"Yes, Orochimaru-sama. Please be careful."
Kiyohara carefully put the scroll away.
If he ran without this, he'd probably be branded a deserter.
Even a retreat had to be orderly.
If things devolved into chaos, casualties would only skyrocket.
"Go," Orochimaru said with a small wave.
With his strength, even if all Seven Ninja Swordsmen arrived, he still had ways to get out alive.
"Right."
Kiyohara nodded, then led Kakashi and the others away.
He trusted Orochimaru would be fine.
If nothing else, the man had maxed out his "survivability stats."
No matter who died at Uzushio, Orochimaru was unlikely to be one of them.
The group quickly moved west.
Once Kiyohara and the others were gone, Orochimaru bit his thumb and used his blood as a medium.
"Summoning Technique."
Poof!
When the smoke cleared, a colossal purple serpent appeared in the clearing.
Even from a distance, Kiyohara heard the commotion and turned; towering above the trees was Manda, Orochimaru's summoning.
Among them, only Kakashi had a summoned beast of his own.
"Orochimaru-sama's summon…" he muttered.
"So big. You can tell it's strong at a glance," Genma said, awed.
He'd heard of Orochimaru's summon—but seeing it in person was another matter.
"Yeah," Kurenai nodded.
Their brief conversation lightened the heavy mood a little.
If a ninja's mind stayed wound too tight for too long, it was easy to break afterward.
As they moved, Rin's face grew paler.
Every jolt of their pace sent pain burning through her back.
She'd only used basic Hemostasis to stop the bleeding, closing the wound in a hurry.
Proper healing would need real medical ninjutsu.
Otherwise, a big movement could tear it open again at any moment.
Worse, there were still small stone fragments inside; if they healed over with debris trapped, it would definitely get inflamed and infected.
Kiyohara noticed her whitening face and the way her brows pinched tighter and tighter.
"We should stop somewhere and recover a bit—Rin's wound needs proper treatment," he said.
Her condition wasn't suitable for a forced march.
"Agreed," Kakashi said.
He'd noticed it too.
They'd been running for a while. They needed to reset.
There were still several hours of travel before they reached the western coastline.
If they didn't recover and then got ambushed, it would be bad.
So the group decided to rest for a few dozen minutes and restore chakra.
"Rin, I'll treat your wound," Kiyohara said.
He glanced at the darkening sky.
Only the distant glow of fire still lit the horizon—likely Fire Release or leftover exploding tags.
"If we don't reopen and treat it, your wound will just tear again. And it hasn't been properly cleaned."
He spoke while pulling simple medical tools from his pouch.
He valued his life too much not to carry basic supplies.
"You'll treat me?" Rin asked.
She thought it over. Only Kiyohara knew any medical ninjutsu at all.
She nodded lightly.
Seeing that, Kiyohara asked Magnet Kiyohara to scout for nearby Mist shinobi.
He'd been using his spirit that way all along—sending him ahead to avoid walking into ambushes.
But the cost was that Magnet Kiyohara's form was getting thinner and thinner.
Whether he possessed Kiyohara or wandered too far, it accelerated his fading.
Even manifesting outside consumed him.
So when there was nothing urgent, the future selves stayed in their urns, slowing the rate of loss.
Inside, they were cut off—no sight, no sound, no sense of time. Like a deep sleep.
Through his experiments, Kiyohara had figured out that, if he wished, he could forbid future selves from emerging at all—keeping them locked in the urn.
It protected his privacy, for one.
More importantly, it ensured that if a "difficult" future appeared, he could prevent it from influencing him.
In a sea of endless possibilities, there was surely at least one "pervert Kiyohara," or some other bizarre variant.
This ability was an extra layer of security.
"No enemies nearby," Magnet Kiyohara said after a few breaths.
His form was almost transparent.
He didn't linger—he dove back into the urn to preserve what remained of himself.
Unless Kiyohara explicitly called, he wouldn't be showing himself again anytime soon.
After getting the all-clear, Kiyohara slowed and said to Kakashi:
"Kakashi, Rin's back injury needs proper treatment. Too exposed here. Can you use Earth Release to put up a temporary wall?"
Kakashi understood immediately.
He and Genma were guys; Rin wasn't.
He nodded without questions and flew through seals.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
A solid wall of earth rose, smooth on the inside, neatly separating Kiyohara and Rin from Kakashi, Kurenai, and Genma—forming a small private space.
To save chakra, he didn't make it big—just enough to cover two people.
Still, it blocked line of sight and gave them some privacy and safety.
Kiyohara glanced at it and figured Kakashi must be low on chakra—there wasn't even a single carved dog head this time.
"Rin, sit down. Let me take a look," he said.
"Sorry to trouble you, Kiyohara-kun," she murmured.
She turned her back toward him and sat down.
She knew it was necessary—but the thought of exposing her back to a boy, especially out here in the wild, still made a flush creep up her cheeks.
She took a deep breath and steadied herself.
It was wartime. There was no room for modesty.
The two of them stepped behind the earthen wall; Rin slowly removed her upper clothing, leaving only her chest wrappings.
Her smooth, pale back was bared to the cool air, skin clear and delicate—but marred by an ugly red wound, swollen and only roughly closed.
Tiny stone fragments still glinted at the edges.
"The wound's a bit torn, and there's foreign matter in it," Kiyohara said, squatting down to inspect it closely.
"Mystical Palm can speed up healing, but it won't expel debris. We have to remove it manually or it'll cause infection or worse."
He spoke while unfolding a small leather kit from his pouch—inside were neatly arranged tweezers, a small scalpel, a vial of medical alcohol, and clean bandages.
"This might sting. Bear with it."
Kiyohara picked up the tweezers, carefully wiped them with an alcohol swab, then leaned in.
Rin could feel the warmth of his breath against her back. Her body tensed slightly on its own.
~~~
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