Angry Guren

"Yukimaru, blame your bad luck, and as for you, Guren, blame your insufficient strength for not being able to protect Yukimaru. Since that's the case, you shall also suffer in agony with Yukimaru's death. Hehe."

Suddenly, Kabuto formed a hand seal, his eyes filled with killing intent, and a sinister smile curled at the corner of his mouth. As soon as the seal was complete, Yukimaru, who was about to be taken away by Ryoha's Space-Time Ninjutsu, felt a sudden contraction in his pupils, a pang in his chest, and a blurry sensation in his gaze. A feeling of unconsciousness surged through his brain, and Yukimaru collapsed without even feeling any pain. His gaze turned vacant, his pupils dilated. Clearly, Yukimaru had died in an instant.

Kabuto, worried that Naruto and the others were stronger than he expected, secretly made such a move, which he thought would prevent any accidents and ensure that no one could retrieve Yukimaru if he couldn't. At the moment Yukimaru fell, Guren and Yukimaru disappeared from the Three-Tails' back. Seeing this, Kabuto's expression changed. Space-Time Ninjutsu, as far as he knew, only one person in the ninja world could use it—Ryoha.

It turned out that Ryoha's figure was behind him. Upon realizing this, Kabuto immediately sensed danger and without saying a word, he used the Summoning Jutsu to summon a giant snake. He then allowed himself to be swallowed by the snake, using the Reverse Summoning Jutsu to disappear from the original location.

It had to be said that Kabuto's reaction and perception of danger were incredibly quick and accurate. Almost at the same time as he disappeared, the spot where he had been standing turned into a deep pit with a radius of ten meters.

"What's going on? Yukimaru, wake up." Ryoha, Shizune, Guren, and Yukimaru appeared in the place where Kabuto had been just before he left. Guren looked at Yukimaru, who no longer had any signs of breathing, and her expression turned blank and fearful.

"Shizune is Tsunade's apprentice. Let her take a look." Ryoha said while looking in the direction Kabuto had gone, murmuring to himself.

"Please, save Yukimaru…" even though she knew in her heart that Yukimaru was already dead, upon hearing that she was Tsunade's apprentice, a glimmer of hope rose within Guren.

As Tsunade's apprentice, Shizune could naturally tell that Yukimaru was dead, but she still professionally used medical ninjutsu to examine Yukimaru's body.

"Did he consume a lot of medication before?" Shizune quickly determined the cause of Yukimaru's death.

"Yes." Guren responded, her eyes hollow. But she still answered.

"Some of the medication he took had been tampered with. In addition, while someone was using medical ninjutsu on him, they secretly cast a jutsu. This jutsu itself has no effect, but it can draw out the toxicity of the medication Yukimaru consumed, and the combination of the poison and the jutsu could be lethal even to a high-level shinobi. Without medical treatment, it would take three days for the poison to kill him."

"However, considering Yukimaru's weak constitution, his frequent consumption of hormone-like drugs, and the reckless development of his body's ability to control the Three-Tails, which further weakened his already frail body, the person who poisoned him must have been observing Yukimaru for a long time and have a deep understanding of him." Shizune explained. Guren slammed her fist into the ground as soon as Shizune finished.

"Kabuto!" Guren gritted her teeth, her voice filled with coldness and resentment. Guren wasn't an idiot. Although she didn't know medical ninjutsu, the sudden turn of events and Shizune's description fit the profile of a certain person. Moreover, that person was nearby and had just escaped. Yukimaru had indeed been forced to take many drugs, and Guren had some knowledge of the ingredients in those drugs.

Only someone who could tamper with those drugs and had a deep understanding of Yukimaru's constitution could accurately poison him to the point of instantaneous death.

"I'm going to kill him!" Guren shouted in desperation, but Ryoha knocked her unconscious with a punch.

"This idiot, although I understand her current state of mind very well, I also experienced the intentional 'death' of Tsunade and the fake death of Bulma in the past. But you also have to understand if you have the ability to do something. With your current strength, even if you were in your prime and facing only Kabuto alone, it wouldn't be a problem. But while you might be able to defeat him, you can't kill Kabuto, who is skilled in medical ninjutsu and is focused on escaping."

"You have almost depleted your chakra now, your condition is so unstable, and your mind is clouded. Both your strength and intelligence are unable to be utilized even a bit. What would it be? It's not just walking into death and letting someone capture you to study you. I don't want a loyal, potential, and powerful member like you to die because of this."

Ryoha had no intention of chasing after Kabuto. With Orochimaru and Kabuto on their guard against him, they would definitely seal away the Hiraishin formula that he had left at their base or on themselves.

Amaterasu's flames could be sealed, so of course Hiraishin's formula could be sealed as well. However, it would take a considerable amount of time. Therefore, it could only be used to seal away the formula in situations where there was no danger or combat. It was impossible to do it during a battle.

Apart from the lack of time and opportunities, another reason was that Ryoha could create many, many formulas. Even if sealing didn't require time, it couldn't keep up with the speed at which the formulas appeared. Therefore, it was completely ineffective during combat.

In addition, after seeing Orochimaru and Kabuto at the Tenchi Bridge last time, they were constantly on the move and frequently changed their residence. If he were to search for Orochimaru based on his original whereabouts, he definitely wouldn't be there. Orochimaru was not an idiot; on the contrary, he was very cunning and smart. From the moment he realized what had happened to his body, he was not only planning how to deal with Ryoha, but also how to guard against him.

Therefore, Ryoha couldn't find Kabuto now, and even if he found him, he wouldn't kill Kabuto. The attack just now was completely because Kabuto dared to interfere with his affairs. If Kabuto died, it would serve him right. If he survived, he would be left for Guren to kill. In that case, Guren's loyalty to him would reach a level of unwavering devotion, and her hatred for Orochimaru would become bone-deep.

"Ryoha, what should we do now?" Shizune carried Guren on her back and asked Ryoha. These days, she had been inseparable from Ryoha, and she could see that Ryoha saw the potential in Guren. She also admired Guren greatly. It was definitely worth cultivating her. Both Ryoha and she believed that Guren was a great choice. Plus, considering Kabuto's actions, Guren could already be considered part of Ryoha's side.

"After being messed with by Kabuto like this, I'm not in the mood anymore. Let's go back. Our purpose for coming out has been achieved, and we've been traveling for so long. It's time to go back." Ryoha finished speaking and waved his hand. The three of them, along with the frozen corpse of Yukimaru (to prevent decay), disappeared from the spot.