Three Plans

That direction?

The pale green glow in his hand slowly faded. Chiba raised his head and looked north-northeast. After calculating, he determined that of the three directions, the most likely one was there.

I'll head there first. Hirohiko should have stopped them by now. Once I'm fifty to a hundred meters out of the forest, Gate of Pain Mode's vision should let me see them. If I still don't see them after a hundred meters, I'll switch directions.

If none of the three directions work, then I can only go back and find Yukina! Or wait for Yukina to find me! With that thought, Chiba wiped away the dead skin shed from his abdomen during treatment, pushed off the ground, and shot northward—toward the eastern side of the grassland.

I never expected that, among possibilities D, E, and F, F would be the one to happen. Plan F was never the plan I wanted to carry out most! With a sharp crash, Chiba crossed his hands and burst through the gap between two trees clogged by half-charred branches and leaves blown there by the explosion's shockwave. The scorched foliage shattered and scraped against each other, scattering fragments, brittle leaves, and broken twigs with a rustling burst.

Tap!

Amid the shower of fragments, brittle leaves, and broken branches, Chiba landed in a half-kneel. Emerald light flowed through his eyes, and in the next instant, he shot forward again, covering nearly four or five meters in a single leap.

Possibilities D, E, and F were the three scenarios the three of them had discussed for after "the bomb was detonated and the enemy remained unharmed." That was, after Iwa and Kumogakure learned of each other's movements through sensory ninja following the explosion, the three actions they might take.

Possibility D was that