Soon, the poison inside Nohara Hiroshi was mostly removed.
Next, Yuu began treating the other wounds on his body. He cut away the necrotic tissue, then placed both hands over the injuries. A gentle emerald glow from his Healing Technique lit up in his palms. As chakra surged, he temporarily stabilized Hiroshi's precarious vital signs.
During this process,
Yuu tried activating Seed of Vitality.
Yes, that's right.
Nohara Hiroshi counted as one of the people closest to Yuu in this world. He had always looked after Yuu, and his character was trustworthy in every way. He was the perfect test subject. If anything unexpected happened during treatment, Yuu still had a backup—the bottle of Uzumaki Kana's blood.
With these two methods, in theory, as long as Nohara Hiroshi had not died on the spot, Yuu could pull him back.
At this moment,
as Yuu willed it, a far purer green energy than normal Healing Technique, filled with vigorous life force, silently flowed through his palms into Nohara Hiroshi's body. It passed through Hiroshi's limbs and organs, finally settling, condensing, and taking root near his lower abdomen.
This "seed" did not have a physical form. It was a condensation of chakra. As the caster, Yuu could vaguely sense its location, and could even use his own chakra to stimulate it to grow faster.
Then,
a miracle happened.
Almost the moment the Seed of Vitality was planted, Nohara Hiroshi's originally weak pulse suddenly became clear and strong!
His pale face also gained a faint flush at a visible speed.
Although he did not wake up immediately, the bleeding from the wounds all over his body began to stop. The growth of granulation tissue accelerated, and one could even see tiny nerve endings twitching slightly under the green light, as if trying hard to reconnect. That gray, dying aura rapidly faded.
"This… what's happening? Yuu, Dad, he…"
Rin was stunned.
She had originally prepared herself to face death. Even though she still held some hope that Nohara Hiroshi could be saved, she had never imagined he would improve immediately. At the very least, he should have needed three to five days lying in bed before waking up.
But now…
it looked like he might recover in a short while.
"Shh—"
Yuu glanced from the corner of his eye at Hebishi and the others not far away. He raised a hand in a silencing gesture, then lowered his voice and spoke quickly.
"It's Mystical Palm Technique. I used Mystical Palm."
Mm. If Yuu had really used Mystical Palm on top of Seed of Vitality, Nohara Hiroshi would probably be able to get out of bed and walk around later.
But the original skin was enough.
Although this Seed of Vitality had just been planted and had not had time to record Nohara Hiroshi's physiological information, so it could not trigger the "rollback" mechanism,
the raw value contained within the seed itself was already high enough. Before long, it made the surface wounds on Hiroshi's body form scabs, while the internal puncture wounds and fractures also rapidly improved. If nothing unexpected happened, he would most likely be able to walk freely in one or two hours.
By then, the energy of this Seed of Vitality might also be exhausted.
But that did not matter.
After all, Seed of Vitality could create up to five seeds. Excluding the one in Yuu's own body, there were still four left. At worst, he could plant another one in Nohara Hiroshi later. Although this thing consumed a fair amount of chakra, it was only about equivalent to an A-rank ninjutsu. Yuu could afford it.
"Speaking of which…"
Next time he went back to the village, should he plant one in both Mikami Tajima and Aoi, as a kind of insurance for them?
If five minus two left three, that should be enough under normal circumstances.
Although if they truly encountered danger, having one more life might not necessarily be enough, it was still better to have this insurance than not. If they could endure a little longer, perhaps they could hold out until rescue arrived. Might Duy was still in the village right now…
Wait…
Yuu suddenly caught a blind spot.
If he planted a Seed of Vitality in Might Duy… could he open the Eight Gates Released Formation and not die?
That was a good question.
The key lay in whether Seed of Vitality's recovery effect was fixed or percentage-based.
Yuu himself could not say for sure.
He could only wait until he had time later, do a few more tests, and confirm it. Using humans for this might be a little risky. It would be better to switch to ninja beasts. There happened to be quite a lot of large wild beasts around the southwestern border, so he could test it then and practice together with Summoning Technique…
On the other side,
Rin had no time to ask when Yuu had "learned" Mystical Palm. She quickly crouched down and checked her father's vital signs. After confirming that he was indeed recovering, she was wrapped in enormous joy and relief.
"Yuu, thank you! Dad is okay… that's wonderful…"
"You don't need to thank me. It's only right. Uncle Hiroshi has always treated me very well."
Yuu smiled, then glanced at another wounded patient in the next bed.
"You watch him here. Call me immediately if anything happens. I'll go help Hebishi-senpai and the others."
"Okay."
While they were busy,
the curtain of the tent was lifted again.
A tall figure walked in, carrying the scent of smoke and gunpowder. When several ninja nearby turned and saw him, they immediately stood and saluted.
"Lord Jiraiya!"
The newcomer was indeed Jiraiya.
As Konoha's highest commander on the southwestern battlefield, Jiraiya had been under considerable pressure lately. His iconic white hair looked somewhat messy, and his face carried obvious fatigue. But his eyes remained sharp, showing the aura of a Kage-level powerhouse.
After entering,
Jiraiya quickly swept his gaze around the tent, especially glancing at Yuu and Rin, who were closer to the entrance. Then he asked, "How's the situation?"
"It's alright. Most of the newly wounded have stabilized. They just need time to recover."
Seeing that Hebishi was busy, Yuu answered in her place.
"But the number of wounded is still increasing. It's estimated that we'll soon reach the Medical Corps' treatment limit. Also, although some severely wounded patients are out of danger, they won't be able to recover combat strength in the short term, so…"
So Konoha's usable manpower would begin sharply decreasing from a certain point onward.
Jiraiya understood what Yuu meant and sighed.
"Sunagakure's offensive momentum is fierce, even more reckless and desperate than expected. Wildfire City can still hold for now, but the other strongholds have already reported emergencies one after another. Once they fall, the entire defensive line may collapse."
"It seems… we can only adopt Orochimaru's plan."
"…"
Yuu said nothing.
After all, he had come here only to farm Healing Technique's trait. Now that the objective had been completed, the rest did not matter much to him. Matters involving tactical decisions should be left to Jiraiya and Orochimaru.
Very soon, Jiraiya made his decision.
"Yuu, your and Rin's mission has changed."
"I'll assign you two squads shortly. Lead them and immediately escort the severely wounded who have difficulty moving toward Kikyo City. I've already sent people there to set up a temporary base, and they can receive you. Remember, move quickly, but ensure safety!"
"…Alright."
Yuu nodded.
"What about you, Lord Jiraiya?"
"I'll stay behind. A little later, I'll abandon Wildfire City's forward position and feign a retreat in that direction, carrying out the bait plan. When that happens, you'd better have the traps ready. This time, we'll give those Suna ninja a lesson they'll never forget and make them never dare covet Konoha again!"
Jiraiya grinned and heavily patted Yuu on the shoulder.
"Minato isn't here right now. Whether this battle can be turned from defeat into victory will depend on you."
"I understand."
Yuu nodded.
Very soon,
the two squads Jiraiya had promised appeared before Yuu. Including him and Rin, there were ten people total. As for the severely wounded who needed escorting, there were twenty to thirty people, along with some lightly wounded who could not fight in the short term.
Hebishi instructed the medical ninja under her to immobilize the wounded as quickly as possible. Those who could walk were to walk by themselves. Those who could not were supported or carried by other lightly wounded patients. The retreat began in an orderly manner.
As the temporary captain of this operation, Yuu had a map of the area around Wildfire City. This was something Nara Shikaku had given him earlier, and the retreat routes on it had already been prepared several days ago.
However, the map could not mark real-time troop deployments. Considering that Sunagakure had far more ninja than Konoha, it was possible that parts of the defensive line had already been infiltrated or broken through. Some Suna ninja might already have entered the Land of Fire and could encounter them on the road.
They still had to be careful.
"You're the captain of this squad, right?"
Yuu looked at one of the leaders of the two squads, a man in his twenties carrying a long sword on his back.
"Yes."
"Have you trained in swordsmanship?"
"Of course. The Gekkō clan's swordsmanship is fairly respectable in Konoha."
"Hm?"
Gekkō clan?
Could he be Gekkō Hayate's father?
Yuu had seen Gekkō Hayate before. After all, Hayate was only two classes below Yuu and Kakashi. When Yuu's class graduated, Hayate had already entered the academy. The Konoha ninja in front of him, surnamed Gekkō, did indeed somewhat resemble Hayate in facial shape, only he did not look as sickly. Judging by appearance, his strength should be decent.
At once, Yuu simply smiled.
"I've also learned a little swordsmanship. We can spar when there's time… Let's go. I'll have to trouble everyone to do their best on this mission."
"Move out!"
…
At the same time,
on a forest path dozens of li away from Wildfire City,
twenty to thirty Suna ninja were rushing forward.
The leading Sunagakure jōnin, Nakajima, licked his dry lips. His rough fingers rubbed the edge of his kunai, his eyes cold.
The squads he led were surprise troops personally selected by Rasa. Their mission was to take advantage of Konoha being tied down by Pakura and the others on the main battlefield, circle around from the flank, and launch a surprise attack.
There were two other teams like his, one of which was led by Rasa himself. Once they took Wildfire City, Konoha's main base on the southwestern battlefield, it would shake the entire Konoha army's morale. That would be an enormous merit and could make Rasa's position as Kazekage extremely stable.
Suddenly,
a Sunagakure scout slid down from the tree canopy ahead and arrived before Nakajima. He lowered his voice.
"Lord Nakajima! A Konoha team was spotted in the river valley ahead, moving along the river toward the interior of the Land of Fire. They're moving very slowly! There are about ten escort ninja, while the rest are mostly wounded personnel on stretchers!"
"Oh?"
Nakajima raised an eyebrow.
"How far?"
"About three to four kilometers."
"…"
After a brief silence, Nakajima narrowed his eyes, a bloodthirsty gleam flashing through them.
The surprise attack target was certainly important, but if they could devour this Konoha unit too, that would also be a fine thing. Perhaps among those wounded there was some important figure, which was why Konoha was escorting them like this.
It was convenient anyway. Do it!
"All units, change direction!"
Nakajima turned and gave the order.
"First wipe out this transport team! Move fast. Don't let them send any distress signal! Leave no one alive!"
"Yes!"
Several Suna squads immediately obeyed. They silently melted into the forest shadows and sped toward the direction of Yuu's group's retreat, as if already seeing the Konoha ninja falling in pools of blood.
…
"…Something feels wrong!"
In the river valley,
a Hyūga branch family ninja suddenly stopped. Veins bulged around his Byakugan.
"Diagonal rear, about two kilometers away. There are roughly a dozen… no, more than twenty chakra reactions, chasing toward us! It's a small Suna unit!"
"What?"
Hearing this, the atmosphere immediately grew tense.
Gekkō Shigure—the Konoha ninja who had spoken with Yuu earlier—drew the long sword from his back with a sharp scrape and said to Yuu, "Mikami… Captain! I'll take one squad and stay behind as rearguard! You take the wounded and leave first!"
"…"
Yuu pondered briefly. "Only a little over twenty people? How strong are they?"
"?"
What did he mean, "only" a little over twenty?
The Hyūga ninja hesitated before replying, "The number is basically accurate. As for strength… judging by chakra intensity, they should all be chūnin or above. There are several jōnin."
"Oh. Then keep moving. No need to bother with them. We'll talk when they catch up."
As he spoke,
Yuu willed Little Green out from the nearby forest. He had already summoned it earlier. Then he gestured for it to swallow the severely wounded who could only be carried by stretcher directly into its belly and advance first toward Kikyo City.
After that, Yuu ordered the other Konoha ninja to each create one shadow clone and send them to investigate the enemy's reality.
Gekkō Shigure's lips moved, as if he wanted to argue. As a special jōnin of the Gekkō clan, he had his own judgment. But Yuu was the captain personally appointed by Lord Jiraiya, so he could only swallow those words.
"Yes."
After about ten minutes,
that Suna force emerged from the dense forest. The moment they appeared, they completed an encirclement around Yuu and the others from three directions.
"Heh… so it really is a team transporting wounded. Dragging a bunch of burdens around, and you still want to run?"
Nakajima's voice was rough and hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing against stone.
"Be good and leave your lives behind. Save me the trouble."
~~~
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