CH_59

The light rain pattered steadily on the leaves—tap-tap-tap-tap—a constant, soft rhythm.

Because of the weather, it wasn't even five o'clock yet, but the light in the forest was already poor. Even for genin, visibility was limited to less than fifty meters.

Neru sat alone in a tree, about three meters off the ground, quietly recovering her chakra.

Natchi came over to the tree Tōji was leaning against and sat down as well.

"Tōji, where do you think Captain Kenji went?" Natchi didn't ask "Do you think Captain Kenji can beat that Iwa-nin?"—he took Kenji's ability for granted.

"Most likely, he went looking for us. But we can't go back to find him. He's a capable jōnin—even if he can't win, he can probably escape. We just need to get back to a safe zone as fast as possible and wait." If Natchi hadn't used up so much chakra, Tōji would have wanted to head straight back behind the front lines and go back to "coasting."

Seeing that Natchi had a few wounds that weren't serious but hadn't stopped bleeding yet, Tōji decided to treat him.

But Tōji hadn't even finished healing the first wound with the 【Healing Technique】 when Natchi suddenly turned his head and stared into the distance…

Had he sensed someone nearby?

Tōji immediately held his breath and listened…

Boom! Boom-boom! Boom! In just a moment, sounds of battle erupted a few hundred meters away—the continuous explosions were loud and clear.

"Tōji." Neru dropped down from the tree and called his name.

"Should we go?" Tōji asked back.

This was a gamble!

Gamble on whether the fighters over there—if they were Konoha shinobi—would win, or at least hold their own.

And gamble on whether the ones drawn to the commotion would be more Konoha-nin or more Iwa-nin…

There were too many unknowns. But from Neru's expression at that moment, she seemed more inclined to take the risk.

"Stay away from that direction—take a detour! The more chaos they stir up over there, the better it is for us to slip back behind the lines!" Tōji explained immediately.

Though there was a chance of finding protection from other Konoha shinobi just a few hundred meters away, Tōji chose the safer route instead of taking that risk.

Better to rely on yourself than on others!

Even though sneaking back to Konoha's rear lines through a battlefield full of danger was a fairly long trek, Tōji trusted his own abilities… He hadn't spent all those years training in escape techniques for nothing.

He'd been given a second life—he didn't want to die young. In his past life, he'd died from overwork at just thirty, thanks to the 996 grind. In this life, all he wanted was to coast through to a comfortable retirement. If he could guarantee absolute safety, maybe he'd allow himself a little bit of excitement in his shinobi career.

So his thinking was different from most young shinobi. Even though Neru also didn't want to die a glorious death, her approach was different.

Neru preferred to seek protection from stronger fighters. Tōji preferred to rely on his own abilities.

"I'm with Tōji." Natchi stood up, making his stance clear.

Tōji stood as well, waiting for Neru's decision.

"Fine. It's a shame—if we'd gone that way, we might've found our people right away." Neru sighed.

"Keep moving—we can't stay here." With that, Tōji took the lead.

The fighting in the distance was probably working in their favor. Whether friend or foe, they'd made it halfway without running into anyone. The second half of the journey was mostly territory where Konoha shinobi were active—so they'd made it safely back to Konoha's side.

"Do you think Captain Kenji might already be back waiting for us?" Natchi asked, now that they could see some simple tents set up by Konoha squads in the distance.

Neru answered him, "If he couldn't win, he'd probably retreat back here…"