Having finished all the preparations, he headed to the kitchen, where he found Makoto crying nonstop. Hitomi sat next to her, gently comforting the small, vulnerable girl. Kenshin approached them from behind and tenderly embraced his beloved wife, placing both hands on her large belly.
At that very moment, all negative emotions evaporated, and for a few seconds, his heart plunged into complete bliss. New life with a crystal-clear soul could bring nothing but all-encompassing joy, and Kenshin got lost in that magnificent feeling.
Suddenly, empathetic radiation began emanating from him, consisting of concentrated positive emotions, and even the sobbing Makoto suddenly shuddered and raised a serene gaze to Kenshin.
""Take care of the girls..." " he whispered in her ear, without stopping gently stroking her large belly.
""They'll be fine... Promise me you'll be too! " she said with a trembling heart, turning her head.
""You're too smart to be fooled by such promises, but I will definitely return, because I know that all your lives depend on my fragile life. " he replied with a sigh and softly kissed her on the lips. Tears flowed from Hitomi's wonderful white eyes for the first time that evening, for Kenshin had become the meaning of her life, and as soon as her mind approached forbidden thoughts of his death, the strong-willed, strong woman could no longer hold back the torrent of tears.
Ten minutes later, Kenshin left without looking back, leading the groups awaiting orders. He didn't take more people, because Team Three was not combat-ready, and Team Four was responsible for base defense. Everyone except the Fifteenth was forced to stay home and ensure reliable rear protection.
Kenshin had more than half depleted the bomb stocks, taking one hundred and fifty regular ones at once, and three out of five unique ones, which were a symbiosis of psionics and formations. By his estimates, even an Elite Jonin caught a meter from the epicenter of such a bomb's explosion risked a moderately severe injury. However, incredible resilience, various life-saving methods, combined with supersonic speed, would neutralize even the explosion of five such bombs in the face of an Elite Jonin, and Kenshin understood this perfectly.
Since among all those gathered, only Kenshin and the Fifteenth were not part of cohesive teams that had gone through dozens of battles, the Fifteenth unofficially became his father's bodyguard in this operation.
The first few hours of the journey passed without incident; Kenshin occasionally used Flight to survey everything from above and relax overstrained muscles, then switched back to running, slightly reducing the overall marching speed.
The physical limitations of even a psionically enhanced body did not allow maintaining speed comparable to a peak Chunin for long, and Kenshin, who had previously experienced several painful muscle and ligament tears, was in no hurry to risk his health during a normal march.
And although the pain of losing his son was no longer as strong as in the first hour, Kenshin still felt enormous longing, and even the news of the Fifteenth's breakthrough to Jonin rank only partially pleased him.
The Fifteenth, along with everyone, having received memories of what happened, suddenly for himself crossed that very line separating a peak Chunin from a Jonin. There was no time for a thorough check of his new powers, and in the remaining fifteen minutes of the break, Kenshin only superficially assessed the changes, noting a significant difference between Ichiro and the Fifteenth.
Name: Nakayama Ichiro
Age: 21 years
Talent Level: 24
Chakra Quality: 6
Chakra Amount: 5600
Chakra Control: 68%
Space Authority Lv 3
Sharingan Lv 3
Name: Fifteenth
Age: 20 years
Talent Level: 36
Chakra Quality: 7
Chakra Amount: 7100
Chakra Control: 75%
Shadow Control Lv 4
In addition to the increase in "Chakra Quality," Kenshin noticed sharply increased other stats, and having briefly evaluated his two sons, he concluded that the Fifteenth had surpassed his brother in raw power but still lagged behind him in combat, because "Space Authority" was simply incredible, and any serious fight with Ichiro could end in one second.
By morning of the 422nd day, the Nakayama Family members, led by Kenshin, finally reached the border of the Land of Grass, not far from that very village where Sakamoto Hide was hiding.
Kenshin had somewhat recovered from the shocked state, and in the breaks between heavy thoughts about his deceased son, he was planning actions. Precisely because Matsuda Yoshio was surely wounded and definitely not expecting swift vengeance, Kenshin decided to act immediately, without indulging in the luxury of sleep.
Stepping onto the territory of the Land of Grass, Kenshin increased his concentration and vigilance several times, and also activated all possible concealment formations. He knew perfectly well that the Land of Rain was nearby, and more than anything in the world, he did not want to fall into Akatsuki's sight.
The plan to attack the Green Palm was extremely simple and consisted of reducing their numbers without engaging in open confrontation. At the same time, he understood that the current enemy was much more dangerous and cautious than Kobayashi Haro. Kenshin had no illusions about his own uniqueness or the universal stupidity of others. According to the information he knew, besides Yoshio, there were at least two more Jonin among the Green Palm members, and the more devastating his first strike, the more sons would return home.
Having reached thirty kilometers from the site of the battle, the Nakayama Family squad slowed down significantly, and approaching another ten kilometers, Kenshin ordered everyone to hide and wait for the command, while he took the Twenty Second with him and soared high into the sky.
He deliberately flew to an altitude of over five kilometers, hiding behind the clouds. And although there was catastrophically little oxygen, Kenshin's lungs were supported by psionics and could provide the necessary oxygen volume for some time.
The Twenty Second's body was much stronger, and the thin atmosphere was no problem for him. From this, Kenshin suspected that the strongest shinobi at Kage level could possibly survive in open space. He didn't know how a shinobi's body would handle cosmic radiation, but assumed that for truly godlike figures, it was not an issue.
Positioned directly above the ill-fated battle site of the Eighth and Yoshio, Kenshin began observing through the Twenty Second's eyes, whose Byakugan fortunately allowed seeing almost everything within ten kilometers.
Seeing the aftermath of the most powerful series of explosions, as well as a dozen people scurrying below, Kenshin barely restrained his rage and the strongest desire to wipe them off the face of the earth. The only thing stopping him was a sliver of hope for the preserved, intact body of the Eighth.
Flying for another hour and thoroughly studying the entire area, including the location of the Green Palm base, Kenshin returned, rested a bit, and gave the order to advance.