Natsuki’s group successfully returned to Konoha’s main camp in the Land of Rain.

"Natsuki, go find Tsunade directly."

Jiraiya instructed.

Although Natsuki said he already had inspiration, Jiraiya didn’t ask further because he didn’t know how to make antidotes.

"Alright."

Natsuki nodded.

He greeted Uchiha Mikoto again, then turned and went to the laboratory where Tsunade was.

"Teacher Tsunade."

Natsuki walked in.

"Is the mission complete?"

Tsunade looked him up and down. After confirming he wasn’t injured, she nodded slightly.

"Very smoothly. We’ve rescued the captured Konoha ninjas."

Natsuki paused and added. "While fighting Ibuse Kandachi, I suddenly had some ideas."

"What ideas?"

Tsunade was slightly taken aback and couldn’t help but ask.

She had the same thought as Jiraiya—not expecting Natsuki to really get inspiration from going out.

But inspiration was just inspiration. Whether it would be useful for the antidote was still unknown.

"Fight poison with poison."

Natsuki replied.

The Curse-Breaking Poison Recipe provided by the Gordon template was essentially a combination of deadly poisons.

In Black Clover, it also required Curse Magic and Poison Magic.

After localization, Curse Magic and Poison Magic were removed—leaving only seven deadly poisons.

"You mean find a poison comparable to Hanzo’s poison?"

Tsunade shook her head. "Such a deadly poison doesn’t exist in the ninja world."

Fighting poison with poison wasn’t a new concept to her.

Simply put, although some herbs were poisonous, when neutralized with other herbs, they could be used to save lives.

"We can mix multiple poisons together."

Natsuki changed the subject. "I think this is a train of thought we can try."

"It is indeed a feasible train of thought—but it takes a lot of time."

Tsunade rubbed her temples. "There are many poisons in the ninja world. We have to test which ones and how many are needed."

"There’s no other way."

Natsuki comforted her. "Deciphering Hanzo’s poison was never something that could be done in a short time."

Although he already knew the formula, it wouldn’t be good to directly tell Tsunade.

Besides that, these seven deadly poisons still needed to be refined—and three of them were synthetic poisons.

The most troublesome poison was even related to Chiyo’s poison.

"Mm."

Tsunade sighed. "It seems it’s time to return to Konoha. The conditions in this laboratory are too rudimentary for poison testing."

Natsuki nodded.

He had been in the Land of Rain for almost a week.

Overall, the harvest was good.

Not only did he unlock Kirito’s reaction speed, but he also awakened the Gordon template—which was a special counter to Hanzo.

In a sense, it was also a special counter to Chiyo and other puppet masters.

Of course, the strength of Hanzo, Chiyo, and the others didn’t entirely come from poison.

It just meant that without poison, their strength would be greatly reduced.

"Without further ado, let’s go see Orochimaru right now."

Tsunade ended her experiment and walked out.

All her antidote experiments recently had yielded no results—which was why she agreed to Natsuki’s "fight poison with poison" experiment.

Seeing Tsunade and Natsuki, Orochimaru waved his hand, dismissing the other ninjas in the main tent.

"Orochimaru."

Tsunade got straight to the point. "It will be very difficult to make progress on Hanzo’s poison in the short term. We plan to return to Konoha to continue our research."

"Alright."

Orochimaru nodded. "Those critically injured ninjas can’t be delayed any longer either. You two will escort them back."

As the battlefield commander, he kept track of Tsunade’s daily progress on the antidote—so he knew she was telling the truth.

"Teacher."

Natsuki suddenly thought of something. "Did you extract memories from Ibuse Kandachi’s corpse?"

"Jiraiya is doing that right now. There should be results soon."

Orochimaru replied.

"Maybe he has the formula for the antidote in his memories."

Natsuki guessed.

"I doubt it."

Tsunade shook her head. "Poison is too important to Amegakure. Hanzo wouldn’t let a second person know the formula for the antidote."

Natsuki actually thought so too.

But his main goal wasn’t the formula for the antidote.

Not long after, Jiraiya walked in.

"Any valuable intel?"

Orochimaru took the initiative to ask.

"We found out the locations of some Amegakure outposts, which will be of great help in the upcoming battles."

Jiraiya smiled. "This rescue mission was very worthwhile."

"No formula for the antidote?"

Tsunade asked.

"No."

Jiraiya said regretfully.

"Then what about Hanzo’s kenjutsu?"

Natsuki blinked.

"There is indeed a set of kenjutsu in his memories."

Jiraiya was stunned for a moment, then handed him a scroll, saying carelessly. "His kenjutsu is right here."

"Thank you, Lord Jiraiya."

Natsuki took the scroll, secretly thinking he was one step closer to mastering six kenjutsu styles of the ninja world.

"Although Hanzo’s kenjutsu is not bad, it’s not a conventional kenjutsu and doesn’t fit your style."

Orochimaru commented. "Besides that, the reason his kenjutsu is troublesome is because both he and his sword are highly toxic."

Fighting a kenjutsu ninja who was entirely toxic in close combat was scalp-tingling just to think about.

"I just want to use it as a reference."

Natsuki explained. "I might encounter Hanzo in the future."

"Mm."

Orochimaru didn’t say anything more.

"This matter is temporarily concluded. We will return to Konoha right now."

Tsunade said with swift and decisive action.

"Ah?"

Jiraiya asked in surprise. "You’re leaving?"

"Natsuki proposed a ’fight poison with poison’ approach. We need to return to Konoha to have the conditions to research it."

Tsunade explained.

"Fight poison with poison?"

Jiraiya took a deep breath. "Alright then. I’ll see you off. I hope you can develop an antidote soon."

Tsunade nodded.

After leaving the main tent, Jiraiya immediately made arrangements.

Natsuki stood in place, thought for a moment, and didn’t go to say goodbye to Uchiha Mikoto.

It was wartime now, so there was nothing to say—and they would definitely meet again in the Land of Rain before long.

Once all the wounded were loaded onto stretchers, Tsunade and the others headed toward Konoha.

Jiraiya escorted them out of the Land of Rain before stopping.

Perhaps because of this, the group’s return journey was quite smooth—without encountering any Amegakure or Sunagakure ninjas.

"Take them to the Konoha Hospital. Natsuki and I will go to the Hokage’s office."

Upon arriving at Konoha, Tsunade ordered.

"Yes, Lady Tsunade."

The other ninjas responded and left with the wounded.

Tsunade and Natsuki quickly arrived at the Hokage’s office.

After getting permission, the two walked in.

Tsunade immediately recounted what had happened over the past few days.

"You have done very well."

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded and praised. "As for Hanzo’s poison, it’s best if we can decipher it—but don’t force it if we can’t."

"I understand."

Tsunade knew Sarutobi Hiruzen was worried she would get fixated on deciphering the poison, spending a massive amount of time only to find the loss outweighed the gain.

"But you can try Natsuki’s approach when you have time."

Sarutobi Hiruzen added. "If there are any poisons that are hard to find, you can ask ANBU for help."

"Okay."

Tsunade didn’t refuse.

With the village’s help, the "fight poison with poison" experiment would be more likely to succeed.

After all, a village’s resources were vast.

"Natsuki killed Ibuse Kandachi during this mission, which is a great contribution."

Sarutobi Hiruzen chuckled. "You can ask for a reward, or you can save the merit for now."

"Thank you, Lord Hokage."

Natsuki immediately replied. "I don’t know what reward I want for now, so I’ll save it."

After the mission report ended, the two returned to Uzumaki Mito’s residence.

"You’re finally back!"

Seeing them, Nawaki instantly became excited.

"Natsuki!"

Kushina jogged up to Natsuki.

Nonou was a step slower and could only follow behind her.

Tsunade smiled, not minding the two little girls ignoring her.

"Did you encounter Hanzo when you went to the Land of Rain this time?"

Nawaki asked curiously. "I heard his strength is very great—not inferior to the Kage of the Five Great Villages."

"We didn’t encounter him."

Natsuki shook his head. "But his poison is indeed very formidable. There’s currently no way to decipher it."

"Sister, even you can’t decipher it?"

Hearing this, Nawaki turned to look at Tsunade with a face full of surprise.

"Your sister isn’t omnipotent."

Tsunade flicked his forehead. "You guys chat. I’m going to the Konoha Hospital. I have some things to do."

"Natsuki, quickly tell us about this mission!"

Kushina said, looking very interested. "I’ve never even been to the Land of Rain!"

Natsuki chuckled and gave them a rough overview of the mission process.

"Does it rain every day?"

Kushina frowned. "That sounds hard to accept."

Raining occasionally was fine—but raining every day was indeed annoying.

"Being able to defeat so many enemies is really amazing."

Nawaki said enviously.

"It’s fine. In one more semester, we’ll become official ninjas."

Natsuki smiled. "When that time comes, it’ll be hard for you not to go out on missions."

"I hope you guys will be my teammates."

Kushina said with an expectant face.

Nawaki wanted to say something but ultimately said nothing.

As the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kushina would most likely not be allowed to have teammates.

After chatting for a while, everyone resumed their training.

Although winter vacation was half over, there was still half left.

Natsuki planned to learn Hanzo’s kenjutsu and Water Release: Water Formation Wall.

He formed hand seals and created a shadow clone.

The shadow clone went to find Nawaki to learn Water Release: Water Formation Wall.

He, on the other hand, opened the scroll Jiraiya had given him.

Hanzo’s kenjutsu and Mifune’s kenjutsu were actually somewhat similar—both focusing on speed.

The only difference was that the sword he used was a sickle with a chain.

Natsuki had seen Ibuse Kandachi’s sickle before, so he could project it.

Besides, he was only learning Hanzo’s kenjutsu to meet the character template unlock condition.

He definitely wouldn’t use it in combat.

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