Chapter 26: Chapter 26
"Kano, Kano, Kano..." - through the fog of oblivion, a familiar voice could be heard, tirelessly repeating his name. This voice... seemed to belong to Koshibe...
Hearing this voice, Kano was overjoyed, tried to turn towards the sound, but his eyelids felt like lead, and he saw only impenetrable darkness. He wanted to call out to this voice, but his lips did not obey. He wanted to move, but his limbs seemed to be rooted to the ground. In despair, he felt the voice becoming quieter and more distant, until it finally dissolved into the bottomless darkness.
"Kano, Kano..." Kushina cried bitterly, clutching his bloody hand. If he hadn't come to save her, he wouldn't have been so badly wounded. If only she had mastered medical techniques...
Minato, having carefully examined his condition, felt his heart sink into his heels. The joy that Kano was still breathing instantly evaporated.
"The bleeding is slowing down, but the wounds are too serious. All that remains is to get him to the village as soon as possible…" Minato bitterly cut off his sentence. They were too close to the border, there was no way to reach Konoha. If only one of them knew medical ninjutsu…
"No, there has to be a way, right? There has to be!" Kushina whispered, looking at the lost Minato.
Minato, meeting the girl's despairing gaze, bit his lip. The only hope was the Konoha ninja pursuing them. Perhaps there was a medic among them, but it was unlikely. And even if there was a medic, the chances of saving Kano were negligible. However, it was impossible to miss even such a ghostly opportunity. He looked at the large tree, making a decision.
Most of Konoha's citizens were unaware that Kushina was the new jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails. So when she was kidnapped, the Third Hokage did not raise the alarm, but sent a squad of elite shinobi to search for her.
A ninja jumping through the forest at night pricked up his ears when he heard a loud noise coming from the southwest. The one closest to the source of the noise was a white-haired man. Hearing the noise, he ran up to the top of a tree. In the moonlight, he saw a whirlwind of leaves flying into the air nearby, and his gaze became serious.
Although this spectacular signal was more like a smoke signal, he did not let down his guard and, remaining cautious, continued to move towards the source of the sound without slowing down. The other Konoha ninja nearby also noticed the signal and headed in the same direction.
When the white-haired shinobi arrived at the scene, the first thing he noticed was the sharp smell of blood, and then he saw his student.
"Minato," Jiraiya called out, and then, turning his gaze to Kano, who was leaning against the tree trunk, his expression changed dramatically. The sight of the bloody youth was terrible.
"Master." Minato and Kushina felt a moment of disappointment upon seeing Jiraiya. They had really hoped that one of the Sannin would arrive first, but not Jiraiya, but Tsunade.
Jiraiya, seeing the disappointment in their eyes, smiled bitterly. Looking at the barely alive Kano, he felt completely helpless.
What kind of enemy did this boy face?
With that thought in mind, Jiraiya examined Kano's wounds and frowned, noticing that surprisingly little blood was coming out of such a large wound. This reminded him of the worst part - that Kano had lost too much blood. However, he had no idea that Kano's body was trying to stop the bleeding on its own.
Rubbing his chin, Jiraiya looked at the boy, who somehow reminded him of a young Orochimaru, and sighed regretfully, "Even if Tsunade were here, I'm afraid there's nothing he can do."
These words came as a bolt from the blue to Kushina and Minato.
"How is this possible…" Kushina's eyes filled with tears.
Minato turned away, clenching his fists tightly. If he had stayed then… He might not have been able to catch up to Kushina so quickly, but at least the two of them could have defeated the enemy and continued their pursuit.
True, their grief did not last long, being interrupted by a sharp cry: "Get out!"
Minato and Kushina saw Jiraiya being thrown aside by a figure, and he, screaming, crashed into a tree, breaking it.
"Idiot," Tsunade cast a disdainful glance at Jiraiya and, ignoring Minato and Kushina, immediately began to treat the seriously injured Kano.
She felt that Kano's life force had not yet died out. As soon as she arrived, she heard Jiraiya sentence the boy to death and immediately sent him flying.
"Kid, don't you dare die so easily." With a serious expression on her face and gritting her teeth, she focused on treating Kano.
Her sudden appearance was a pleasant surprise for Minato and Kushina. Not daring to disturb her, they watched the events in silence, while their hearts were filled with hope.
"That's a familiar feeling..." Jiraiya muttered, rubbing his bruised head after a powerful kick. Standing up, he saw Tsunade and was about to unleash a stream of screams on her, but suddenly quieted down, noticing that she was healing Kano.
"Does this child have a chance?" Jiraiya, who, unlike Tsunade, did not know about Kano's special physiology, asked cautiously as he approached them.
After some time, another person joined them.
"Orochimaru," Jiraiya said, surprised by the unexpected reunion of the three Sannin.
Orochimaru jumped down from the tree, nodded to Jiraiya, and, fixing his cold, snake-like gaze on the bloodied Kano, he could not hide the flash of anger. Then his gaze moved to the body lying nearby, and the fury in his eyes intensified.
"Kyuko," he stated coldly.
Jiraiya shuddered at the name. Absorbed in Kano's condition, he hadn't paid enough attention to the lifeless body. Now, looking closely at the corpse, he realized with surprise that it was indeed Kyuuko.
"This kid… killed Kyuuko?" Jiraiya was shocked.
"Hm," Orochimaru snorted, also surprised by what had happened. He looked away from the dead shinobi's body and back at Kano, who was being treated by Tsunade.
Jiraiya clearly noticed the flash of anger in Orochimaru's eyes. Was this cold-blooded man really capable of such emotions for someone?
"Sensei, was Kyuuko a strong opponent?" Minato asked quietly.
Jiraiya nodded, "Kyuko was a special jonin of Kumogakure. He was a master swordsman, possessed incredible speed and physical strength. He was an extremely dangerous opponent. Even an experienced jonin could fall to his blade if he let his guard down."
After finishing his explanation, he looked at Kano thoughtfully. He couldn't believe that a mere genin could defeat such a formidable opponent. After all, even a genius couldn't handle it. Kyuko, using Raiton to strengthen his body, moved at incredible speed, and his attacks were practically invisible to the naked eye. So how did Kano manage to defeat him?
He looked at Orochimaru, but he kept an unreadable expression on his face.
After listening to Jiraiya, Minato realized how dangerous the opponent Kano was facing was. At that moment, Tsunade let out a sigh of relief and removed her hands from the boy's wounds, after which the greenish glow also dissipated.
"Tsunade-sama, Kano..." Kushina asked with hope in her voice, seeing that the treatment was complete.
"His life is not in danger, but he needs rest and further treatment in the village," Tsunade answered, looking at Kano's injured left arm with slight bewilderment.
"Thank God, thank God..." Kushina relaxed, hearing that Kano was out of danger. And at that very moment, looking at Tsunade, she made some kind of decision for herself...