Chapter 8: Then I'll Run First
A frigid glare settled upon him, and Uchiha Izuna responded with a cold snort, his face a mask of the arrogance unique to his clan.
"What are you looking at?" he bit out, his gaze fixed on Senju Tobirama. "I... I only agreed to this for Stelle's sake... Ah—!"
The sharp cry was torn from his throat as Stelle, in the process of setting his broken bone, applied a precise, agonizing pressure. Senju Tobirama clicked his tongue, a rare moment of restraint keeping him from delivering a scathing retort.
Instead, he simply leaned against a rough-hewn rock, his sharp eyes tracking Stelle's movements. He waited until she was finished with Izuna before gesturing to her own injured right wrist. He tore a strip of fabric from the hem of his own battle-worn robes and, with practiced efficiency, fashioned a makeshift sling, securing her arm against her shoulder.
Once the immediate injuries of all three had been tended to, Stelle looked from one rival to the other—both battered, bruised, and temporarily bound by a common enemy. A small, weary laugh escaped her.
"If Hashirama and Madara saw the two of you like this," she mused, "they'd probably worry themselves sick before trying to tear that man in the black robes to pieces."
Uchiha Izuna, who was privy to the secret of her relationship with his elder brother, remained silent. Senju Tobirama, however, was not. His tone was laced with suspicion.
"You said... Madara?"
Stelle's mind raced. Her usual warm smile instantly appeared, though it was strained by the throbbing pain in her wrist. "Hashirama talks about his dear friend Madara all the time. I've heard the name so often, I suppose it just slipped out."
Tobirama considered her explanation, his analytical mind searching for inconsistencies. Finding none, he conceded with a grudging nod, though a sliver of doubt remained.
Listening from the side, Uchiha Izuna felt a sudden, secret surge of pride. So what if this damned white-haired Senju was powerful? He didn't even know that his own brother, Senju Hashirama, had been sneaking out for most of the night. Nor did he have any idea that Stelle often met with his elder brother under the cover of darkness.
But he knew. As expected, he was still a cut above.
He allowed himself a small, internal smirk. Hmph!
After a brief rest to recover their strength, Stelle found her gaze repeatedly drifting toward the mouth of the cave.
"Do you think he's dead?" she asked, her voice low.
"It's unclear," Uchiha Izuna answered grimly. Having been closer to the epicenter of the explosion, he had a better sense of its power. "But if he isn't dead, he's severely wounded."
Senju Tobirama's expression was grave. "There are two possible outcomes. First, he was caught in the blast and we are safe. Second, he is merely injured and, in his rage, will hunt us down. In which case, we die."
Stelle fell silent. She began to pace a small, tight circle around the two injured men, her brow furrowed in thought.
"What is it?" Tobirama asked, his breath hitching. Every inhalation felt like his internal organs were being scraped with knives.
Stelle tapped her head with her good hand, her expression one of serious contemplation. "I was just thinking, if he's not dead and he comes after us, how am I supposed to get you both out of here? Neither of you can move, and I can't carry two people on my back."
She gestured between them, a sudden, bizarre idea lighting up her eyes. "How about I find a sturdy tree branch, and... hang you both from it? Like cargo. You... don't have any objections to that, right?"
Neither Senju Tobirama nor Uchiha Izuna could begin to picture such a ridiculous scene.
They both sighed, almost in unison.
How was it possible that in the midst of a thrilling, life-or-death escape, her words could make them feel so utterly caught between laughter and tears? She truly was a bit of an oddball.
The thought struck Uchiha Izuna with particular force. Logically, he should have been the one left behind—the enemy shinobi sacrificed to cover the retreat while she escaped with her Senju ally. Yet here she was, at this critical juncture, genuinely trying to figure out how to save him, too.
'Is this woman a complete fool?' he wondered.
Neither of them answered her absurd question. After a long, tense silence, Senju Tobirama and Uchiha Izuna spoke at the exact same time.
"If he catches up, you just run—"
Their overlapping voices cut off abruptly. They shot each other a strange look, expressions twisting as if they'd just swallowed a fly at the sheer unpleasantness of being in perfect agreement. After a beat, they continued, determined to ignore the other.
Senju Tobirama picked up a twig and began scratching a crude map into the dirt floor of the cave.
"I remember the terrain," he said, his voice a low rasp. "If you run left from here, you'll enter the reed marshes. Cross the hillside behind the reeds and continue for another fifteen li. You'll find an Uzumaki Clan stronghold. We are allies with the Uzumaki; they will help you."
"That's too open," Uchiha Izuna immediately countered, grabbing his own branch. "If the man in black robes chases her, he won't even have to search. He'll see her from a mile away." He drew his own route. "You run first. Go up from here, cut past that forest, and follow this path. Twenty li from here, there's an Uchiha Clan stronghold. You're a rare Wood Release user; they won't kill you right away."
Senju Tobirama sneered. "Go to an Uchiha stronghold? And walk right into a trap?"
Uchiha Izuna didn't bother to reply. He knew that news within the Uchiha clan could not bypass his elder brother. Once Madara received word that Stelle was there, he would naturally come to her rescue. But Izuna had no intention of sharing that detail with Tobirama. He would let the damned white-haired Senju stew in his ignorance.
After waiting a few more minutes in the tense silence, listening for any sound from outside, Stelle shook her head. "Hiding like this is useless. We need to get rescued. I'll go scout ahead. If I can confirm it's safe, we can leave."
"Be careful!" Tobirama called out.
Stelle looked back over her shoulder and offered a tired smile. "Don't worry. If I run into danger, I'll run first. After all, don't I have the two of you to cover my rear?"
She leaned against the cool stone wall for a moment, wiping a film of cold sweat from her forehead, before staggering out of the cave.
The night of frantic flight had given way to the pale light of dawn. The terrain here was elevated, and a thin mist clung to the ground. As she moved, she checked her system.
A single glance made her heart bloom with joy. Black Zetsu, that big spender, had coughed up a whopping 40,000 mood points, while Senju Tobirama and Uchiha Izuna had each contributed a respectable 20,000.
It felt like becoming rich overnight.
Heaven knew how pitiful her situation had become lately, trying to scrape together emotional value by any means necessary, even resorting to collecting it point by tedious point.
Had she been going about this all wrong? Was she too focused on the daily grind?
It seemed these mood values demanded a spectacle; the bigger the scene, the greater the harvest.
And look at that. Just by adding a little extra drama to provoke Black Zetsu, she had stumbled upon the correct way to farm her points. All she'd done was invent some 'Lord Sōjin' to annoy him, a fictional character to usurp Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's position as the Progenitor of Chakra, and he had rewarded her with 40,000 points.
Her Top Donor was truly her lucky star. She loved him, she really did.
And speaking of which, Uchiha Izuna and Senju Tobirama had now been upgraded to 'life-and-death comrades.' They probably wouldn't try to kill each other on sight anymore. When the time came, she wouldn't have to farm their mood values secretly; she could do it right out in the open.
Excellent. All four of her major contributors were gathered.
This trip had been a truly bountiful harvest.
Now… time for the grand finale.
Back in the cave, Senju Tobirama and Uchiha Izuna leaned against the stone wall. The air was thick with a quiet, awkward tension. Neither of them had ever imagined they would one day be sharing the same space so… peacefully.
They pointedly avoided each other's gaze, neither intending to break the silence.
Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed from the cave entrance.
Tobirama struggled to turn his stiff neck. "Stelle? Have you scouted the situation?"
"There's no need to scout. I've already arrived."
The voice that answered was cold and utterly alien. Both Tobirama and Izuna's expressions changed drastically as they stared, wide-eyed, at the man in black robes standing at the mouth of the cave.
He had indeed been caught in the explosive tag formation. His robes were tattered, and the stench of blood hung heavy around him. But instead of being grievously injured and forced to retreat as they'd hoped, he had actually found them.
This was the worst-case scenario. It seemed their luck had finally run out.
Senju Tobirama's hand tightened around the last explosive tag he possessed. He would detonate it as a warning, giving Stelle a chance to flee when she heard the sound.
Just as both men resigned themselves to their fate, wooden branches erupted from the ground, lashing out and attacking the robed figure.
Stelle's voice rang out from beyond the cave. "Hey! If you have the guts, come and kill me! What's the point of killing two men who can't even fight back? I'm a rare Wood Release user, you know!"
Immediately after, a volley of stones clattered against the rock face near the entrance.
The man in black robes, seemingly enraged by the taunts, turned and lunged out of the cave in pursuit.
Tobirama and Izuna then heard her voice again, this time strained and raspy.
"Tobirama, Izuna… sorry. I'm running first."
So this was the "running first" she had spoken of.
In that instant, Senju Tobirama felt his heart stop. A raw, desperate roar tore itself from his throat, echoing out into the misty dawn.
"STELLE!"
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