Death Descends, One Must Awaken

Kakashi and the barely risen Team 7 had kept their guard up for nothing.

The ethereal fog lasted only a few moments before vanishing without a trace. Zabuza and Haku's corpses vanished with it.

Kakashi looked over the bridge, now strewn with wreckage. Only shattered weapons and pools of blood remained, soon buried beneath the falling snow.

His brow furrowed slightly as he warily scanned the surroundings, but he sensed no unusual presence.

Something felt strange. Could the real Mist Anbu have come? Was it not some backup Zabuza had left behind?

Though it was strange, he had no way to investigate now. He could only be glad that they had not attacked.

"Teacher Kakashi..."

Sakura called out worriedly. Kakashi pulled down his forehead protector to cover the Sharingan that could not be deactivated, his body feeling somewhat weak.

"I'm fine. They probably didn't want to cause any more trouble. There's a good chance they were the real Mist pursuit unit."

Of course, it could have been something else, but Sakura and the others did not need to know that.

"We're temporarily safe now!"

On the other side, Neji held Haku in his arms, pouring a faint green glow from his hand into her body to maintain the vitality that had not yet truly faded.

Under the control of Life Return, his hair moved like delicate instruments, entering Haku's chest through the penetrating wound as though carrying out some kind of treatment.

Meanwhile, Izumi carried Zabuza at her side and followed behind Neji as the two headed toward the temporary base they had prepared over the past two days.

"Lord Nen, can they still be saved?"

Izumi had been deeply confused by what she had seen earlier. Had they not come to recruit these two?

Why had they watched the pair die before making their move and taking away the two corpses?

However, because she trusted Neji completely, she did not question him. If they died, they died—Neji surely had his own plans.

She had thought Neji intended to abandon them, yet he had acted after their deaths instead. That left Izumi somewhat puzzled.

Neji sped along without looking back, merely explaining in a low voice, "As long as they haven't been dead for more than half an hour, saving them is easy."

The dark medical arts of the Pirate World were terrifying. The twenty-one doctors of Drum Island alone could save you as long as you still had a breath left, no matter what state you were in.

And Vegapunk, where Neji had been, had even researched Human Gigantification experiments and delved too deeply into the Forbidden Zone of Life.

To the point that Vegapunk sealed away the research, saying, "If we continue, we will touch upon a taboo."

With only those words left behind, the experiments ended and all research materials were sealed away. Artificial Devil Fruit research was also halted, dismissed by him as a "failure."

Yet even those "failures" were beyond Caesar, another top scientist, to surpass or replicate.

They were also regarded as valuable goods by "Joker" Doflamingo, used to trade with Emperor Kaido in order to create an army of Zoan Ability Users.

And Haku had only been dead for five or six minutes. She had not suffered true brain death.

Moreover, brain death in this world took much longer. It was even possible to seal a brain and preserve its vitality in order to extract intelligence from it—memory fragments.

Soon, the two arrived at a cliff by the sea. Neji stopped using Medical Ninjutsu and formed hand seals.

The Sealing Jutsu opened a gap, revealing an entrance. The two immediately entered, and the Sealing Jutsu closed over it once more, leaving no trace of anything unusual.

The cave was very simple. Other than the equipment Neji had brought out, nearly everything else was either stone or sofas made from Island Cloud.

Neji quickly finished treating Haku, placed her in nutrient fluid, and sealed her inside a tank. Then he turned his gaze toward Zabuza. His hands blurred as he rapidly tapped across Zabuza's body, stopping the bleeding with simple measures.

"Izumi, pull every weapon out of him. Don't hold back!"

Like pulling quills from a hedgehog, Izumi mercilessly pulled out the weapons one by one and tossed them aside, where they clattered loudly.

The wounds, their flesh torn open, leaked only a little blood. There was no major hemorrhaging at all.

Intense pain triggered neural reflexes throughout Zabuza's body and, almost miraculously, stimulated a final burst of life. He suddenly woke up.

His eyes widened blankly when he saw the Mist pursuit unit uniforms on them. His heart darkened as he sighed inwardly. So I've still fallen into their hands in the end?

"You..."

Smack!

"What do you mean, 'you'? If you're dead, then lie there like a corpse. Why are you playing dead?"

With a slap carrying the technique of the Gentle Fist, Neji knocked Zabuza unconscious again.

His flying hair, controlled through Life Return, worked on multiple tasks at once. As nimble and dexterous as tiny hands, it manipulated a large number of medical tools and stitched the wounds together in an orderly manner.

The unconscious Zabuza's mouth twitched from time to time in neural reflex, his face contorting. They truly did not treat him like a human being.

Izumi assisted Neji. At last, Neji grabbed Zabuza with one hand and directly tossed him into a tank of culture fluid.

Izumi hurriedly wiped the sweat from Neji's forehead. Looking at the two "dead people" who had come back to life, she found it utterly unbelievable.

She had never known Neji possessed such abilities. Usually, he only trained, read books, or cultivated the Byakugan.

"Don't ask, and don't dwell on it. If the time is right, I'll tell you in the future. But that time hasn't come yet."

Neji naturally understood what Izumi was thinking. He told her directly that he would explain when the time was appropriate, cutting off her wild thoughts.

Hmph! Women always overthought strange things. He had no choice but to stop her.

Izumi nodded slightly. She did not ask again, nor did she intend to, because she was a smart woman who knew what could be asked and what could not.

"But now, I'm afraid we'll have to delay for a while. One week won't be enough."

Neji frowned slightly. When the time came, he would have a Shadow Clone show itself and stall for more time, claiming he had encountered a bottleneck.

In any case, he was the only one conducting the research. Whatever he said went, and no one else could interfere. It was not a major problem.

Relaxing, Neji reclined halfway on the Island Cloud while Izumi thoughtfully massaged him gently to help him loosen up.

Neji closed his eyes slightly and enjoyed it. He had originally considered two options.

The first was to save them before they died, which was why he had prepared these Mist pursuit unit uniforms.

The second was to save them after they died, though that would take more time and effort.

He had originally planned to choose the first option, but a thought stirred in his heart. Zabuza, without the resolve that came with facing death, would not be easy to subdue. He also lacked the realization that came at death's door.

When people faced death, they often suddenly saw through many things, as though one foot had already crossed into the other shore of the underworld. That was when they ought to awaken.

That was why people often said that the closer one came to death, the greater the gains, even allowing one to surpass oneself.

At their rate of recovery, they should awaken in three or four days. First, he needed to find a place to establish their base.

Neji slowly opened his eyes, preparing to use the Byakugan to survey the small island of the Land of Waves.

Ah! No recommendation votes, no investments, no monthly passes—I'm going to die! Chapter death-death-death, how terrifying!