Her words and resolve finally made the young Orochimaru take a half step back.
Rin immediately began examining Nawaki's injuries. The most severe-looking wounds were not necessarily fatal. Her priority was to keep Nawaki alive first, then treat his other injuries.
"Is he still conscious?"
Rin calmly used the Mystical Palm Technique to check Nawaki's organs while asking the companion beside him.
"He was earlier. He said he was thirsty, so we gave him some water."
Rin didn't comment. A strong will to live in a patient was always a good sign.
The thirst came from excessive blood loss, and the pain had caused heavy sweating, leading to rapid dehydration.
"Stop the bleeding first!"
Rin quickly took a hemostatic pill from her ninja pouch and placed it into Nawaki's mouth.
Everyone could see it clearly.
Even though it was difficult, the boy, whose face had been blown nearly beyond recognition, was still making hoarse sounds, desperately trying to swallow the medicine.
Rin gave him a little water, placed her hand on his throat, and, relying on her experience, helped him swallow the pill bit by bit.
"I'm going to summon a slug to heal him," Rin said.
"Slugs?!" Orochimaru exclaimed.
This time, he was genuinely shocked, no less than when he had heard earlier that a kid claimed to be his future child.
"Only Tsunade can form a contract with the Shikkotsu Forest…"
Rin didn't waste a single word.
"Sakura and I can too."
Boar–Dog–Rooster–Monkey–Ram.
Summoning Jutsu!!
A massive slug, as large as an orca, was summoned from the Shikkotsu Forest.
Its pale, soft body, marked with blue patterns along its back, made Orochimaru recognize it at once as the slug sage of Shikkotsu Forest.
Upon seeing the injured boy, Katsuyu immediately split into countless smaller slugs, silently crawling over every wound on his body.
"These are truly severe injuries," Katsuyu said softly, her gentle, girlish voice sounding only after treatment had already begun.
Orochimaru looked at Minato Namikaze once more.
"You people… just who exactly are you?"
Minato's answer remained the same.
"People from the future."
"Sakura, come help me," Rin said. "Stop the bleeding first. I'm going to perform surgery now."
One of Nawaki's companions asked nervously, "Surgery… is that really necessary?"
"Yes."
The most dangerous effects of an explosion weren't always the external wounds, but the powerful shockwaves that could rupture internal organs.
The scalpel swiftly cut through clothing fused to flesh. Rin had already checked the internal damage with the Mystical Palm Technique. It wasn't as bad as she had feared, but it still needed treatment.
This was Sakura's first time assisting in surgery on a battlefield, but the situation left no room for fear.
Naruto asked anxiously, "Is it really okay, Kakashi-sensei?"
"Rin's medical ninjutsu is extremely skilled," Adult Kakashi said. "My… and his eyes were replaced by Rin on the battlefield."
The "him" he referred to was Obito from his own world, the masked man the others spoke of.
Performing an eye transplant with almost no medical equipment and extremely limited lighting, while precisely reconnecting optic nerves and muscles in one go, was unimaginably difficult and dangerous.
The night was far too dark.
Naruto obediently lit a flame and held it up for Rin and Sakura.
Sasuke, Obito, and Young Kakashi followed suit, lighting simple makeshift torches from their ninja pouches.
The longer they delayed, the greater the risk.
Nawaki was close to losing consciousness.
Rin and Sakura were frantic inside, their intense focus making sweat bead continuously on their foreheads.
Naruto watched anxiously. He didn't understand the surgery at all and could only keep encouraging Nawaki with worry written all over his face.
"You want to become Hokage, right?!! Then pull yourself together!!"
"!!!" Sakura and Rin jolted in shock.
Because the moment Naruto mentioned Hokage, Nawaki clearly reacted again.
"Naruto! Keep talking!" Seeing that it worked, Sakura urgently urged him on.
Naruto thought of the pain on Grandma Tsunade's face when she saw Nawaki's Edo Tensei and pursed his lips.
"Do you want to make your sister sad?! If you die, she'll be absolutely heartbroken!"
Orochimaru: "..."
This time, Nawaki didn't just react. One of his fingers, blown nearly beyond recognition, twitched slightly upward.
"Becoming Hokage is my dream too!" Naruto shouted. "I promised Grandma Tsunade that I absolutely won't die before I become Hokage!!"
"And then I'll become an even better Hokage than my dad, the Fourth Hokage! I'll protect the village! I'll bring peace to this world!"
"You want to be Hokage! How can a few injuries stop you from moving forward?!! Aren't you Uncle Hashirama's grandson?! Hurry up and get better!!"
"That necklace! Are you really going to give it back right after you finally put it on?!!!"
By the end, Naruto didn't even know what else to say. His voice went from frantic to a full-on shout.
Throughout all of this, Sakura and Rin never stopped moving their hands.
Sasuke, Obito, and Kakashi stood nearby, holding up the faint firelight.
Nawaki's companions focused on keeping him conscious.
Orochimaru watched them closely.
Minato and Adult Kakashi watched Orochimaru just as closely.
After Naruto finished shouting, a long moment passed…
In reality, it wasn't even a full minute.
But to everyone present, that single minute felt unbearably long.
Until…
Nawaki's slightly raised hand slowly moved to his chest and clenched the pendant hanging around his neck.
From his damaged throat came a hoarse, rasping sound. It seemed like he was trying to speak, but no one could make out the words.
And yet—
"Yeah! Then hold on!" Naruto shouted back.
No one understood that muffled sound. Whether Naruto actually understood it or simply knew what Nawaki wanted to say, he answered him anyway.
The young Orochimaru standing nearby felt his pupils contract violently.
He had never seen anything like this before.
On the way to find a Medical-nin, he had already regretted it. Nawaki shouldn't have been able to last this long. As a ninja, he knew one truth all too well: never cling to hopes you shouldn't have, because they only lead to disappointment.
Just then, the final step of the surgery was completed.
All that remained was to use Medical Ninjutsu to rapidly stimulate cell division, prevent infection, and accelerate the healing of his wounds.
A faint humming filled the air, accompanied by the green glow of Medical Ninjutsu.
Standing beside Orochimaru, just like Minato, Mitsuki spoke softly.
"That's great. It looks like he's been saved."
Orochimaru didn't respond.
Based on everything he had seen, and on what Naruto had said earlier, no matter how hard it was to believe, he couldn't come up with any explanation other than one.
There was no other reason these people would know all of this.
No reason someone would call a twenty-something Tsunade "Grandma."
No reason they would speak so casually about a future Hokage.
Obito took out the pocket watch from the evidence pouch and checked the time.
"Only a little over three hours?" He dropped down onto the ground. "I thought at least a whole day had passed!"
Naruto asked Rin, who was washing her hands.
"Nawaki's really going to be okay, right?"
"The most dangerous period is over," Rin replied. "As long as we prevent infection and let him recover slowly, he'll be fine."
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone's bodies began to turn a translucent milky white.
It was clearly a sign that they were about to leave this world.
"..."
Orochimaru spoke at last.
"You really are from the future."
This time, it was a statement of certainty. Watching their figures gradually fade, he finally accepted it.
Naruto grinned.
"See? I told you you were way too suspicious!"
"My parents are just like that," Mitsuki said with a smile.
Orochimaru looked at Mitsuki and gave a quiet evaluation.
"Inconceivable."
Mitsuki simply smiled, saying nothing more.
"I'm exhausted. That was even tougher than special training." Obito rolled his shoulders.
Naruto did the same, pressing on his shoulders while shaking out his arms.
"If Nawaki makes it, Grandma will be over the moon."
"Thank you…"
At the very last moment before they vanished, it felt like they heard that slightly hoarse voice quietly thank them.
That alone was shocking enough to make Naruto and the others even more unsure whether the person they had met really was Orochimaru.
Before they could recover from that shock, the next instant, a torrential downpour came crashing down on them, soaking them through!
"What's going on?!"
"Is Konoha getting hit by a downpour?!"
"It wasn't raining at all when we left!"
In less than three seconds, they were drenched like drowned rats. Obito and Naruto shouted at the same time.
"No," Minato Namikaze said. "When we left Konoha, it wasn't even nighttime. This shouldn't be Konoha."
"Huh?!" Naruto's face turned pale. "Don't tell me we didn't make it back?!!"
"But Orochimaru and Nawaki aren't here either!"
…
Adult Kakashi felt the rain pounding against him, the sticky, clammy sensation making him deeply uncomfortable. His hair and Young Kakashi's were both completely soaked, plastered to their heads and mocked by Obito as looking like gray bird nests.
"I think we've arrived in another parallel world," Minato said while sensing the chakra fluctuations of Space-Time Ninjutsu, "or possibly the past or future of the previous one."
After a brief pause, they quieted down and began to look for their bearings.
The torrential rain drowned out almost all other sounds.
In these conditions, it was nearly impossible to tell where the distant clashes of kunai were coming from.
Clang!
Ping!
Ding—
"The rain's too loud!" Obito shouted. "I can't tell what direction the sound's coming from!"
All they could hear was the relentless roar of the rain. Even though the faint sounds of metal colliding reached their ears, there was no way to determine the source.
"Can you use your ninken?!" Naruto asked.
Young Kakashi shook his head. "The rain probably washed away all the scent. Pakkun and the others won't be able to track it!"
In the downpour, they had to raise their voices just to hear one another.
"Still, give it a try," Minato Namikaze said. "A dog's hearing is sixteen times sharper than a human's. Maybe they can pinpoint where the sound is coming from."
"I'll do it."
Adult Kakashi slammed his palm to the ground and used Summoning Jutsu.
"Bang—"
"You summon me out in rain like this? Did you forget I just had an essential oil spa yesterday?" Pakkun complained, clearly annoyed. "Unlike you guys, I've got a date afterward."
Naruto jumped in place, furious. "Forget the overpriced bath! What kind of dog even talks about going on dates?!"
"You don't need to shout that loud. I can hear you just fine, brat," Pakkun replied, sounding like a grumpy middle-aged man.
Adult Kakashi said calmly, "I'll make it up to you later. For now, lead us to where the fighting is. With rain this heavy, you'll probably need to rely on your hearing."
Pakkun lowered his nose to the ground and sniffed.
"Yeah, the scent's completely washed away."
He lifted his ears. "Everyone, quiet."
Naruto, Obito, and the others fell silent. The space around them was filled only with the desolate roar of the rain and the faint, intermittent clash of kunai…
And then, cutting through it all, they heard a woman's shrill, desperate scream.