“Nothing is impossible!”
Uchiha Chiya’s crimson gaze swept across the battlefield.
Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, he used the Body Flicker Technique and appeared directly in front of the Sand shinobi who had spoken.
Their eyes met beneath the Mangekyō Sharingan.
The Sand shinobi’s eyes immediately became vacant.
He fell into genjutsu.
Chiya’s kunai flashed across his throat.
Then Chiya disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.
The shinobi slowly collapsed onto the ground.
Seeing this, the remaining Sand shinobi exchanged glances.
Their mouths twisted into vicious smiles.
“That technique just now clearly has an enormous limitation!”
“Kill him!”
“Kill that Uchiha!”
“Everyone, attack!”
“He can’t use that technique again!”
“And as for genjutsu, just don’t look an Uchiha in the eyes!”
The Sand shinobi surged forward once more.
Chiya watched the countless enemies charging toward him.
Apart from his Mangekyō Sharingan, his greatest advantage had always been genjutsu.
As long as he established eye contact, he could instantly control an opponent.
But his enemies were fighting as a coordinated unit.
As long as their comrades disrupted the chakra flow of someone caught in genjutsu, they could break the illusion.
With Chiya’s current strength, a few genjutsu simply weren’t enough to control this many people.
Ordinary genjutsu had almost no value against such a massive coordinated assault.
There were simply too many enemies.
Forget it.
I’ll just go all out.
There’s no point holding back anymore.
Chiya took a deep breath.
His gaze focused once again on the approaching Sand forces.
Since you’re all so eager to die…
Then I won’t hide anything anymore!
“Yomi no Higan!”
Three or four additional blood vessels appeared around Chiya’s crimson eye.
Blood once again flowed from the corner of his eye.
An invisible wave spread outward.
This time, its range was even greater than before.
It almost covered the entire battlefield.
The invisible force resembled the hand of a god of death, seizing the bodies of countless Sand shinobi.
Their life force became visible as countless tiny points of light.
Those points were violently drawn from their bodies.
Starting from Chiya as the center—
Wave after wave of Sand shinobi collapsed like crops being cut down.
A cold, deathly silence spread across the battlefield.
Chiya stood in the middle of it all.
His Mangekyō Sharingan had already faded.
His eyes had returned to their ordinary black color.
His pupils contracted slightly.
His vision was blurry.
A constant buzzing filled his ears, as though countless tiny insects were crawling inside his skull.
He raised a hand and pressed it against his temple.
His fingertips touched something warm.
The blood that had previously dried around his eyes had begun flowing again because of the excessive strain.
As expected…
That was still too much.
Previously, Chiya had mainly relied on genjutsu.
When facing a small number of enemies, that had given him a considerable advantage.
But against this many opponents, his genjutsu was simply too limited.
There were just too many enemies.
Right now, the only thing he could truly rely on was his Mangekyō dōjutsu.
Covering so many shinobi at once had placed an enormous burden on him, even with the overwhelming advantage of his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Worse still, his control over the dōjutsu was not yet refined enough.
The resulting ocular-power consumption was far greater than he had expected.
But—
He had still killed them all.
Tsunade noticed that Chiya’s movements had become somewhat stiff.
Her heart jumped.
She immediately rushed toward him.
Standing beside him, she scanned the battlefield with alert eyes.
Her golden hair was being blown about by the wind.
Her gaze eventually settled on Chiya’s pale face.
Her brow furrowed.
Her fingers unconsciously tightened.
As a core member of the Senju clan, Tsunade naturally knew more about the Sharingan than most people.
After all, enemies often understand each other better than allies do.
The Senju and Uchiha had been bitter rivals for generations.
The Senju had studied the Uchiha’s Sharingan extensively.
Just like in the original history—
The person who understood the Uchiha’s Sharingan best was the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
That legendary shinobi had spent years studying and developing techniques specifically suited to fighting the Uchiha.
Tsunade couldn’t compare with her grandfather’s younger brother in that regard.
But she was still a Senju.
And she was a highly skilled medical ninja.
She knew enough to recognize what was happening.
The blood around Chiya’s eyes wasn’t from an ordinary injury.
It was a side effect of using his dōjutsu.
Tsunade immediately mobilized what little chakra she had left.
Green healing chakra covered both her hands.
She gently placed them over Chiya’s eyes.
At the same time, she turned her head and issued orders.
“Medical unit!”
“Immediately escort the critically wounded back to camp!”
“Yes!”
The Konoha medical ninja finally recovered from their shock.
They escorted the wounded back into the tents.
This time, their movements were much more organized.
Today’s battle had clearly tempered them.
Chiya cooperated and closed his eyes.
After Tsunade finished treating him, he slowly opened them again.
His vision was still unstable and blurry.
My eyesight has probably deteriorated.
Chiya instinctively narrowed his eyes.
That made things slightly clearer.
The strain this time was far greater than he had expected.
It was even worse than during his battle with Hanzō.
The setting sun along the border dyed the entire battlefield crimson.
The corpses of the Sand shinobi made the scene even more striking.
Chiya stood where he was.
His face was almost unnaturally pale.
He raised his eyes toward Tsunade’s worried expression.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
“Tsunade.”
“We’re safe now.”
Tsunade walked over and stared at him for two seconds.
Then she suddenly grabbed him by the collar.
“Are you insane?!”
Her voice was low, but suppressed anger was clearly audible.
“You used your dōjutsu on more than a hundred people at once!”
“Do you think your eyes are made of steel?!”
Chiya was pulled slightly forward by his collar.
He didn’t get angry.
Instead, he smiled.
“What else was I supposed to do?”
“Stand there and watch them surround you?”
Tsunade was rendered speechless.
Her grip gradually loosened.
Of course she knew.
If Chiya hadn’t intervened, none of the Konoha medical ninja or combat shinobi would have survived.
But seeing him in such a weakened state made the anger burning in her chest impossible to suppress.
“I just…”
“I don’t want you to sacrifice yourself for me.”
She finally forced the words out.
She released his collar and instead supported his arm.
“Come on.”
“Back to camp.”
Chiya looked across the battlefield littered with corpses.
Then he glanced toward the sun slowly sinking beneath the horizon.
He simply allowed Tsunade to support him as they walked back toward camp.
“Do your eyes still hurt?”
Tsunade looked at Chiya’s profile and asked softly.
There was a slight tremor in her voice.
“They hurt.”
“But if Lady Tsunade personally takes care of me tonight…”
“I’ll recover quickly.”
Tsunade froze.
Then her face flushed with embarrassment and irritation.
“You!”
“You really are an evil Uchiha brat!”
“Is that all you think about?”
Chiya looked genuinely confused.
“Lady Tsunade, what exactly are you talking about?”
“I only meant that you could put some eye drops in my eyes.”
“How did that turn me into an evil Uchiha?”
“Looks like the princess of the Senju clan has quite a prejudice against us Uchiha.”
Chiya’s expression was completely serious.
Tsunade suddenly began questioning herself.
Taking care of him…
Treating him…
Eye drops?
Did I misunderstand what he meant?
Was I the one thinking too much?
While Tsunade was lost in thought, Chiya raised a hand and gently touched her cheek.
Her skin was smooth and warm.
Tsunade simply stared at him.
The stubborn light in her light-brown eyes became clouded with tears.
“Why are you crying all of a sudden?”
Chiya gently brushed away the tear rolling down her cheek.
Tsunade hurriedly turned her face away and wiped her eyes.
Then she turned back.
“Damn Uchiha brat…”
“You really know how to make people worry.”
Chiya immediately understood.
She had cried because she was worried about him.
He pulled his arm free from her grasp and wrapped it around her, pulling her into his embrace.
“Hey!”
“People are still here!”
Tsunade’s face turned red.
She hadn’t expected Chiya to be so bold.
“We’re a perfect match.”
“Who cares what those people think?”
Tsunade had no answer.
The two stood together in the fading light.
That Night
The campfire crackled softly.
The shadows of the two people stretched long across the ground outside the tent.
Chiya sat against a weathered rock.
Medical bandages were wrapped around his eyes, completely covering them.
Originally, Chiya had only intended to do some basic eye exercises and perhaps use some eye drops before going to sleep.
Instead, Tsunade had immediately treated his eyes with medicinal herbs and wrapped them in bandages.
But the cool sensation around his eyes did seem to help with the recovery.
Naturally, Chiya hadn’t refused her treatment.
And that wasn’t all.
He was also obediently holding a bowl of medicinal broth Tsunade had forced him to drink.
It was bitter.
Very bitter.
Chiya’s face twisted with every sip.
“Tch.”
“This stuff tastes worse than Sand poison.”
“I already have medicine applied to my eyes.”
“Why do I still have to drink this?”
He shook the bowl slightly.
“Are you taking revenge on me while I’m injured?”
“Shut up.”
“Drink it.”
Tsunade sat opposite him with her arms crossed.
The firelight gave her golden hair a warm glow.
She glared at Chiya.
But when she noticed how pale his face was, her expression softened slightly.
She turned her head and pretended to organize the medical supplies.
Her fingers, however, unconsciously brushed the edge of his bandages.
Chiya tilted his head back and finished the medicine.
The bitterness made him grimace.
Then he shook the empty bowl toward Tsunade.
“Lady Tsunade.”
“Do you have any candy?”
“Are you three years old?!”
She angrily snatched the bowl from him.
But their fingers touched.
Tsunade paused.
She seemed to remember something.
“…”
She suddenly stood up.
Then she began rummaging through her medical bag with enough force to make it sound as though she were dismantling the entire tent.
Chiya tilted his head toward the sound.
He heard her find a small paper packet.
She roughly shoved it into his hand.
“The last one.”
“Take it or leave it!”
Chiya opened the packet.
His fingers touched a small, smooth piece of candy.
He froze for a moment.
Then his smile deepened.
“So Lady Tsunade carries candy around?”
“Don’t ask questions!”
“It was for helping wounded patients maintain their blood sugar!”
Chiya placed the candy in his mouth.
The sweetness washed away the bitterness of the medicine.
The night breeze passed through the camp.
Chiya heard Tsunade sit down again.
He could hear the faint rustle of her clothes against the sand.
And then—
A very soft sigh.
“If you recklessly push yourself like that again…”
Tsunade’s voice was almost inaudible.
“I’ll stitch your Sharingan shut with a needle and thread.”
Chiya smiled.
Then he suddenly reached toward her.
His fingers accurately found the ends of her hair.
“What are you laughing at?!”
She slapped his hand away.
But her ears had turned red.
“Nothing.”
“I just think…”
“It’s good to be alive.”
“And to be able to share a tent with you.”
Tsunade froze.
The campfire crackled.
A few sparks rose into the night.
She lowered her head and looked at Chiya’s profile illuminated by the firelight.
Her eyes were filled with tenderness.
“It’s getting late.”
“We still have to regroup with the main force tomorrow.”
“Let’s get some rest.”
“Lady Tsunade…”
“I can’t see right now.”
“So I’ll need your help.”
Tsunade glared at him.
“I’m only helping you because you’re injured today!”
“Don’t make a habit of it.”
“Understood?”
“…”
The night wind carried distant sand across the camp.
But it could not dispel the warmth surrounding the small campfire.