The woman's piercing scream was not the cry of someone being attacked, but a desperate wail that sounded as if the most important thing in her life had just been torn away.
And everyone clearly heard what she shouted—
"Dan—!!!"
That familiar voice instantly made them think of its owner.
Dan Katō!!
"Over there!!"
Pakkun barked, taking off at full speed toward the southwest.
"Follow him!"
Team Minato and Team Kakashi, along with Mitsuki from the future, chased after the small dog, sprinting through the torrential rain under the cover of night.
Swish—swish—
Braving the wind and rain, they leapt through the dense branches overhead.
The downpour severely limited their vision. It wasn't until they were less than thirty meters away that they could finally make things out clearly…
There were four Konoha ninja ahead.
One of them was lying flat on the ground.
The other three were kneeling beside him.
A faint blue glow flickered in the darkness. One of the three was using Medical Ninjutsu on the ninja lying there.
"Hang in there, Dan!"
It was—Dan Katō!!
And Tsunade-sama… Granny Tsunade!!
There was no time to think. Naruto dashed out first, with the others following close behind.
"Granny Tsunade!! How is he?!"
They landed lightly less than ten meters away.
Two ninja who clearly weren't medical specialists immediately stepped in front of Dan Katō and Tsunade, shouting sharply,
"Who are you?!"
Between the darkness and the heavy rain, it was hard to clearly see who had arrived.
"Konoha allies!" Naruto pointed at his forehead protector.
"Really?!"
The two men were overjoyed. Looking more closely, they saw two adults and seven kids—a total of nine ninja, all wearing Konoha forehead protectors.
"Reinforcements! Thank goodness!"
"Damn it… if only you'd arrived a little earlier…"
"Hey, don't say that!"
"Ah, sorry—we weren't blaming you."
The two ninja, dressed like Konoha jōnin, were soaked through by the rain. One had a long sword strapped to his back, the other carried a large field pack. Both looked utterly exhausted.
"Forget all that!" Naruto said urgently. "Someone's seriously hurt, right?! We've got super, super, super amazing medical ninja here, dattebayo!!"
Under normal circumstances, Rin and Sakura would never have dared—
Even with twice the courage, they wouldn't have called themselves super-amazing medical ninja in front of Tsunade-sama.
But now there was no time for embarrassment.
The moment Naruto finished speaking, the two of them immediately stepped forward, moving to the very front.
"Kids?" one of the jōnin blurted out instinctively.
Another hesitated. "No… our people have already—"
"Please trust us," Minato Namikaze said calmly. "Let us examine the patient first. Time is critical."
Tsunade was completely focused on treating Dan Katō, pouring all her concentration into him. The decision could only be made by the other two ninja.
They exchanged a look, then nodded.
"Please, come over."
"The injuries are extremely severe. I'm afraid…"
But when they saw the firm, unwavering expressions in the eyes of the two young Konoha girls, the rest of their words died in their throats.
They turned back to their original positions, knelt beside Dan Katō, and reported softly to Tsunade,
"Reinforcements have arrived. There are two medical ninja among them. Let them take a look as well."
"…Mm."
Tsunade's attention never left Dan. Hearing that reinforcements had arrived—and that there were medical ninja among them—she only gave a brief response.
"Tsu… Tsunade…"
Dan Katō's voice was incredibly faint.
"Dan! Hold on!! Hold on!"
Tsunade desperately maintained her Medical Ninjutsu, but the earlier battle had drained her badly, and the injuries were simply too severe. Even after sustained treatment, the bleeding still refused to stop.
"I… I… still… can't… die yet…"
"You won't die! Dan!!"
Hearing the exchange between Dan Katō and Tsunade, the members of Team Minato and Team Kakashi gathered closer.
No greetings were exchanged.
There was no need for them now.
"Severe injuries," Mitsuki said.
It was worth noting that when he had seen Nawaki's wounds earlier, Mitsuki hadn't given an assessment like this.
After examining Dan Katō's injuries, Rin's expression turned extremely grim. She looked almost helpless.
Sakura didn't know what to do either and asked Rin,
"Should we summon Katsuyu first?"
"Yes!"
At the very least, with Katsuyu and enough chakra, they could forcibly keep him alive and buy time for treatment, even if it meant…
But seeing the situation now left Rin completely at a loss. His internal organs were a mess, far worse than Nawaki's injuries earlier. She didn't even know where to start.
The slugs summoned from Shikkotsu Forest crawled over Dan Katō's wounds, wriggling as they carried out the most basic hemostatic treatment.
"Slugs?!" Tsunade couldn't hide the shock in her eyes. She had countless questions, but there was no time for them.
Even with the full output of medical chakra, Dan Katō was still breathing out more than he was breathing in.
Severe blood loss and missing organs had already left his brain dulled by oxygen deprivation. Even as he forced himself to stay conscious, his eyelids kept drooping.
"I can't… I can't die… I still have so many things… I have to do them… I have to…"
"Dan! Stop talking! I won't let you die!!"
This was Sakura's first time facing something like this, watching a patient under her hands slowly slip away. Helpless, she began to panic.
Almost instinctively, she once again placed her hope in Naruto Uzumaki, the boy she had once looked down on.
"Naruto! Say something! Say something to keep him going!"
"Huh?!"
Naruto froze.
With Nawaki, it had been instinctive. They were close in age, shared the dream of becoming Hokage, and over the past few days he'd gotten along well with Edo Tensei Nawaki. Whatever he said back then had been reflexive, a natural response.
But now he was suddenly being asked to say something to Dan Katō, someone about Kakashi-sensei's age, to stir his will to live…
Honestly, it felt like too much to ask.
Naruto had no idea what to say. Even repeating what he'd told Nawaki probably wouldn't help much.
…
"His will to live is already very strong," Mitsuki suddenly said. "The problem is severe blood loss, brain hypoxia caused by internal organ damage, difficulty breathing, and loss of body temperature from being out in the rain."
Obito looked at Mitsuki in surprise.
"Are you a medical ninja too? How do you know all this?"
"No," Mitsuki replied calmly. "But have you forgotten who my parents are? Most of their work involves combining ninjutsu with bio-genetic engineering. And since I'm an artificial human myself, I've picked up some understanding of these things."
Mitsuki lacked a typically human, self-centered way of thinking, and Orochimaru had never taught him the importance of empathy. So even at a moment like this, his tone remained gentle and unhurried.
"If it's blood loss, can't we give him a transfusion right now?!" Naruto asked.
"The spare plasma in my medical pouch was already used up treating Nawaki," Rin said.
Treating Nawaki?!
Those words exploded in Tsunade's mind.
She was just about to ask—
"Tsu… Tsunade… I'm okay…" Dan Katō's voice was even weaker than before. "I'm just… a little sleepy…"
Tsunade poured even more chakra into her medical ninjutsu, shouting his name.
"Dan!!! Don't fall asleep! Dan! You mustn't sleep!!"
The other two Konoha ninja clenched their teeth in frustration.
"One of his kidneys was blown away by the enemy's Wind Release. Can he really be saved?!"
Sakura and Rin didn't answer. Instead, they worked beside Tsunade in silence, combining their medical ninjutsu to rapidly stimulate Dan Katō's tissues and help him generate new blood as quickly as possible.
But the speed of blood production could only barely keep up with the rate of blood loss.
Dan Katō's condition was extremely dangerous.
…
At the same time, on another battlefield, Orochimaru had learned that Tsunade's squad had been ambushed. He had been racing toward this location at full speed for more than two hours.
Now, at last, he saw Tsunade's team and—
Because of Naruto and the others' arrival, Dan Katō's life had been forcibly sustained for a long time.
By the time Orochimaru reached them, Tsunade was still desperately treating Dan. Unlike in Naruto's world, Dan was not already dead when Orochimaru arrived.
"Who are you—?!"
"Orochimaru?!!" Sasuke shouted.
Why is it you again?!
Young Kakashi couldn't tell which Orochimaru this was. To be safe, he already had a kunai ready in his hand.
Adult Kakashi and Minato Namikaze were the same, watching Orochimaru with quiet vigilance.
Not long ago, they had encountered Orochimaru in another world. Back then, he had entrusted them with treating Nawaki's injuries. His temperament had been strange, but at least there had been no conflict.
Now, none of them could be sure who the Orochimaru before them really was.
Was he an Orochimaru from an entirely new parallel world?
Or the same Orochimaru they had met not long ago?
Only Minato Namikaze noticed something immediately—
There was no distinctive chakra necklace around Dan Katō's neck.