"Elder—it's very bad. Seventh has a shattered ribcage. I can only keep him from dying. Only mother can fully heal him," Twenty-Second reported. In the past three-plus months Kenshin mastered medical ninjutsu basics and transferred this knowledge to Hitomi's sons—making them beginner ninja-medics.
"We need to survive ourselves… Damn client—if I survive I'll strangle him with my own hands!" Ichiro raged—then took a deep breath and calmed. He decided to use the last chance for salvation—so when the fog mist almost completely dispersed he did as father taught and activated the formation.
Suddenly all five amulets glowed; the battlefield atmosphere changed. Zabuza knew perfectly his enemies sat in one place not trying to escape—so simply waited for the mist to disperse. Suddenly he felt the air grow heavier and looked toward his enemies' position.
His eyes narrowed in surprise at what he saw. Thirty meters away stood a huge three-meter-tall man in plate armor and brutal-looking closed helmet with small horns.
"Friend—let them go. The Nakayama Family loves its children and doesn't wish them death. Name your price—the Nakayama Family will pay for its children's lives," the three-meter man declared thunderously.
Zabuza first checked his mind for genjutsu influence but found nothing. He silently stared at the majestically standing warrior and—for the first time in a very long while—felt fear.
Having survived hundreds of deadly battles Momochi Zabuza had huge supernatural danger sense; now it told him the wrong decision here would cost his life.
"Half a million ryo here in three days. If you try deceiving me—I'll start hunting everyone with the Nakayama surname," Zabuza declared addressing the "pups"—then shifted gaze to the majestic figure, sheathed his sword, nodded respectfully, and vanished a moment later in an unknown direction.
Twenty-Second picked up Seventh—carefully securing him on his back and applying chakra so the shattered ribcage wouldn't worsen—and under the huge samurai figure's watch all brothers hurriedly retreated from the battlefield.
*****
"Seems all clear—no pursuit," Ichiro sighed after an hour of running. They decided to rest and let Twenty-Second slightly stabilize Seventh's condition. He couldn't speak—only wheezing from pain.
"Seems his lung is punctured. How long to home?" Twenty-Second asked.
"Another three and a half hours at this pace," Ichiro replied.
"Won't make it. Need to extract the bone fragment," Twenty-Second decided—quickly unfolding large white cloth on the ground, placing his elder brother on it, and carefully cutting the exo-suit. Kenshin after several improvements made mechanical damage possible under certain conditions.
He lightning-fast took a small scalpel—ran chakra through it destroying all microorganisms as mother taught—took a deep breath, activated Byakugan, and made an incision while clamping all major vessels with chakra.
Five minutes later he wiped sweat from his forehead and sighed contentedly:
"Phew—seems it worked. Mom could extract the fragment without incision; need to get him to my mother urgently," he said—carefully loading his elder brother on his back again; team one headed home.
*****
Kenshin perfectly felt when Ichiro activated the "Terrifying Formation" and immediately jumped to his feet. Unfortunately he had no access to the consciousness fragment implanted in the formation—only able to send a rapid response group to team one's approximate mission location, wait clenching fists, and curse his weakness.
"What happened darling?" Hitomi asked hugging him from behind. In recent months she had blossomed as a loving caring wife—surpassing others in this who due to age were a bit more playful and flighty—not always catching husband's mood.
"Apparently team one got into serious trouble but no one died yet…" Kenshin sighed—Hitomi only worried slightly.
"If any die—you'll know who did it and we can avenge in the future!" Hitomi declared firmly—surprising Kenshin a bit. Usually she was very tender and affectionate; he couldn't understand why she wasn't worried about team one.
"We'll definitely avenge but the dead won't return. You're not worried at all? Twenty-Second is there…" Kenshin whispered.
"Of course I'm worried—I'd gladly trade places to rip a piece of flesh from the enemy's throat but it's impossible. Kenshin—in my life I've seen huge numbers of deaths; in our world attitude toward death differs somewhat from yours. Your world is full of kindness and colors while ours is full of wars and suffering. My elder brother died in one local clash with Suna; my mother and father were happy he managed to take several enemies with him before death. Back then I was little and didn't understand but then I grew up and saw far more deaths than even my parents," Hitomi whispered—caressing Kenshin's ear with her breath.
"I want to say—you shouldn't torment yourself so much because someone gets hurt on a mission. They're all shinobi and all would consider it an honor to die for the family. Imagine what would happen to any great village if for example the Hokage worried so much about every warrior's life? That village would be doomed to extinction."
"But Konoha's shinobi aren't the Hokage's sons!" Kenshin countered.
"Hashirama's son was killed in the Second World War. Hiruzen's two eldest sons were killed in the Third. Understand Kenshin—they're warriors and war rages around. You won't save everyone," Hitomi sighed—hugging him tighter from behind wanting to share his worries.
"But nothing stops me from trying—right?" he replied smiling—stroking her tender hands.