Chapter 45: Returning to Camp
Hearing the voice from the side, Kurenai couldn't help but shudder. She turned her head instinctively.
For a split second, she thought it was the enemy, that she had already been dragged into Stone territory, waiting for torture and interrogation until she spilled every secret she knew.
But that wasn't what she saw.
A small boy stood in front of her.
He looked only eight or nine, yet his features were strikingly handsome in a way that was hard to ignore. His body was stained with blood, but he still wore a faint smile as he looked down at her.
"Yuu?"
Kurenai's heart jolted. For a moment, she almost thought she was hallucinating.
"Was it you who saved me?"
The last thing she remembered before losing consciousness surfaced in her mind. That Iwa shinobi, that greedy look in his eyes, the cold certainty that if he succeeded, she and Fu would already be inside enemy territory.
The fact that Yuu was standing here now said enough.
"Ah, I wouldn't really call it saving you."
Yuu met her gaze and smiled gently.
"He was about to take the two of you away, and I just happened to run into him. I pretended to be one of them, found an opening, and barely managed to finish him off."
His voice stayed soft and calm, like it had been simple.
But Kurenai could picture it anyway. Behind those understated words was a fight that must have been razor thin.
"Your hand…"
Kurenai's eyes finally focused properly, and her breath caught.
Yuu was injured almost everywhere. The worst was his right hand, soaked with blood, torn up with the unmistakable marks of an explosive tag.
The wounds were gruesome. Seeing them on a child's body made her chest tighten with an aching, helpless pain.
"They're just minor injuries."
Yuu smiled as he spoke, as if none of it mattered.
"For us, surviving this time is good enough. Everything else doesn't matter."
Yet even as he said it, his body trembled.
He had been enduring the pain the whole time, choosing not to show it in front of her.
Kurenai stared at him, forcing himself to stand straight, and an emotion surged up so suddenly it almost broke through her throat.
"Thank you… for your hard work."
After a long moment, she wiped at the corners of her eyes and steadied her breathing.
"It's getting late. We should leave as soon as possible."
"The injuries on your body are too heavy. We need to get back and find treatment quickly."
"And Fu is still unconscious. He also needs the medical squad."
She pushed herself up, forcing her mind to focus.
No matter what, her teammates were still alive.
For her, that alone was the best possible outcome.
As long as they returned to camp, the mission would be over.
"Mm. Okay."
Yuu nodded with the same calm smile he always wore.
Then he followed Kurenai forward, and the two of them moved in the direction of camp.
It took several full days before they finally made it back.
"How are the injuries this bad?"
"Medical squad, hurry! Get over here!"
The moment they returned, the three of them drew immediate attention.
Fu and Yuu were taken away at once and rushed to the medical squad for treatment.
Especially Yuu.
The wounds across his body were shocking. Dense, brutal scars made people's hearts pound, unable to imagine what kind of desperate fighting he had endured.
In reality, these injuries were self inflicted.
After all, returning from Rock territory without a scratch would have been far too unrealistic. Yuu simply made his disguise convincing.
The wounds looked severe, the kind that would kill an ordinary person, but to Yuu they were not truly a problem.
His body had already been modified by Karma. His physical structure was subtly different from a normal human's now.
Still, judging from everyone's reactions, he had likely pushed the act a bit too far.
"How did you end up like this?"
The captain of the medical squad was furious.
"Yuu is only eight years old, and he's the most outstanding medical ninja we have here. How could you let a child go on a mission this dangerous?"
Back at the field hospital, Yuu had been the youngest medical ninja.
Young, but his medical ninjutsu was exceptionally strong, earning the recognition of many shinobi in the camp.
When Yuu had been selected earlier, this captain had been the one who objected the most.
And now Yuu was back looking like he had nearly died out there.
A seed with the potential to become a top tier medical ninja had almost been snuffed out on the battlefield.
The captain had every reason to be angry.
"It's okay."
Yuu spoke softly.
"Joining that mission was my own choice. I don't blame anyone."
"Besides, I came back alive, didn't I?"
He smiled as he said it, but with his current battered state, it only made people feel even worse.
"Yuu, you really are something."
Murakami Se looked at him, still smiling like it was nothing, and let out a long sigh.
"It's because you're too easy going that people dragged you onto the battlefield like this."
"But it's good that you're back."
"Rest here properly. Once the fighting here calms down, go back to the village and recover."
Yuu simply nodded, still smiling.
After a simple round of bandaging, he returned to his quarters to rest.
When he got there, he noticed footprints outside his door, as if someone had come by earlier.
"I was worried something happened to you."
A voice sounded from the side.
Kakashi stepped out from a shadowed corner, standing there now, looking at Yuu.
"But it looks like there's no need to worry too much."
"Senior Kakashi."
Yuu looked at him, a little surprised.
"Has your body recovered?"
"Yeah. After you looked after me for that long, it was about time."
Kakashi nodded, then glanced at Yuu's bandaged body.
"On the other hand, your injuries will probably take a long time to heal."
.....
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