Chapter 31: Living Off Someone Else?
Inside the Iwagakure camp.
"You're telling me… you didn't find it?"
Ōnoki frowned deeply, staring at the subordinate kneeling before him, disbelief heavy in his voice.
When he had unleashed Dust Release, his goal hadn't been to kill the Five-Tails outright—it had been to cripple it, to strip it of mobility. After landing a precise hit, he turned his full attention to fending off the joint assault by Orochimaru and Jiraiya.
And yet, after forcing those two to retreat, the Five-Tails had vanished—completely—across the entire Rain Country battlefield.
He had dispatched large numbers of ninja to search the area. They found nothing.
The only "evidence" left behind suggested something absurd: after being attacked, the Five-Tails had simply disappeared into thin air.
"Keep searching!" Ōnoki barked. "You're telling me something that big just vanished?!"
---
Inside Konoha's newly established camp.
Orochimaru and Jiraiya had just returned from their clash with Ōnoki and were now handling post-battle matters under Orochimaru's direction.
At the same time, they had already received confirmation that Team Seventeen, the squad containing Nawaki, was the direct fuse that had ignited the entire incident.
Ninja had located the body of Jōnin Hyūga Teru on the battlefield—right at the center of the Five-Tails' rampage. As for the three genin under his command, their whereabouts were unknown.
Judging from the sheer devastation at the scene, the outlook was grim at best.
Orochimaru sat inside the command tent, his brow furrowed as he worked through stacks of urgent reports. Beside him, Jiraiya wore a heavy expression, clearly troubled—unsure how he was supposed to face Tsunade after this.
"Report," a ninja said, pushing open the tent flap. "Members of Team Seventeen… have returned."
"Who returned?"
Both Orochimaru and Jiraiya snapped their heads up, eyes sharp as blades as they fixed their gaze on the messenger. Being stared down by two Kage-level figures at once, the ninja immediately stiffened, words tumbling out awkwardly.
"I–It's… all of them. They're currently being treated in the medical unit."
"…?"
Jiraiya froze, his face a picture of confusion. Orochimaru, meanwhile, finally relaxed his brows just a fraction, the tense atmosphere in the tent easing slightly.
Once the messenger withdrew, Jiraiya hesitated before asking in a low voice:
"Orochimaru… tell me honestly. Was the configuration of Nawaki's team… falsified?"
Orochimaru fell silent.
Because no matter how he looked at it, the situation bordered on the surreal.
Team Seventeen had been at the very epicenter of the Five-Tails' outbreak. Their squad leader—a jōnin—had been confirmed dead.
And now he was being told that three genin had come back alive? Not a single one missing?
Even with three jōnin in that position, survival would've been questionable.
Orochimaru sped through the last of his urgent work. Jiraiya, unable to sit still any longer, headed straight for the medical unit—his concern for Nawaki finally getting the better of him.
---
Inside the medical camp, the medic-nin were just as stunned by the trio's survival.
And this wasn't exaggeration in the slightest.
Leaving aside the fact that Nawaki and Aburame Shibi were both covered in wounds and suffering severe internal injuries—
Namikaze Yami's condition alone was terrifying.
Nearly all of his chakra pathways were damaged. His bones—no one could even count how many had broken. From head to toe, it was hard to find a single place that could be called intact.
Jiraiya's arrival caused a stir in the medical ward, but the three on the beds were all completely immobilized.
With only a rudimentary grasp of medical ninjutsu, Jiraiya could only sigh and call it a "medical miracle."
Before long, Orochimaru arrived as well. As a future-renowned "human researcher," he possessed no small amount of medical expertise himself. After reviewing the trio's charts, his gaze lingered for a long time on Namikaze Yami's diagnosis.
Jiraiya might only see grievous injuries—but Orochimaru could tell at a glance: this child would likely never be a ninja again.
True to his nature, he didn't bother to sugarcoat it. He stated the conclusion directly, even adding that even if Tsunade treated him personally, the odds of recovery were slim at best.
Hearing this, Nawaki grew agitated, struggling to rise despite his injuries.
"Yami-niisan got like this saving us—there has to be a way!"
Shibi nodded heavily beside him. Neither of them believed that someone who had shone like a comet could simply fall here.
As for the person at the center of it all, Namikaze Yami remained calm—as if he had already expected this outcome.
Combining Nawaki and Shibi's account of how they had escaped death on the battlefield, Orochimaru and Jiraiya couldn't help but reassess this civilian-born prodigy, their sense of regret deepening.
In truth, Yami had his own unspoken suffering.
He could simply redeem a "Rapid Total Body Restoration" and be up and about in no time. But if he dared do that, he'd probably be escorted straight into Konoha's laboratories for a thorough investigation—just to see whether he'd awakened some kind of Senju-Hashirama-grade physique.
So for now, all he could do was lie still and wait for the day he could show them a real "medical miracle."
Orochimaru and Jiraiya didn't stay long. As battlefield commanders, they were overwhelmed with responsibilities. Only someone like Nawaki—with his special status—could have pulled them away at all.
After the two left, Nawaki remained unusually emotional, repeatedly assuring Yami:
"Don't worry, Yami-niisan! My sister is the best medical ninja there is. I'll make sure she gives it everything she's got to heal you."
"…Mm."
Having already exposed too many of his cards in front of them, Yami could only respond faintly.
To Nawaki, that reaction looked dangerously close to resignation. He convinced himself that Yami must have paid an unimaginable price to reach his current level of strength.
Quietly, Nawaki made a vow: no matter what it took, he would help Yami recover—even if it meant draining the entire foundation of the Senju clan.
---
One night passed.
At dawn the next morning, Namikaze Yami opened his eyes right on time.
The three of them were to be transferred back to Konoha. Nawaki and Shibi would need a long period of rest and recovery, but Yami's injuries could only be handled by Tsunade herself.
The journey back to the village passed without incident. Orochimaru assigned a squad that was already rotating home to escort them.
As soon as they arrived in Konoha, the trio were sent straight to the Konoha Hospital. Tsunade, clad in a white coat, was already there treating the wounded.
After finishing her current cases, she strode quickly into the ward.
She checked Nawaki first, confirming his condition matched the reports. Only then did she let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Next, she came to Yami's bedside. Green medical chakra glimmered in her hands as she carefully examined his body.
To her surprise, after just one night his condition had noticeably improved. Flesh and bone were healing at remarkable speed—only his chakra network remained a tangled mess, the situation still grim.
As her examination continued, Tsunade's beautiful face grew heavier, her gaze toward Yami tinged with pity.
After completing the full check, she spoke solemnly:
"Rest assured. As Nawaki's lifesaver, I'll do everything I can to heal you."
Then, as if realizing she'd promised too much, she added,
"Even in the worst-case scenario… the Senju clan will support you for the rest of your life."
Nawaki nodded vigorously at her side.
Only Yami, listening to the siblings go back and forth, felt something was… off.
Thinking it over carefully, a thought couldn't help but surface in his mind:
"…Does this count as living off someone else?"