Pain

As the poisonous mist began to spread, Chiba suddenly remembered something.

He scrambled to his feet, frantically opening the ninja tool pouch that hung diagonally across his waist.

Tucked away in a corner of the pouch lay a peculiar-looking half-face mask.

This mask was one of the legacies Scarface had left behind for Chiba.

On a battlefield against Rain Ninja who excelled in poison gas ninjutsu, a gas mask was undoubtedly standard equipment; even the Rain Ninja themselves had to carry one, as they could not withstand their own toxic arts.

In wealthier major ninja villages, such equipment was naturally indispensable.

However, according to Scarface's original instructions, this item was meant for Chiba to filter dirty water when he couldn't find a clean source.

Scarface likely never imagined that there would come a day when Chiba would actually need it for its intended purpose.

Chiba quickly strapped the mask to his face. Regardless of whether it fit properly, he pressed it tightly against his skin and shoved his head deep into the soil.

Soon, Chiba felt a cold breeze drift over him, followed by a faint, fishy sweetness that made him feel dizzy and lethargic.

Fortunately, aside from the slight lightheadedness, there was no major discomfort, and Chiba could tell his condition wasn't critical.

It must be said that Chiba was lucky; although Hanzo's poison was indeed formidable, it had been diluted significantly after traveling such a distance.

Even Hanzo, known as a demigod, could not kill any ninja with poison gas from a distance of two thousand meters.

If he could truly do that, Hanzo would no longer be a demigod, but a god.

At this range, any ninja could use chakra to instantly neutralize the poison and survive the mist.

Of course, the lethality of this poison mist to ordinary people remained unquestionable.

Fortunately, Chiba happened to have a gas mask, which isolated the vast majority of the toxins and kept him from suffering any real harm.

He maintained his ostrich-like posture for an unknown amount of time before finally collapsing in a daze.

Although he hadn't suffered any serious injury, even a trace of the poison was enough to leave Chiba feeling lightheaded and dizzy.

Just as Chiba was drifting off into a stupor, a shrill, inhuman scream rang out from the distance, jolting him awake.

"Ah—"

"That is..."

Chiba forced his eyes half-open and saw a figure stumbling back and forth among the corpses on the ground.

After squinting for a moment, Chiba finally recognized who this survivor was.

"Izumi! Izumi! Wake up! Yuan! Darling! Get up! Please, get up! Qiu, wake up, big brother is begging you, please, just get up, get up!"

As he confirmed that one person after another was dead, Xia Mu finally broke down completely, letting out another inhuman, wailing scream.

"Ah—"

"It's my fault, it's all my fault, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, sob... I'm sorry."

Xia Mu knelt on the ground in agony, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Brother Xia Mu..."

Chiba struggled to crawl up and walked over to Xia Mu.

"Brother Xia Mu, I'm still alive, I'm still alive."

Xia Mu froze for a moment, then lunged forward and buried himself in Chiba's arms, weeping even more loudly.

"Dead, they're all dead, they're all dead, sob, sob, sob—"

"Brother Xia Mu..."

"It's all my fault. If I hadn't chosen the wrong path, they wouldn't have died, sob—"

Xia Mu's face was streaked with tears, the indescribable, immense pain in his heart clearly etched onto his slightly distorted features.

"Chiba, my heart hurts, my heart hurts so much..."

Chiba gently patted Xia Mu's back, fighting back his own tears as he comforted him: "Brother Xia Mu, it's not your fault. Everyone and I know it's not your fault. No one will blame you."

"It clearly is my fault, it's all because I— Pfft!"

Xia Mu suddenly spat out a mouthful of dark blood and collapsed limply to the ground, his eyes quickly losing focus.

"My fault, it's all my fault..."

"Brother Xia Mu!"

Chiba looked at the suddenly collapsed Xia Mu in a panic, feeling at a loss.

Chiba had originally thought the poison wouldn't affect Xia Mu, but it seemed it had only delayed the onset.

In fact, Xia Mu had only lasted this long due to his physical strength, which far exceeded that of an ordinary person and was even comparable to a genin. But as someone who couldn't use chakra, all he could do was hold on for a little longer.

For a ninja, this poison wasn't considered severe, but for an ordinary person, it was completely incurable.

Chiba suddenly remembered something and rummaged through his ninja tool pouch again.

"The antidote Scarface gave me last time might be effective. He said it could save my life if I ever ate poisoned food."

Chiba took out the small bottle and poured all the pills inside into Xia Mu's mouth in one go.

"My fault, my fault."

Xia Mu kept repeating these words, his eyes becoming increasingly vacant.

"Brother Xia Mu, stop talking for a moment. Hurry and take the medicine; you'll be fine once you take it."

"Right, water. Water."

Chiba hurriedly unhooked the canteen from Xia Mu's waist, fumbled with the cap, and poured it into Xia Mu's mouth.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"Brother Xia Mu, stop talking. Take the medicine, just take the medicine and you'll—"

Water spilled continuously from the corners of Xia Mu's mouth, and his eyes had completely, utterly lost their luster.

"Brother Xia Mu..."

Chiba watched the eyes of the now-dead Xia Mu in silence.

In those eyes, Chiba saw endless pain, guilt, self-reproach, and hatred.

Xia Mu had died in the most agonizing way possible; before the end, he had suffered the most painful torture imaginable to him.

And there was Izumi and the others, those brats who had truly looked up to him as a brother, all of them dead without rhyme or reason.

A few drops of bright red blood dripped from Chiba's tightly clenched fists.

Chiba's entire body trembled violently; in this very moment, he finally understood what true pain felt like.