Minato pursued Orochimaru relentlessly.
Meanwhile, Kushina, without even taking the time to assess Kotoe's injuries, began treating her immediately.
Even without touching Kotoe, Kushina could feel the life slipping away from her. Her treatment only served to delay the inevitable.
"The injuries are too severe. Her internal organs…"
Kushina bit her lip. She knew it was futile, but she couldn't bring herself to stop.
As Manda, locked in combat with Gamabunta and Katsuyu, noticed Orochimaru fleeing with Ye Zi, he disappeared decisively, returning to Ryūchi Cave.
Under Katsuyu's treatment, Tsunade and Jiraiya's injuries gradually improved. While they weren't fully healed, they could at least move without difficulty. The small slugs remained attached to them, continuing their healing efforts.
Carrying these small slugs, Jiraiya and Tsunade made their way to Kushina. They didn't stop her actions but simply watched silently.
Tsunade's experienced eyes didn't need to examine Kotoe to know she was at death's door. Kushina's treatment could only prolong her life for a short time, wasting chakra in the process.
"Kushina, let it go," Tsunade said softly, trying to dissuade her.
Kushina silently shook her head. She didn't know why she was so determined to save Kotoe. Even knowing it was futile, she couldn't give up.
She didn't want to see Kotoe die. Maybe that was it. Or perhaps she couldn't bear to see someone who had protected Ye Zi perish like this.
Seeing Kushina's stubborn determination, Tsunade sighed and prepared to say more, but Jiraiya placed a hand on her shoulder.
Tsunade turned to him, and Jiraiya shook his head silently, signaling her to stop.
After a brief pause, Tsunade said nothing more and instead gazed in the direction Minato had gone, hoping he would succeed in catching Ye Zi.
Time ticked by, second by second.
Kushina's treatment forced Kotoe's fading life force to linger. On the brink of death, her consciousness, immersed in darkness, began to stir as her eyelids fluttered and slowly opened.
Noticing this, Kushina's eyes widened with a flicker of joy.
"Thank goodness… thank goodness…" Kushina murmured to herself, clinging to the hope that Kotoe might survive. But this hope was self-deception.
Even if Kotoe lived, her Wood Release and transplanted Hashirama cells would make her a target for Konoha's experiments, it was an outcome perhaps worse than death.
But engrossed in saving Kotoe, Kushina didn't consider these implications.
As her consciousness returned, Kotoe's first thought was that she had reached the Pure Land. But instead, she saw Kushina's relieved expression and fell silent.
Meeting Kotoe's gaze, Kushina quickly encouraged her, "Hold on. Don't give up. I can save you."
Kotoe was silent for a moment before weakly replying, "It's useless… and you know it."
Kushina froze, her stubbornness undeterred even by Kotoe's resignation.
"Why are you saving me?" Kotoe asked quietly, surprised that this was how things had turned out.
She had once harbored hostility toward Kushina, the kind of animosity only women could feel toward each other. But after that night when she passed Kushina by, all her resentment had dissipated.
At that moment, Kotoe had chosen to follow Ye Zi, while Kushina had chosen to stay behind.
"I don't know," Kushina admitted, averting her gaze from Kotoe's face and focusing on her injuries instead. "I just… don't want you to die."
Kotoe's lips moved faintly, and she said, "You're so strange… I used to envy you because Ye Zi loved you… but now none of that matters."
After speaking, she struggled to look around, noticing that Orochimaru and Ye Zi weren't nearby. A look of relief crossed her face.
"Good… Ye Zi got away… thank goodness…"
"Why go to such lengths for him?" Kushina asked, her voice tinged with sadness as she bit her lip harder.
"Why?"
Kotoe smiled faintly, her eyes filled with devotion and longing, though their light was dimming.
"Because he's Ye Zi… and I'm Kotoe."
Her final words fell like fragile glass shattering upon the ground, ringing briefly before fading into silence.
Her half-open eyes slowly closed, and her world narrowed until, in her hazy vision, she saw Ye Zi's figure.
She wanted to reach out and hold onto that silhouette but lacked the strength to raise her arm. Her consciousness was gradually consumed by darkness.
She wished she could stay by his side forever, yet now, she no longer wanted him near her.
For she was heading toward the world of death, and she didn't want Ye Zi to follow her into the same fate.
Her eyes closed fully. This time, her life force had truly dissipated.
Kushina stopped the flow of chakra to her hands and turned her gaze silently to Kotoe's face, now adorned with a serene smile.
Why does this hurt so much? Why am I so sad?
Tears slipped down her cheeks once again as her hands fell limply to her sides. Kushina closed her eyes slowly.
Jiraiya and Tsunade stood silently, watching the scene unfold.
After a long while, Minato's figure appeared suddenly.
He pursued Orochimaru relentlessly but eventually lost track of him. With no other option, Minato used the Flying Thunder God Technique to return to the site.
Seeing Minato appear alone, Tsunade felt she already knew the answer but still asked, "Where are Ye Zi and the others?"
Minato shook his head and replied, "I couldn't catch them."
"They got away…" Tsunade thought bitterly.
After answering Tsunade, Minato turned his gaze to Kushina, who remained quietly by Kotoe's side. After a moment, he looked back at Jiraiya and Tsunade and asked, "How are your injuries? Can you travel back to Konoha?"
Jiraiya nodded. "It's no problem."
He then glanced at Kotoe's body and said, "We should bring her back to the village as soon as possible. With the Yamanaka clan's secret techniques, we might extract important information about Ye Zi and Orochimaru."
Tsunade glanced at Kushina before saying calmly, "She could use Wood Release. We might glean something useful from her body."
"Understood."
Minato nodded and said, "If there's nothing else, let's head back soon."
With that, he took a few steps toward Kushina and produced a storage scroll for preserving corpses. "Kushina…"
Kushina silently stood, then turned away, gazing at the distant mountains. Beyond them lay the ruins of Uzushio Village, her former homeland.
She had endured war and the destruction of her home and family, which made her long for stability. Konoha had become that refuge for her.
In her mind, she suddenly recalled Ye Zi's departing figure. Despite all she had experienced, she still couldn't understand what Ye Zi, who had also lived through the chaos of war, truly sought.
Minato glanced at Kushina's back and sighed softly before unsealing the scroll and sealing Kotoe's body within it.
"Well, we'll head back too," Gamabunta said.
With those words, he and Katsuyu vanished in clouds of white smoke.
After watching Gamabunta and Katsuyu disappear, Kushina tended to Jiraiya and Tsunade's injuries a little more. Only then did the four of them begin their journey back to Konoha.
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