The clash between Sasori and Yuji was nothing more than a brief interlude.
Before long, the stronghold fell back into uneasy silence. Everyone waited quietly for news from the intelligence team still out on the battlefield.
Yuji no longer had anyone left to treat.
As the fighting intensified, those Sunagakure shinobi who returned wounded were no longer being sent back again. If they were injured a second time, it meant death. There weren't enough hands to carry the wounded anymore. Even manpower on the front lines was thinning with every passing hour.
If they retreated now, no one could say how many of the dozens remaining in the stronghold would make it back alive.
"Prepare to relocate."
An elderly Sunagakure veteran finally broke the silence.
"Yuji. Sasori. You two medical-nin, and the younger ones, you leave first."
His voice was calm, almost detached.
"We likely won't be returning to the village. So we'll use what strength we have left to buy you time."
No one interrupted him.
Yuji said nothing.
Because it was the right decision.
Even from underground, they could feel the battle above growing fiercer. Distant tremors shook dust from the ceiling. The clash of weapons and the roar of jutsu occasionally echoed down the passageways.
This final stronghold in the canyon could be discovered at any moment.
Better to move first than be cornered.
According to the last intelligence report, Amegakure's main force had already broken through the border's frontline defenses. More enemy units were pouring into the surrounding area.
At the elder's words, several people exchanged glances and began packing what few supplies they had left.
Those who had resolved themselves to die gathered together, discussing routes and fallback positions, how best to delay the enemy and ensure Yuji and the others could escape.
The air was heavy, but no one wavered.
Then...
Footsteps.
They echoed down the entrance to the underground passage.
Everyone froze.
A moment later, a familiar figure stepped into view.
Lady Chiyo.
Behind her stood an entire medical unit.
Reinforcements had arrived.
For a heartbeat, no one reacted. Then relief swept through the stronghold like a wave. Shoulders sagged. Some let out quiet, shaky breaths. They had prepared themselves for death, and instead, they were given hope.
Yuji exhaled slowly, tension easing from his chest.
"Begin treatment immediately!" one of the shinobi barked upon seeing the reinforcements.
Medical-nin hurried forward, packs swinging at their backs as they rushed to the wounded.
Chiyo's gaze swept the chamber.
She saw Sasori, but did not approach him immediately.
Instead, she walked toward Yuji.
"You're Yuji, aren't you?" she said, a faint smile touching her lips. She placed a hand on his head, her expression one of quiet approval. "I remember you. You've done well. We owe much to you this time."
When Yuji had been an intern at the village hospital, he'd crossed paths with her more than once. Even then, his grasp of medical theory and his unconventional insights had caught her attention. She'd thought him promising, someone who, with proper guidance, might one day become an exceptional medical-nin.
But talent in theory was one thing. Battlefield usefulness was another.
She hadn't expected him to prove himself under fire.
Medical experience and battlefield composure were two entirely different qualities.
After a brief pause, Chiyo finally turned to Sasori.
As she examined his injuries, something complicated flickered in her eyes.
"Amegakure and Konohagakure have reached a temporary truce," she said at last, her tone steady. "Hanzo couldn't accept losing to us before. He thought that without worrying about Konoha, he could deal with Sunagakure at full strength this time."
A faint, cold smile curved her lips.
"But he's destined to swallow the same bitter fruit again."
During the height of the war, Amegakure and Sunagakure had clashed repeatedly.
Konohagakure overwhelmed Amegakure with sheer reserves and manpower.
Sunagakure, however, countered them in a different way.
Hanzō's prized poison gas had been neutralized by Chiyo's antidotes. And Sunagakure's signature puppeteers proved a nightmare for Amegakure's shinobi to handle.
On top of that, the Third Kazekage's Magnet Release, capable of devastating large swathes of the battlefield, matched the scale of Hanzō's poison in destructive potential.
These were advantages Amegakure had never truly overcome.
Hanzō had long since accepted that he couldn't challenge Konohagakure head-on.
But failing to subdue the Land of Wind? That was something he clearly couldn't let go.
It was unfortunate for him.
Sunagakure might not match Konoha in overall strength, but it was more than capable of handling Amegakure.
And the decisive factor had always been the same: Chiyo.
She had neutralized Hanzō's greatest weapon.
Without her antidotes, his poison gas would have been an unstoppable force on the battlefield. Even the Third Kazekage, revered as the strongest Kazekage in history, might not have been able to counter it alone.
According to Chiyo, the Third Kazekage had personally taken to the field this time, determined to deliver Amegakure a crushing blow. He had already departed for the border's frontline.
Now the priority was simple: restore the broken defensive line. Once the breach was sealed, the enemy would lose any chance of advancing deeper into Wind Country.
Chiyo had lingered here only briefly, primarily to check on Yuji and Sasori.
"It's over," she said at last.
Those two quiet words were enough.
Yuji finally allowed himself to relax.
Even if the Third Kazekage hadn't stepped in, the arrival of Chiyo and the village's upper ranks would have been enough to shift the tide. Amegakure would gain nothing further today.
The tension that had been coiled tight inside him snapped all at once.
Relief flooded in, so did exhaustion.
His vision blurred. His limbs felt hollow.
Thud.
Yuji collapsed where he stood, eyes closing as consciousness slipped away.
"Lady Chiyo!"
A nearby shinobi quickly caught him before he hit the ground and looked to her for instruction.
"Let him rest," Chiyo said softly.
She could see it clearly, he wasn't injured. He was simply spent beyond his limits.
"Heh."
A faint chuckle sounded nearby.
Sasori.
The small, almost vindictive laugh caught Chiyo by surprise.
When he noticed her gaze, Sasori's expression returned to its usual blank calm in an instant.
Chiyo said nothing.
Since his parents' deaths, she hadn't seen Sasori smile, not truly. Even just now, that fleeting trace of schadenfreude had been genuine.
'At least he was no longer shutting himself off from the world.'
Her eyes shifted between the unconscious Yuji and her grandson.
But there was no time to linger.
After giving Sasori a few quiet words of instruction, Chiyo turned and left with her team.