"No." Kyoshin shook his head. "I'm from another ninja village. I was ordered to take you away from here. Are you willing to leave?"
A glimr flashed through Chinatsu's eyes, but quickly faded. "No! We're not going! Absolutely not…"
"What if we promise not to force you to do anything against your will?" Kyoshin interrupted her. "There's not much ti. The outside is already in chaos. This is your chance."
"Why should we trust you?" Chinatsu stared at Kyoshin warily, shielding Karin behind her with all her strength.
The little girl clutched tightly at her mother's clothes. Her large eyes were filled with fear, but there was also a faint trace of hope.
"Mom…" Karin whispered, "I want to leave this place… They're always drawing your blood…"
Kyoshin removed his mask, revealing a gentle face. "Exactly. Staying put only leads to death, moving forward at least gives you a way out."
"No matter how bad things get, could it really be worse than this? Give us a chance to prove our sincerity."
Just as Chinatsu hesitated, footsteps and shouting ca from downstairs.
"The dical ward! Go check on them!"
The Grass ninja had arrived.
Fear instinctively flashed through the eyes of both mother and daughter. Chinatsu looked at Kyoshin and said, "Prove you're not one of the Grass ninja!"
The three-tomoe Sharingan appeared in Kyoshin's eyes.
Chinatsu's eyes widened.
Back in the days of Uzushiogakure, their archives had been exceptionally complete. Familiar with bloodline limits, she knew one thing.
With abilities like the Uchiha's Sharingan or the Byakugan, if the eyes were not part of the user's original body, they could not freely control opening and closing them.
He was an Uchiha.
There was no ti to think further. Chinatsu imdiately ripped the tubes from her arms.
The next instant, Kyoshin grabbed Chinatsu and Karin with one arm each, hoisted them onto his shoulders, kicked the window open, and leapt out.
"Over here!" Kumiko's voice ca from the edge of the forest.
She had already cleared out the guards in the rear courtyard and was waiting for them.
Kyoshin rushed into the woods carrying Chinatsu and Karin.
Behind them, the Grass ninja stord into the dical facility. After discovering the two were gone, they imdiately began a search.
Kyoshin and Kumiko quickly advanced toward the rendezvous point with Chinatsu and Karin.
———
Half an hour later, the four arrived at the eting point, a concealed cave.
Kyoshin and Kumiko set the mother and daughter down. Kumiko used the dical supplies she had prepared in advance to treat Chinatsu.
Karin sat beside her mother, tightly holding her hand. Her gaze drifted toward Kyoshin.
Kyoshin gave her a small smile, then turned and walked to the cave entrance to stand guard.
Not long after, footsteps sounded outside the cave. Nobutoshi had returned.
He radiated killing intent. His massive body was stained with large patches of blood, and bits of flesh still clung to his clothes and ninja tools.
Nobutoshi cursed as he walked in. "Damn it, that was frustrating. Not letting use Earth Release almost got killed by those trash fish and rotten shrimp!"
The mont he entered, Chinatsu and Karin turned pale with fright at his appearance and instinctively moved closer to Kumiko and Kyoshin.
Nobutoshi, however, did not care in the slightest. "Everyone's here, right? Move out!"
———
The wasteland along the border of the Land of Earth looked especially desolate at dawn.
The five of them stood atop a rocky hill, looking back in the direction of the Land of Grass.
Behind them lay dense forests. Ahead stretched the familiar barren mountains and stone cliffs.
Nobutoshi quickly assessed the situation. "The Grass ninja won't give up easily. They'll send tracking squads."
"We need to return to Iwagakure as soon as possible." He looked at Kumiko and Kyoshin. "I'll handle erasing our trail. You two carry them."
Chinatsu's face was still pale. Long-term imprisonnt and the escape had drained much of her strength.
Karin tightly held onto her mother's hand, exhaustion visible in her eyes.
Kumiko walked over to Chinatsu. The eyes beneath her owl mask swept over Chinatsu's condition. "Get on."
After a brief hesitation, Chinatsu climbed onto Kumiko's back.
Kumiko moved efficiently. After lifting Chinatsu, she adjusted her position to make sure none of her wounds were being pressed.
Kyoshin also picked up Karin. The girl was very light, and he stood up easily, supporting the backs of her legs with both hands.
"Move out." Nobutoshi gave the order curtly.
The group began traveling.
Kumiko carried Chinatsu at the front, leading the way. Kyoshin followed closely behind with Karin on his back.
Nobutoshi brought up the rear, erasing traces of their passage as they moved, smoothing away footprints until it looked as though nobody had ever crossed the area.
The wasteland terrain was rough and uneven, but that ant little to well-trained ANBU.
Kyoshin kept a steady pace while watching for movent around them.
At first, Karin was tense on his back, her small hands gripping his shoulders tightly.
But after so ti, she gradually relaxed, resting her head against his shoulder.
"Um…" she spoke softly, her voice muffled through the mask. "What should I call you?"
Kyoshin replied, "Just call Kintsuchi."
"Kintsuchi… big brother?" she asked cautiously. "Thank you for saving us, big brother."
Kyoshin: "..."
The reason he had reported Karin and her mother to Onoki was simply to strengthen Iwagakure's future core forces.
He had not thought much beyond that before, but at this mont, Kyoshin also realized how important this rescue was to them.
The group continued rapidly across the wasteland.
Nobutoshi was highly experienced. Wherever they passed, all traces on the ground were naturally erased, as though no one had ever been there.
———
Around noon, the group took a short break beneath the shadow of a cliff face.
Kyoshin lifted the lower half of his mask and tossed a soldier pill into his mouth.
The taste was awful, but it could quickly restore stamina and chakra.
Afterward, he handed one each to Chinatsu and Karin.
Karin looked at the soldier pill in her hand, then copied Kyoshin and took a small bite.
Her face imdiately scrunched up. "So bitter…"
"Bear with it." Kyoshin said. "Drink so water after you finish it."
Soldier pills were not food. They were legitimate strategic military supplies.
These things were designed from the start for rapidly replenishing the body's energy during critical monts. Nobody had ever considered flavor during developnt.
Chinatsu also swallowed the soldier pill. Her complexion improved slightly as the Uzumaki clan's powerful vitality rapidly restored her stamina.
Kyoshin sat down against the rock wall.
Leaning beside her mother, Karin asked curiously, "Kintsuchi big brother, does your na have so special aning?"
Honestly, it did sound pretty intimidating.
But she had seen Kyoshin's gentle face, and he was their savior, so Karin managed to gather the courage to ask.
"It's related to my bloodline limit and tactical role." Kyoshin's answer was perfectly accurate, though she probably would not understand it.
Karin nodded, looking exactly as confused as expected.
Five minutes later, the group set out again.
What shocked everyone was that Chinatsu was already capable of moving normally.
'So this is the Uzumaki clan?'
'She caught her breath for a mont, took one soldier pill, and recovered half her health bar?!'
'Terrifying.'
———
The afternoon journey went even more smoothly.
They had already penetrated deep into the Land of Earth, greatly reducing the risk of pursuit from the Grass ninja.
Nobutoshi's techniques were extrely refined, and the group left behind absolutely no traces.
Even if Kusagakure learned the direction taken by the people who abducted the Uzumaki mother and daughter, they would never dare pursue them into the heart of the Land of Earth.
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