No exceptions next time (two-in-one chapter)

Isshiki was extremely cautious. To evade Insect Princess's pursuit, he hid carefully in a concealed place until he could hold on no longer, then responded to the real hiding place.

The ruins where the Ten-Tails resided.

There was no other choice. If he did not return to the Ten-Tails to replenish his Chakra, he would die.

Even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance of success, this was the only thing he could do.

After all—

"I seriously wounded her."

Given her condition at the time, she no longer had the strength to pursue him.

A pitch-black space gate opened. Isshiki laboriously rolled out of it and hovered low in the air, covered in cracks as he flew toward the Ten-Tails.

The little Ten-Tails was delighted to see its master.

Although it was called the little Ten-Tails, its size was relatively close to that of a normal Tailed Beast. It really was tiny: a single Rinnegan in the middle of its face, a huge head, no neck, and a plump lump of flesh lying in the ruins. In Mimi's eyes, it looked rather stupidly adorable.

The ruined buildings, weathered by the passage of time, had huge skylights overhead. Sandstorms occasionally howled through them.

This place was—

"The Wind Country?"

It was not the side facing the sea, but the western region.

In the Wind Country, the local people and shinobi all lived in the eastern region. The farther west one went, the more desolate it became.

Mimi had once investigated the Wind Country and discovered many ruins exposed on the surface or buried underground, leaving a deep impression on her.

However, the Wind Country was too vast. Mimi had only traveled toward the coast and had never entered the vast uninhabited areas deep in the west.

She had thought Isshiki