A and B retreat

In an open valley several miles from Asami Ri's battlefield, the air seemed scorched, thick with suffocating thunder and the afterimages of flashing light.

The battle here had already surpassed what ordinary shinobi could comprehend.

Minato Namikaze stood atop a broken tree trunk. His vest bore several visible scrapes, and a thin streak of blood marked his cheek, but his blue eyes remained calm. The Ninja Love Sword in his hand gleamed coldly.

Opposite him, Kumogakure's strongest duo, the "A-B Combo," looked utterly battered.

A's bare chest heaved. Beneath his Lightning Release Armor, a spiral wound deep enough to expose bone marked the spot over his heart.

It was the result of a direct hit from a Rasengan. Scorched flesh twisted into a vortex, and faint threads of lightning still flickered feebly along the wound's edges.

Killer B was in an even worse state.

His prized Seven Short Swords had all snapped, scattered through the mud as useless scrap.

Behind him, all eight tentacles had been cleanly severed, their cut surfaces smooth as mirrors.

"Huff... huff..." Killer B knelt on one knee, his eyes suddenly trembling behind his sunglasses.

Inside him, the Eight-Tails, Gyuki, spoke in a heavy voice. "B... it's over. In the Jungle over there, Rael's and Ran En's Chakra... disappeared."

Killer B froze. His rapping cadence vanished, replaced by a low, somber tone.

He looked at A, his lips trembling slightly. "Big brother... Rael and Ran En are dead."

A's pupils abruptly contracted, and the Lightning Release Chakra coursing around him erupted out of control.

"What did you say?!"

He stared fixedly at Minato Namikaze. He knew that any distraction in front of this man could prove fatal.

What humiliated and terrified him even more was the faint trace of Chakra he sensed lingering near the spiral wound in his chest—Chakra that did not belong to him.

It was a Flying Thunder God Formula mark.

As long as that mark remained, Minato Namikaze could cross space and ambush him at any moment.

"Rael... Ran En..."

A let out a low growl, like a wounded beast.

His right hand suddenly seized the flesh of his chest, his five fingers digging deep like steel hooks.

"Big brother?!" Killer B cried out.

Riiip!

Without so much as a change in expression, A tore away the flesh bearing the Flying Thunder God Formula! Blood sprayed out like a fountain, yet he did not even furrow his brow, letting the torn flesh fall to the ground and char.

By mutilating himself, he forcibly erased Minato Namikaze's teleportation marker.

"Konoha's Yellow Flash..."

A pressed his right hand against his freely bleeding chest, his whole body trembling as he forced down his rage and grief.

He knew that if they kept fighting, both he and B might die here.

Their opponent's Space-Time Ninjutsu had already overwhelmed the two of them.

"Kumogakure won't forget this debt. I'll make you repay Rael's and Ran En's lives a hundredfold!"

Minato Namikaze watched A without pressing his advantage.

He deftly twirled his kunai and slipped it back into his Ninja Tool Pouch. His voice was even, but carried unquestionable authority. "If they were your comrades, you have my condolences. But on the battlefield, anyone who hunts others must be prepared to become the hunted."

"Retreat, B!"

A cast one last piercing look at Minato, as though trying to carve the man's face into his very soul.

Two streaks of lightning shot away, vanishing into the depths of the Jungle.

Minato remained where he stood until the two enormous Chakra signatures had completely left his sensing range. Only then did he let out a small breath of relief and look toward Asami Ri and the others, his gaze softening with pride.

"Ri, Kakashi... well done."

When Minato Namikaze returned to where the battle had begun, the din was long gone, replaced by a heart-wrenching stillness and the gentle glow of Medical Ninjutsu.

In the middle of the woodland, Rin Nohara hurried from patient to patient, sweat covering her forehead. Obito, normally so loud and boisterous, crouched beside Kakashi with a solemn expression.

Hyuga Shin leaned against a scorched rock, his face as pale as a sheet of paper.

The backlash from forcing out the Main Family's secret technique, Vacuum Palm, combined with his earlier severe injuries, had dealt a brutal shock to his internal organs.

Every breath felt like a knife cutting through his chest. Blood occasionally trickled from the corner of his mouth and dripped onto the muddy ground.

Beside him, Uchiha Tekka was also in a dreadful state.

Two holes were clearly visible in his left shoulder and right leg, with light shining through them—the marks left by direct hits from Storm Release lasers.

Fortunately, the lasers' intense heat had instantly seared the blood vessels around his wounds. Though this brutal "cauterization" had saved him from bleeding to death, it had also left him in relentless, agonizing pain.

Tekka clenched his teeth, cold sweat mingling with blood on his forehead. His Uchiha pride would not allow him to show his pain.

Asami Ri lay sprawled on the ground, staring blankly at the sky obscured by the canopy.

The side effects of deactivating Overclock Mode engulfed him like a tide.

Every inch of muscle and every nerve screamed, as though countless tiny steel needles were darting through his bone marrow.

The violent exertion of his final attack on Ran En had torn the wound in his side open even further. Blood quickly soaked through his vest, a glaring red.

"Ri, bear with it."

Rin Nohara's gentle yet firm voice sounded beside his ear.

She held both hands over Asami Ri's side, the luminous green glow of the Mystical Palm Technique gently enveloping the ghastly wound.

As Yang Release chakra flowed into him, the burning sting gave way to a cool, soothing sensation.

Rin Nohara's movements were swift and steady. Stopping the bleeding, disinfecting, bandaging—she moved smoothly through the entire process.

Once she confirmed that Asami Ri's life was no longer in danger, she immediately turned to treat Hyuga Shin's injuries.

Not far away, Obito was carefully bandaging Kakashi's broken left arm.

This was probably the quietest moment the two had shared since meeting. Obito's usual clumsiness was gone. He held his breath, his touch so light it was as though he feared waking a quail.

He secured Kakashi's broken bone with a splint, then deftly wrapped it in bandages, tying every knot with exceptional care.

Kakashi still wore his usual dead-eyed look as he silently watched Obito work.

He had never seen Obito like this.

In Kakashi's mind, this "dead last" was always reckless and bumbling. Yet now, those hands covered in dirt and blood conveyed an indescribable care and concern despite their slight trembling.

"There... that's all I can do for now, you bastard Kakashi," Obito muttered under his breath. But he could not bring himself to look Kakashi in the face, turning his head away awkwardly instead.

The corner of Kakashi's mouth twitched, as though he wanted to say something, but in the end, he merely let out a quiet breath.

"Thank you for all your hard work, everyone."

The warm voice came from nearby. Minato Namikaze's golden figure was like a dose of reassurance, dispelling the last shadow hanging over the battlefield.

He surveyed the devastation and the young shinobi supporting one another after their narrow escape from death. A flicker of heartache passed through his blue eyes.

These children had just wrested their lives back from death's grasp and completed their interception mission.

Feeling the lingering warmth of the bandages Rin Nohara had left behind, Asami Ri watched Minato approach and finally let his heavy eyelids slowly close.

In the last moment before his consciousness sank into darkness, one final thought echoed through his mind.

I survived...