Embers and Shadows

The deafening roar of the explosion seemed to still echo through the valley, but in reality, only a deathly silence remained, accompanied by the charred scent and thick dust permeating the air.

"Ling--!"

Naruto broke free from Jiraiya's grip, scrambling and crawling toward the charred, motionless figure lying at the edge of the crater. His wails were heart-wrenching, sounding jarringly sharp in the empty valley.

Jiraiya endured the agonizing pain racking his body and stumbled over. As he looked at Ling's tragic state, his heart felt as though it were being squeezed by an icy hand. This child... he had pushed himself to this point just to save them.

"Kid Ling..." He knelt down, his trembling hand reaching out to check Ling's carotid artery. The pulse beneath his fingertips was so faint it was almost imperceptible, but it was still there. He was alive! But these injuries...

Jiraiya immediately pressed both hands against Ling's chest, slowly channeling his remaining Sage Chakra into him. The gentle life energy flowed like a trickling stream, cautiously nourishing Ling's nearly withered and shattered meridians, protecting his final thread of life.

"Is... is he still alive? Pervy Sage? Is Big Brother still alive?" Naruto grabbed Jiraiya's sleeve, his eyes swimming in tears, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

"He's alive, stop shaking me!" Jiraiya barked, steadying his focus as he continued to channel chakra. He glanced at Tsunade, who was also unconscious and severely wounded nearby, then looked toward the massive crater in the center of the valley and the few Pains that had completely ceased moving at the bottom.

Did they... win?

He couldn't be sure. Those fellows in the black cloaks with red clouds were too bizarre. Especially those eyes...

"This is no place to linger." Elder Fukasaku hopped onto Jiraiya's shoulder, his tone grave. "Little Jiraiya, both you and Lady Tsunade are heavily wounded, and Kid Ling is even worse... You must find a place to treat him immediately! Who knows if those monsters have any accomplices."

Jiraiya snapped back to reality. He was right; this was no time to let his guard down. He looked at Naruto, who was crying to the point of exhaustion, then at the dying Ling and Tsunade, and gritted his teeth.

"Naruto, help me support Lady Tsunade!" he commanded, carefully hoisting Ling onto his back. Ling's body was frighteningly light, as if all his vitality had been drained by that explosion.

They had to leave this hellish place at once.

Shortly after Jiraiya and the others had made their difficult retreat with the wounded, the space beneath the shadow of a giant tree in the distance of the valley twisted slightly. A red-haired man sitting in a peculiar wooden wheelchair suddenly opened his eyes and began to cough violently, blood spilling from the corners of his mouth. He was gaunt, with strange black rods protruding from his back—he was the true body of the Six Paths of Pain, Nagato.

Beside him, the blue-haired Konan immediately steadied him, her face etched with worry: "Nagato!"

"I'm... I'm fine." Nagato gasped, his Rinnegan filled with shock and a trace of imperceptible... agitation. "The Deva Path... has been destroyed. That Uchiha brat... he actually..."

Using the final vision transmitted back by the Animal Path, he had clearly seen the scene of Ling hugging the Deva Path and detonating that terrifying energy sphere to perish together. That resolve, that madness, and the flames that seemed to burn the soul reflected in those scarlet eyes at the final moment...

"He shouldn't be able to survive that either," Konan said calmly, though a trace of lingering fear remained deep in her eyes. The power and will displayed by that youth had exceeded their estimates.

"No..." Nagato shook his head slowly, his Rinnegan gazing in the direction where Jiraiya and the others had retreated. "I can feel it... a faint trace of life. He is not dead yet."

He fell silent for a moment, his voice low and hoarse: "An unexpected variable has appeared beside the Nine-Tails jinchuriki. The plan... needs to be adjusted."

This time, they had lost the Deva Path and would need time to recreate it. And as for Konoha, it did not seem to be a monolith.

"We are returning to the Rain Village first," Nagato decided. "The plan to capture the Nine-Tails is postponed for now. We need... more intelligence."

Konan nodded and pushed the wheelchair. The two figures slowly merged into the shadows of the trees and vanished.

Jiraiya carried Ling on his back, Naruto supported a barely conscious Tsunade, and the two elders, Fukasaku and Shima, scouted ahead. The group did not dare to pause for even a second, rushing toward the Land of Fire.

They found a hidden cave to settle down temporarily. Jiraiya ignored his own injuries and immediately began more detailed treatment for Ling and Tsunade. Ling's condition was particularly dire; his meridians were ruptured in many places, his internal organs were severely damaged, his chakra was nearly exhausted, and he had suffered a severe backlash from the Nine-Tails' chakra. It was a miracle he was still holding on to a breath.

Naruto kept watch by Ling's side, never leaving his post. His small hands tightly gripped Ling's cold fingers, his eyes red and swollen. Looking at Ling's paper-white, bloodless face and the blood-soaked bandages wrapped around his body, he felt as if his heart were being sliced by a knife.

"Big Brother... it was all to protect me..." he muttered, his voice choked with sobs. If it weren't to save him, his brother wouldn't have been so severely wounded.

"Stop talking nonsense!" Tsunade's weak but stern voice came from nearby. She leaned against the rock wall, her face equally pale, but her eyes looked sharply at Naruto. "That brat did it to save all of us! He was fighting to protect the things he deemed important! Does this tearful display of yours do justice to the opportunity he bought with his life?!"

Naruto was stunned by the shout and looked up at Tsunade.

"Do you want him to wake up and see a crybaby dead-last, or a ninja who has become stronger and is capable of protecting others?" Tsunade's voice softened slightly, but it still carried strength.

Naruto wiped his tears forcefully and pressed his lips together, a flame reigniting in his azure eyes. He didn't speak again, but gripped Ling's hand even tighter, as if trying to pass his own strength over to him.

Jiraiya watched this scene, feeling a bit of comfort. He continued to focus on the treatment, his Sage Chakra acting like the most precise needle and thread, repairing Ling's damaged body bit by bit. But Ling's injuries were too severe, especially the mental exhaustion and the Nine-Tails' backlash, which could not be resolved immediately by simple medical ninjutsu.

A few days later, Ling's condition finally stabilized. Although he remained unconscious, his vital signs were no longer as weak as before. Jiraiya himself had reached his limit.

"We must return to Konoha," Jiraiya said wearily to Tsunade. "Ling needs a more professional medical environment and rest, and our chakra and medicine are nearly exhausted."

Tsunade nodded without objection. After this life-and-death battle, some of her knots regarding Konoha seemed to have loosened.

They set off again, moving much slower this time. When the familiar gates of Konoha finally appeared on the horizon, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Naruto all breathed a sigh of relief.

However, as they approached, they found the atmosphere at the gate to be strange. The number of guard ninjas had increased, and... among them were many Root members wearing eerie masks.

Danzo's men.

Jiraiya's heart sank. Had trouble found them the moment they returned?

A ninja who appeared to be a Root captain stepped forward and blocked their path. His gaze swept over the unconscious Ling on Jiraiya's back, his single eye devoid of emotion: "Lord Jiraiya, Lady Tsunade, welcome back. Elder Danzo has ordered that you all, especially Uchiha Ling, proceed immediately to the council chamber to report the detailed progress of this mission, and... regarding his unauthorized departure from the village and use of forbidden power."

Naruto immediately blocked the path in front of Jiraiya and Ling like an enraged little beast, glaring at the Root ninja: "You are not allowed to take Big Brother!"

Tsunade also snorted coldly, her aura undiminished despite her weakness: "Get lost! Whatever the matter is, wait until we have settled our wounded!"

The Root captain did not budge an inch: "This is Elder Danzo's order. Please do not make things difficult for us."

The atmosphere instantly became tense.

Jiraiya looked at the scene before him, then felt Ling's weak breathing on his back, and a nameless rage surged in his heart. They had just been fighting for their lives out there, nearly wiped out, and after finally managing to claw their way back, they were met not with comfort, but with impatient interrogation and obstruction?

He looked up at the Root captain, his voice cold: "Tell Danzo, I will bring him to see him. But not now. If he has any questions, have him come find me himself!"

With that, he ignored the Root ninja and walked straight toward the Konoha Hospital with Ling on his back. Tsunade and Naruto followed closely behind.

The Root captain watched their retreating figures, his expression shifting several times beneath his mask. In the end, he did not force a confrontation, merely signaling his subordinates to report immediately.

The sky over Konoha remained gloomy. The undercurrents within, because of Ling's return in a critical state, had not subsided; instead, they had become even more turbulent.