"Back in Konoha... when my father was killed by that monster..."
Hearing the exchange between Makoto and Yusaku, Yukino suddenly lifted her head, her gaze fixed firmly on Makoto, her voice trembling uncontrollably.
"Yukino!?"
Haruno's expression changed drastically. She hurriedly reached from behind to cover her sister's mouth, but Yukino stubbornly bit down on her finger, the pain forcing her to let go.
Having gone through so many cycles of transmigration, although Yukino's nature hadn't changed, she had matured considerably. At least she would no longer say foolish things like 'I am very cute'.
But whenever her deceased father was mentioned, she still struggled to control her emotions.
"Oh, that one was truly an accident."
Makoto turned his head slightly and smiled faintly.
Yukino's face was still full of suspicion, her eyes fixed intently on him.
She had long since learned that Makoto was someone who acted one way to your face and another behind your back.
She even suspected that the Third Hokage had been toyed to death by Makoto.
Makoto, however, paid no attention to her gaze. He simply turned his head to look at Mrs. Yukinoshita.
"Ayano, do you believe me?"
Mrs. Yukinoshita didn't hesitate for a moment, her gaze gentle and firm:
"Of course."
Haruno: "…"
Yukino: "…"
After that, following a brief discussion, the group decided to head first to the nearest city… Sapporo in Hokkaido.
Although it had already been reduced to ruins, it was still better than staying out in this desolate wilderness.
Besides, Makoto had consumed a great deal of Chakra and was feeling a bit hungry.
Originally, Soma and the others had wanted to build graves for their deceased dorm mates, Aoki Daigo, Sato Shoji, and the like.
As for Erina and Mana, although their feelings towards Azami were extremely complicated, to put it darkly, they might have even wished he were dead… when he actually died, their emotions became incredibly complex. At the very least, they wanted to erect a memorial.
Unfortunately, they couldn't.
Because during the Gun Devil's blanket bombardment just before, the shredded remains of the victims had become mixed with the debris of collapsed buildings, wood chips, and the bodies of animals also killed by the Gun Devil. It was impossible to tell which pieces belonged to Azami and the others.
In the end, Erina, Soma, and the others could only manage to find fragments of clothing belonging to Azami, Aoki Daigo, and the others. They set up a simple clothing cenotaph, then followed the main group towards Sapporo.
"Oh? It's you?"
Halfway there, another voice suddenly called out.
Everyone turned to look. A black-haired boy was walking towards them, carrying another unconscious boy slightly younger than him on his back… it was Hayakawa Aki and his younger brother, Hayakawa Taiyo.
'One survived, huh?'
Makoto looked at the boy on Aki's back, thinking to himself.
"Thank you."
Noticing Makoto's gaze, Aki lowered his head slightly and said softly.
Although he didn't know if this strange older brother had known beforehand that a Devil would descend or if it was just a coincidence, if it weren't for his reminder, his brother would surely have met the same fate as his parents.
"What are you planning to do next?"
Makoto asked.
Aki said in a deep voice: "I know there's an orphanage nearby. I plan to take Taiyo there first. Then I'll find a job to support him. And one more thing..."
He paused briefly, his eyes turning red as he spoke:
"I will definitely kill that Devil!"
Although he didn't yet know which Devil had caused this massacre, seeing the state of the entire city was enough to conclude that it must be an incredibly powerful Devil.
But so what?
He would find that Devil and kill it to avenge his parents.
At just seven years old, Aki didn't yet know.
The Gun Devil's power was absolutely not something he could ever challenge.
And frankly, even if he killed the Gun Devil, it wouldn't matter.
Because in this world, unless a Devil was eaten by Chainsaw Man and erased from existence at a root level, they would simply be resurrected in Hell.
That meant Aki's enemy was an existence capable of infinite resurrection.
Therefore, it was hard to say whether his revenge had any meaning.
Still, Makoto didn't feel like saying much more.
He just lightly patted the boy's back and said:
"Well, do your best. But don't neglect the family you still have alive."
With that, Makoto turned and continued walking towards the ruins of Sapporo without looking back.
Aki, still carrying his unconscious brother, watched the other's retreating figure for a moment, then walked in the opposite direction.
Whether he had taken Makoto's words to heart remained to be seen.
The others glanced at the departing backs of the Hayakawa brothers.
Then, Megumi asked Makoto softly:
"Makoto-kun, who was that child?"
"I met him right after I arrived. Got quite a bit of information from him."
Hearing this, everyone pricked up their ears, even those like Yusaku who were somewhat displeased with Makoto.
After all, arriving in an unfamiliar world, information was paramount.
But before Makoto could speak again, Yu suddenly drew his Flying Thunder God kunai, pointed it at Yusaku and the others, and asked Makoto:
"Makoto-senpai, should I drive these guys away?"
Yu naturally understood the importance of information.
And precisely because of that, he felt it shouldn't be leaked to people who might be hostile to Makoto-senpai.
"It's fine, let them listen."
Makoto smiled.
This bit of information, with Yusaku's intellect, he could easily find out by asking any random citizen later. There was no need to hide it.
Soon after, the group arrived at Sapporo, which had been completely reduced to ruins.
When they saw the state of the city—
The Nakiri Family, chosen by the Reincarnation System for the first time, along with ordinary students from Totsuki Academy like Soma and Tadokoro Megumi, couldn't help but shiver.
Looking down, the ground was littered with severed limbs.
They could even see the heads of women, their faces frozen in extreme agony, and even the heads of children.
Kotonoha, Tadokoro Megumi, Yoshino Yuki, and others, who had gentle personalities, couldn't hold it in. They covered their mouths and vomited with a retch.
Makoto glanced at them, then at the corpses all over the ground, and found a battered sofa to sit on.
It had probably been blasted out of some building during the Gun Devil's attack, he figured.
To be honest, in Shonen manga, most works tend to ignore civilian casualties caused by superhuman battles, leaving it to the readers' imagination.
However, Chainsaw Man showed no mercy in this regard, depicting the suffering of these ordinary people in very graphic detail.
Then, everyone set about their tasks.
The Aizono sisters, Yumiko, and others went to look for food.
Yusaku, Yukiko, Kogoro, and the others went to search for a hospital for the sake of Shinichi.
About half an hour later, everyone gradually returned.
The Aizono sisters and the others had successfully found food, but it was mostly canned goods, snacks, and other ready-to-eat items, clearly scavenged from the ruins of malls and supermarkets.
Quite a few of them even had bullet holes.
But Makoto wasn't fussy… he just grabbed some and ate.
Although Yusaku and the others hadn't found a hospital or brought back a doctor, they had managed to find quite a bit of medical supplies and gave emergency treatment to the most severely injured… Shinichi and Tomoya.