Chapter 252: Detoxification
As the old saying goes, don't pursue a cornered foe. Literally, it meant don't chase a poor enemy. Deidara was only two years older than Ino and the others; he was still young, hadn't done many high-level missions, and spent his days playing with clay after leaving Iwagakure. He simply had no savings whatsoever – the kind of person who didn't manage money, and money didn't manage him.
Sasori, on the other hand, had been famous for years, but his puppet collection was incredibly expensive! A hundred human puppets required money for their clothes, daily maintenance, chakra threads, and the weapons and poisons on their bodies. Because they were modified from human bodies, they retained the chakra from when they were alive, and naturally, some growth characteristics from that time too. Just hiring people to cut, wash, and bathe these human puppets every month was a huge expense. In other words, Lord Sasori was also a poor man; he had to wait for shampoo to go on sale before pedaling his tricycle to buy it.
Ino looked down on those two poor wretches. Even though she still had chakra, she didn't move from where she was, sitting firmly on Konan. This sister was rich; she couldn't let her escape. Although it wouldn't be easy to get Konan's money into her own hands, there were always more solutions than problems. Bring her back to Konoha, and who would interrogate her? It would be the Yamanaka clan's interrogation! At this moment, there was no one in Konoha better versed in Yin Release than Ino. She would have to be the one to conduct the interrogation.
Ino didn't move, and Deidara had the ability to fly, which the Konoha ninja couldn't stop, leaving them with no choice but to watch the two of them fly away.
"Mr. Taidō?!" Naruto exclaimed in shock, seeing Taidō poisoned while saving him.
Sasori's poison was potent. Hayate Gekko and Samurai Taidō were the most severely poisoned; their faces were purple and their limbs twitched uncontrollably. Raidō Namiashi struggled to stay on his feet. Shino Aburame initially didn't think much of it – could the Aburame clan possibly fear poison? He attempted to use his kikaichu bugs to devour the poison within his body, but the virulence of the poison on the needles was so intense that even his kikaichu couldn't withstand it. A large number of bugs died inside him, and he collapsed like a robot whose power had been cut, only being helped up by Sasuke.
Before Kakashi arrived, Chōji initially bore the second greatest burden of pressure after Ino. He was covered in wounds from Deidara's clay bombs. He had eaten both Spinach Pills and Curry Pills to endure, and now he was in agony all over, sprawled on the ground unable to stand. Shikamaru, Yūgao Uzuki, Sasuke, and Naruto also sustained various injuries. This level of battle was still too dangerous for them.
The other eleven ninjas at least knew about the decoy mission. Naruto, from beginning to end, was completely clueless. He fought for ages without even knowing who he was fighting, simply seeing everyone else fighting desperately and joining in.
Kakashi only knew basic first aid techniques and could do nothing about the severity of their injuries. Fortunately, there was a medical ninja present. Ino handed the captive over to Kakashi and the others for custody and quickly checked on the injured. She first summoned a clone of Katsuyu the Slug Sage to help treat Chōji, while she herself began detoxifying Hayate and the others.
This had to be the priority. The poison was spreading rapidly. In just this short time, Hayate Gekko and Samurai Taidō, who were most severely poisoned, had already lost consciousness. Ino studied the poison Sasori used. This poison rapidly spread after entering the body, causing internal organ bleeding and then death. It was clearly a hemolytic toxin. In contrast, her specialty was flower poisons, which were all neurotoxins that paralyzed nerves and organs. They were completely different types, and she couldn't deduce anything useful. Trying to fight poison with poison would only ensure they died without pain. Now, they had to solve the problem using a ninja method.
She created two shadow clones and simultaneously used the B-rank Medical Ninjutsu, Cellular Extraction Technique, on Raidō Namiashi, Hayate Gekko, and Samurai Taidō. She had modified this technique; now it combined the essence of expelling poison with internal energy, like in wuxia novels, and surgical excision of the affected area, like in Western medicine.
First, she used her own deep chakra reserves to force the poison to a single location. Then, she cut open the affected area and implanted her carefully cultivated flower seeds. These flowers, designed to absorb poison, would grow rapidly within the body, drawing all the poison into their roots and stems. Finally, the entire growth would be excised. The patients wouldn't lose any body parts; at most, they would be greatly weakened for a while, as the flower seeds absorbed their own life force. However, this was much better than losing a kidney or half a stomach.
Vibrant Rafflesia flowers successively sprouted from the chests of the three men. Then, Ino's hand moved swiftly, knife flashing! First, Raidō Namiashi was pulled back from the brink of death. Afterward, Hayate Gekko's and Samurai Taidō's heartbeats also returned to normal.
Shino, lying on the ground, waved at her, gesturing for her to come save him quickly.
Ino exclaimed in surprise, "Whoa, there's someone else poisoned here too?! Why didn't you say something! When did you even get here? I didn't even see you!"
Decoy and ambush missions were work requests from the village to its ninjas. The stated mission for the Konoha ninjas was publicly to help the Land of That control the Land of This. To deal with two tiny countries, they sent out twelve ninjas of varying ranks – wasn't this overkill? No one seemed concerned about that! Now, the mission could be declared a success. Thanks to their efforts, the Land of This could no longer be seen on the map.
Deidara had used C3 once and C1 dozens of times. Ino had used Steam Impetus Bomb twice and Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave three times. Konan had used her Divine Paper technique once. Asuma had also used Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags when Raidō Namiashi was poisoned. It wasn't that he didn't want to use them earlier, but his chakra-infused explosive tags were too few and had to be saved for critical moments. Kakashi's Water Style, Asuma's Fire Style, Naruto's Rasengan, and Sasuke's Chidori were all used extensively.
The Land of This looked as if it had been hit by cruise missiles. Although C3 and Steam Impetus Bomb exploded in mid-air, the energy impacting the ground was still immense. At the south gate of the original marketplace of the Land of This, a small, somewhat picturesque crater had been blasted out. The earth's crust uplifted, and the group of ninjas bombarded indiscriminately, causing the surrounding land to sink over ten meters. Coupled with the already low terrain, the flood triggered by the Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave completely transformed the Land of This into a freshwater lake with a mountain in the center and water all around.
This lake was quite large, extending beyond sight. It might seem like these lake waters were all created by Ino, and in reality... yes, they were indeed created by her. Surrounded by three formidable Akatsuki members, she used whatever techniques she had. Raw power like the Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave was effective against the refined control of the Hundred Puppet Performance. In a critical moment, how could she possibly worry about the lives of civilians?
Speaking of which, Water Style was the least threatening. Fire, Earth, and Lightning Style were all more lethal than Water Style. If Madara Uchiha had been here and used Great Fire Annihilation, there would be no need to save anyone, and no one left to save in the first place. Konoha ninjas helped save people, Ino diverted the water away, and let them rebuild their homes – only then would the ninjas' work be considered done.
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