Chapter 124

"Senior, things are very bad. Seven's chest is crushed. I can only stop him from dying. Only his mother can cure him," Twenty-Second reported. Over the past three months, Kenshin had mastered the basics of medical ninjutsu, and passed this knowledge on to his sons from Hitomi, making them budding medical ninja.

"We need to survive ourselves… Damn the customer, if I survive, I'll strangle him with my own hands!" Ichiro was angry, and then he took a deep breath and calmed down. He decided to use his last chance to save himself, so when the haze of fog almost completely dissipated, he did as his father taught him and activated the formation.

Suddenly, all five amulets began to glow, and the atmosphere on the battlefield changed. Zabuza knew very well that his enemies were sitting in one place and not trying to escape, so he simply waited for the haze to clear. Suddenly, he felt as if the air had become heavier, and looked in the direction where his enemies were based.

His eyes narrowed in surprise at what he saw. Thirty meters away from him stood a huge, three-meter tall man in plate armor and a brutal-looking closed helmet with small horns on his head.

- Friend, let them go. The Nakayama Family loves their children, and does not wish for their death. Name your price, and the Nakayama Family will pay for the lives of their children. - The three-meter tall man declared loudly.

Zabuza first checked his mind for genjutsu, but found nothing. He stared at the warrior standing majestically in front of him, and for the first time in a long time, he felt fear.

Having survived hundreds of deadly battles, Momochi Zabuza had a great, supernatural sense of all kinds of danger, and now this sense told him that the wrong decision in this matter would cost him his life.

- Half a million Ryo at this very place in three days. If you try to deceive me, I will start hunting everyone who bears the surname Nakayama. - Zabuza declared, addressing the "puppies", and then turned his gaze to the majestic figure, and putting his sword behind his back, he nodded respectfully, a moment later disappearing in an unknown direction.

Twenty-Second picked up Seventh and carefully secured him on his back, using chakra to keep his shattered chest from being damaged further, and under the watchful eye of the samurai's enormous figure, all the brothers quickly retreated from the battlefield.

*****

"It seems like everything is clear, there is no pursuit," Ichiro said with a sigh after an hour of running. They decided to make a stop and let Twenty-Second stabilize Seventh's condition a little. He couldn't talk, and only wheezed in pain.

- Looks like his lung is punctured. How long until home? - Twenty-Second asked.

- Another three and a half hours at the same pace, - Ichiro answered.

- We won't have time. We need to pull out the bone fragment. - Twenty-Second made a decision and quickly unfolded a large white cloth, spreading it on the ground, and then laid his older brother on it, and carefully ripped open the exosuit. Kenshin, after several modifications, made it possible to mechanically damage it under certain conditions.

He quickly pulled out a small scalpel and ran chakra over it, destroying all the micro-organisms, as his mother had taught him, and then took a deep breath, activated the Byakugan, and made an incision, using chakra to squeeze all the large vessels.

Five minutes later, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed with a satisfied face:

- Phew, it looks like it worked. Mom could have extracted the splinter without making an incision, we need to take it to my mother immediately. - He said, and carefully piled his older brother onto his back again, and team number one moved towards the house.

*****

Kenshin clearly felt when Ichiro activated the "Formation of Intimidation" and immediately jumped to his feet. Unfortunately, he did not have access to the piece of consciousness that he had implanted in the formation, and all he could do was send a rapid response team to the approximate location of the first team's mission, and wait, clenching his fists and cursing his weakness.

"What's wrong, honey?" Hitomi asked, hugging him from behind. Over the past few months, she had revealed herself as a loving and caring wife, surpassing the other wives in this regard, who, due to their age, were a little more playful and flighty, and did not always catch their husband's mood.

- It looks like the first team got into serious trouble, but no one died yet... - Kenshin answered with a sigh, to which Hitomi only became a little worried.

"If any of them die, you'll find out who did it, and that means we'll be able to take revenge in the future!" Hitomi stated decisively, surprising Kenshin a little. She was usually very gentle and affectionate, and he couldn't understand why she wasn't worried about the first team.

- We will certainly take revenge, but it will not bring back the dead. Aren't you worried at all? The Twenty-Second is there... - Kenshin whispered.

- Of course I'm worried, and I would gladly change places with him in order to rip a piece of meat out of the enemy's throat, but it's impossible. Kenshin, I've seen a great many deaths in my life, and in our world the attitude towards death is a little different from your world. Your world is full of kindness and colors, while ours is full of wars and suffering. My older brother died in one of the local skirmishes with Suna, and my mother and father were happy that he was able to destroy several enemies before his death. At that time, I was small and did not understand, but then I grew up and saw much more death than even my mother and father. - Hitomi said in a whisper, caressing Kenshin's ear with her breath.

- What I'm saying is that you shouldn't be so upset about someone getting hurt on a mission. They're all shinobi, and they'd all consider it an honor to die for their family. Imagine what would happen to any great village if, for example, the Hokage was so worried about the lives of each of his warriors? That village would be doomed to extinction.

- But the Konoha shinobi are not the sons of the Hokage! - Kenshin retorted.

- Hashirama's son was killed in the Second World War. Hiruzen's two eldest sons were killed in the Third. Understand, Kenshin, they are warriors, and there is a war going on around them. You won't be able to save everyone. - Hitomi said with a sigh, and hugged him tighter from behind, wanting to share his feelings.

"But nothing stops me from trying, right?" He answered with a smile and stroked her gentle hands.