The tremendous blast echoed across the entire summit of Green Mountain.
Orochimaru quickly rushed to the scene upon hearing the commotion, only to find that the entire courtyard where they had fought had been completely transformed.
A massive crater had appeared, surrounded by a mangled corpse. The air was thick with the scent of blood.
Frowning, Orochimaru began searching for the members of Team 3.
"Ugh... Damn it, Explosive Tags? Where did a bunch of bandits get Explosive Tags? Good thing Kiyoshi warned us in time."
At that moment, a cursing voice rang out, followed by a swaying figure struggling to stand. It was vaguely recognizable as Nawaki. Orochimaru sighed in relief upon hearing him. Since Uchiha Kiyoshi had warned them beforehand, the three of them should not have died.
Sure enough, after searching, he spotted another figure not far from Nawaki. He wore Konoha Shinobi attire. Though he was motionless, the rise and fall of his chest showed that he was still alive.
However, Orochimaru soon frowned again. He had not found Uchiha Kiyoshi. Counting carefully, there were only six people in total, including the corpses and the two members of Team 3. Where had Uchiha Kiyoshi gone?
"Cough, cough. I'm over here."
A weak voice came from behind a wall to one side. On closer listening, it was indeed Uchiha Kiyoshi.
Orochimaru was surprised that Uchiha Kiyoshi had made it behind the wall. Based on his earlier assessment, Uchiha Kiyoshi should have been at the very center of the explosion. Though he had reacted first and warned his teammates, there should not have been enough time for him to run that far, right?
Ignoring Nawaki and the other one for now, he decided to check on Uchiha Kiyoshi first. If his condition was acceptable, he could have him treat the other two.
When Orochimaru came around the wall, he found Uchiha Kiyoshi leaning against it. His entire body radiated weakness, and his pale face was alarming. He even seemed to have grown noticeably thinner. Yet there were no wounds on him, neither from the battle nor from the explosion.
Orochimaru immediately judged Uchiha Kiyoshi's condition. He had overexhausted his Chakra.
Before long, Orochimaru guessed the reason, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
Under normal circumstances, Orochimaru might not have noticed. But after carefully sensing the area, he discovered substitute objects every four or five meters, with no fewer than five in total.
After searching more closely, he found substitute objects carrying Uchiha Kiyoshi's Chakra signature behind the walls all around the courtyard.
Just how cautious did someone have to be to do this? They were only a gang of bandits, yet he had left behind so many contingencies. That was really something else.
But this spot was at least eight or nine meters from the center of the explosion, wasn't it? How had this kid managed to use the Substitution Technique from so far away? Judging from how exhausted he was, there had to be a price.
In truth, using the Substitution Technique once over that distance would not have weakened Uchiha Kiyoshi this badly. The main problem was that he had already been low on Chakra at the time, leaving him no choice but to squeeze himself dry. In a burst at his limit, he had instantly extracted a great deal of Chakra, but his body had now been weakened to the extreme. If the Body Nourishment Technique had not been nurturing him for so long, he truly would not have dared to do it, nor would he necessarily have been able to instantly extract dozens of units of Chakra.
Still, there was no need to tell Orochimaru any of that. After all, consuming around a hundred units of Chakra to substitute over ten meters was already astonishing. Others would need at least several thousand units, a difference of dozens of times.
In any case, he had plenty of ways to save his own life. Orochimaru probably would not investigate this particular matter too deeply.
And Orochimaru truly did not pay much attention to how Uchiha Kiyoshi had activated the Substitution Technique. Judging by how weak he was, the side effects were severe enough. Picking Uchiha Kiyoshi up by the collar, Orochimaru returned to Nawaki and Sarutobi Saku.
Seeing that Uchiha Kiyoshi was all right, Nawaki also breathed a sigh of relief. But seeing him being carried back by Orochimaru, Nawaki could not help laughing.
After setting Uchiha Kiyoshi down, Orochimaru finally had the chance to examine Sarutobi Saku's injuries.
The situation had been urgent. Nawaki had dealt with it relatively easily, directly releasing a large amount of Chakra to block much of the explosion's force. Sarutobi Saku had suffered the most, even worse than Uchiha Kiyoshi, who had been at the center of the explosion.
Already the one with the least Chakra, he had nearly exhausted it after dealing with Matsuoka Seizo and then tangling with Matsuoka Seiji for a while. All he could do at the time was mobilize the pitiful amount of Chakra he had left to strengthen his body and avoid having his limbs blown off. Sarutobi Saku had also tried his best to hide behind Matsuoka Seiji, barely managing to withstand it.
At this point, Sarutobi Saku had quite a few wounds from the battle, along with burns on both arms. He was seriously injured.
"Thankfully, there are no fatal wounds. Sarutobi Saku merely passed out from the blast."
After confirming that Sarutobi Saku had no fatal injuries, Orochimaru returned to Uchiha Kiyoshi and fed him a Soldier Pill.
"Recover some Chakra quickly and treat Sarutobi Saku. Though his injuries aren't fatal, if this keeps up, he probably won't make it back to the village."
Uchiha Kiyoshi did not delay. After swallowing the Soldier Pill and recovering some Chakra, he unsteadily made his way to Sarutobi Saku's side.
His hands formed seals.
"Healing Technique."
Green light bloomed from his hands as Uchiha Kiyoshi began feeling around Sarutobi Saku's body. Ahem. Do not misunderstand. He was only treating him.
More than ten minutes passed before Uchiha Kiyoshi finally stabilized Sarutobi Saku's injuries. As long as he continued treating him on the road, there should not be any major issues. Then, after receiving treatment at Konoha Hospital for a while, he would be fine.
"Kiyoshi, I need treatment too! Hurry up, it hurts like hell."
After seeing that Sarutobi Saku was more or less treated, Nawaki began howling from the side.
Helpless, Uchiha Kiyoshi could only recover some more Chakra before starting to treat Nawaki.
"Hey! Kiyoshi, your Medical Ninjutsu is pretty good. It may not compare to my sister's, but getting treated like this after being injured on a mission really works wonders."
"Lie still and stop moving."
Uchiha Kiyoshi smacked Nawaki on the head irritably and continued the treatment.
Fortunately, though Uchiha Kiyoshi had overdrawn his body, he had the Body Nourishment Technique. While extracting Chakra, he broke down some of it to nourish his body, and his physical condition actually improved somewhat.
A day later, after receiving proof from Ryūgetsu Village that the mission had been completed, the members of Team 3 set off on the road back to the village.
Sarutobi Saku woke up during that day. Seeing himself wrapped in bandages, he felt like crying. There were no anesthetics here. Although Uchiha Kiyoshi had treated him, his injuries had not fully healed. The pain was truly exquisite.
Uchiha Kiyoshi was also conducting a post-battle review.
"First, I was still too careless. They actually had Chakra. Although it looked like they had only extracted it recently and could not use Ninjutsu. And when I saw that they had Chakra, I did not immediately think of Explosive Tags. I still treated them as samurai. That should not have happened. Mm, I need to remember that.
After reviewing the battle, Uchiha Kiyoshi recorded each of his mistakes one by one to ensure he would not make them again.
"I previously thought that Nawaki could survive until the Second War in the original story, so I let my guard down somewhat. That was also wrong. This is a real world. I cannot always view it through the original story.
But after this incident, Nawaki should pay more attention to such things, right? He should not get blown to death again, right? Mm, when we get back, I can use this as an excuse to teach Nawaki how to identify traps."
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