By the time the Sunagakure ninja in the camp had mostly withdrawn through the tunnel they had arrived through, Inuzuka Gai and Aburame Tomohiro also reached the camp, with Orochimaru following behind them.
That snapped Hyuga Shinichi out of his regretful daze.
It seemed he had forgotten to consider when this batch of reinforcements would arrive.
From the moment he saved Dan Katō's body to the Sunagakure ninja's withdrawal now, less than fifteen minutes had passed.
Even if he used Wind Style: Wind Step for the entire journey and moved as fast as possible, there was no way he could have put much distance between himself and those behind him who were also rushing at full speed.
They could have caught up with him and reached the camp within fifteen minutes as well.
It seemed he had been too anxious about Dan Katō earlier to think of all that.
Still, there had been nothing wrong with his decision, given the strength of his side.
If the second wave of reinforcements had not arrived as they had now, but encountered some trouble on the way, then if the Konoha ninja had chosen to stop the Sunagakure ninja from withdrawing, many would certainly have died before they could hold out for reinforcements.
Orochimaru, who commanded the second reinforcement unit, immediately grasped the situation and promptly ordered the reinforcements to head to the defensive line and pursue the Sunagakure ninja.
Dan Katō had regained most of his strength and was already able to stand. He came to Hyuga Shinichi's side and smiled as he comforted the pensive Shinichi.
"Shinichi, don't overthink it. I think your decision just now was fine, because you were thinking about your comrades' lives."
Hyuga Shinichi shook his head.
"I'm not that burdened by my decision. Brother-in-law, you should