I took a slow, deep breath, scanning the shattered clearing to make absolutely sure there were no more surprises hiding in the tree line before powering down my Stormdrive.
The faint, ethereal glow radiating from my body dimmed, and the violent arcs of electricity stopped dancing across my skin, fading away into nothingness. The sudden silence was heavy. I pushed my awareness outward, sending a powerful chakra pulse sweeping across the immediate area. To my immense relief, I sensed nothing. My combat instincts at last fell silent, so I moved slowly toward Shizuru and Genta, feeling the inevitable adrenaline crash beginning to set in.
The barrier Genta had activated dropped with a faint shimmer, and he instantly collapsed to his knees, clutching the bloody stump of his arm in agony. I knelt beside him, gripping his intact shoulder to keep him steady, but my eyes darted back to Shizuru. "Is your injury critical?"
Shizuru's body was visibly shivering from the shock, but her hands were remarkably steady as she retrieved an emergency flare. She looked at me, and I nodded to her for approval. With a sharp pull, she fired it high into the sky, leaving a bright, burning trail of red smoke. "I don't think it is, judging by the blood flow," she hissed, her voice strained through gritted teeth. "I know how to apply first aid. I'll be fine. You deal with Genta."
I didn't waste time. Genta was writhing on the dirt, his breathing shallow and erratic. Relying on my medical knowledge, I went straight to work, using sterile water to flush the gruesome, severed wound of all grit and debris. The sudden sting caused Genta to let out a raw and ragged scream, though he quickly bit down hard on his bottom lip to stifle the noise, drawing fresh blood. Once the bleeding was stabilized and tightly bandaged, I pulled a brush and a vial of chakra ink from my storage seal.
Working quickly but precisely, I painted a complex sealing formula directly over the bandages and the surrounding skin of his stump. I formed a single, focused hand sign and pulsed my chakra.
A localized, translucent barrier flared to life around the injury. It would act as a stasis field, preserving the damaged tissue and ensuring no external factors from this muddy, blood-soaked battlefield could cause an infection.
With the immediate danger to his life passed, the grim reality of the situation crashed down on Genta. He started to get a hold of his breathing, but tears streamed freely down his dirt-streaked face.
"Is this it... for my shinobi career?" he whispered, his voice cracking with despair.
I shook my head, my expression firm. "Not if I can help it. I've already sealed your severed arm safely away, and your stump is perfectly preserved. Now you just need to survive long enough to use your father's connections and see what Konoha's elite medics can do from there."
Fueled by a desperate spark of hope, he tried to stand up, but a heavy groan escaped his lips. His knees immediately buckled as the blood loss threw off his equilibrium. I was right there, catching him under his good arm and holding his weight steady against my side.
I glanced back over at Shizuru. She was just finishing tying off the thick bandages wrapped tightly around her slashed calves.
"This will hold up for now," she said, wiping sweat from her forehead. "At least until the backup from that flare arrives."
I nodded in agreement. Forming a hand seal, I created a single shadow clone. It materialized looking just as exhausted and low on chakra as I felt, but it didn't hesitate, immediately darting into the shadows to begin a wide, circular patrol around the caravan to ensure absolutely nothing slipped past my sensory field while we waited.
I tapped Genta's shoulder. "Can you handle yourself for a moment?"
Genta nodded, the pain clear on his face, as I stood and approached the daimyo's cart. The huge samurai guard stepped closer, his eyes much more accepting now, and he nodded slowly with a newfound respect before opening the cart door.
Inside, I saw the old daimyo sitting in his seat, looking at me with a kind, relieved smile.
"I apologize, Lord Daimyo. That interruption was certainly unplanned, but we are almost at the border of the Land of Fire, and a patrol should arrive shortly to escort you," I said with a comforting tone.
He exhaled a deep breath of relief. "Those were very powerful shinobi you faced out there to protect us."
I didn't want to correct his assumption, heavily suspecting that the assassins were actually after me. However, I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I simply bowed slightly in acknowledgment.
He continued, "From what I saw, your expertise is invaluable. Given how you handled an ambush from such formidable opponents without letting a single scratch touch the caravan, I would feel much safer if a powerful shinobi such as yourself escorted us to Konoha, at least."
I looked from the corner of my eye toward Genta and Shizuru, sighing internally before replying. "As you wish, Lord Daimyo. I will make sure the rest of the trip is uneventful and peaceful."
He nodded with a pleased smile before the cart door closed. I turned and walked back to my teammates.
Pulling out a blank storage scroll, I quickly transferred Genta's severed arm from my personal hand seal into the portable scroll, then handed it over to Shizuru. "Make sure to give this directly to the medical-nin you meet at the village. They will know how to deal with the storage seal and what to do regarding the injury."
Shizuru nodded as Genta weakly grabbed my arm. "You're not coming?"
I sighed. "Sorry, Genta, but the client requested that I personally escort him."
I then looked at Shizuru, who managed a strained smile through her pain. "I will make sure to contact his father once we arrive and do my best to ensure the best care for Genta," she promised.
I laid a hand on her shoulder. "Do not forget about yourself, too."
Shizuru nodded just as I noticed multiple chakra signatures fast approaching. They were coming from the Land of Fire border, so I relaxed slightly. I quickly noted their Konoha uniforms and headbands, and we exchanged a standard secret code the moment they arrived, confirming our identities.
"Please escort my teammates to Konoha as fast as possible," I told the lead chunin officer. "They are heavily injured, and time is of the essence."
A complicated look appeared on the chunin's face. "We cannot just leave our post to help."
I cut him off, speaking with a firm, uncompromising tone. "I am not asking for your entire team. These are clan heirs, and we are on a direct mission from the Hokage himself. If you help me here, I will be able to continue the mission instead of abandoning it to help my teammates. So, unless you want to jeopardize this critical mission, offend the Hokage, cause our reputation as a hidden village to suffer, and anger two of Konoha's main clans, feel free not to help."
Of course, I failed to mention that one of the clans was already in decline and Shizuru was maybe 250th in line to lead her clan, but he did not need to know the full picture. The chunin shifted uncomfortably, his eyes sweeping over the bloody, cratered battlefield and the mutilated remains of the two mercenaries. He sighed, realizing he was out of his depth. "I understand. I will send two of my fastest shinobi to deliver them safely. Safe trip."
I nodded and approached the mercenaries' bodies, sealing their remains into another scroll and handing it to the chunin. "Please give this directly to the Hokage. These are the assassins that attacked the caravan and tried to sabotage the mission. T&I should still be able to get some information out of them."
He nodded, his face turning dead serious. Being tasked with delivering something to the Hokage personally confirmed for him just how critical this mission was, and he immediately treated my request with absolute urgency.
He barked orders to two different shinobi, who carefully picked up Genta and Shizuru before flickering away rapidly toward Konoha. The chunin then turned back to me. "Are you sure you don't want any help to continue the mission?"
I shook my head, answering with a grateful tone. "Thank you for the offer, but I will be fine."
He looked back at the completely annihilated battlefield one last time and gulped visibly. "I am sure of that," he muttered, then bowed slightly and disappeared with the rest of his team.