“You… you made us swallow poison?!”
“You!
This counts as private punishment!”
This time, the two Inuzuka Clan members could no longer maintain their composure.
They panicked at once and could not help shouting.
A trace of hesitation appeared on Namikaze Minato’s face as well.
Although he trusted Nohara Haruto’s medical skill and poison techniques, if these two refused to speak no matter what, they really could not use poison to take their lives.
“Haruto, maybe we should use another method…”
“It’s fine.
Don’t worry.
I know what I’m doing.”
Nohara Haruto smiled.
The calmness in his eyes made Minato instinctively choose to trust him.
“No one will die.
I won’t let them feel any pain either.”
Minato hesitated, wanting to say something, but eventually nodded.
When the two Inuzuka Clan members heard Haruto’s words, they also let out a breath of relief.
Even so, they still felt a faint unease in their hearts.
Their instincts told them that this brat was even harder to deal with than Namikaze Minato.
Sure enough, after reassuring Minato, Nohara Haruto turned back toward them and gave them a wicked smile.
“Mm.
The medicine should be taking effect now.
How is it?
Do you feel anything?”
Huh?
The medicine was taking effect?!
The two Inuzuka Clan members, bound tightly from head to toe, looked at each other.
In each other’s eyes, they only saw confusion.
Feeling?
They did not feel anything at all!
Immediately afterward, a sharp glint flashed through their eyes.
Could it be that he had failed while refining the medicine?
Was this just a harmless pill?
Unfortunately for them, Nohara Haruto, the person who had refined the pills, saw every change in their expressions.
At the same time, the wicked curve at the corner of his mouth grew even deeper.
Failed refinement?
How could that be possible?
Looking at the two Inuzuka Clan members, Nohara Haruto spoke with absolute confidence.
“Don’t you feel itchy?
For example… the kind of itch that feels like ants crawling over your body?”
Huh?!
The two Inuzuka Clan members froze instantly.
Then they immediately shuddered.
They turned their heads again and looked at their equally bound companion.
Unlike their confused exchange from the previous moment, this time, both of their pupils suddenly contracted.
In each other’s eyes, they saw pure shock.
Now that Nohara Haruto had mentioned it, they really did feel a faint itch spreading from the inside out, gradually crawling through their bodies!
Poison.
It was definitely poison!
It was not some failed pill at all!
“You… what kind of poison did you make us eat?!”
Seeing the terror in their eyes, Nohara Haruto slowly straightened the hem of his clothes, which had been slightly disturbed earlier when he briefly drew his sword.
“Relax.
I already said this poison won’t take your lives.
It isn’t some especially violent poison…”
Before Nohara Haruto could finish speaking, the two Inuzuka Clan members relaxed slightly after hearing him emphasize again that the poison would not kill them.
However…
That relief lasted only an instant.
“The Ten Thousand Ants Devouring the Meridians Pill is different from the Ten Thousand Ants Devouring the Heart Pill.
The latter attacks the heart and devours it.
This one only eats away at your meridians.”
Nohara Haruto said it so casually.
So lightly.
Devouring the heart…
Devouring the meridians…
What kind of poisons were these?!
Wait.
No.
Devouring the meridians?
Eating away at the meridians?!
If their meridians were destroyed, how would their limbs move?
They would be unable to stand on their feet.
Unable to use their hands to form seals.
Wouldn’t that mean they would become crippled?
Forget their limbs.
Without their meridians, they would be no different from living corpses!
The pupils of the two Inuzuka Clan members had already shrunk to the size of grains of rice.
Their meridians completely ruined…
This poison terrified them more than death itself.
“Cough, cough.
Haruto, isn’t this a little excessive…?”
Minato spoke from the side.
Listening to Haruto’s description, even he felt a chill run down his spine.
An ending like that…
It really would be more miserable than killing them.
Something more terrifying than death.
How could the kind-hearted Minato allow people from the same village to suffer such cruel torment?
“Don’t worry.
The poison has only entered the first stage.
It hasn’t started devouring their meridians yet.”
After saying that, Nohara Haruto finished tidying his clothes and slowly walked toward the two Inuzuka Clan members.
“There are about two hours left.
After two hours, the Ten Thousand Ants Devouring the Meridians Pill will begin eating your meridians.”
He smiled.
“So?
Do you want to gamble?”
Nohara Haruto paused, then continued with a wicked smile.
“Gamble on whether I’ll give you the antidote after two hours.”
“Gamble on whether I dare to cripple fellow Konoha shinobi right in front of elite jōnin Namikaze Minato.”
“Haruto!”
“Shh.”
Seeing Minato grow anxious beside him, Nohara Haruto merely raised a finger to his lips in a silencing gesture.
Then he turned his gaze back to the two Inuzuka Clan members.
Minato stood in place and said nothing more, though his heart was conflicted.
Was Haruto saying this as a way to frighten the Inuzuka Clan members into confessing?
But why was it that when Haruto said those words, Minato could not bring himself to doubt that Haruto might truly refuse to give them the antidote?
As Head of the Medical Department, Haruto should know where the line was…
Right?
And yet, when he said that sentence, he really did not sound like he was lying.