Blood Shed

Yuhara was sprawled in the mud, but even coated in mud and water, it couldn't hide the heat radiating from his body. No one knew how well-done his right arm had been roasted.

The intense impact almost made Yuhara faint. The burning flames magnified his pain receptors infinitely. After struggling a few times subconsciously, he managed to prop himself up.

It was as if he were looking through a water curtain; the surrounding sounds of rain, battle, and shouting reached Yuhara's ears in a distorted way... Who am I, where am I, what happened?

Okay, it wasn't that dramatic. Yuhara just couldn't understand why the enemy had launched a suicide attack without hesitation, and why the target was him.

The battle had only just begun; why did a perfectly fine person just explode like that? Even a ninja wouldn't treat their own life so carelessly.

However, the enemy hadn't just randomly picked someone to use a "mutual destruction technique" on. Based on the combat power Yuhara had displayed since the battle started, the enemy judged that trading their life for his was worth it.

The enemy considered Yuhara a formidable foe.

This combat situation was very similar to when Yuhara first stepped onto the battlefield. But the absurd part was that this time, Yuhara and his allies were the "Kumogakure powerhouses," while the Amegakure ninja were more like "Squad Z."

If the weak want to challenge the strong, they must pay an unimaginable price. Every Amegakure ninja who walked onto the battlefield was prepared for death. And since they could accept the reality of death, they wouldn't hesitate in their choice to walk towards it.

Of course, these Amegakure ninja could be said to have incredibly tenacious wills, or they could be said to have been maliciously brainwashed... Regardless, the world is what it is.

"Hiss..."

Yuhara let out a long breath, then took a deep inhale and held it. An iron barrier slowly covered his right arm, protecting his body's tissues in place of his severely burned skin.

The enemy who attacked him naturally met a worse fate. Spiritually, that person was heroic, but realistically, they had simply turned into a pile of Indian curry.

The explosion of dozens of explosive tags detonating together hadn't killed Yuhara, which was somewhat unexpected. But the last remaining enemy of the four-person squad noticed Yuhara climbing out of the mud and immediately launched another attack.

As the enemy quickly flipped their wrist and then stopped, a giant fireball flew straight towards Yuhara.

Yuhara wasn't particularly skilled at dealing with area-of-effect damage skills like Fire Release right now. But the next moment, his figure vanished from his original position. The rain curtain was split vertically, and the burning fireball was cut in half horizontally. The sound of wind breaking arose, the sound of wind breaking ceased, and then the enemy discovered a silver longsword piercing his heart.

A bone-chilling cold spread from his chest cavity. Without suffering much pain, his bodily functions ceased.

"Your courage in resisting the enemy is admirable. I don't understand the meaning of this war, but I at least understand that the strong bullying the weak between great nations is undisguised aggression. However... I'm sorry, I don't plan on dying here."

Yuhara dispelled the silver sword in his hand. Then, two bow arms extended from his left wrist. He straightened his arm, and the bowstring of that bow automatically drew back. A black "ribbon" extended from behind him. Once its tip attached to the bow, it instantly formed an iron arrow... Even without using both hands, Yuhara could draw the bow.

He climbed to higher ground and began to support his teammates.

"Retreat! Don't stop moving. Retreat through the gap Yuhara opened!"

Jian Dong instantly grasped the change in the battlefield situation and shouted orders to her subordinates.

The number of Amegakure ninja who had arrived here far exceeded that of the Konoha ninja. Stopping to fight now was meaningless; it would be a slow suicide.

There was only a sliver of hope if they ran.

Jian Dong's order had a positive effect, but it also revealed her identity to the enemy. Consequently, most of the enemies charged towards her.

Facing such a large number of enemies, Yuhara's arrow-by-arrow support was not very effective. So, he could only unleash another "Mercury Lamp"... Now was not the time to be stingy with Chakra consumption.

Silver light flashed. The Konoha ninja darted out of the gap in the enemy encirclement opened by Yuhara. Coupled with Mercury Lamp's instantaneous damage and obstruction, the Konoha side managed to break contact with the enemy temporarily.

Not all twelve members escaped.

However, those who didn't escape no longer needed Yuhara and the others to wait for or aid them.

Yuhara and their actions were aimed at escape, so at this moment, "black lines" as thin as a pinky finger began to climb onto Yuhara's torso and limbs. Then, lightning began to flow along the predetermined path.

"Self-Retribution Cursed Binding Chidori Stream," Yuhara's original (pirated + spliced) Lightning Release Nintaijutsu. This method of using Lightning Release aims to both retain Lightning Release's body-enhancing effects and suppress Chakra consumption to the minimum... However, strictly speaking, this move is less like Chidori Stream and more like an externally driven exoskeleton.

But the enemies couldn't be shaken off so easily. After only a moment's delay, they caught up again.

The Konoha ninja retreated while fighting, their numbers gradually decreasing, and everyone who was still alive was injured.

Yuhara's Chakra was also running low. But as he fought, he suddenly sensed something unusual... The anomaly was the enemies' forehead protectors. Originally, they wore Amegakure forehead protectors, but now, the Amegakure symbol on their protectors often had an extra horizontal line.

Rogue ninja?

This meant that the enemies attacking Yuhara and the others had gradually shifted from Amegakure ninja to Akatsuki ninja.

And at this moment, the Konoha ninja behind them suddenly stopped.

"The enemy is pursuing closely. It's impossible for all of us to escape. Yuhara, we can see your strength. With you, you should be able to protect the Captain and Tigo and reach the Konoha camp... We will stop the enemy." The ninja at the forefront said.

"Kujo..."

For teams like Squad Z, due to their composition, the relationships between members were relatively distant. Besides Tigo and Jian Dong, Yuhara only knew the names of the others. So, he hadn't expected them to voluntarily stay behind to stop the enemy.

Everyone knew what staying behind meant.

"Rather than being wiped out completely, it's better to let those who can survive live. In Konoha, not many people treat us with equality. So... hurry up and go, before we change our minds."

It could only be said that both sides had true men.

It's just...

Heroes dying on the battlefield, for better or worse, is an eternal "fate."