Naruto: Reborn with the Tenseigan

Three days later, the team arrived at the border camp. The reinforcements would rest there for one night before heading straight to the construction site in the Land of Rain.

The border camp was too small to accommodate many people, serving only as a supply transit point.

The ceaseless downpour, day and night, made everyone irritable. With so many people around and too few huts, most had to squeeze into tents. Even Takashi had no choice but to forgo resting in the medical tent, which was already overcrowded with wounded sent back from the Land of Rain.

Orochimaru, rather unluckily, was assigned to share a tent with Jiraiya, while Takashi got one all to himself. He gave Orochimaru a sympathetic glance and slipped into his tent.

After several days of traveling, Takashi understood clearly: anyone left alone with Jiraiya would definitely be driven insane. At least this version of Jiraiya was an absolute chatterbox, with an endless stream of words and constant babbling. If that wasn't enough, he also had a tendency to act foolish.

That night, Takashi didn't sleep well. The tent was stuffy, the rain poured heavily, and the water drumming on the tent was loud enough to keep anyone awake who wasn't used to it.

A sleepless night left Takashi yawning non-stop the next day. After replenishing their supplies, the reinforcement team set off at dawn, heading straight to the camp being built in the Land of Rain.

The camp in the Land of Rain was still under construction. There was a wooden fence around the perimeter, but the buildings were still being rushed. Most of the ninja could only make do with tents, which made the sleeping conditions even worse than those at the border camp.

Luckily for Takashi, he no longer needed to squeeze into a tent. As a top-tier medical professional, he had his own room—a privilege that spared him from sharing and from staying in a tent.

The only downside was that as soon as he arrived at the camp, he had to immediately start work. The medical unit was overwhelmed with wounded.

"Clean the wounds, stitch them up."

"Bring me two vials of the Type-2 antidote over here."

"Prepare the herbs on this list. I need to mix some antidotes."

The moment Takashi took over, he was swamped. He had to manage patients and develop antidotes simultaneously, barely finding a moment to catch his breath.

Many of the injured had been poisoned, which meant that developing the right antidotes was essential before any further treatment could proceed. The ninja from Sunagakure were adept at using poisons, constantly improving and updating their toxins. Though Takashi had brought many antidotes from the village, few were effective, requiring him to start from scratch for most of them.

"Prepare my room for work. I need peace and quiet, and I don't want to be disturbed."

To properly develop these antidotes, Takashi needed a quiet space. His role shifted from healing patients to antidote research.

The medical staff quickly got to work, clearing out the largest room for Takashi and moving all the necessary herbs and equipment inside.

"Oh, and go get Orochimaru. I need his help here," Takashi ordered.

"Yes, sir," one of the medical ninja replied, hurrying off to summon Orochimaru.

Soon, Orochimaru arrived.

"You need my help?"

Orochimaru walked into the room, eyeing the poison samples Takashi was working on with curiosity. He looked at them for a while, then shook his head with a smile.

"Sunagakure's still up to the same old tricks, I see. The poisons are as predictable as ever."

Without looking up, Takashi replied, "Orochimaru, I need you to help me analyze these poison samples. Many of them are mixtures of venom from desert snakes, which I believe you are quite familiar with."

People might think that nothing survived in the desert, but in reality, most of the creatures there were venomous—snakes, lizards, scorpions, and so on. The Sunagakure ninja collected venom from these creatures, using it to create poisons.

"No problem. Leave it to me. By the way, if possible, I'd like to assist you further," Orochimaru offered.

He was skilled at this sort of work, but he also had an ulterior motive. Instead of heading to the battlefield, he preferred to stay at the camp and work on things that interested him—like crafting puppets.

The morgue was full of enemy corpses, which Orochimaru found to be valuable research material. Since they were enemies, using their bodies didn't really matter.

But before he could start his experiments, he needed a legitimate reason to stay in the camp, or he'd be sent back to the front lines.

Takashi glanced at Orochimaru while shaking a vial of antidote. Well, if I'm coasting along, then Orochimaru's certainly coasting too.

"Suit yourself," Takashi said.

If Orochimaru wanted to stay, let him. One person wouldn't change the course of the war. Having him around would actually make Takashi's work a lot easier. After all, Orochimaru was remarkably versatile—he could handle anything thrown his way and always delivered results.

With his goal achieved, Orochimaru smiled and put on rubber gloves, starting to analyze the poison samples.

"Desert viper venom, poisonous lizard... oh, there's even water lizard and sea viper venom, and plenty of plant toxins as well."

Orochimaru dove into work, focusing on analyzing the poison samples, while Takashi concentrated on making the antidotes. Sunagakure had gone to great lengths to collect these toxic substances—animals, plants, and various mixtures.

Without the appropriate antidotes, if Konoha's forces encountered Sunagakure ninja, their casualties would skyrocket. For most ninja, killing an enemy was a challenge, but wounding them was much easier. Once wounded, poison took hold, and death followed swiftly.

Single toxins were relatively easy to handle, but mixed poisons were a nightmare. Without antidotes, if the medical ninja had to rely solely on medical jutsu to extract the toxins, even working non-stop wouldn't be enough.

After analyzing the samples, Orochimaru grinned, "Well, Takashi-kun, my part is done."

The guy couldn't wait to get his hands on the enemy corpses.

Takashi sighed, unsure of what to say, but he had to remind Orochimaru:

"Orochimaru, I don't mind if you use the enemy bodies for your puppet work—you'll need to provide your own materials and parts—but remember this: never, ever touch the bodies of our comrades. They are the village's heroes."

Any ninja who died for the village, even a genin, deserved respect, not experimentation after death.

"I will strictly adhere to our agreement," Orochimaru promised before eagerly heading toward the morgue.

Hopefully, he won't step out of line. Better be cautious, Takashi thought.

He carefully stored the antidotes and had them taken away. Then, turning to one of the medics, he instructed, "Send someone to find Nara Shikashin and have him assign more personnel to the morgue. Our comrades' bodies must be secured immediately, sealed in scrolls for safekeeping."