The chakra cloak surrounding Haseo first reduced to the scale of Senken Zesshou under normal conditions. Then, without Haseo even actively dispelling the technique, it transformed into the faint blue electric arcs of a basic Lightning Release: Mikage.
This meant he had squandered another entire vial of chakra.
"Lord Haseo, you've reached your limit..." Katsuyu said, seemingly reminding Haseo in an indirect way that enough was enough.
At this point, all three sides involved in the battle were in terrible shape. The Third Kazekage hardly needed mentioning—he'd gone from a fully-limbed man to someone with only two limbs remaining. The Third Tsuchikage had been riddled with holes, and as for Haseo... his left shoulder had lost about two pounds of flesh, an iron spear protruded from his right shoulder, and his torso likely suffered internal bleeding.
On an individual level, clearly the Kazekage suffered the worst; after all, Haseo never expected to kill the Third Tsuchikage with mere [Water Needles]. Overall though, the greatest loser was undoubtedly Iwagakure—Haseo had chosen an excellent battlefield, so now Iwagakure had lost its camp in the Land of Rain.
The personnel losses here were also severe, but those weren't Haseo's doing—they were entirely the work of the Third Kazekage.
"I understand."
This time, surprisingly, Haseo was unusually obedient. Before his own words had even faded away, he turned and fled.
Such a sudden move stunned both fighters directly involved in the battle and the Iwa ninjas watching from afar.
Unexpected.
Just moments ago, he had fought as if his life depended on it, looking resolute to the end. So why did he suddenly start running away?
Till our paths cross again in Jianghu.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Haseo ran while grimacing and pulled out the iron spear lodged in his shoulder. Then, he frantically began staunching his wounds and applying medicine, constantly stuffing pill after pill into his mouth.
Tetanus wasn't even the biggest concern—unfortunately, unless things went completely against expectation, Haseo should already have been poisoned. The Third Kazekage would certainly mix poison into his iron sand; after all, Sunagakure had skilled poison masters. Not adding poison would simply be a waste of resources.
It was practically proof of the Third Kazekage's restraint that he hadn't spiked his iron sand with filth.
After watching Haseo run far away while clumsily tending to himself the whole time, the Iwa shinobi finally came to their senses about what had just happened.
"Surround the Kazekage and don't let him escape. Send some people to chase that Konoha ninja—he's out of condition." The Third Tsuchikage floated up again, wobbling unsteadily, then issued orders to his subordinates.
He decided to keep focusing on the Third Kazekage—who was obviously worth more than the now-fled Haseo.
"Tsuchikage-sama, are you...okay?"
They weren't questioning the Third Tsuchikage's command, but many Iwa shinobi were genuinely concerned about his current state.
Look at this frail old man hanging unsteadily midair like a broken showerhead, occasionally spraying blood in all directions. To put it bluntly, the Tsuchikage needed medical attention right now.
Yet the Third Tsuchikage waved his hand dismissively. "Prioritize executing my orders."
"Yes... Third Tsuchikage."
Although the Third Tsuchikage's beard visibly trembled while he spoke, everyone decided to simply accept this stubborn old man's pride.
After Haseo dashed out from Iwagakure's camp, he quickly noticed enemies tailing him. Yet at this moment, he no longer had the strength to counterattack. Perhaps it was due to severe blood loss, or perhaps the Third Kazekage's poison had finally begun taking effect. In any case, Haseo gradually felt his body slipping beyond his control.
Therefore, prioritizing a return to Konoha's territory seemed wisest. With his condition in such terrible shape, continuing to provoke trouble on enemy ground would be nothing short of suicide.
Who knows whether the Third Kazekage could escape the battlefield? But with limited mobility, the Wind Shadow had still helped Haseo stall many Iwa ninja. Otherwise, there would have been far more pursuing him than just these few.
Third Kazekage… such a decent guy. Haseo decided that once he returned to Konoha, he'd take a moment to burn some joss paper for the fallen leader.
Even while injured, Haseo ran incredibly fast. Or perhaps precisely because he was hurt, Haseo focused solely on escaping rather than continuously trying to fight back. As a result, his average movement speed was even faster than usual—leaving the Iwa ninjas struggling in pursuit increasingly far behind.
In truth, Haseo had still been holding back a little strength. Fighting deep within enemy territory naturally required planning an exit strategy. Actually, just now, he could've chosen to keep battling those two powerful enemies head-on—but even if he won that fight, he probably wouldn't have been able to retreat afterward.
Once he increased the distance from his pursuers, Haseo began forming hand seals. He used Summoning Jutsu again, calling forth another slug infused with Tsunade's healing chakra, and then started treating the wounds on both his shoulders.
The good news? The Land of Rain wasn't even that big. An hour and a half later, Haseo had already left Iwagakure's territory. Another hour passed before he finally entered Konoha territory.
This indicated the environment was becoming safer. At this point, the relentless Iwa ninja who had pursued him all this way finally stopped chasing.
They couldn't catch him anymore.
A little while later, Haseo met the people sent to greet him.
Ever since the last incident where he'd been ambushed and severely wounded by the Third Mizukage in the Land of Whirlpools, whenever Haseo used the chakra Tsunade had left within the slugs, she herself would immediately get notified... It was like hitting a medical panic button—and this doctor actually gave a damn and always showed up.
In fact, Tsunade had even arrived with an entire medical ninja squad.
Haseo barely managed to stop himself from collapsing and forced a smile as he said, "Tsunade, what a coincidence."
Like hell it was.
Tsunade hurried forward, catching Haseo as he wavered unsteadily—if not for the slug clinging to his body, she might not have recognized him at first glance.
He wasn't just a mess—he looked like a mud-covered monkey dragged through hell.
"Haseo, what happened? I heard you encountered the Third Kazekage?"
While supporting Haseo, Tsunade started checking his wounds right away.
"Well, that's how it was. After running into the Third Kazekage, I first 'dealt with' his guards. Then after a little discussion with him, we decided to take a stroll toward Iwagakure's camp. It's just that we didn't expect the Third Tsuchikage had already secretly arrived in the Land of Rain. Truly despicable... So after this encounter among the three factions, we tested our strength against each other, but unfortunately, nothing conclusive came out of it," Haseo spoke quickly.
This caused Tsunade to pause mid-motion. What an impossible person he was... Who would've thought he could cause so much chaos in just half a day?
"Alright, I get it. Your injuries are serious. Conserve your strength and don't talk for now... I'm taking you back to the camp now."
Saying this, Tsunade moved to scoop Haseo up in a bridal carry, immediately sensing something was off.
"Woah, woah, woah..."
"I've got the strength for it."
"I know, but we have to consider social perception."
If he got carried back like this, he'd totally get teased about it—especially by someone like that old white-haired guy, for sure.
"How about I carry you on my back then?"
"No, no need. Just support me as I walk. We'll go slowly—I'm not as badly injured as you think. Besides... Hmm, I suspect there might be some iron sand inside me, and sudden movements might spread it around."
Haseo's reasoning sounded plausible, but if the iron sand had truly entered his bloodstream, then surely it would have already spread throughout his body after all this running. Earlier, he'd been sprinting faster than a rabbit—that definitely counted as intense exercise.
Still, thanks to Haseo's stubbornness and strong demands, they finally made it back to camp—"slowly."
With one hand resting on Tsunade's shoulder, she supported his waist with her arm wrapped gently behind his back... Well, regardless, the situation seemed perfectly normal. Definitely couldn't be described as scandalous or anything like that.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>