Huiye Lian found the surviving Mist forces in a small village southeast of Kannabi Mountain.
Almost everyone was wounded—and every last one of them looked at him with the same expression: guilt.
Huiye Lian sighed. He walked over to Terumi Mei, who sat in a daze, mechanically wrapping bandages around herself, and lightly patted her shoulder.
"You already won. Don't put so much pressure on yourself, Mei."
"Did we really win, Lian?"
Mei looked up, her eyes shaking.
"We lost the outpost. We lost more than half our comrades. And it even affected your battle record…"
"Does that really count as a victory?"
"We lost control of the outpost, sure," Huiye Lian said calmly, "but I checked before I came back. Every building and facility inside has been corroded beyond use. Konoha won't be able to rely on Kannabi Mountain to block the Mist's advance anytime soon."
"If you round it up… our original goal was still achieved. Barely."
"And besides," he added, "that fight with Minato and Kushina—I only won by the skin of my teeth. If I'd gotten back sooner, it wouldn't have turned into this."
He had no intention of pushing responsibility onto others.
He knew better than anyone: without him, the Mist unit's raw strength simply couldn't match Konoha.
If they wanted a complete win, there was only one viable plan—
Cripple Minato and Kushina fast enough to force them off the battlefield, then rush back before his bone clone was controlled and destroyed, and personally drive off every Konoha shinobi on the main front.
But the moment Orochimaru played dirty and ambushed him—forcing out one of his Sage Mode clones early—
That plan was doomed.
At least Kushina was injured badly enough by his "playing dead" strike to satisfy Optional Quest 4: forcing Konoha to replace its frontline commander.
In the end, the system grudgingly acknowledged that Optional Quest 4 had been completed before the main quest failed—and granted him the Keystone Rune [Time Warp].
He couldn't help feeling a little regret that he hadn't gotten all five Keystone Runes…
But at this haul?
He had no right to complain.
Mei still looked crushed.
Huiye Lian ruffled the hair of the girl who had only just turned thirteen—yet was already bearing burdens like a veteran commander.
His voice came out softer than he was used to.
"I don't think your personality suits the whole 'crying like a drenched pear blossom' look…"
"But if you want to cry right now—to vent all that guilt and frustration…"
"I don't mind lending you my back."
"So you can enjoy watching me cry until I'm pathetic and powerless?" Mei kept her head down, refusing to let him see her expression.
"I can close my eyes. Even turn my back," Huiye Lian said seriously, spending the last scraps of trust he had left with her.
"Hypocrite."
"You want to lean on me or not?"
"…I do."
Mei jabbed her elbow lightly into his lower back, then shifted over. Not caring that her smooth hair would soak into bloodstains that never washed out, she sat back-to-back with him, hugged her knees, and began trembling faintly.
Heh. Just a brat who talks tough.
Huiye Lian sneered inwardly, then slowly closed his eyes as well.
He was tired, too.
…
At the same time—Konoha.
"Lord Minato, your injuries haven't fully closed yet. Please return to your room and rest. The moment we have news, we'll notify you."
Outside the intensive care room in Konoha Hospital, a young medic-nin kept pleading with Namikaze Minato to go back to bed.
But Minato—normally someone who listened—shook his head with absolute stubbornness, standing outside the door despite blood seeping from his side.
Seeing it was useless, the medic-nin had him sit and began using Mystical Palm Technique to treat the wound.
No one knew how long passed.
Finally—the ICU door opened.
Seeing Uzumaki Kushina being wheeled out by senior medic-nin, Minato rushed forward immediately, eyes filled with fear as he looked at his wife's pale face.
"How is Kushina? Is she stable?"
"It's… barely stable," the lead medic-nin said, removing his glasses and rubbing eyes blurred by chakra exhaustion. "But the follow-up treatment will be difficult."
"Her wound is strange. That bone spear that pierced her abdomen carried a very special chakra—something that prevents healing."
"When we pulled the spear segment out, the residual chakra began fighting against Lady Kushina's natural recovery."
"We poured in a massive amount of chakra and barely helped her chakra gain the upper hand… but to fully drive out that foreign chakra, we'll have to rely on Lady Kushina's own strength."
"Until the foreign chakra is completely expelled, a medic-nin must stay by her side at all times, in case the wound suddenly worsens."
"I'm sorry, Lord Minato. We weren't good enough."
"No. Don't say that. You did everything you could. The one who made Kushina like this… is me."
Minato clutched his injury and gasped, face twisting.
Yamanaka Haruto—who had treated both of them—couldn't hide the worry in his eyes.
Lord Minato, who had been unstoppable against the Cloud and Stone…
Was injured like this?
Was Konoha truly about to suffer a humiliating defeat to the Mist?
If that happened…
Iwagakure and Kumogakure, who had only quieted down recently, and even Sunagakure—who looked like they just wanted self-preservation—
They'd come sniffing blood immediately, eager to tear off a chunk of Konoha too.
Third Lord… Lord Orochimaru… Lord Jiraiya…
Please. Find a way.
"Haruto…" Minato steadied his breathing and looked up. "If… if we bring Lady Tsunade back… can she heal Kushina?"
"Tsunade-sama…"
Haruto thought for a moment, then gave an answer that made Minato's eyes flare with hope.
"If it's Tsunade-hime, one of the Sannin… she'll find a way. Even if she can't restore Lady Kushina immediately, she can definitely come up with a more advanced plan than us—and shorten the recovery."
"I'll go ask the Third Lord for Tsunade-sama's location right now—"
"Stop! Minato, you're still a patient too! I order you to stay in the hospital and rest for at least half a month! Get back here! Namikaze Minato!!!"
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