Escort and Choice

The air in the Land of Rivers' frontline camp seemed forever tainted with the smells of earth, blood, and medicinal herbs. For Team Sandstorm, the fighting was over, leaving behind a disastrous aftermath that would be difficult to clean up.

Captain Jing Liang lay on a hospital bed, his wrist wrapped in thick bandages, his face ashen. The military doctor's final diagnosis matched Shaye's judgment: the chakra pathways in his right hand had been completely destroyed, irreversibly. Even if his external wounds healed, he would never again be able to fight as a ninja. This seasoned Special Jonin's ninja career had come to an end before those merciless Uchiha Sharingan. All that awaited him was a reluctant retirement after returning to the village.

As for Lukado, his name had been entered on the list of the fallen. That taciturn Earth Release ninja, who had always stood firmly at the front to protect his comrades, had been left forever in the forests of the Land of Fire.

The team existed in name only.

Xu was still covered in bandages, but her deeper wounds were mental. She had become far quieter, and her eyes often held the dazed emptiness that followed terror. The encounter with the Uchiha, along with the shock of watching Lukado die brutally before her eyes, had changed her completely. She watched the busy medical ninjas, the wounded groaning in pain, then looked down at her own bandaged hands.

During a brief break, she found Shaye as he was changing a wounded man's bandages.

"Shaye..." Her voice was hoarse, yet it carried an unprecedented resolve. "I... I don't want to just watch anymore. I don't want to be... so helpless again."

Shaye stopped what he was doing and looked at her.

Xu took a deep breath and continued, "I