The young girl courteously inquires the boy in front of her, whom she has discerned as the team leader.

"Yes! We are Team-6 led by me, Yagura Karatachi."

Mei, the fifth Mizukage, is obviously a familiar figure to Zabuza. 'Who would have thought I would get to meet her here!'

Zabuza finds the situation a surprisingly good opportunity to observe the future Mizukage in action. Though now with him in the fray, it is uncertain whether the future will go as it is supposed to.

It isn't only Zabuza that knows the girl.

His teammates also seem to recognize this genius, who after just graduating from the academy, has been making waves for the past year.

Immediately, Ruka steps forward with a suggestion "I am Ruka. I know some medical ninjutsu, so please let me help with the treatment of the injured." It's rather rare for her to step up like this.

Hearing Ruka, Mei's face lights up a little. "Thank you. It will be a great help if you do so."

"No, no, you don't have to thank me. My abilities aren't very praiseworthy. Rather, you will likely be disappointed by how little I can do," The girl nervously responds.

Mei takes Ruka to the injured. Another medical-nin is already tirelessly at the spot, exhausted but still trying to heal his fellow villagers. Ruka swiftly joins the man.

Although she is inexperienced at the task, some help is always better than nothing. At the very least, her help provides the man with some breathing space.

On the other hand, Zabuza casually looks around the cave and notices a particular person that stands out. He brings his teammates' attention to it.

"Look, that man sitting cross-legged at the center, wouldn't he be the guy thats maintaining the concealing barrier?"

"It is," Yagura confirms. He, of course, had already identified Chūkichi long before his student had, but he judged, disturbing the man who's maintaining the barrier to not be the right call.

Not wanting the man to lose focus, Yagura decides to wait for him to open his eyes on his own. He also instructs his students to do the same.

As it happened, it wouldn't take long for Chūkichi to wake from his meditative state and rise from his place.

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Seeing this, Yagura and his two students walk up to the man. However, to their surprise, as they were about to speak, Chūkichi himself hits up the conversation, before they could even open their mouths.

"Thank you, Yagura-san, for coming to our rescue. It is wonderful meeting a young talent like you. As you must have already heard, I am Chūkichi. Pleasure to meet you."

Yagura scratches the back of his head, presenting a humble gesture. "Haha, you jest. As a junior, being able to meet you, the pleasure is of course all mine." he talks, as if he actually means it.

Further adding...

"Having before always seen each other from a distance, who would have thought it would be in such a condition that we would get a chance to start a conversation?" Yagura, like a diplomat, stops the boring pleasantries and moves on to the matter at hand.

"Yes, it is truly unfortunate. Still, I am sure with you and your team's help, we can break out of the enemy line. Unfortunately, as you can see, I wouldn't be of much help."

Dejectedly, he reveals his arm, or more accurately what remains of it, slightly below his elbow his is missing. And if that wasn't enough, he is also bleeding through his bandaged stomach, the wound seems to have opened up, recently.

It's a wonder how the man still stands. Truly, one has to praise a shinobi's tenacity.

"But it seems some won't be able to make it. I am sure you and others whose injuries aren't in critical state will, but those three I am not so sure. . . . We can't have them drag us down, so carrying them with us is out of the question. We have to prioritize protecting the ones who can still move."

Chūkichi remains silent.

Even though he is a shinobi of Kirigakure, he is an honorable man. His love for his village is truly unmatched. Even during the war, when he was brought back with the reanimation jutsu, he was still continuously trying to resist the accursed jutsu, a testament to his loyalty.

However, Yagura wasn't having it. A rationalist like him would always choose the most efficient and risk-free way to solve any problem, so he again speaks.

"In any case, with their condition, they won't even last long enough to get proper treatment, regardless if we somehow successfully manage to escape from this place or not."

Truthfully, Chukichi had already understood what he needed to do in such a situation. He knew the greatest mercy he could give to his fellow villagers; who are walking between two world, is the cold embrace of death... But even so, he hadn't been brave enough to act on it.

Being a Kirigakure shinobi didn't mean being a heartless machine. Like the majority of shinobis, he is also only a human after all.

Zabuza to the side observing the two, couldn't help but see the two jonins as two sides of the same coin, both wanting to save people, however through vastly different approaches.

Nevertheless, he has clearly understood one thing today; living as a shinobi means killing as one. Tools of war are supposed to be just that... tools.

Choice? There is no such thing.

In the first place, the injured shinobi or even Chūkichi never had any say in their fate. If people really got to choose their own destiny, the world wouldn't be so sad.

Without uttering any more words, Chūkichi and Yagura slowly approach the two unconscious shinobis, whose deaths as a result of their injuries, were all but certain.

They do what needed to be done, a deed of betrayal that forever stains their hands, with the blood of their own comrades.