Chapter 9: Not Dying is the Best Result
Outside the cave, Black Zetsu watched with a detached sense of boredom as the figure in the black robes spent the entire night hunting the descendants of Asura and Indra.
He found himself appreciating the man's mindset. It was perfectly suited for the grand task of reviving his mother. Unscrupulous, with a clear fondness for psychological torment. The man could have easily killed the three of them when they first crossed paths yesterday, yet he had insisted on dragging out the chase for a full night.
Each time, he would beat them to within an inch of their lives before allowing them to escape, methodically breaking their spirits. He even went so far as to feign his own death in an explosive tag array, granting them a sliver of hope only to snatch it away again.
Yes, someone so reckless, who also happened to worship his mother, was nothing short of a heaven-sent ally.
At that moment, Senju Tobirama and Uchiha Izuna were already supporting one another, stumbling and crawling their way out of the cave. Their eyes fell upon a scene on the distant grass that made their blood run cold. The black-robed man effortlessly sidestepped a weak Wood Release attack, his hand snapping forward to accurately seize Stelle's neck and slam her forcefully to the ground.
Tobirama's vision swam with black spots, and he nearly collapsed right there.
"Calm down," Uchiha Izuna hissed, barely managing to gather a wisp of chakra to activate his Mangekyō Sharingan. "The angle is wrong. His hand isn't applying force. There's still a chance."
Just as Black Zetsu anticipated the satisfying spectacle of all three being tortured to death on the spot, the black-robed man suddenly whipped his head around, his gaze locking onto the exact spot where he was concealed.
A pair of dark eyes flashed with a chilling killing intent. In the next instant, the man was a blur, dashing straight toward him and slamming a fist into the earth where he hid.
Black Zetsu was stunned for a moment, sliding out from under the impact just in time. He was hidden so perfectly; how could the man have possibly found him? He had never once shown his face in the Shinobi World and could not afford to expose his identity now.
With a silent whoosh, Black Zetsu burrowed deep into the ground and fled, planning to resurface only after the three shinobi were dead.
To his utter astonishment, however, the black-robed man's perception was terrifyingly keen. Even though he was deep underground, the man could still track him. With a clap of his hands, his pursuer unleashed an incredibly powerful Earth Release ninjutsu. While such a physical attack was useless against Black Zetsu's unique form, it was clear the man wouldn't stop until he was found.
'No, those three aren't dead yet!'Black Zetsu thought in frustration.'Hurry up and finish them off so I can come out!'
He fled another great distance at high speed, certain he had finally lost his pursuer. The moment he paused, the earth began to vibrate violently. Soil and rock flew everywhere, and with a deafening rumble, Black Zetsu was forcibly exposed to the open air.
Black Zetsu was speechless. He refused to believe he couldn't shake this guy off.
He shot forward again, running with all his might for an unknown distance. He stopped, burrowed into the ground once more, and waited. He expected the black-robed man to be a few steps behind and was already planning how to misdirect him upon his arrival.
But after waiting for a good long while, no one came.
'Did he lose me?''Useless trash,' Black Zetsu seethed.'Weren't you so impressive just a moment ago?'
Left with no other choice, Black Zetsu began to make his way back.
From the perspective of Senju Tobirama and Uchiha Izuna, the scene had been utterly baffling. Just as the black-robed man was about to kill Stelle, he had suddenly sensed some unseen danger. He abandoned her, then began launching a continuous barrage of Earth Release ninjutsu at the empty ground.
'Was there an Earth Release expert hidden underground?' Tobirama wondered.
They watched as the man gave chase in one direction, relentlessly attacking the earth as he ran at high speed, soon disappearing from their sight entirely.
The two had no time to ponder who he was chasing. They forced their battered bodies to move, dragging their steps with agonizing difficulty until they reached the spot where Stelle had fallen.
Senju Tobirama's breathing was ragged, his entire body trembling as he approached her step by step. He saw her lying on the ground, motionless, seemingly unconscious. Panic clawed at his heart, and an irrepressible tide of grief welled up within him.
Was she going to leave him forever, just like Itama had?
Just as he was sinking into despair, the person on the ground suddenly coughed, a series of violent, hacking spasms, and her eyes fluttered open.
A searing heat flooded Senju Tobirama's eyes. He fought back the tears, stumbling the last few feet to her side. "Fortunately, you're okay," he said, his voice trembling with relief. "Fortunately... you're okay..."
As the adrenaline and sheer willpower that had sustained him finally drained away, his legs gave out, and he collapsed. Uchiha Izuna, who had been relying on him for support, went down with him, and the three survivors of the ordeal simply lay there on the grass, utterly spent.
After a long moment of silence, Tobirama's voice came out choked. "I told you to run first. How could you be so reckless?"
Stelle managed a weak smile. "Didn't I... cough, cough... run first?"
"You know perfectly well that's not what 'running first' meant."
"Oh. Then I'll run first next time," Stelle replied. She coughed again, the metallic tang of iron flooding her throat. She hadn't held back at all when striking herself to sell the performance. With her current injuries, by the medical standards of the Warring States period, she would be laid up for a good long while.
"The new problem is, how are the three of us going to get back?" Stelle asked. "With our injuries, even a common bandit could rob us."
"Elder Takushin will follow the signals I left to find the battlefield," Tobirama said, his voice regaining a sliver of its usual confidence. "From there, he'll follow the traces of the fight to find us."
Ever careful, Senju Tobirama would never have ventured out without leaving a trail.
"That's good, then."
She turned her head to look at Uchiha Izuna, who was lying nearby, staring blankly at the sky. "Izuna, you're not being very sociable. We're friends who have faced life and death together, after all. Why aren't you saying anything?"
"I don't know what to say." Uchiha Izuna's expression was dazed. He had risked his life for his clansmen, and they had risked theirs to protect him; that was all perfectly normal. But that group of people would never include someone from the Senju clan.
Before yesterday, if someone had told him that a Senju would desperately try to save him, he would have thought that person was insane. But now, it had actually happened.
He struggled to lift his head, looking past the white-haired man blocking his view, and asked her, "You could have just run away with Senju Tobirama on your back. Why did you insist on saving me?"
Stelle seemed stumped by the question, her dark eyes filled with a disarming confusion. "Aren't we friends? Isn't it normal to save a friend?"
Her eyes crinkled into a smile. "I believe that the next time I'm in danger, Izuna will also work hard to save me."
That smile was excessively bright, so radiant it made Uchiha Izuna's eyes ache. He suddenly felt his heart skip a beat and quickly turned his head away, muttering, "I won't!"
As if feeling that was a bit too harsh, he added, "I'm just saying, a personality like yours will get you killed."
"I'm living quite well... cough, cough..."
Before Stelle could finish, she was wracked by another violent coughing fit. When she opened her hand, her palm was slick with blood. She fell silent for a moment, then smiled faintly. "We didn't die. That's the best result."
After a while, a large messenger hawk soared across the sky. Immediately after, they felt chakra fluctuations in the distance. That was a Senju clan messenger hawk; their rescuers were from the Senju.
Stelle murmured, "I just hope Elder Takushin isn't among them."
"Why?" Senju Tobirama asked.
"Because I told him to his face that I had already killed that black-haired guy next to you. Now he's still alive and well, and even with us. If Elder Takushin suspects me of colluding with the enemy, it'll be a huge hassle."
Senju Tobirama gave a cold snort. "It was the evil Uchiha who obfuscated the situation, passed off a fake as real, and escaped by feigning death. If anyone's to blame, it's him for being too cunning. It's perfectly normal for you to lack experience on your first mission."
Uchiha Izuna rolled his eyes. Did they really have to discuss this right in front of him?
Just then, a black cat ran up to Uchiha Izuna, let out a few soft meows, and then disappeared with a soft 'poof'.
A small smile touched Izuna's lips. "My reinforcements have arrived as well. I was ambushed by the insidious and cunning Senju clan and nearly suffered a total defeat. I was the only one who escaped. And because a certain devious, white-haired Senju provoked someone he shouldn't have, I almost died here as well."
He had already crafted his excuse.
The two men glared daggers at each other. If they weren't in such a pitiful state, they probably would have started fighting right then and there.
Stelle listened to their exchange, noting how even while lying on the ground on the brink of death, they didn't forget to stare each other down, their eyes practically shooting sparks.
'What should I do?'she thought.'I think I'm starting to ship them.''This is way too easy to ship.'
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