Kushina!
Chiba's eyes flew open. He stared wide-eyed, as though he had awakened from some nightmare, his face filled with terror.
Huh? Then, he froze slightly, a trace of confusion flashing across his face.
Where was this? Before him, there was neither Yukina nor Hirohiko, much less Kushina—only a hazy darkness.
This was not the pitch-black space from when he had nearly died before.
At the same time, upon seeing this scene, a thought instinctively flashed through his mind.
So...
I've entered a near-death state again.
Then, the moment that thought arose, Chiba suddenly understood his situation.
A near-death state...
Did I fail? After looking over his still-intact body, Chiba thoroughly confirmed his current condition. Once he understood his circumstances, his expression stiffened slightly.
Yukina...
In the end... I lost to...
Yet at this moment, Chiba did not feel the hysterical rage that came with the failure of everything he had worked toward. He was remarkably calm, though within that calmness lay a sense of helplessness.
Although he had faced Yukina with resentment before, now that he was calm, he understood clearly that Yukina had acted that way only because she could not bear to lose him. That was why she had knocked him unconscious then.
Yukina had realized that the technique he had used was activated by consuming his life.
That was why she had done such a thing.
It was even very possible that, before Kushina died, she had specifically entrusted Yukina with something—such as making sure to stop him whenever he did something foolish.
After all, he had not wanted Kushina to die and had wanted to change her fate, but Kushina might not necessarily have wanted him to trade his life for hers and her happiness.
The soul of Kushina he had seen just before losing