Zeroing Out

It is with deep regret that due to various unavoidable reasons, Yuhara could not obey Captain Hayase's orders.

After finally expressing his feelings and emotions to the Captain one last time, Yuhara lightly flipped the Mercury Longsword in his hand so its edge faced upward. Then, he slightly twisted his wrist and flicked it upward, effortlessly slicing the spherical object previously held by the sword into two halves.

People are like that; once they grasp the power to decide another's life or death, it's hard to expect them to act entirely by the rules. Although Yuhara wasn't so deluded as to believe he had the right to judge others, he truly felt that this Captain deserved to die.

Since he deserved to die, then he should die.

To be honest, this kind of emotional action is not commendable, yet Yuhara couldn't think of any reason why the other person was worth protecting.

Seeing an exceptionally young child die on the battlefield, Yuhara still found it somewhat difficult to accept. Moreover, judging by the location of the child's wounds, he seemed hesitant in his escape, or rather, he might have been executing some foolish order to intercept the enemy.

No one can expect a child to accurately judge whether an order should be carried out, nor can they expect him to openly resist the instructions of his adult captain. Therefore, the responsibility for his death does not lie with him, but with the person who gave the order and the person who appointed him as captain.

Yuhara calmed his emotions slightly, then abandoned the two bodies and continued to retreat... At this point, there was no need to be sentimental about whether to collect the child's remains, as the person was already dead.

To avoid encountering the overly powerful Yagura Karatachi, Yuhara's subsequent actions became even more cautious and vigilant.

The further he retreated inland towards the Land of Fire, the more uneasy Yuhara felt. He had initially thought that if a foolish captain like that could evade Yagura's pursuit and survive, then others should also be able to survive. However, the reality did not seem as good as he had imagined.

He only saw one corpse after another, and then...

His bad premonition was confirmed.

Yuhara's gaze swept over a certain spot, and he abruptly stopped his hurried movement through the forest. Not far to his right, on the ground, a very familiar figure lay there.

"Tigo..."

Yuhara quickly arrived beside her and confirmed it was indeed Tigo.

A glance at her injuries instantly weighed heavily on Yuhara's heart. Tigo's left abdomen was pierced through by a fist-sized hole, and some of her internal organs had been blown out. The blood gushing from her wound had already stained the surrounding ground red.

When so much blood flows out, people often wonder how such a small body can contain so much blood...

"Cough..."

Tigo's life was rapidly draining away, but she still had a final breath.

She seemed to recognize Yuhara and wanted to say something, but she no longer had the ability.

"Tigo, can you hear me?"

Yuhara knelt beside her, gently placing his hand on her neck, and found her breathing and heartbeat so weak they were almost imperceptible.

How could he save her?

Yuhara and Tigo's relationship was simple and complex at the same time. Comrades or friends, their relationship was just that, yet she was the only person Yuhara knew in this world.

So Yuhara absolutely did not want her to die like this.

But the problem was that Yuhara knew no medical skills, and with Tigo's current severe injuries, he had no means of treatment... No, if there was a way to prolong a person's life, Yuhara did have one:

Living Corpse Reincarnation.

However, Living Corpse Reincarnation was a forbidden jutsu that the caster applied to themselves. Could it be used by one person on another? The key was that Yuhara didn't have a body for reincarnation, and he hadn't thoroughly studied Living Corpse Reincarnation beforehand...

But he couldn't afford to think about these issues carefully, as Tigo could stop breathing and her heart could stop at any moment. Therefore, Yuhara only had this one method to try.

"Don't worry, I will definitely save you."

Yuhara moved his hand from Tigo's neck, then squeezed her palm firmly. Afterward, he first took out the scroll containing the secret technique of Living Corpse Reincarnation from his ninja tool bag, and then took out several blank scrolls.

After unfolding the scroll of Living Corpse Reincarnation and a terrifying scroll, Yuhara wiped some of Tigo's blood and prepared to draw the spell formula by comparison.

"A complete reincarnation ritual is impossible. The only thing that can be attempted now is to convert her life and chakra into a special mental + energy hybrid, and then temporarily seal this energy..."

Yuhara quickly sorted out the only possibility and then concentrated his mind to begin the step-by-step operation.

Correct? Incorrect? Success? Failure?

Honestly, Yuhara had no time to consider the consequences. Could his irresponsible promise just now be kept? Only heaven knew.

In a short while, Yuhara quickly drew the spell formula, his forehead already sweating.

Next, he propped Tigo up with difficulty, then placed his left palm on her abdomen, injecting his chakra mixed with nature energy into her body. While guiding her chakra to flow through her meridians, he used his right hand to manipulate her hands into forming seal after seal.

"Tigo, hold on."

When the seals on Tigo's hands finally ended, something suddenly surged out of her body and was drawn into the scroll inscribed with the special spell formula.

Then, Yuhara quickly formed seals, completing the closure of the spell formula on the scroll. After he rolled up the scroll and sealed it tightly, he found that Tigo in his arms had completely lost all signs of life.

Ultimately, he completed the ritual just before Tigo's life force extinguished. However, whether what was extracted was Tigo's true mental + energy hybrid or simply her chakra, Yuhara had no way of knowing.

But based on common sense and experience, such a high-difficulty S-rank forbidden jutsu would almost certainly not succeed on the first try, even if it was just attempting a third of the entire process.

The living person could no longer give any response; Yuhara only received a light scroll.

After carefully putting away the scroll, Yuhara then sealed Tigo's body.

When Yuhara stood up again, a look of confusion involuntarily appeared on his face.

Rindou, Xinliang, Jian Dong, Tigo. Although Yuhara's contact with these people was not particularly deep, after Tigo, he felt that his relationship with this world had been reset to zero again.

Everything seemed to return to the moment he first woke up in the dungeon. Yuhara felt a sense of loss.

People only act according to their own feelings. Perhaps it was for this reason that he was particularly unwilling for Tigo to die like this.

Because he was unsure if Yagura had left, Yuhara's current location was still very dangerous. He should leave as soon as possible, yet he stood motionless in place...

Since all connections had been severed, Yuhara began to ponder whether he should return to Konoha.

He quickly came to a conclusion.

How did Jian Dong die? And why did Tigo encounter such a fate?

Are some lives more valuable than others? Do some people have higher standing?

Why was the squad assigned a captain who lacked even basic tactical competence?

Who was right and who was wrong? Who took responsibility and contributed? Who betrayed trust?

After pondering these questions, Yuhara naturally made his decision... he would return to Konoha.

Because he seemed to have figured out what he truly needed to do.

And after making this decision, Yuhara did not leave immediately.

Before he returned, he needed to recover his teammates' bodies as much as possible... Of course, he also needed to destroy the Captain's body.

This wasn't out of spite, but simply because the way that adult died, and the wounds left on them, were completely different from everyone else. This could easily lead to questions.

Therefore, no flaws could be left behind.