Inside Konoha Hospital, medical staff hurried towards the operating room, their expressions anxious.
The reason was that Jiraiya, one of the Sannin, was critically injured while on a mission, which was no trivial matter. Naturally, it attracted the high-level attention of Konoha leadership, gathering the best medical personnel here to save Jiraiya's life.
Jiraiya was not only a disciple of the previous Hokage but also the mentor of the current Fourth Hokage. He himself had made remarkable contributions as a Konoha Ninja.
If something were to happen to Jiraiya, it would be a great loss for Konoha.
A lot of people had gathered outside the operating room.
Minato, as the Fourth Hokage, also postponed his afternoon work from his busy schedule to come here at the first opportunity to understand the situation.
With his teacher Jiraiya critically injured, as his disciple, Minato felt it was his responsibility to be here to watch over.
No one knew how much time passed, but finally, the operating room door opened, and Tsunade came out, looking pale and exhausted.
"Lady Tsunade, how is Jiraiya-sensei?"
Minato stepped forward, looking anxious, eager to understand the situation inside.
Tsunade looked up at Minato.
"Oh, it's you, Minato. Don't worry, Jiraiya's condition has been initially stabilized and won't deteriorate further. However, further surgery is needed for him to fully recover."
Answered Tsunade, tiredly.
The feeling of performing surgery was something she disliked, even if she wasn't the chief surgeon, the chill would still creep into her heart.
But with Jiraiya in this condition, as his friend, she must do everything she can to heal him.
"Is that so?"
Minato heaved a sigh of relief, then looked at Tsunade gratefully and said solemnly, "Thank you very much, Lady Tsunade."
"No need, it's what I'm supposed to do."
Remembering how she couldn't save the lives of her lover and brother, if she couldn't save Jiraiya this time, Tsunade couldn't forgive herself no matter what.
"Speaking of which, I need a ninja from the Aburame Clan and a ninja from the Hyuga Clan to assist."
Tsunade stated her requirements.
"Aburame and Hyuga?"
"Yes. Jiraiya's injuries seem to be caused by some special explosive insects. I need the Aburame Clan's knowledge on insects. To ensure the surgery is safely completed, I also need the Byakugan's assistance."
Though she herself had a good chance of completing the surgery, Tsunade wanted to make sure she did everything possible.
Besides, Konoha had these resources, and not using them seemed wasteful.
"Understood."
Minato nodded and instructed the two Anbu accompanying him to go to the Hyuga Clan and the Aburame Clan respectively.
As the Anbu left, another person came to visit Jiraiya—it was the retired former Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He had heard that his disciple, Jiraiya, was critically injured and immediately dropped everything to rush over.
"Minato, Tsunade, how is Jiraiya?"
"The deterioration has been stabilized, the subsequent surgeries shouldn't be much of a problem."
Tsunade didn't claim it would be a 100% success, because the explosive insects inside Jiraiya were too peculiar and had integrated with his body. Safely removing them was no simple task.
Even seasoned Tsunade was seeing this kind of injury for the first time.
Bringing in the Aburame and Hyuga ninja was to mitigate further risks.
"I see."
Hiruzen sighed with relief.
He then turned to Minato and asked, "By the way, Minato, how did Jiraiya end up like this?"
Hiruzen only knew that Jiraiya was critically injured, but didn't know the specific reasons.
Tsunade also looked at Minato curiously; she was curious about who had injured Jiraiya.
Among the known famous ninjas in the Five Great Nations, no one used such body-inhabiting explosive insects to kill.
Therefore, after healing Jiraiya, she would also register this kind of injury in Konoha's medical system to prevent future incidents.
Minato didn't hide anything and said, "It was the Nokizaru Group, a Bounty Hunter group from the Underground Black Market."
In the Underground Black Market, there were not only lone Bounty Hunters but also organized Bounty Hunter teams. These groups, notorious for their teamwork, were even more troublesome than lone Bounty Hunters.
"Nokizaru Group?"
Both Hiruzen and Tsunade frowned upon hearing the name.
If they remembered correctly, these guys also showed up more than two years ago during the battle with Hidden Rock, having been hired by the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, to attack Konoha's supply points, causing considerable trouble for Konoha.
However, the Konoha ninjas who fought Nokizaru Group back then did not suffer the same injuries as Jiraiya.
Were they hiding their capabilities?
"Yes. Nokizaru Group is made up of five people. Each of their bounties individually is not very high, but combined, they are among the top in the Underground Black Market. According to the intelligence Konoha has gathered, their initial debut should have been six or seven years ago. With their recent rise in fame, they have become known as 'ninjas who hunt ninjas,' and have connections with many wealthy businessmen and officials in the Ninja Realm, handling some unspeakable matters."
Minato shared what he knew.
Hiruzen nodded, it matched his own knowledge.
"For five people to injure Jiraiya to this extent, they're not just ordinary Bounty Hunters."
Tsunade's expression was grave.