Pursuit

"I won't clash head-on with the Cloud Shinobi..."

Obito Uchiha stopped where light and shadow met at the hollow's entrance. With his back to Kato Xu, light streamed through the opening and cast his silhouette onto the ground, flickering between brightness and darkness, carrying a faint sense of tragedy.

"If you want to lure the Cloud Shinobi away and give Rin enough time to escape, I advise you to give up as well... The Cloud Shinobi aren't that foolish..."

"Those who give their comrades the chance to survive deserve admiration, but before the final moment arrives, anyone who sacrifices a precious life rashly without seeing the situation clearly is nothing but a fool..."

"Then tell me! Tell me! What should we do?! What should we do... so everyone... so Rin... can survive...?"

Obito Uchiha spoke in a low voice, his body trembling faintly, yet he still did not turn around. He suddenly stepped forward, leaving behind only his back.

"Obito!"

Kato Xu's loud shout made Obito's final step pause.

"Wait for me..."

Obito turned back and looked seriously at Kato Xu. He gave a slight nod, then vanished beyond the hollow's entrance.

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

Rin's body twitched as she lay sprawled on the ground, tears already soaking the earth. She gritted her teeth and repeated only those words.

"It's all my fault. I'm too weak, too weak..."

"Rin..."

"Don't worry... None of us will die. Definitely..."

Kato Xu gently pulled aside the clothes on Rin's back. A twenty-centimeter wound ran across her smooth back, mangled and split open, with even bone faintly visible beneath it.

Although the bleeding had temporarily been stopped with the Mystical Palm Technique, the torn wound could only heal quickly after it had been stitched closed.

"Rin..."

"Bear with it..."

When Kato Xu's hand touched the wound, Rin's body could not help but twitch. Yet she gritted her teeth and endured it, sweat instantly covering her forehead.

"Kato... don't worry... I can endure it..."

Rin was already in so much pain that she was nearly fainting. Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, yet still gentle, though the pain in her expression could not be hidden.

"I... know I can't stop Obito... but I... absolutely won't let him go alone... I want to stand by Obito's side!

He's always been alone... This time, I absolutely won't let him face the Cloud Shinobi alone! Even if I die... I want to stay by his side..."

"Please... Kato..."

Rin endured the pain. Each time Kato Xu drove the stitching needle through her flesh, her body trembled without end. Her muttered words, like her desire to live, continued unceasingly.

After cleaning away the blood from the wound, Kato Xu's palm radiated a thick green light. This was a Mystical Palm Technique even more powerful than Rin's Healing Technique.

Yet it could only barely speed up the wound's healing. Kato Xu did not have much Chakra left.

"Kato... can I... call you by your name?"

Feeling the warmth on her back, Rin seemed to relax all over. With gratitude in her eyes, she turned her head and forced out a faint smile at Kato Xu.

"You can..."

With a soft sigh, Kato Xu did not know why things had turned out this way. Yet the world never developed according to any one person's will. Sudden accidents always came, letting people who had once been strangers intrude into each other's worlds.

Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara were like that...

"Xu, you can already use the Mystical Palm Technique? That's really amazing... If I could use it too, maybe..."

Rin's entire body was soaked with sweat from the pain of being stitched up, yet from beginning to end, she never cried out in pain. She endured it all through sheer resolve.

Her gaze remained fixed outside the hollow, as though searching for someone's figure.

"Stay alive, and I'll teach you..."

Kato Xu had never noticed that his tone had long since become gentler.

"Xu... you're really gentle..."

Rin's face grew even more Haku as her wound healed rapidly. Having lost too much blood, she could no longer bear such a burden on her body. Before her words had even faded, her eyes grew dimmer and dimmer. Her body jerked, and she fainted.

"Now isn't the time to faint..."

Kato Xu took out the last two Soldier Pills from his ninja tool pouch and fed one into Rin's mouth. He drove his spiritual energy into her body, forcefully stimulating her brain and making her wake up again in an instant.

Rin's head felt as though it were splitting apart. Though the sharp pain lasted only an instant, it felt like agony rising from the depths of her soul, making her entire body tremble.

"Xu... I take back... what I said... Xu... you're not gentle at all..."

"As long as you live, anything goes..."

Kato Xu said nothing more and slowly swallowed a Soldier Pill.

"We have to find Obito... He'll definitely die alone..."

"Okay!"

Rin braced herself and staggered twice. Nearly all the last Chakra brought by the Soldier Pill had been used to heal her wound, and her body had become extremely weak.

"Let's go!"

Kato Xu lightly grabbed Rin's arm. With a flash, she was securely on his back. Without another word, Kato Xu pushed off with his feet and leaped out of the hollow in an instant.

Sensing Obito Uchiha's position along with those of the other Cloud Shinobi, Kato Xu sped up. In his perception, two Cloud Shinobi were about to encounter Obito!

Bang!

Obito's body crashed heavily to the ground.

A Cloud Shinobi wrapped in lightning leaped out from the forest. Blue arcs flashed around him, too brilliant to look at directly.

On a nearby tree, another Cloud Shinobi watched like a tiger stalking prey, while cautiously observing the surroundings.

Fireball Jutsu!

Squeezing out the Chakra from his body, Obito's figure vanished from within the dust. A huge fireball surging with scorching heat suddenly appeared, forcing the two men in the forest to evade.

"Damn brat, we finally caught you. We've chased you for so long. Looks like that... that thing won't appear again..."

It seemed to be a nightmare he did not wish to mention. The Cloud Shinobi who had evaded the Fireball Jutsu looked somewhat unnatural, yet fury even deeper than Obito's surged from him.

"Haha, you fell for it..."

Obito's sudden laughter made the Cloud Shinobi blocking him on both sides of the forest turn pale in alarm.

With a leap, he vanished into the forest. His hurried retreat seemed to reveal the fear in his heart.

"Now..."

Obito desperately drove his body onward despite the faint stabbing pain spreading through it. He hurried into the forest as a violent explosion rang out, wiping away every trace behind him.

"Damn it! That brat was bluffing!"

"That Blue Asura won't appear again!"

Though the deceived Cloud Shinobi fled swiftly like startled birds, the instant the explosion rang out, they realized the truth almost immediately. They abruptly turned back, passed through the dust from the blast, and charged after Obito.

"A little farther... A little farther, and Rin and the others can escape..."

As Obito ran with all his strength, he had only one conviction now: use his life to buy Rin a chance to survive.

"Brat, you're about to go to hell..."

The two Cloud Shinobi had suffered only minor injuries and found Obito's trail with almost no effort.

Kunai shot toward Obito like missiles, swift and direct. Yet they did not move in to attack, remaining wary of an enemy who might appear.

"Damn it! Useless body! Move faster!"

Obito's hoarse roar brought no miracle. A Kunai grazed his thigh, tearing away part of the flesh, and he instantly fell to the ground.

But... once the dust settled, only a pool of blood remained.

"Where did that brat... go?"

"There's blood. It definitely wasn't a Shadow Clone..."

"He's not underground!"

The temporary partner of the Lightning Release Cloud Shinobi was a ninja skilled in Earth Release. With a light step against the ground, he knew there were no unusual Chakra fluctuations underground nearby.

A familiar Chakra fluctuation flashed past. The scalps of the two Cloud Shinobi went numb as they slowly raised their heads in disbelief.

"Blue... Blue Asura!"

As though it had been waiting for them, the blue giant's black longsword arrived before them in an instant.

"H-How is that possible?!"

"Something's wrong! It's a genjutsu!"

The Lightning Release Cloud Shinobi realized it almost the instant the blue giant's longsword came down.

But before he could break the genjutsu himself, a sharp cold glint pierced his throat, helping him escape this illusory world.

The instant he fell out of the illusion, he struggled as he collapsed onto the ground, then lost all breath in moments.

The cruelest thing about the ninja world was that even a Kage Level powerhouse could be killed by an unknown Genin if he let his guard down...

"Rin! You're alright!"

Obito sat limply on the ground, staring blankly at Rin on Kato Xu's back. Tears even welled up in his eyes.

He had thought he was certainly going to die, yet he had not expected Kato Xu to arrive so promptly—and to bring Rin, completely unharmed, with him.

"There's one left!"

The Earth Release Cloud Shinobi reacted quickly. The Kunai had only pierced his shoulder. His face twisted viciously, and the instant the genjutsu broke, he burrowed underground.

Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!

The spot where Obito had collapsed instantly became a swamp. Kato Xu grabbed Obito in one hand and carried Rin on his back as he swiftly leaped away.

But sharp stone pillars shot out from the mire in an instant, tracking them like shadows.

As though time had stopped, Kato Xu's hands moved in the air. The stone pillars were guided aside, as if deliberately avoiding the three of them, scattering to both sides. The wind from the rising storm whipped at Kato Xu's cloak, making it dance in the air with the currents.

"This kind of taijutsu..."

The Earth Release Cloud Shinobi poked half his head out of the soil, his gaze tightening. He had never seen such a taijutsu that used little force to deflect great force.

Yet he could also tell that it required exceptional skill—using exquisite Chakra control in a single instant and only a tiny amount of Chakra to redirect the stone pillars.

The Earth Release Cloud Shinobi frowned deeply, a trace of gravity flashing through his eyes. He lurked beneath the soil and, while Kato Xu had nowhere to evade in midair, suddenly leaped up. He stomped apart a stone pillar in the air and, like a streak of light, thrust the Kunai in his hand straight toward Obito's heart.

Attack what the enemy must save!

Kato Xu flicked Obito away, forcefully twisting his body in midair. Rin held tightly around his neck and coldly watched the charging Cloud Shinobi. Borrowing the force of his rotation, Kato Xu lashed out with a fierce kick, forcing the Cloud Shinobi back.

But as the Cloud Shinobi began falling from midair, a triumphant smile appeared on his face, and he turned into soft mud that scattered through the air.

"Not good! It's an Earth Release: Mud Clone!"