The life forces of the two individuals were starkly different—one strong, one weak. Haruto Saito's breathing was steady and even, while Terado's was faint, barely noticeable. The moment Orochimaru laid eyes on Haruto, his pupils contracted slightly.
The Black Samurai armor was still on Haruto's body.
Orochimaru didn't recognize the unconscious figure lying beside Haruto as Terado, but he could sense an eerie and overwhelming residual energy emanating from him.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
More shinobi, including Tsunade, arrived swiftly at the scene.
A weary-looking Tsunade came to an abrupt halt beside Orochimaru. Her eyes widened in shock at the sight of Haruto! Just moments ago, they had been speaking about him, and now here he was—lying on the ground, still alive! And the person collapsed next to him was none other than Terado, whom Tsunade had assumed had already fled the battlefield.
"Haruto! Terado! How… what's going on here?" Tsunade stammered in disbelief.
Orochimaru was equally stunned. He turned sharply to look at Tsunade, then back at Terado. "He's Terado?!" he blurted out.
"Yes…" Tsunade answered instinctively.
"He used a forbidden life technique! He's not dead yet!" Jiraiya exclaimed, his eyes gleaming. He quickly crouched down and grabbed Terado's arm, sending chakra into his body to examine his condition.
At the same time, Tsunade knelt beside Haruto, taking his left hand and channeling chakra to assess his state.
Her expression shifted several times. To her astonishment, she found no injuries on Haruto's body—not even a scratch. His only issue was severe depletion of mental energy!
At that moment, Haruto's spiritual energy had reached a dangerously low level, which explained why he was unconscious. It wasn't just sleep—it was a deep state of exhaustion-induced coma.
Tsunade then noticed Haruto's right hand, which lay limply by his side. A thin thread was wound around his middle finger, leading to a small green pendant.
She hesitated for a moment, puzzled.
"Terado? He's Terado?"
"I thought he ran away… and took the kid with him?"
"How did this kid become the Black Samurai?"
The shinobi who had arrived with Tsunade murmured among themselves. More Konoha ninjas continued to gather at the scene. As they overheard the discussion, they quickly grasped the situation and joined in with their own speculations. The entire area buzzed with whispers.
The situation was beyond strange!
Too many unanswered questions.
Tsunade had been certain Terado had escaped, yet here he was. And Haruto was wearing the Black Samurai armor—how did that happen? Why were both of them unconscious? What exactly had transpired here?
Snapping out of her daze, Tsunade turned to Orochimaru and asked, "Was Terado hit by a mental energy attack?"
"Hmm." Orochimaru, still holding Terado's arm, made a nasal sound of affirmation. He continued his assessment. "His injuries are severe—internal organ displacement, massive abdominal bleeding, nerve atrophy, muscle deterioration—but the reason he's unconscious is definitely due to a mental energy attack, likely a form of genjutsu."
Tsunade remained silent, staring at Haruto, her mind buzzing.
So it really was like this!
Unbelievable!
She had suspected it already—based on Haruto's depleted mental energy and the presence of the pendant. The last time he collapsed into unconsciousness, it was because he had used his chakra-infused hypnosis ability on Jiraiya, draining his spiritual energy to dangerous levels.
And now, he had hypnotized Terado!
In the middle of a battle!
This was beyond legendary. During combat, a fighter's mental defenses were completely different from when they were relaxed. The fact that Haruto had successfully put Terado under was nothing short of miraculous—far more astonishing than when he had hypnotized Jiraiya.
Put in another way, the situation was even more incredible:
Haruto had captured Terado alive!
Although Haruto was also unconscious, he had no physical injuries and would eventually wake up. Terado, on the other hand, would die in his sleep if no one treated him, as his wounds were far too severe.
A thick black fog swirled around, accompanied by a woman's shrill, agonizing screams echoing in the void. Severed limbs and bloodied corpses littered the ground, with rivers of blood flowing between them. Pale, ghostly masks drifted through the darkness. A scaly claw, sharp as a blade, tore through the mist, closing in—closer… closer…
Haruto's eyes snapped open. A cold sweat drenched his body as he gasped for air.
"He's awake!"
"Tsunade-sama!"
Voices called out from both sides.
Haruto blinked in confusion, his mind sluggish from the lingering nightmare. As he looked around, he realized he was in a valley.
It was daytime. The sun shone brightly, casting warm light over the landscape. At the edge of a small forest to the north, dozens of Konoha shinobi were resting—either sitting or standing, eating rations. Haruto was propped against the roots of a large tree, his wide eyes taking in the unfamiliar surroundings.
Some of the shinobi who had noticed his awakening called out for Tsunade, while others watched him curiously, whispering among themselves.
"The kid had a nightmare."
"He's still young. Probably hasn't seen enough of the world yet."
"Don't underestimate him! He's got a knack for divination, after all. That lost Black Samurai armor that disappeared seventy years ago—he's the one who found it!"
"Come on, do you really believe that? Tsunade-sama must have made up that story to hide the truth from us. There's no such thing as fortune-telling."
"Then how do you explain the armor being found?"
"How should I know? We need Tsunade-sama to tell us the real story."
Shinobi sat in trees, crouched in bushes, leaned against rocks. The youngest among them appeared to be in their twenties, while some seemed to be in their forties or fifties. Despite their battle-worn appearances, they were surprisingly chatty, as if they had finally found time to relax after days of tension.
Haruto scanned their faces, reading their identities.
He was safe!
He quickly understood that he had been rescued while unconscious. Konoha's search team had found him. He also realized that Tsunade, who had been buried alive, had survived.
And more importantly…
It wasn't raining!
The sun was shining, the sky was blue and clear.
He was no longer in the Land of Rain!
To the east of the valley, a steep rock wall towered over the landscape. At its base was a cave, not far from where the shinobi were gathered. Multiple people had been calling for Tsunade, and moments later, she emerged from the cave. Seeing that Haruto was indeed awake, she vanished from sight.
The next instant, she appeared right in front of him.
"You're awake. How do you feel?" she asked, crouching down and grabbing his wrist to check his condition with chakra.
"How long was I out?" Haruto asked, his voice hoarse.
"Three days and four nights," Tsunade answered.
"Where are we?"
"The northwestern region of the Land of Fire," she replied.