When a kilometer from the site, Fifth and Sixth rushed to search while others hid within a hundred meters, awaiting news.
Half an hour later, Kenshin telepathically heard Fifth's voice from the rendezvous.
"Father, nearby I found two fallen trees and shuriken embedded in some trunks," Fifth reported, standing fifty meters from Kenshin, who ordered no full gatherings against possible surveillance.
"Good. Fifth and Sixth, head northwest to forest edge and check up to mountains. Move separately, large distance. You have two hours," Kenshin broadcast on general link so other sons heard.
It sickened him thinking he might've sent Fifth and Sixth to death; he'd abort if they didn't return. But he knew total squad wipeout by one attack was worse. He also knew he needed a strong Nara kunoichi—and chose accordingly.
For an hour, all lay in ambush, awaiting news, mentally discussing scenarios—especially grim ones assuming Fifth and Sixth's deaths. Kenshin's sons were instructed to avoid capture at all costs, lest Yamanaka mind-reading.
When dark thoughts flooded Kenshin's mind, he heard Sixth.
"Father, Fifth and I checked the area and deployed your formation. Stone glowed green—no outsiders within five kilometers. Just seven people, as expected," Sixth reported, in good spirits at the luck.
Hearing Sixth's report, Kenshin sighed in relief. A huge weight lifted. The gnawing guilt eased. In that hour, he'd cursed the "system" denying combat abilities multiple times, angrier at himself for cowering in ambush, "shaking for his life." Each urge to rush where sons might die brought visions of two beautiful wives and many sons. He didn't know how they'd fare if he died suddenly, but intuition said nothing good.
Twenty minutes later, the group looped to the target mountains separately. Kenshin paired with Ichiro, barely slowing him. Exo-suit granted useful properties: enhanced physicals. Run speed tripled, jump height quintupled. Kenshin's limit—legs wouldn't move faster, higher jumps uncontrollable, risking bruises or breaks.
He never mastered tree-jumping, preferring ground run. Future plans: combat-upgraded suit. For now, he hunkered under a rock, deploying rabbit-skin formation for another area scan.
Confirmed clear, Kenshin calmed and headed to Third and Fourth's position—they'd found the cave with artificial collapse.
Approaching rubble, he inspected closely for bird-exit gap. Accelerating perception, he scrutinized every stone irregularity, noting details. Half a minute later: small crack with disturbed sand, likely from an inside hand.
Closer, he checked defense formation and called:
"Nara Kasumi, you in there? I live nearby; your bird flew to me by chance." He explained in the friendliest tone possible.
In the cave's darkness, the girl struggled to open her eyes and tried a defensive stance, but the kunai clenched in sleep slipped from her weakened hand, clanging on the stone floor.
The black-haired kunoichi tensed briefly, but after the repeated question, suddenly said:
"Yes, I'm here. Can you get me out, or report me to the Nara clan?"
"Don't worry, we'll definitely get you out. Are you okay? Not injured?" Kenshin asked caringly.
"I have chakra exhaustion, slight dehydration, and a wound on one arm," Kasumi said, not understanding herself why she was suddenly spilling all this information to a total stranger. Mentally, she berated herself for her chattiness, imagining the consequences of her loose tongue if the guy on the other side of the collapse turned out to be an enemy. But for some reason, she absolutely did not believe he was an enemy. Her inner intuition told her that he meant her no harm.
Kenshin warned the girl to step back from the cave edge and, together with his sons, began clearing the rubble. There were so many rocks that after an hour, they had only managed to shift some small boulders.
Unfortunately, the cave entrance was blocked by massive boulders that had fallen awkwardly, each weighing no less than several tons. Even at full fighting strength, the girl had no chance of moving or destroying them.
Another half hour passed as Kenshin devised an engineering solution, rigging a rope around one stone to pull it out conveniently.
Finally, by five in the evening, they all grabbed the rope looped around the large boulder and pulled to the side. Kenshin took part directly, pushing his exo-suit to maximum power.
The boulder trembled but began to yield to the pressure from the group of strong guys. Kenshin prayed the rope would hold, but everything went fine. After half a minute, the boulder crashed out of the cave with a roar, and the remaining rocks, losing support, collapsed onto each other, with some portion tumbling inward.
As soon as the rumbling stopped, the exhausted kunoichi sitting at the far end of the cave finally saw him. An incredibly handsome young man stepping from the light into the darkness to save a fragile, dying girl.