35. Choice

The moment Unohana and Haihara left happened to coincide with the instant Ye Zi broke through the stone coffin, so Ye Zi did not see which direction Unohana and Haihara had gone.

The intense, high-speed battle had left him with little Chakra. Ye Zi reined in his Chakra, and the surging electric threads slowly faded away. He turned to glance into the distance behind him, where Manda and the rock lizard were churning up a storm.

With the target's destination unknown, and the current situation and his condition unsuitable for pursuit, Ye Zi gave up the chase.

On the street, Kushina and the others had fallen into an extremely dangerous situation.

Because they had to protect the injured Miki and Bei Xingye, Kushina and Kotoha could only defend passively, and several more wounds had already appeared on their bodies.

The ninjas surrounding them seemed well versed in wearing down their opponents. They did not close in, instead attacking from a distance, mainly targeting Miki and Bei Xingye. Both of them had suffered severe leg injuries, making them easier to hit with their restricted movement. Moreover, as time passed, the enemy's chances of victory only grew, so they were in no hurry at all.

Kushina and Kotoha, on the other hand, grew increasingly frantic. Not only were they injured, but their Chakra was also rapidly draining away. Before long, forget protecting Miki and Bei Xingye, even the two of them would die here.

At first, Bei Xingye had been terrified of being left behind. But as he watched the wounds on Kushina's body multiply, his heart ached, and his fear gradually weakened. He was very afraid of dying here, but he was even more afraid that Kushina would die here because of him.

"Kushina, you should go." His resolute tone was no joke.

Kushina's body paused slightly, then immediately moved again. With her back to Bei Xingye, she said firmly, "Impossible."

Bei Xingye's eyes trembled violently. Looking at Kushina's back, he felt a deep sorrow rising within him. He had always wanted to become a man who could stand tall and protect others, yet he, who had always been the weakest, had instead constantly been protected.

"Go!" he suddenly shouted with all his might.

If possible, he did not want to die so easily. He wanted to stay by her side until he could enter her eyes, even if not her heart...

Kushina bit her lip, unmoved. How could she abandon him just like that...

Miki glanced at Bei Xingye, a trace of sighing emotion passing through his eyes. He said in a deep voice to Kotoha, who was protecting him, "Kotoha, go. I'll buy you time to retreat."

Kotoha shook her head. "No."

"Just this once, listen to me, all right?"

"No."

Miki suddenly roared furiously, "Go!"

The tears Kotoha had held in her eyes slid down her face with that roar.

The enemy ninja commanding the encirclement watched the scene, which resembled a farewell between people facing life and death, and let out a cold laugh. "Not one of you is getting away."

The instant he finished speaking, the sinister smile on his face froze. The pain in his chest made him slowly lower his head, only to see a sharp blade tip protruding from his chest.

"Urgh..."

Ye Zi yanked out his blade with force. A large amount of blood sprayed into the air, and the ninja collapsed to the ground.

The surrounding ninjas were startled by Ye Zi's sudden appearance and all turned to attack him. Ye Zi activated Dotonjutsu, Lightning Armor, dodged their attacks, and quickly arrived beside Kushina.

Kushina's expression brightened when she saw Ye Zi. "Ye Zi, do you have any..."

Ye Zi interrupted her without hesitation. "Staying here means death." As he spoke, he glanced around. More and more enemies were closing in through the deep night. The moon was currently hidden behind dark clouds, and escaping under cover of darkness would be much easier.

"You want to abandon your teammates?" Kushina stared at him blankly.

Ye Zi did not look at Kushina. Instead, he looked toward Bei Xingye and said calmly, "He has already made his choice."

Bei Xingye met Ye Zi's gaze, and a broad smile suddenly appeared on his face.

Ye Zi's cold expression froze at that smile.

"I know you can protect Kushina, right?" Bei Xingye endured the pain and stood up. Even lightly putting weight on his injured leg sent piercing pain through him.

Ye Zi fell silent. It was precisely because of this moment that he could not speak against his conscience. If abandoning Kushina meant he could live, he would abandon her without hesitation, just as he felt no psychological burden about abandoning Bei Xingye.

Bei Xingye did not know what Ye Zi was thinking. Seeing Ye Zi's silence, disappointment appeared in his eyes. He said in a deep voice, "Take Kushina and go."

"No." Kushina stubbornly shook her head while knocking away the incoming Shuriken.

"Don't look down on another person's resolve." Seeing more and more ninjas closing in, while Orochimaru was being held back by Tsuchiya Sanzo, Ye Zi knew they could delay no longer. He grabbed Kushina by the arm and broke through in the direction he had identified beforehand.

Bei Xingye watched the two of them leave, and the smile on his face slowly turned bitter.

"If only I were the person in Kushina's heart... I'm really jealous of you, Ye Zi."

"Kotoha, follow that boy."

Miki glanced at Bei Xingye, then pushed Kotoha toward the direction Ye Zi had left, exposing himself to the countless attacks. That push also shattered all of Kotoha's resolve to remain.

She knew perfectly well that staying behind was meaningless.

So rather than die without purpose, she would be better off living to avenge her father someday.

"I'm sorry..."

Murmuring softly, she turned around resolutely and chased after Ye Zi, a string of sparkling tears scattering through the air.

A relieved smile appeared on Miki's face. Then his expression became resolute.

"Dotonjutsu, Great Gale!"

There was no room left to hold anything back...

Having exhausted all his Chakra, Miki opened his mouth, and a terrifying gale poured forth. It swept up dust filling the sky and blew away everything before him with overwhelming force.

The gale rampaged past and flattened everything in its path. Its might was astonishing, yet it could not annihilate every enemy.

His Chakra exhausted and pain shooting through his legs, Miki fell to the ground panting. At that moment, he no longer had any strength to resist.

"Boy, do you regret it?"

After Ye Zi and the others vanished into the darkness, Bei Xingye could no longer remain standing. Like Miki, he slumped to the ground and looked up at the sky hidden beneath dark clouds. Dejectedly, he said, "I regret it."

"Is that so?" Miki sighed.

"But I feel a little closer to the sky. I really don't want to die...!" Bei Xingye stretched a hand toward the sky, as though he wanted to touch the dark clouds that seemed ready to press down upon the earth.

The enemy ninjas, having recovered from the Great Gale, angrily attacked Bei Xingye and Miki, who had been left behind.

With regret and unwillingness, Bei Xingye and Miki were swallowed up by Dotonjutsu and Shuriken.