On the road back to the village, the tension still hung in the air.
The clearest sign was how much quieter everyone had become.
"It's blood."
The one who broke the silence was Chōza.
He lifted his head, sniffed the air, then stopped in place and stared hard toward the west.
"If someone from the Hyūga clan were here, they could tell us exactly what's going on at a glance."
"This isn't the time for that. We need to check it out first. There aren't any other squads assigned to pass through here, so it might be someone retreating from the western front."
Before they left for the village today, Inoichi had already contacted Konoha and confirmed that no missions had been scheduled in this area.
As he spoke, he looked to Shikaku, because in most situations, it was Shikaku who made the final call.
"Byakuya, what would you do?" Shikaku suddenly asked.
"Huh?"
What was this, some kind of pop quiz?
Byakuya blinked in surprise, then pretended to think it over.
If it were him, obviously he would not go.
Why?
Because he wanted to get back home and sleep.
But there was no way he could say that out loud, so he tried to wrap it in something more presentable.
"I think we shouldn't go."
"Why not?"
"If the smell of blood is this strong, that means the injuries are severe. And if they made it all the way north, that probably means they're being hunted. We don't even know how many enemies are out there. There are only four of us, and if we add wounded to that, there's no angle where this works in our favor."
"That's a solid analysis."
Was the sun rising in the west?
Byakuya had fully expected Shikaku to tell him he was wrong. This was the first time the man had ever approved of what he said.
But Shikaku only smiled faintly, then turned toward the source of the blood scent.
"And even so, we still have to go. Do you know why?"
"How would I know...?"
"Because there might be wounded comrades over there."
What a noble thing to say.
Come to think of it, this was probably exactly why the Third Hokage had insisted on putting him in this squad.
But Byakuya was not a character in a manga. He had to survive in the real world. There was no way he could keep gambling his life forever on pure idealism and a sense of justice.
"They could already be dead."
Byakuya said it while watching the others turn and prepare to head that way.
But words like that were never going to stop them.
"They might still be alive. As long as that possibility exists, that's enough! Hahaha!"
Chōza laughed as he turned, then broke into a run ahead of the others.
Watching his back disappear into the distance, Byakuya could not help sighing.
Of course they understood not everyone could be saved.
And even so, they would still throw everything they had into trying.
That was the part Byakuya simply could not understand.
---
This is why I said we should've just gone back!!
"There are way too many of them."
"Hahaha, didn't expect things to turn out like this."
He said it lightly, but every face in the group was tighter than usual.
They were surrounded by a huge enemy force. On their side there were only the Ino-Shika-Chō trio, Byakuya, and one wounded shinobi... no matter how you looked at it, it felt like they had walked straight into their own grave.
"Byakuya's judgment really has improved. He called this situation exactly."
"...What do we do now, Shikaku?"
Byakuya asked while checking the wounded man's injuries.
To be honest, there was a trace of blame in his voice. A quiet accusation.
"How bad is it?"
"Bad."
"Can you carry him?"
"...I'm too small. I can't move him properly."
"Do your best."
Seriously? Is that an actual answer?
Byakuya had a dozen things he wanted to snap back with, but on the battlefield, an order was an order. If they told you to do it, you did it.
He first slung the wounded man's arm over his shoulder and heaved, trying to get him upright.
As expected, the moment the man's feet touched the ground, Byakuya could barely move him.
Still, it was not completely impossible. The man could at least stagger along if supported.
"From here on, we'll hold the enemy off and buy you time. Take the wounded man to the safe zone. Can you do it?"
"Yeah!"
"With things the way they are, it's our only option."
So they were serious.
Byakuya looked at the backs of the three men standing off against the enemy in front of them, then let out another sigh.
"Byakuya, when I give the signal, run with everything you've got."
"Sigh... got it."
He really could not stop sighing.
There were too many enemies. Even if Shikaku used his jutsu to pin them down for a while, it would not last long.
Eventually some of them would break through and come after him. If his luck ran out, he might die here outright.
He had really ended up on the wrong squad. Nothing but suffering.
Byakuya stared at their steady backs, and the moment Shikaku gave the signal, he ran.
Because he was carrying a wounded man, every step left blood marks on the ground. But right now, there was no time to erase his trail while escaping.
Maybe it counted as luck, maybe not, but he did not sense anyone chasing him.
"Uh... ngh..."
After running quite a distance, the wounded Konoha ninja seemed to wake up.
But there was only one thing in Byakuya's head: don't stop, keep running until they reach the safe zone.
So he just kept moving forward.
"Wait... stop..."
"I can't stop. There may be enemies behind us."
"That's why I'm telling you to stop..."
The blood from the wounded man had soaked through Byakuya's back.
A bad feeling rose in his chest.
Should he stop and listen?
But what if the enemy caught up?
His thoughts tangled together in a mess, and in the end he stopped anyway and lowered the man carefully to the ground.
His back was already drenched. Blood was still pouring out between the strips of cloth they had tied down to slow the bleeding. Byakuya tore off part of his own sleeve, intending to tighten the bandage again, and moved closer.
"Thanks for saving me... but this was a stupid choice."
"I know."
After all, Byakuya had been the one against this from the start. Of course he knew.
"Haha..."
The wounded man must have found that answer absurd, because a faint, exhausted smile crossed his face. He pulled a scroll from inside his clothes and held it out.
"This is a classified Iwa communication scroll. It wasn't part of the mission. I got greedy."
"..."
"I know my own body. Just take this back."
Byakuya did not need to check. He already knew the man could not be saved. Even if they made it all the way back to the village, he would not survive.
And yet, unlike usual, Byakuya could not simply turn around and walk away. Leaving behind someone who was still staring death in the face was harder than he expected.
"It was because I got greedy that everyone died... When Ryōsuke tried to stop me, I should've listened..."
All the man had left, waiting for death like this, was endless regret.
And because of that, Byakuya found it even harder to leave him behind.
"There's movement. Go. Hurry."
"...Kid, let me warn you, there's no point pretending to be kind. Right now you're just being stubborn."
"The order I was given was to take the wounded to the safe zone."
Maybe he had spent too much time around Shikaku and the others.
Maybe some of it had rubbed off on him.
Byakuya grabbed the man's arm, hauled him back onto his shoulders, and quickly judged the sounds coming from behind them, estimating how far away the pursuers were.
Even if he ran now, they would catch him soon enough.
With a wounded man on his back, he could not get up any real speed, much less run while covering their tracks.
In the end, there was no way around it.
He was going to have to fight.
"You're going to regret this..." the wounded man muttered from his back while Byakuya was still lost in thought.
But he had one thing wrong.
Regret?
That had started a long time ago.