Reunion

"So that was it..."

Seeing this scene and recalling the half of a severed arm that had been hanging from Uchiha Tai's leg earlier, Qi Shuang suddenly understood.

That guy must have used the short blade in his hand to cut off one of Kamiya Ki's arms just before the explosion, allowing him to break free.

That also explained why Teacher Ki's remains were missing part of an arm, while Uchiha Tai's leg had gained a severed limb for no apparent reason.

Suddenly, as if realizing something else, he hurriedly said to the three of them, "Hurry and chase him! He's a Konoha Uchiha jōnin! He's seriously injured, so this is the perfect chance to capture him alive!"

"He has the dual identity of an Uchiha and a Konoha jōnin, so he must know plenty of important information. If we can capture him alive, it'll definitely be a great achievement!"

After all, judging from the situation at the time, Uchiha Tai had been far too close to the Explosive Tag.

Even if he had escaped by cutting off Teacher Ki's arm, it was impossible for him to completely avoid the damage from the explosion.

Adding to that the tattered, beggar-like state he had seen him in, Qi Shuang had every reason to believe that the other man had been badly injured and had suffered a severe loss of combat power.

"An Uchiha jōnin?" Hearing this, the Mist Village Chunin who had come to assist sucked in a breath.

He had not expected to encounter such a troublesome enemy so close to the Mist Village's frontline camp.

The Uchiha clan was a prestigious family renowned throughout Konoha, as well as a famous warrior clan in the shinobi world.

Their Sharingan Kekkei Genkai had forged a reputation so fearsome that countless people stopped in their tracks at the mere sight of it.

Moreover, the Uchiha clan was one of the founding elders of Konoha, and therefore held an extraordinary position within the village.

If the opponent was also a jōnin who knew a great deal of important information, the possibility of all this was extremely high!

"But... he's a Konoha jōnin..." The Mist Village Chunin who had arrived hesitated.

The Uchiha clan's reputation had not been fabricated. It had been earned through real, bloody battles.

On top of that, there was the gap between a jōnin and a Chunin. He had no confidence that he could fight the other man.

"Don't be afraid!"

Qi Shuang glanced at the charred remains and continued, "Teacher Kamiya Ki seriously wounded him with an Explosive Tag by using a mutually destructive attack. His combat power has been greatly reduced. You only need to catch up and hold him back. Once the reinforcements arrive, you'll definitely be able to capture him alive!"

"You're sure?" the man asked again.

They had come in a hurry, and the opponent had retreated just as quickly. The two sides had never formally come face-to-face, so he had no idea what condition the other man's body was actually in.

"I'm sure!" Qi Shuang nodded firmly.

He still remembered Uchiha Tai's tattered, battered, and miserable appearance with absolute clarity.

He had clearly suffered serious injuries. Otherwise, as a jōnin, there was no way he would have fled without looking back when faced with the three Mist shinobi who had arrived—one Chunin and two Genin.

"Captain?"

The little boy at the Genin level glanced at the leader, his face filled with eager anticipation.

The chance to fight the famous Sharingan, and perhaps even capture its wielder alive, had him practically unable to wait.

"All right!"

The Chunin leader thought for a moment, then nodded. After glancing at Qi Shuang, he said solemnly, "You stay here and coordinate with the reinforcements. The three of us will catch up and stop him!"

"Mm, I understand!" Qi Shuang agreed at once without objection.

Any jōnin held a pivotal position in every shinobi village, let alone an Uchiha jōnin.

Although capturing a Konoha jōnin alive would bring tremendous credit, his own chakra had already been exhausted, leaving him with no strength to fight again.

Whether he could even catch up was questionable. Even if he did, in his current condition, he would only be a burden.

After barely escaping death, if he rushed forward greedily for the sake of credit and ended up dying at that man's hands, that would be unbelievably stupid!

Compared with credit, he still felt that his own life was worth more.

"Demon, Zabuza, let's go!"

After calling out to the two subordinates beside him, the Mist Village Chunin leader immediately followed the residual chakra lingering in the air and took the lead in pursuing the Konoha jōnin.

As soon as he spoke, the eager boy followed after him.

"Take care of yourself!" The remaining girl earnestly reminded Qi Shuang.

"Mm, I will! Thank you!" Qi Shuang replied with a reassuring smile.

Only then did the brown-haired, green-eyed little boy leave with peace of mind, sprinting after his two companions in the direction they had gone.

Watching his gradually receding back, Qi Shuang's thoughts drifted far away.

His mind settled on the little boy from moments earlier.

"Zabuza? I never expected us to meet again so soon!" he sighed softly.

From the moment they met, he had felt that the boy looked somewhat familiar, but he could not remember why.

It was only after hearing the leader call out the name "Zabuza" that he finally realized it. That little boy was the madman who had slaughtered all the other candidates in the same examination.

His classmate—Demon Zabuza!

It was no wonder he had failed to recognize him at first. Zabuza was only around ten years old at this point, and his appearance was worlds apart from the way he had looked in the original story when he appeared as the wielder of Kubikiribōchō.

Moreover, although Zabuza had been his classmate, that had belonged to the learning career of the original owner of this body, not to his own genuine memories.

He himself had only encountered Zabuza once, during the graduation examination. After more than a year had passed, the impression had naturally faded.

That was why he had failed to recognize Zabuza at first.

Now that they had met again, his heart was filled with a myriad of emotions.

Meanwhile, after seeing the little boy catch up with the group, Zabuza asked curiously, "What were you doing? Why did you take so long to catch up?"

"Nothing. I just reminded him to be careful!" the boy replied indifferently.

"I think you were worrying about that guy for nothing!" Zabuza shook his head.

"What? Is something wrong?" the boy asked in surprise. Even the leading shinobi turned back curiously to look at the two of them.

The corner of Zabuza's mouth twitched. Helplessly, he said, "That annoying lucky bastard couldn't even be killed by an Uchiha jōnin. I honestly can't imagine who could kill him!"

"Or... should we have the Konoha Sannin give it a try?"

"Annoying lucky bastard? You know him?" the boy asked in astonishment.

Judging from his tone, the two of them seemed to know each other.

"He was the only survivor of my graduation examination!" Zabuza curled his lip.

During that examination, the guy had been poisoned by him and had withdrawn temporarily. Although he had become a laughingstock for a while, he had also avoided Zabuza's blade.

That had left a flaw in Zabuza's plan to wipe out all the candidates in the examination.

As a result, he had been left with an extremely deep impression of this lucky classmate.

That was why he had recognized him the moment they met just now.