Hihi's Death

With a Body Flicker Technique, Sen Chisato landed and doubled back.

Looking at the handful of stragglers who had lost the will to fight, Sen Chisato no longer felt like continuing the attack.

He casually tossed out the three special Kunai on him and plopped down.

After letting it all out, he finally felt a lot better.

Just as he thought that, he realized something: he had reduced more than twenty ninjas to dust. There weren't even any bodies left to find.

"...What a loss!" After holding it in for a long time, Sen Chisato suppressed the urge to swear and let out a helpless sigh.

On the cliff, the three members of Team Minato stared wide-eyed, their jaws nearly hitting the ground.

When Uchiha Obito came to his senses, he rubbed his eyes hard, turned his back to the cliff, and dropped onto the ground, propping himself up with both hands as he stared blankly at the sky. "I must be seeing things!"

Nohara Rin clasped her hands to her chest, feeling as though her heart were about to leap out.

She turned her head without thinking and blinked. "Huh? Where's Minato-sensei?"

"Down below." Kakashi turned and found a path leading down the cliff. "Come on. We should regroup."

"Oh, right!" Nohara Rin immediately followed.

Uchiha Obito scrambled after them. "Hey, wait for me!"

By the time the three of them hurried over, Namikaze Minato was complaining to Sen Chisato.

"You could've just taken care of them yourself. Why'd you make me do it?"

"And that's not all. Where are my other Flying Thunder God Kunai?"

Namikaze Minato stood with his hands on his hips, looking helpless.

Sen Chisato sat cross-legged on the ground, lowered his head, and pointed ahead. Then he swept his arm slowly from side to side. "They're probably still somewhere in the forest... I think?"

"You're sure?" Namikaze Minato asked with a wry smile.

The Kunai bore Flying Thunder God Marks, so he could sense them. If they were still on the surface, that was fine; he could retrieve them with ease.

But there was a good chance they'd been buried underground!

Sen Chisato gave an awkward laugh and pulled his hand back.

He really had handled this poorly.

He'd been too caught up in venting earlier. The two large-scale ninjutsu attacks had also caused his Shadow Clones to vanish... Mostly because his clones hadn't even considered retreating. They were only Shadow Clones, after all.

As a result, Namikaze Minato's special Kunai hadn't been retrieved.

Seeing Namikaze Minato's troubled expression, he tried to reassure him. "Don't be mad. They're just a few Kunai. If they're lost, they're lost. I'll pay you back. Besides, we can still find them, right?"

"How?" Namikaze Minato asked, spreading his hands. He wasn't angry, but of course it would be better if he could get them back.

The three members of Team Minato happened to catch his eye, so Sen Chisato turned and called, "You three, come here!"

Kakashi and the others exchanged glances, then hurried over.

Sen Chisato took out a storage scroll. After activating it, he formed a hand seal.

Poof!

A cloud of smoke burst out, revealing three iron shovels.

He tossed a shovel to each of them and ordered, "Go find all your teacher's special Kunai."

Uchiha Obito caught his shovel in a fluster, looking unable to accept this. "Huh?"

They weren't the ones who'd lost them. Why should they have to dig around for them?

Obito looked ready to refuse.

Kakashi said nothing. He hefted his shovel and prepared to carry out the order.

Namikaze Minato quickly put a hand on his shoulder and sighed. "Never mind. I'll do it myself."

If he left it to them, who knew how long they'd take? Better to search on his own. If he could retrieve the Kunai, he would. If not, then so be it.

Sen Chisato glanced at the few Sand Ninja corpses that remained and sighed, shaking his head. "Never mind. Even a tiny mosquito is still meat."

He buried the bodies and gained a small amount of chakra, along with some proficiency in ninjutsu he already knew.

By then, Namikaze Minato had finished retrieving the Kunai.

After putting away more than ten special Kunai, he said seriously, "Let's head back."

"Okay."

Sen Chisato nodded, eager to leave. After a pause, he pointed at Team Minato and asked, "Are they coming with us?"

"We can't make them travel alone, can we?" Namikaze Minato smiled faintly. He had the four of them hold hands, then placed a hand on Kakashi's and Sen Chisato's shoulders. "Besides, I left a Flying Thunder God Mark at Konoha Base Camp before we came here."

"Now, focus. We're leaving." After warning them, he immediately activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.

In an instant, the five of them vanished.

For Sen Chisato, it was a rare and wondrous experience.

He felt like an arrow loosed from a bow, shot from a fully drawn string. Everything in sight stretched into countless long, thin lines.

He knew it was a spatial jump, with mountains and rivers between the starting point and destination, yet he felt no resistance at all, and his thoughts never faltered. It was as if he'd entered a river running through mountains and valleys and only needed to drift along with the current.

After a brief daze, everything before his eyes came into focus.

He looked up and saw that they had returned to the front-line camp.

"Truly amazing." Sen Chisato marveled, reassessing Namikaze Minato's value.

Just this one technique alone made him worth devising a specific countermeasure for!

For the first time, Namikaze Minato ranked alongside Uchiha Obito in Sen Chisato's mind.

Of course, Uchiha Obito was still more important.

After all, behind Uchiha Obito stood Uchiha Madara, and through him, Sen Chisato could also make contact with the Akatsuki.

Namikaze Minato felt uncomfortable under his strange gaze. "Senri, why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's nothing. Don't go and die on me."

Sen Chisato answered casually, adding silently, If you have to die, do it in front of me!

Namikaze Minato paused, then broke into a bright smile.

Few people ever said things like that to him.

And given what he knew about Sen Chisato—that he was an awkward sort—he understood this was Sen Chisato's way of showing goodwill.

So he nodded. "I will."

As they talked, they arrived outside the Command Tent.

Before they could enter, someone lifted the flap and stepped out.

Seeing him, Sen Chisato froze. "Uncle Hakuba?"

Sarutobi Hakuba's face lit up with joy, but he quickly composed himself. A hint of sorrow flashed in his eyes. "You're back, kid."

Sen Chisato frowned.

He'd noticed the change in Sarutobi Hakuba's expression and the sorrow in his eyes.

Looking at Sarutobi Hakuba's arm, which hung in a sling across his chest, he asked, "Your arm..."

"My arm's fine." Sarutobi Hakuba lifted it slightly, then fell silent.

After a long while, he sighed. "Hihi died in last night's battle."

Sen Chisato opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

This was the first time he'd experienced something like this.

Someone he knew, someone he could call an acquaintance, had died.

"Where's his body? Was it sent back to Konoha?" Sen Chisato asked without thinking.

Burying bodies, getting rewards, growing stronger... That was what Sen Chisato had been doing ever since arriving in this world. Five years of it had made it a habit.

So when faced with a death, the first thing he thought of was the body.

But as soon as he asked, he realized he didn't actually care that much about Hyuga Hihi's body.

"No. Hihi's body is still here."

Sarutobi Hakuba forced a stiff smile. "Didn't you say that if anything happened to us, you'd take care of our final arrangements? Hihi... is still waiting for you."

Sen Chisato raised his head, his expression impassive. "Did he say that?"

Sarutobi Hakuba nodded. "It was his dying wish. The Hyuga Clan wanted to take his body away, but Lord Orochimaru stopped them. Lord Hokage agreed as well."

"I see." Sen Chisato lowered his eyes. "Where is he?"

"Come with me." Sarutobi Hakuba nodded to Namikaze Minato in greeting, then turned and walked away.

Sen Chisato said nothing and followed on his own.

"Senri..." Nohara Rin looked worried and instinctively started to follow, but Kakashi stopped her.

Kakashi held her by the shoulder and watched Sen Chisato walk away. "It's best not to disturb him right now."

He'd been through something like this himself.

He'd graduated at five, joined one squad after another, and kept going on missions, watching his teammates die before his eyes again and again—until he joined Team Minato.

Unfortunately, back then, he'd shut off his heart and his emotions. His teammates' deaths had meant nothing to him.

He hadn't expected to face this today.

Even as a bystander, even though the dead ninja was someone he didn't know at all, he could still feel the emotion called "sorrow."

"I'm just worried about him." Nohara Rin clasped her hands to her chest and spoke softly. "Senri must be... really sad, right?"