Tobirama Senju had departed, and his leaving filled Yūshin with such sorrow that he felt regret for a long time afterward.
Because in Yūshin's view, what left wasn't just Tobirama Senju—it was clearly a living "Book of Seals" abandoning him. Unfortunately, Tobirama Senju belonged to the Senju Clan; Yūshin couldn't monopolize him indefinitely for personal purposes.
Over the following month, the camp remained tranquil and undisturbed.
No other shinobi accidentally intruded here. Taking advantage of this rare peace, Yūshin devoted almost all his energy to training new ninjutsu.
Undeniably, Tobirama Senju's assistance had been immense. After mastering Water Release techniques, Yūshin's combat style became far more diverse, his offensive power improved, and his practical combat ability rose by more than one level.
Benefiting from Tobirama Senju's guidance in Water Release, Yūshin basically mastered all the Water Release ninjutsu he'd acquired during this month-plus period.
His Rasengan proficiency also reached "twelve-year-old Naruto's beginner level"—meaning he could use it in actual combat with clone assistance.
This was already quite impressive. Further advancement with Rasengan would be considerably difficult.
Beyond this, Yūshin didn't neglect fundamental training, but compared to his ninjutsu progress, his basic training yielded minimal results...
His chakra's quality and quantity barely improved—not even achieving "double effort for half results."
This was constrained by bloodline factors. Relying on personal effort alone was essentially impossible. Yūshin could only hope for White Zetsu—he wished for a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with one someday.
This day, after finishing training, Yūshin began seriously considering whether it was time to leave this primeval forest.
On one hand, his strength had improved to some degree. As long as they didn't encounter large-scale conflicts or unexpectedly powerful enemies, they had some self-preservation capability.
On the other hand, winter was approaching. Their supplies would only become scarcer, and temperature would become a predictable enemy. Under these circumstances, continuing to "passively avoid the world" in the deep forest was definitely not wise.
However, just as he was about to decide, several clan members' startled cries suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
Yūshin looked toward the sound's source, discovering two people already running over in panic.
"Captain, there's news from other clan members!"
"It's Chihori—we found Chihori's summoning beast!"
Perhaps due to panic or excitement, someone mistakenly called him "clan leader" instead of "captain."
But now wasn't the time to worry about such details. Yūshin quickly followed these two, soon arriving under a large tree not far from camp under their guidance.
A small ninja dog summoning beast lay on its side there, bearing numerous gruesome, bone-deep wounds. Its overall condition was poor, breathing abnormally rapid.
"Just now, today's sentry discovered it. He recognized this as Hagūgen Chihori's summoning beast. After notifying the camp, others confirmed this." Someone quickly explained.
This summoning ninja dog was named Beiji—even Yūshin knew this dog.
"Can it be saved?" he asked.
This ninja dog had certainly encountered enemy attacks during escape, experiencing painful ordeals. One could imagine how difficult reaching here had been.
Yet it still completed its mission.
Facing Yūshin's question, everyone fell silent, because this question didn't need answering... Everyone could see this ninja dog had no possibility of survival.
Yūshin approached the ninja dog, crouched down, and gently stroked its head.
Ninja dog Beiji seemed to remember Yūshin's scent. It struggled to raise its neck, gently pressing its nose tip against Yūshin's palm.
Then, it straightened its previously curled tongue, spitting out a small scroll.
Yūshin picked up the scroll. After unrolling it, he found coordinates written inside.
"This is information left by Chihori." After reading the scroll, Yūshin said with considerable certainty.
Because the scroll's information was expressed in Morse code—a cipher he'd taught to some clan members.
"Chihori, is it really Chihori?"
"Only coordinates—what does this mean?"
"Need you ask? Obviously a distress signal."
"It's a distress signal, correct. Chihori is still alive."
"So... what should we do?"
This question made the chaotic crowd suddenly silent. Yes, even if the ninja dog brought Chihori's plea for help, did they have rescue capability?
Everyone unconsciously looked toward Yūshin.
Yūshin didn't speak. He pressed his palm against the ninja dog's head. Unknowingly, its breathing grew weaker and weaker.
A nearby shinobi had been frantically bandaging the ninja dog's wounds, but his movements gradually stopped.
The ninja dog's chest no longer rose and fell—it had lost all life.
"We'll discuss this back at camp. Beiji... should be properly buried here." Yūshin said.
Somewhat ironically, in such chaotic times, a ninja dog's death often moved people more than a human's death.
...
"Captain, this matter could very well be a trap set by unknown enemies... at least we can't rule out this possibility."
After returning to camp, everyone began discussing rescue matters.
Everyone naturally hoped to rescue their clan member, but they couldn't lose rationality or ignore the risks inherent in this situation.
"The code isn't reliable. Once Chihori is controlled by enemy genjutsu, the code could be compromised." Another shinobi said.
"Don't forget—it's been months since we lost our village. This plea for help... comes rather late."
When their village was breached by enemies, most clan members were killed, with a small portion scattering in breakout attempts. If besides the camp's people, others had survived, they should have sent word long ago.
"Perhaps they only just contacted us."
Maybe it wasn't lack of contact, but inability to contact... this was also a possibility.
Most people seemingly didn't support responding to this distress call, because it carried some suspicious points.
But Yūshin knew their thoughts contradicted their words—or rather, their emotions conflicted with their rationality.
People have emotions. The more difficult the environment, the more precious certain things become.
Yūshin stopped everyone's arguments, signaling for quiet, then said: "Regardless, the distress signal truly came from Chihori's hand. We cannot pretend we didn't see it."
"I've decided... to implement a rescue operation."
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