Seeking Reinforcements

Tobirama Senju left, and his departure made Yuzhen so distraught that he felt regret for a long time afterward.

Because to Yuzhen, Tobirama Senju's departure was no different from a living "Book of Seals" abandoning him. Unfortunately, Tobirama Senju belonged to the Senju Clan, so Yuzhen couldn't occupy him for too long for personal use.

The next month passed without incident at the camp.

No other ninja accidentally stumbled upon the place. Taking advantage of the rare peace, Yuzhen devoted nearly all his energy to training in new ninjutsu.

It had to be said that Tobirama Senju had helped him tremendously. After mastering Water Release ninjutsu, Yuzhen's fighting style became much more varied, his attack power increased, and his practical combat ability rose by more than a single level.

Thanks to Tobirama Senju's guidance in Water Release, Yuzhen had basically learned all the Water Release ninjutsu he could get his hands on during this month or so.

His mastery of the Rasengan had also reached the "beginner level of twelve-year-old Naruto"—in other words, he could use it in actual combat with the help of a clone.

That was already quite good. Further improvement in the Rasengan would be rather difficult.

Aside from that, Yuzhen hadn't relaxed his basic training either. However, compared to his progress in ninjutsu, his basic training had yielded very little...

The quality and quantity of his chakra had barely improved. It couldn't even be called half the effort for twice the result.

This was restricted by his bloodline. Relying on his own efforts was basically impossible, so Yuzhen could only pin his hopes on a White Zetsu. He hoped that one day he could have a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with one.

After Yuzhen finished training that day, he began seriously considering whether it was time to leave this primeval forest.

For one thing, his strength had improved to a certain extent. As long as they didn't encounter a large-scale conflict or an unexpected powerful enemy, they could at least be said to possess some ability to protect themselves.

For another, winter was approaching. Their supplies would only grow scarcer, and the temperature would become an enemy they could expect. Under such circumstances, continuing to remain deep in the forest and "passively avoiding the world" was certainly not a wise choice.

However, just as he was about to make up his mind, several clan members' exclamations suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

Yuzhen looked toward the source of the voices and saw two people running over in a panic.

"Clan Leader, we've received news about another clan member!"

"It's Chihori! We've found Chihori's Summoning Beast!"

Perhaps because they were flustered, or perhaps because they were excited, someone had mistakenly called the "captain" the "Clan Leader."

But this wasn't the time to quibble over that. Yuzhen quickly followed the two men and soon arrived, under their guidance, beneath a large tree not far from the camp.

A small Ninja Dog Summoning Beast was lying on its side there. Its body was covered in numerous horrific wounds that exposed the bone, and its overall condition was terrible. Its breathing was unusually labored.

"Just now, the sentry on duty discovered it. He recognized it as Hagane Chihori's Summoning Beast. After notifying the camp, the others confirmed it as well," someone quickly explained.

The Summoning Ninja Dog was named Beji. Even Yuzhen knew this dog.

"Can it be saved?" he asked.

The Ninja Dog must have encountered an enemy attack while fleeing and suffered terribly. From that, one could imagine how difficult it had been for it to reach this place.

Yet it had still completed its mission.

Everyone fell silent in response to Yuzhen's question, because it did not actually need an answer... Anyone could see that the Ninja Dog had no chance of surviving.

Yuzhen came to the Ninja Dog and crouched down, reaching out to gently stroke its head.

Ninja Dog Beji seemed to remember Yuzhen's scent. With great effort, it raised its neck and lightly pressed the tip of its nose against Yuzhen's palm.

Then it extended its tongue, which had been curled up the entire time, and spat out a tiny scroll.

Yuzhen picked up the scroll and unfurled it. He found a set of coordinates written on it.

"This is information Chihori left behind," Yuzhen said with certainty after reading the scroll.

The information on the scroll was written in Morse Code, a cipher he had taught to some of the clan members.

"Chihori? Is it really Chihori?"

"There are only coordinates. What does that mean?"

"Is that even a question? It's obviously a request for reinforcements."

"It's a request for reinforcements, all right. Chihori is still alive."

"Then... what should we do?"

The question suddenly silenced everyone amid the confusion. Indeed, even if the Ninja Dog had delivered Chihori's plea for help, did they actually have the ability to carry out a rescue?

Everyone looked at Yuzhen in unison.

Yuzhen said nothing. He pressed his palm against the Ninja Dog's head, and before he knew it, its breathing had grown weaker and weaker.

A ninja beside them had been frantically bandaging the Ninja Dog's wounds, but his movements gradually came to a stop.

The Ninja Dog's chest no longer rose and fell. It had lost every trace of life.

"We'll discuss it after we return. Beji... bury her properly here," Yuzhen said.

Ironically, in such a chaotic age, the death of a Ninja Dog was often more moving than the death of a human being.

"Captain, this could very well be a trap set by an unknown enemy... At the very least, we can't rule out that possibility."

After returning to the camp, everyone began discussing the rescue.

Of course, everyone hoped to rescue their clan member. However, they couldn't abandon reason, much less ignore the risks hidden within this matter.

"The code isn't reliable. If Chihori was placed under the enemy's genjutsu, then the code could have been exposed," another ninja said.

"Don't forget, it's been several months since we lost our village. This request for help... came a little too late."

When their village was destroyed by the enemy, most of the clan members were killed, while a small number broke out in scattered groups. If anyone besides the people at the camp had survived, then he or they should have sent a message long ago.

"Perhaps they only just managed to contact us."

Maybe it wasn't that they hadn't tried to contact them, but that they hadn't been able to... That was also a possibility.

Most people seemed opposed to responding to the request for help, because it contained more than a few suspicious points.

But Yuzhen knew that their thoughts contradicted their words—or rather, their emotions conflicted with their reason.

People had feelings. The harsher their circumstances, the more precious certain things seemed.

Yuzhen stopped everyone's argument and motioned for them to be quiet before saying, "Regardless, the request for help did indeed come from Chihori. We can't pretend we didn't see it."

"I've decided... to carry out the rescue operation."