"All right, enough chatting. Let's deal with the Konoha ninja in front of us first."
"Understood!"
Hearing the Sunagakure ninja's words, Kōki and the others tensed, silently putting themselves on guard. Against so many Sand ninja, they had no chance of winning.
But they were not far from Konoha. An ordinary ninja could probably get here in half an hour, or a little over ten minutes if they were fast. Reinforcements would surely arrive soon.
"Kōki, Katsuto, Yui, go on ahead. I'll hold them off."
Although reinforcements would arrive soon, Mamoru Uehara and the others might not last until then, and the Sand ninja facing them would not give them that opportunity.
"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
An immense volume of water surged from Mamoru Uehara's mouth, lifting him as it spread in every direction. In the blink of an eye, it turned the battlefield into a small lake. His hands never stopped moving as he continued performing Water Release Ninjutsu. "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!" Under Mamoru Uehara's control, a massive water dragon charged at the surrounding Sunagakure ninja.
"Kōki, now!" Mamoru Uehara urged after unleashing his Ninjutsu.
But then something unexpected happened.
"You should worry more about yourself."
A Sunagakure ninja suddenly shot out of the water beneath Mamoru Uehara's feet, attacking him while his guard was down.
Having only just finished his Water Release, Mamoru Uehara had not expected an enemy to be lurking beneath his feet. Caught off guard, he tried to twist aside and dodge the attack.
Rip! The sound of a sharp weapon tearing through clothing rang through the air.
Drip, drip. The sound of blood falling onto the water was unusually distinct even on the battlefield.
Although Mamoru Uehara had dodged the Sunagakure ninja's attack on his vitals, the kunai in his opponent's hand still slashed his arm. The wound was so deep that bone was nearly visible.
He could feel that he could no longer lift his left arm, but he still did not retreat. Drawing a kunai with his right hand, he engaged the Sand ninja.
"Kōki, hurry and go!"
Even after suffering such a severe injury, Mamoru Uehara kept urging Kōki to leave. His eyes were filled with resolve.
Seeing Mamoru Uehara standing in front of him, Kōki felt grief in his heart. But his reason told him that the most important thing now was to get Katsuto and Yui away. Only then would Mamoru Uehara have nothing to worry about behind him.
"Katsuto, Yui, let's go," Kōki instructed the two behind him.
"But Teacher Uehara..."
"Leaving is the greatest help we can give Teacher Uehara."
Looking at Kōki's firm gaze, Katsuto had no choice but to endure his grief and prepare to leave with Yui.
Katsuto turned, about to take Yui away, when he caught something unusual behind Kōki out of the corner of his eye. His pupils contracted, and he shouted, "Kōki, watch out!"
Hearing Katsuto's warning, Kōki turned to look behind him. A slightly transparent wind bullet appeared at his back with a faint whistle through the air. But before he could dodge, he felt someone touch his shoulder and shove him aside.
Pushed away, Kōki hurriedly turned to look behind him. A spray of blood splashed onto his face.
As though realizing something, he lowered his head with a frozen expression. Katsuto lay on his back before him, a large hole torn through his chest by Wind Release Ninjutsu, covered in blood.
After pushing Kōki aside, Katsuto spoke haltingly.
"Kōki, my body... moved on its own."
"But at least I helped you."
"You've been looking after me ever since we became a team. I'm the senior here. I should've been looking after you."
"And..."
"Cough... cough..."
"I might not be able to treat you to barbecue. Sor..." Before Katsuto could finish his final apology, he closed his eyes forever.
Shaken by the sight, Kōki stood frozen, momentarily lost in a daze.
But the surrounding Sand ninja would not let such a perfect opportunity slip away. One of them seized the opening and charged at Kōki with a short sword.
"Ha-ha! Konoha brat, die by the blade of the great Ryūji!" He was the one who had unleashed the Wind Release just now. He had intended to kill Kōki first, only for another brat to stop him. But that did not matter. Everyone from Konoha was going to die anyway.
"No one's going to save you this time, are they?" The Sand ninja grinned savagely as he thrust his short sword at Kōki's vitals.
But to his surprise, someone stopped him again. This time, Yui stood in his way.
Having only just recovered from her serious injuries, she had yet to regain her strength. Katsuto's death had grieved her too. But when she saw Kōki in danger, she still put her own body in front of him.
The sharp short sword pierced Yui's body without the slightest pause. The Sand ninja, who had still been grinning savagely, had not expected someone else to stand fearlessly in front of his target.
Before he could make his next move, Kōki, saved once again by Yui, finally pulled himself together. Towering fury surged through him, and anger filled his mind.
He clenched both fists hard. Chakra erupted beneath his feet, and he appeared directly before the Sand ninja who had run Yui through with a Body Flicker Technique, throwing a punch.
It all happened in an instant. The Sunagakure ninja in front of Yui had no time to react before Kōki punched straight through his chest.
"How... could... this..."
He had never expected that, after killing two people in succession, he would die at the hands of his original target. With those words, all strength left the Sand ninja's body, and he fell to his knees before Kōki.
As the Sand ninja died, the short sword no longer supported Yui's body, and she toppled forward.
Seeing Yui about to fall, Kōki hurriedly caught her. Green chakra appeared around his hands as he prepared to treat her with Medical Ninjutsu.
But Yui stopped him.
"Kōki, don't waste your chakra." She knew her own body. She had already suffered a life-threatening injury before, and now that she had sustained another fatal wound, it was beyond what Medical Ninjutsu could heal.
"Compared to Katsuto and me, Kōki, you're the one who truly deserves to live."
"I know Katsuto and I don't have much talent. Even becoming Chunin was beyond anything we imagined. But you're different. I believe even Jonin won't be your limit. You'll definitely become someone great in the Shinobi World someday." Yui coughed up blood as she spoke. Even as she was about to die, she still comforted Kōki.
"One last thing. I still have to tell you I'm sorry. We broke our promise. But I believe someone will go with you to enjoy the Akimichi Clan's barbecue someday."
"I'm sorry."
After she finished speaking, Yui closed her eyes, but a smile remained on her face, as though trading her death for Kōki's survival was something that made her happy.
"Aaaah...!"
Seeing Yui die in his arms, then remembering Kōki dying before him, he finally erupted.
"Yin Seal, release!" An enormous surge of chakra poured from the seal between Kōki's eyebrows. It was the chakra he had saved for nearly three months, and he no longer intended to hold anything back.
He blamed himself. If he had revealed his trump card right away and stopped hiding his Wood Release, Yui and Katsuto would surely have survived.
The astonishing chakra erupting from Kōki drew the attention of the surrounding Sand ninja.
"Hey, what the hell?"
"Is all that powerful chakra coming from that brat?"
"There's something strange about that brat. Something feels wrong."
"What are you scared of? Even that brat's Jonin teacher fell under our combined attacks."
While Katsuto and Yui died one after the other, their teacher, Mamoru Uehara, had also fallen under the Sand ninja's onslaught.
The surrounding Sand ninja were all shocked by the chakra erupting from Kōki and began talking among themselves.
But they were, after all, ninja from a great nation, with broad experience. It was merely an enormous amount of chakra. It was not as though they had never seen that before.
"That chakra looks a little scary, sure, but he's still just a brat."
"It's just a shame Ryūji died at this brat's hands."
The name those Sand ninja spoke seemed to strike a nerve in Kōki. With his head lowered, he gently laid Yui on the ground.
He slowly raised his head to look at the Sunagakure ninja. Though he was furious inside, his expression was utterly calm.
The Sand ninja facing him were all momentarily taken aback by Kōki's expression. They had seen many angry enemies, some with expressions of anguish, others with savage faces. But this was their first time seeing one so calm, as though the people who had died had nothing to do with him.
Yet they had clearly heard Kōki's scream when his teammates died. The stark contrast sent a slight chill through them.