"Brother Takinawa..." Haruki shook his head at Takinawa, his eyes filled with determination.
Takinawa looked at him, slowly retreating from Haruki. Haruki looked at Mahito in front of him and reached out his hand. A purple vortex appeared behind Mahito, his figure gradually being swallowed by the vortex.
Mahito said, "Remember to find me again next time."
The vortex disappeared.
The words left by the Mahito echoed in Haruki’s ears.
Haruki’s lips twitched imperceptibly. His peripheral vision swept over the Amegakure ninjas behind him. He suddenly flashed a brilliant smile at them.
The moment they saw the smile on Haruki’s face, all the Amegakure ninjas’ hearts were gripped. A bad premonition surfaced in their minds.
The next second, Haruki’s body fell towards the ground.
The Amegakure ninjaa simultaneously cried out in alarm. Their pupils widened, and they scrambled towards Haruki.
Takinawa reacted extremely quickly, catching Haruki’s falling body.
The Amegakure ninjas immediately surrounded him.
"What happened to Haruki?"
The Amegakure ninjas asked worriedly.
Takinawa’s trembling fingers probed Haruki’s nostrils. Feeling a faint flow of breath, he let out a heavy sigh of relief.
As long as he was still breathing, it was fine.
Takinawa carried Haruki on his back and looked at the Amegakure ninjas beside him.
"We must return to the camp as soon as possible."
"Let the medical ninja check on Haruki’s condition."
He looked around at everyone, his voice heavy.
"Haruki became because of us."
[System detected Takinawa’s Gratitude Value +3000]
[System detected Setsuga’s Gratitude Value +3000]
[System detected Kyoraku’s Gratitude Value +3000]
[Currently collected Gratitude Value totals 126,000. Your Gratitude Curse growth value has increased to 12.6%]
Haruki leaned against Takinawa’s back, his face pale.
A signal flare let out a sharp whistle, shooting straight into the sky. By now, it was already bright, and the red glow of the morning sun illuminated the battlefield.
The Amegakure ninjas’ pupils were lit up by the fireworks exploding from the signal flare. A faint smile appeared on their faces, covered in dust and blood.
No matter what, they won, they survived. Although only less than fifty of the two hundred people who came remained, compared to the complete annihilation of the two waves of ninjas from Sunagakure, they were considered lucky.
All of this was thanks to Haruki. If not for him, they would also be one of the many corpses on the ground at this moment.
[System detected Anyu’s Gratitude Value +3000]
[System detected Setsuga’s Gratitude Value +3000]
[Currently collected Gratitude Value totals 128,000. Your Gratitude Curse growth value has increased to 25.4%]
The battlefield was silent as the Amegakure ninjas rested in place.
As the sun grew stronger, the air was filled with the stench of corpses, and the high temperature heat waves in the desert distorted the space.
The already tired faces of the Amegakure ninjas became anxious.
Takinawa glanced at the desert ahead where no one appeared, then looked at Haruki on his back who showed no signs of waking up.
"Something’s wrong." Takinawa said with certainty.
He looked at his surviving comrades from the first ambush unit with a solemn expression.
The Amegakure ninjas stood up from the ground, re-formed their ranks, and looked at Takinawa in front.
Takinawa judged. "Five hours have passed since we fired the signal flare, and we still haven’t seen any sign of the reinforcement unit. There’s only one possibility..."
Before Takinawa could finish, someone among the Amegakure ninjas spoke, "The ninjas inside our camp are engaged in a tough battle."
Another Amegakure ninja asked, "Captain, do you mean to say that Sunagakure’s reinforcement unit split into two, one team to support the Sunagakure camp, and one team to raid our camp?"
Takinawa shook his head and said, "It’s just a guess for now."
Takinawa’s expression was not good.
"So what do we do now?"
The Amegakure ninjas looked at each other.
"Let’s go back and support the camp."
"We finally took down this Sunagakure camp. Abandoning it... Wouldn’t that be a waste of all our efforts?"
"But our camp is being raided."
"Since no one has come to meet us now, it means the battle hasn’t been won yet."
"The Sunagakure unit we fought was led by Pakura, so who is leading the Sunagakure unit that raided our camp?"
"Their strength will only be greater."
The Amegakure ninjas’ opinions differed. Some believed they should immediately turn back and support the Amegakure camp. Others believed they should hold this Sunagakure camp to avoid wasting their previous efforts.
"Stop arguing!" Takinawa shouted.
The Amegakure ninjas immediately fell silent and looked at him. Only Takinawa had the authority to decide.
"Return to the camp, support our comrades!" Takinawa’s voice was firm and resolute.
As soon as the question arose, Takinawa said decisively, "Do you think we, with so few people, can hold the Sunagakure camp without the support of our comrades? When the next wave of Sunagakure’s reinforcement unit arrives, we will only face death."
Takinawa waved his hand, firm and powerful. "Return!"
Takinawa carried Haruki on his back and ran towards the Sunagakure camp, located on the border of the Land of Wind and occupied by Amegakure.
Sunagakure would certainly try to reclaim this crucial camp as soon as possible. Sunagakure’s reinforcement unit was very likely to attack this camp.
Haruki, riding on Takinawa, controlled the crows to swiftly fly towards the borders of the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain. He wanted to see what exactly had happened.
Takinawa’s words sounded a bit ominous. How could there be a battlefield without him?
And a place with Hanzō was even more suitable for him to collect emotional value.
Before leaving the Amegakure ninja camp, he should have left two crows behind as monitors.