"Just a little more, and they would've caught up to you?"
After listening to Chiba's account, Kushina let out a long breath. After pausing for a while, she asked another question.
"Yeah. Luckily, it seemed the pursuers were distracted by something, so I managed to escape. Otherwise, a fight would've been unavoidable. And if I'd been held up there, Amegakure's reinforcements might have caught up with me. It was close."
Chiba nodded in affirmation.
Chiba was...
At this moment, Yukina, who had also been listening nearby, frowned almost imperceptibly. In the end, though, she said nothing.
From what she knew, Chiba was obviously lying. Or rather, of his explanation that he had gone to gather intelligence, been discovered, and had ultimately been forced to return to the village because of the classified information he had obtained, probably half of it was false.
Yukina believed that the information was classified and extremely important, that he had needed to return immediately, and that Chiba had indeed rushed back to the village despite his injuries.
But there was no way she could believe he had not been discovered. That part was definitely false. Though Chiba had said something this time, he still had not told the whole truth.
Yet this time, Yukina did not feel dissatisfied or think anything was wrong. On the contrary, she very much approved of Chiba saying it that way.
Back then, she had concealed the fact that Chiba had been seriously injured, all so that her Teacher would not be needlessly worried upon learning that Chiba had returned badly wounded yet again. Her Teacher was about to give birth now. It would be terrible if Kushina, a pregnant woman awaiting delivery, suffered some problem because of Chiba's severe injuries.
And if Chiba told the truth now, wouldn't everything