Minato's laughter died down as he glanced back at Xin, whose eyes sparkled mischievously. Minato suddenly realized that trying to challenge Xin was probably a terrible idea-he'd definitely end up the loser.
"You seriously thought Minato would take me on? What a waste of effort." Xin couldn't stop himself from laughing at the absurdity of it all.
He leaned against the bed and asked Nawaki, "So how bad is it? How long will you need to recover?"
"I'll be fine. Just broke a few bones, lost a chunk of flesh from my chest, and ruptured some internal organs. But my sister treated me right away, and Jiraiya-sensei brought me back to the village for recovery."
Nawaki tried to downplay his injuries with a lighthearted tone, but Xin wasn't buying it. Yeah, right. "A few broken bones" didn't explain why Nawaki was wrapped up like a mummy.
His body was probably a mess of fractures, and losing a chunk of flesh might not seem like a big deal, but it would leave a pretty nasty scar. The real concern was the damage to his internal organs.
Thankfully, Tsunade had been there to treat him immediately. With proper care, Nawaki would make a full recovery and be back to his usual energetic self in no time.
"Hey! What about me? I brought Nawaki back too! Don't I get any credit?" Jiraiya interrupted, clearly feeling left out. "This ungrateful brat didn't even mention me!"
Orochimaru shot him a cold look. "You were the one who suggested sending Nawaki and Minato to help with the body collection. Now you're upset because you had to help bring him back after things went wrong?"
Orochimaru hadn't wanted Nawaki to be involved in the cleanup in the first place. He would have preferred to have him either stay in the camp or be on the front lines.
But Jiraiya, in his usual way, had offhandedly suggested they help out with the bodies. Once he'd said it, Sakumo had agreed, and the decision had been made.
If Jiraiya hadn't opened his big mouth, Nawaki probably wouldn't have been injured by the paper bomb.
"Ahem, well... it's not entirely my fault," Jiraiya muttered, clearly uncomfortable. His intention had been to give Nawaki and Minato a meaningful experience, one that might help them appreciate the horrors of war and perhaps even understand the importance of peace. He hadn't expected things to go so wrong.
When Tsunade heard about the accident, she had almost torn him apart. Orochimaru hadn't been much better, glaring daggers at him the whole time.
Jiraiya had barely survived the ordeal and decided to accompany Orochimaru in bringing Nawaki back to the village, though it had been a tense journey for him.