"We're almost at the battlefield, Tsukasa. How much longer do you need to refine your chakra?"
Standing atop Manda, Shin'ya struggled to maintain control, sweat beading on his forehead. He couldn't help but look back.
There, a young man sat quietly, moonlight and starlight draped over him like a veil.
"If it's just enough to sustain my movement, that's sufficient for now."
Tsukasa felt a sense of urgency. He closed his eyes, seizing every moment to refine his chakra.
"However, it's far from enough to support me in battle."
At this moment, his Forbidden Technique: Body Modification was incomplete and imperfect. He couldn't achieve the level where Orochimaru could effortlessly regrow an arm instantly using his Regeneration Technique.
To achieve that now, he would either need to fill the gap with an enormous amount of chakra, or slowly wait for his regenerative abilities to do the work naturally.
Therefore, he had given up on repairing his right arm for now, and was simply absorbing the anxiety in the hearts of those around him, converting it into dark chakra through the Zero-Tails, then using Body Modification to convert it back into usable chakra.
This relentless workload had already exhausted the small Zero-Tails in his abdomen, causing it to frequently issue metaphorical "strike warnings."
The Zero-Tails wasn't some miraculous treasure that granted unlimited power. As a rather pitiful excuse for a "tailed beast," it had numerous shortcomings in all aspects of its abilities, including this seemingly wonderful ability to convert dark emotions into chakra.
The efficiency was extremely low—so low that even the future Sky Ninja had to specially modify the Angkor Fortress to compensate for this ability under extremely specific conditions.
So even under Tsukasa's forced exploitation, he had only just recovered to about chunin-level chakra reserves.
This amount was roughly enough for him to use Fire Release Chakra Mode: Kirin Arm once, and that was under the high-risk condition of not using the Forbidden Technique: Body Modification for healing.
Shin'ya frowned and asked through gritted teeth:
"My eye power is almost insufficient to control Manda! What are you thinking?!"
"I can carry you—there's no need to control such a massive summoning!"
"This consumes too much eye power, and there's still a battle ahead. I..."
Shin'ya said with difficulty.
The Manda beneath their feet was a completely unstable factor for the assault team, but Tsukasa insisted that he control the giant snake, refusing to release the summoning no matter how much Shin'ya tried to dissuade him.
To get him to maintain control over Manda, Tsukasa had even said something incredibly arrogant:
"Strategically, I can unconditionally trust you, but in battle, please trust my judgment!"
Helpless, Shin'ya had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue casting Sharingan genjutsu on the giant summoning beast.
"Wait! Just a little longer!" Tsukasa said through gritted teeth, his eyes still closed.
"Trust me! I have a strong feeling Manda will be crucial in the upcoming operation!"
Aburame Ryoma's mission was to destroy supplies, not necessarily engage in direct combat. For someone skilled in controlling parasitic insects, assassination, infiltration, and intelligence gathering, he had many ways to complete missions indirectly.
But now, he had released a red signal flare—indicating that he might have encountered an extreme variable!
A variable completely beyond this team's capabilities to handle!
Just then—
"Look there!"
Above Manda's head, Uchiha Shisui activated his Sharingan, gazing into the distance, and suddenly exclaimed:
"There's a purple mist in that desert!"
Tsukasa abruptly opened his eyes and saw a swirling purple mist covering a vast expanse of pale desert, shrouded in starlight and moonlight.
At its center, a black tornado was spinning rapidly.
Above this purple mist, red smoke rose and swayed—the red smoke signal released by Konoha.
Beside him, Meimaru at Inuzuka Mingyi's feet suddenly became agitated:
"Woof woof woof!!!"
Mingyi's eyes widened in shock, and he shouted in a high-pitched voice, acting as translator:
"That's poisonous fog!"
"It's the poison of Sunagakure Elder Chiyo!"
The eye of a tornado is a relatively calm area.
But this doesn't mean there's no danger within it.
The center of the tornado wasn't a vacuum with zero atmospheric pressure, but rather a funnel-shaped air conduit containing reduced air pressure.
However, the pressure inside was much lower than the outside pressure.
At this moment, Aburame Ryoma stood grimly in the very center of this secret technique he had created—the Secret Technique: Insect Tornado.
As the pressure continued to drop, his complexion worsened. He felt dizzy, had a splitting headache, felt nauseous and was beginning to vomit. His limbs were weak.
But this condition was insignificant compared to the purple poisonous fog outside.
That was the poison of Chiyo, the elder of Sunagakure. Only Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin, could create an antidote for it.
Inhaling even a small amount would quickly render one powerless, causing their body to dissolve into nothing but bones.
Even Orochimaru could only give him a bottle of emergency antidote, telling him that if he encountered that particular poison, he should just try to escape back home.
"My insects are constantly being poisoned to death."
"Maintaining the Insect Tornado consumes massive amounts of chakra."
"Most importantly, I don't even know who my opponent is!"
Aburame Ryoma's face was grim. He crouched on the ground, his palms in the sand, constantly sending out parasitic insects to sense the outside world.
However, as soon as the insects crawled through the poisonous fog, before they could even transmit information back to him, they were instantly killed by something extremely sharp, leaving no survivors!
What was outside? How many enemies were there? Who exactly had set up this trap against him?
He knew absolutely nothing.
The Secret Technique: Insect Tornado had become his only barrier, forcing him to survive in this narrow and unbearable space.
He had tried to release a large number of breeding insects at once, using the Secret Technique: Insect Cocoon to rapidly hatch an even larger swarm of parasitic insects, thus forming the Secret Technique: Insect Sphere, to complete an area-wide attack and attempt to turn the tide.
However, the unassuming, easily overlooked breeding insects had barely been released—before they even began reproducing—when a calm, aged voice uttered:
"Sealing Technique: Iron Maiden."
In the next instant, all the breeding insects lost contact.
Hearing this deliberately disguised, indistinct voice and this unknown sealing ability, Aburame Ryoma felt a chill run down his spine.
He had no idea who the enemy was, nor what abilities they possessed.
He only knew that, as the vice-commander of Root who usually acted alone, his intelligence had been completely compromised by the enemy, and he had been deliberately targeted.
So when?
When exactly was his intelligence leaked?
Aburame Ryoma's face was grim. Amidst the exhaustion caused by oxygen deprivation and excessive chakra consumption, his mind replayed a series of events, until—
It settled on the mission he had carried out in Yugakure Castle, the capital of the Land of Hot Water.
On the eve of that day, Orochimaru—who had returned to Root and assumed responsibilities as one of the Three Legendary Sannin in the overall strategic planning of the Third Shinobi World War—suddenly and earnestly requested that he, who was about to embark on a mission to the Land of Hot Water, help him retrieve his disciple.
He, who was usually so calm and collected, had been utterly astonished that day.
After that, he had led his team to Yugakure Castle, fought fiercely against Yagura Karatachi, halted the Kirigakure offensive, manipulated the situation with intelligence operations, and then—
Met that remarkable subordinate, a boy as dazzling as the sun.
"Heh."
"So that's how it is. So the intelligence was gathered that day."
"Then, my opponent—within Sunagakure's forces, possessing such potent poison, and such exquisite and interconnected strategic design and intelligence gathering capabilities."
"It must be you!"
Aburame Ryoma's gaze behind his sunglasses suddenly sharpened.
He raised his head, piercing through the Secret Technique: Insect Tornado with his perception, and looked outward toward the old, calculating presence he could sense but not see!
"A veteran powerhouse who perfectly blends poison, puppetry, and Wind Release ninjutsu!"
"Even now, he still maintains numerous undercover agents in various countries, manipulating countless ninja secrets like a puppet master!"
"The former master of espionage, now a powerful elder of Sunagakure—"
"Chiyo's brother!"
"Ebizō!"
End of Chapter 146
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