Nobunaga watched this scene, only one thought in his mind—run.
Run now.
Wait until the third simulation to obtain stronger power before coming back to solve the problem; for now, conduct a tactical retreat.
Nobunaga quietly stepped back.
"Teacher." Temari's voice came from the front, without her turning back.
"You cannot run away."
Nobunaga's foot froze in mid-air.
"I..."
"Wait until I finish her off," Temari's tone was very calm, as calm as if she were stating something taken for granted, "then I will take you home."
Mei Terumī narrowed her eyes.
"Home?" Her voice carried a dangerous sweetness.
"What does he have to do with you?"
Temari didn't speak.
She just tilted her head slightly and glanced at Nobunaga.
There was too much in that look. Twenty years. The entire Ninja World. An obsession one person had waited for too long.
"He is my teacher," Temari said. "And he is the only person I have ever wanted in this life."
Mei Terumī fell silent.
Then she laughed.
It was a light, cold laugh.
"What a coincidence."
She raised her blade, aiming at Temari.
"He is also the only person I have ever wanted to kill in this life."
Before the words faded—
Two figures moved simultaneously.
Gold and orange-red light collided on the wilderness, exploding a ring of air pressure.
Nobunaga was pushed back several steps by the air pressure, his ears filled with the roar of exploding Chakra.
He looked at the two figures entangled in that light, with only one thought in his mind—
It's over.
Completely over.
He turned and ran.
At first, he was still thinking:
"I'm really done for, this is too stifling. Why treat me like this? Give me ten years, and I'll suppress every Mizukage and Kazekage!"
Later, he stopped thinking.
Because thinking was useless.
He didn't care about direction, didn't care what was in front of him, just ran.
Behind him, the battle continued.
The roaring sound grew more distant.
The night wind grew more urgent.
Nobunaga ran, with only one thought in his heart—
I need to become stronger!
Strong enough to pin down both of these crazy women at the same time!
A loud bang came from behind, and the earth shook.
Nobunaga ran even faster.
Under the moonlight, a small figure sprinted across the wilderness.
Behind him was the burning battlefield.
In front was the unknown night.
And his trouble—
Had only just begun.
Nobunaga sprinted across the wilderness.
He didn't know how long he ran, only that the roaring behind him grew distant, and the golden light and orange-red light had shrunk into two tiny dots on the horizon.
The night wind poured into his mouth, cold and dry, his lungs aching as if burned by fire.
His legs had long since gone soft, relying entirely on a breath of air to hold on.
Mei Terumī and Temari, one wanted to kill him, one wanted to lock him up. Neither was someone he could handle.
He tripped, falling forward, his knees slamming into the gravel ground, making him gasp in pain.
He braced the ground to stand up, but his legs wouldn't listen, shaking like a sieve.
Damn it, Chakra was almost bottomed out, the aftereffects of the Mangekyo Sharingan were also kicking in, and his vision was blacking out in waves.
He knelt there, gasping for air.
Just then, a hand reached over from the side, gently pressing on his shoulder.
Nobunaga's body tensed instantly.
The Mangekyo Sharingan almost activated directly, but the touch of that hand was very light, very careful, as if afraid of startling something.
It wasn't Mei Terumī, and it wasn't Temari.
"You're hurt." A girl's voice, with a bit of nervousness, with a bit of caution, "I, I can help you heal..."
Nobunaga turned his head. Under the moonlight stood a red-haired girl with round-framed glasses, carrying a ninja tool bag bigger than herself.
She stood there, looking like she had just run over from somewhere, her clothes covered in dust, her hair a bit messy.
But those eyes were very bright, carrying a kind of cautious concern.
Karin.
Nobunaga was stunned for a moment.
Why was she here?
Right, the Chunin Exams, people from the Grass Village had come too.
He had saved her once in the Forest of Death, and hadn't seen her since.
Now she stood here, as if waiting specifically for him.
"You..." He started, his voice so hoarse it didn't sound like his own.
"I sensed your Chakra over there."
Karin knelt down, her hands pressing on his shoulder, green Chakra beginning to pour out, warm, flowing into his body like warm water:
"You are badly hurt, and your Chakra is almost gone. Who is chasing you?"
Nobunaga didn't speak.
He looked at her, at that young face.
She knew nothing. She didn't know who he was, didn't know what kind of trouble he had caused, didn't know that either of the two people chasing him could wipe the entire Grass Village off the map.
She only felt that he was hurt, so she ran over.
"You shouldn't have come," he said.
Karin's hand paused. "What?"
"The people chasing me are very dangerous."
Karin was silent for a while, then continued to channel Chakra.
"I know. Your Chakra is very chaotic, there are several different powers fighting inside your body. The people chasing you must be very strong."
She lowered her head, her voice very soft: "But, you saved me. In the Forest of Death, you saved me. That was the first time... I had been saved by someone."
Nobunaga looked at her. She didn't look up, just focused on treating the wound on his hand. Those hands were small and steady.
"So," her voice was even softer, "let me help you this once. Then we'll be even."
Nobunaga didn't speak again. He leaned against the rock behind him, letting her treat him.
Green Chakra glimmered in the night, like fireflies.
In the distance, the sounds of battle had stopped.
He didn't know who had won. He didn't dare to think.
"It's done." Karin withdrew her hands, wiping the sweat from her forehead, "The wounds have been treated, but Chakra can only be restored by yourself."
Nobunaga looked down at his hands. Those small wounds had healed, leaving only shallow red marks.
He stood up and exercised his shoulders.
"Thank you."
Karin shook her head.
"You're welcome."
She stood up, shouldered that huge ninja tool bag, and looked at him.
"Where are you going?"
Nobunaga was silent for a while.
Where to go? He didn't know.
He couldn't go back to Konoha for now, and he definitely couldn't go to the Hidden Mist.
Sunagakure—he remembered Temari's eyes, that cluster of quiet, burning things that made one's spine chill.
That was the Temari he knew, and yet not entirely. The Temari he knew was the girl who stood behind him, smiling and saying, "Teacher, I will always be here."
But the one standing in front of him today was the person who had waited for him her whole life, had conquered the entire Ninja World, and would even use forbidden jutsu to find him.
The Fifth Generation Kazekage, Lord of the Ninja World.
A person who had lived too many years alone.
He didn't know how to face her and her possessiveness.
"Find a place to hide first," he said.
Karin looked at him: "Can I follow you?"
Nobunaga was stunned.
"My teammates are all dead."
Karin's voice was very calm, as calm as if she were talking about something unrelated to herself:
"The people from the Grass Village don't care about me either. I'm alone, I don't know where to go."
She paused. "You saved me, I helped you. We... are friends now, right?"