"Is that so... Is it over...?"
Looking at his original body, the Chiba clone standing guard outside the door drew a slight breath. Listening to the sound of rushing water gradually beginning to subside, he let out a soft sigh.
"Mm..."
In response, even in the face of victory, the original Chiba showed no joy. He merely nodded.
After all, the one inside was Obito—his companion. Even if Obito had gone dark, even if they had become enemies, even if what Chiba protected was precisely what Obito sought to destroy, they had still shared hardships together. Chiba could not help but feel miserable.
If he could accept this matter without a second thought, then he would not be Chiba.
And he would not deserve Hirohiko, Yukina, Kushina, and the others risking their lives for him.
Still, it had gone smoothly in the end.
Kushina and Minato Namikaze had now been rescued and taken somewhere absolutely safe. Naruto was unharmed as well.
Judging from the first half of the night, everything had truly gone without a hitch.
But it had also been perilous in the extreme. If even one link had gone wrong, if he had used even a little more Chakra, then perhaps...
After nodding, Chiba forcibly suppressed the sorrow and melancholy in his heart. He glanced at his Shadow Clone and Pakkun, who was slowly walking over, feeling deeply fortunate.
Honestly, although this battle had appeared thrilling but safe, with everything within his calculations—even the flaw caused by his excessive excitement failing to produce any bad outcome—only Chiba himself knew just how dangerous it had truly been.
With the slightest error, he might have fallen into an abyss beyond redemption. Minato Namikaze and Kushina likely would not have escaped so easily either.
Yet the danger this time had not