At the same time that Orochimaru and his men found Tsunade and Jiraiya, another part of the ruined battlefield lay in silence. Haruto Saito was lying motionless on the cracked earth, his breathing steady and even, still in deep unconsciousness.
Beside him, Terado lay collapsed, his body covered in wounds. His head rested on Haruto's torso, unmoving, his breath faint as a whisper.
Terado was dying, but he wasn't dead yet!
He had previously said that he only had five minutes left to live. However, that was under the condition that he continued burning his life force at its absolute limit. In other words, at that moment, his remaining lifespan was only enough to sustain his battle for five more minutes.
However, since he had been hypnotized into unconsciousness, his defensive sealing technique was passively deactivated, halting the burning of his life force. This meant that he wouldn't die from exhaustion. But with the seal's defensive effect gone, his wounds were left unchecked, causing his injuries to rapidly deteriorate. He was still going to die—it was just a matter of time.
The rain continued to pour, washing over both their bodies. The blood covering them was rinsed away, forming a large pool of crimson water beneath them.
Time passed.
No one knew how long it had been.
Hiss! Hisss!
A sinister and eerie sound echoed in the desolate battlefield. From the dense foliage of a fallen tree nearby, a large, bluish-white serpent slithered out, its scales glistening under the rain. The snake moved swiftly across the ground, stopping just beside Haruto and Terado. It lifted its upper body high into the air, its red eyes fixed intently on the two unconscious figures.
These two were still alive.
The bluish-white serpent could sense it. It could even judge their injuries to a certain extent because it wasn't an ordinary snake—it was one of Orochimaru's many reconnaissance serpents.
At this very moment, dozens of such snakes were slithering across the ruined battlefield, searching for survivors.
"Hisss… hisss…" The bluish-white serpent flicked its tongue, emitting an unusual sound.
...
Meanwhile, Orochimaru and his men had found Tsunade and Jiraiya. The remaining dozens of Konoha shinobi had also gathered at the scene. The moment they saw Tsunade and Jiraiya, their faces lit up with relief, as if a great weight had been lifted from their shoulders.
They had been in the Land of Rain for many days now, facing countless dangers, ambushes, and pursuit from the Hidden Rain's Anbu forces. Some of their comrades had already fallen in battle.
Had they taken any longer to locate Tsunade and Jiraiya, staying in the Land of Rain any further would no longer have been about whether they could complete the rescue—it would have been about whether they could even survive.
Fortunately, they had found them!
Now, they could begin their retreat from the Land of Rain.
Though the journey ahead would still be perilous, the current state of chaos caused by the appearance of the Black Samurai, along with the Rain Village's forces being scattered, provided them with an opportunity. Even if they had to fight their way out, they had a good chance of success.
Even if Hanzo received word and personally pursued them, he alone wouldn't be able to take on these elite Konoha shinobi. Every single one of the ninja in this rescue team was an elite; none of them were lower-ranking shinobi.
One of the ninja removed his outer robe and handed it to Tsunade, whose clothes were in tatters. As for Jiraiya, no one seemed to care about his state of dress—after all, he was a man. However, his injuries were far worse than Tsunade's, something that the others quickly realized.
Tsunade draped the offered robe over herself, her face weary. "How did you find us?"
"We encountered Miyamoto Ikaruga a day ago… Also, we visited the abandoned mine where you had been hiding," Orochimaru explained briefly.
The reason their location had been completely exposed was because of Miyamoto Ikaruga.
At the time, Haruto had already lost consciousness. Tsunade and Jiraiya had fought fiercely against Miyamoto Ikaruga's group, resulting in mutual injuries before all parties were forced to flee.
During that battle, the Rain Falcon had also appeared in the sky above.
News of the battle spread quickly, reaching nearby Hidden Rain shinobi and other forces operating in the Land of Rain through various channels.
That was how Orochimaru's team had managed to track them down.
To be honest, they had arrived late—the battle was already over. But at least Tsunade and Jiraiya were still alive.
"Who did you fight?" Orochimaru asked, scanning the surroundings. Judging from the battlefield's destruction and the severity of their wounds, they had clearly faced an exceptionally powerful opponent. Moreover, since Orochimaru hadn't seen any other corpses, it suggested that their opponent had been alone—or at most, part of a very small group.
"It was Terado," Jiraiya replied, turning to Tsunade. "Did you kill him?"
Tsunade's expression darkened as she shook her head. Jiraiya had been knocked unconscious early in the battle and didn't know that Tsunade had been buried alive. After she had managed to claw her way out from the rubble, she found that everyone had disappeared. She had no idea what had happened afterward.
"Terado?!" Orochimaru's eyes flashed with surprise. He knew who that was—the Hidden Rain's most fearsome assassin!
Not only Orochimaru, but the surrounding Konoha ninja also recognized the name.
Hanzo's personal bodyguard and the most terrifying elite assassin of the Rain Village! Some even speculated that his strength rivaled Konoha's White Fang, though no one could confirm the true extent of his power.
"You actually fought Terado?" Orochimaru asked uncertainly.
Tsunade immediately understood the underlying meaning in Orochimaru's words—he didn't believe that she and Jiraiya were capable of defeating Terado.
"We didn't win," Tsunade admitted. "We managed to ambush him and severely wound him, but he used a forbidden life-sacrificing technique to maintain his combat strength. In the end, we still couldn't defeat him. I was nearly buried alive by his counterattack, and by the time I crawled out, he was already gone."
If Terado had truly escaped and was still alive, then this battle could only be considered a draw. However, Tsunade's side had suffered more since Haruto had either been killed or taken hostage by Terado.
"Forbidden life technique…" Orochimaru's eyes gleamed with intrigue.
His focus was completely different from Tsunade's concerns.
"We weren't just two people," Tsunade added.
This reminded Orochimaru of something. He immediately interrupted, "The Black Samurai—was it really that kid?!"
Ever since entering the Land of Rain, Orochimaru had heard about the Black Samurai and how he had been fleeing with Tsunade and Jiraiya. He had suspected that the Black Samurai was Haruto, but he found it hard to believe. How could that kid possibly be the Black Samurai?
Where did he even get that black armor?!
If Haruto wasn't the Black Samurai, then who was? And why was the Black Samurai helping Tsunade and Jiraiya escape?
"Yes, it was him," Tsunade confirmed, her voice heavy. "He was most likely taken by Terado… or he's already dead."
"Huh?" Jiraiya looked at her in surprise. "Didn't he escape long ago?" In Jiraiya's memory, Haruto had disappeared for over three hours. He had assumed the kid had run away.
"He didn't abandon us," Tsunade murmured, shaking her head sorrowfully.
At that moment, Orochimaru suddenly turned his head sharply toward the northeast.
His reconnaissance snake had detected something—someone was there!
"There's movement," Orochimaru said coldly before vanishing into the rain.
...
Haruto and Terado remained sprawled on the ground, lifeless as corpses. A few meters away, the bluish-white serpent stood rigid, watching them.
Whoosh!
Orochimaru appeared beside them like a phantom.