At the Land of Fire's border, at the Konoha alert outpost.
Three figures appeared below the lookout post without any attempt at concealment.
The Konoha ninja on alert immediately noticed the three.
They were Asuma, Kurenai, and Akimichi Chōza, who, after several days of travel, had finally withdrawn from the Land of Grass back to the Land of Fire.
At this moment, Akimichi Chōza still appeared extremely weak; he had only just regained consciousness and was able to walk on his own.
However, the side effects of the secret pill were still eroding Chōza's body. After all, over these past days, the three of them had hardly rested at all, their only thought being to rush back to the Konoha outpost in the Land of Fire.
They needed to report the situation they had experienced in the Land of Grass to the border troops, so a support squad could be dispatched for Ryoma.
Although in his heart, Chōza wasn't sure if they would even make it in time.
When Chōza woke up, he found himself on Asuma's back, with only Kurenai silently accompanying them on the journey, but Ryoma was nowhere to be seen.
Through Asuma's account, he learned that soon after he had fallen unconscious, the enemy had picked up their trail again.
Although the number of pursuers this time wasn't large, Chōza understood that in this situation, anyone daring to form a squad to chase them could only mean that these three enemies were all quite formidable.
They were confident in their own strength, believing they could take down Squad 6, which had already fought two consecutive battles.
Moreover, with Chōza incapacitated by the secret pill's side effects, it could be said that Ryoma was the only one in the entire squad with any real fighting capability left.
Having experienced two major battles in a row, Ryoma's own stamina was already significantly depleted.
When Chōza heard that Ryoma had decided to lure the enemies away himself, allowing Asuma to take Kurenai and him to find a chance to retreat.
Chōza immediately struggled to get down from Asuma's back, wanting to rush back to save Ryoma.
Claims about still having trump cards left unused, claims about his speed being affected by Asuma and the others—
Chōza felt these were all just things Ryoma said to put their minds at ease.
Chōza still had one final secret pill in his hand, the Red Chili Pepper Pill!
Although the side effect of taking it would be death, Chōza's heart would never allow himself, as the supervising jonin, to need his own student to lure the enemy and hold them back for him.
In Chōza's mind, this kind of thing was something he should have been the one to do!
Ryoma was still just a child who had only recently graduated and become a genin less than a year ago.
Asuma, however, pointed out that they didn't even know which direction Ryoma had gone. Ryoma had only handed the intelligence scroll to him, said he would meet them at the Konoha border outpost they had come through after leading the enemies away, and said nothing else.
Chōza fell silent.
Kurenai, too, had tears welling up in her eyes.
Asuma's tone was already filled with pain, on the verge of losing control of his emotions.
The three of them knew that Ryoma was most likely in grave danger by now!
Chōza had no choice but to decide to return to the Land of Fire's border first. After all, not only did they have other missions to complete, but they also needed to report the Iwa-nin's actions to the commander of the Konoha border forces.
They needed to warn everyone to be on guard, to prevent a sudden surprise attack from Iwagakure.
With heavy hearts, the three of them basically eliminated their rest time and rushed back to the agreed-upon Konoha outpost as quickly as possible.
Asuma was supporting Chōza nearby, his eyes filled with the fatigue accumulated over these days and a deep sorrow hidden in their depths.
He looked at the outpost before him, and a flicker of hope suddenly ignited in his eyes.
Kurenai also looked up at the outpost, a glimmer of light appearing in her gaze.
Asuma and Kurenai especially hoped now that Ryoma had arrived at the meeting point before them.
Or perhaps, at this very moment, Ryoma was resting and healing his wounds inside the outpost, unaware of their arrival...
Chōza looked at the expressions of his two students and naturally knew what they were thinking.
Difficult!
Far too difficult!
Chōza sighed, presented the mission proof to the Konoha ninja who came to verify their identities, and then immediately asked:
"Excuse me, has a boy about the same age as the students behind me, also a Konoha ninja of ours, retreated to this outpost in the past few days?"
The ninja verifying their identities thought carefully for a moment upon hearing this, then replied:
"No, we've been short-handed these past few days, and I've been on duty. If a comrade from the same village had retreated here, I would definitely know."
After he spoke, the faint hope that had been in Asuma's and Kurenai's expressions instantly sank back into gloom.
Chōza was silent for a few seconds as well, then immediately said: "Alright, please take us to see the commander here. We have important intelligence to report!"
The three of them followed the guiding ninja into a tent and went inside.
Inside the large tent at that moment, a Konoha ninja wearing a blue ninja cap, his face full of stubble, clad in a black tight-fitting combat uniform with a green jonin armored vest over it, was running tactical simulations on a map.
Seeing Chōza enter the tent with Asuma and Kurenai, the man put down the simulation map and greeted Chōza warmly:
"Yosh, it's Chōza. What's up? I heard you have something to report to me."
Chōza quickly spoke up, addressing the man: "Veteran Mimura Hazuki, I didn't expect you to be the commander of this area. A few days ago, while we were executing a mission..."
(PS: Mimura Hazuki was a frontline commander of the Konoha Defense Force during the Third War. He was pushed into a desperate situation with only four men left by the Iwa-nin army led by Higashishibito, but was later rescued by the arrival of Minato-sensei, allowing them to break free from their predicament.)
"Finally, my squad member, Nara Ryoma, decided to lure the pursuers away himself, which gave us the chance to retreat from the Land of Grass! I request the immediate dispatch of a support squad to go and assist my squad member!"
After hearing Chōza's account, Mimura Hazuki's brow was deeply furrowed.
Iwa-nin activity had indeed been frequent lately. Mimura Hazuki had also noticed this situation and was constantly on edge, on guard against any sudden moves from Iwagakure.
It had to be said that Chōza's Squad 6 had achieved extraordinary results against the Iwa-nin forces.
As for that boy named Nara Ryoma, he was most likely in grave danger by now.
There was indeed a serious shortage of manpower at the border recently. Based on the information Chōza brought back, they needed to strengthen their alert status even more, to prevent the Iwa-nin from desperate last-ditch attacks.
Dispatching a squad at this time, expending manpower and resources for a so-called support mission for someone most likely already "Dead," was definitely not a wise choice for Mimura Hazuki, a border commander.
As a commander, he also had things to consider and guard against.
There were many things one simply felt powerless to do!
Mimura Hazuki shook his head, sighed, and said:
"Ah, a truly capable and courageous child. Chōza, you trained a good student! However..."
Before Mimura Hazuki could finish, a squad of ninja suddenly entered the tent.
The leading man had the iconic pineapple hairstyle of the Nara clan, and the ninja immediately behind him had the same hairstyle.
Seeing the newcomers, Chōza's speech unconsciously became stammering.
"Su... Suzaku-senpai, Shiozu, you're here too?"
The newcomers were none other than Nara Suzaku and Nara Shiozu's squad, who had just returned from an outside mission. They had come here to resupply before heading back to the village.
Unexpectedly, while passing by the tent, they heard Chōza's voice. Thinking that Chōza was his nephew's jonin instructor, and it had indeed been a long time since he'd seen Ryoma, Suzaku had intended to go in and see him. But outside the tent, he heard this news instead.
Seeing a member of the Nara clan, Chōza's inner remorse deepened.
He hated himself for not being able to hold on just a little longer.
That way, even if he died, he would have been willing, as long as Ryoma could return safely!
He had no idea how he would face his friend back in the village, Nara Shikaku!
Suzaku forcibly suppressed his emotions at that moment and asked calmly:
"Chōza, mark on the map the exact location from where Ryoma started luring the enemies away by himself. I will lead my squad to go and support Ryoma."
Chōza quickly took out the map, confirmed the location with Asuma and Kurenai, and solemnly handed it over to Suzaku.
Chōza's face was full of guilt as he said, "I'm sorry, Suzaku-senpai. I failed to take good care of Ryoma. It should have been me who lured the enemies away..."
Suzaku cut off Chōza's words, his tone grave as he said: "That was the child's choice!"
Then he spoke to Nara Shiozu behind him: "Shiozu, notify the squad members. Get your equipment ready as soon as possible. We'll assemble here in 15 minutes!"
Seeing that Suzaku didn't blame him, the pain in Chōza's heart deepened.
And Asuma and Kurenai, experiencing such a 'separation of life and death' for the first time, had their pent-up emotions of the past days burst forth at this moment.
Asuma knelt on the ground, pounding the floor forcefully, his expression anguished.
Kurenai's small face was streaked with tears, as she sobbed quietly beside him...
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