Chapter 287: Survive

"Flying Thunder God?!"

Shanjiaoyu Banzang's expression changed dramatically; isn't this the signature move of Second Hokage Qianshou Feijian?

He hadn't expected that his adopted son Yuzhi Bo Lianye had actually learned it!

Not allowing Banzang to overthink, at the instant Lian Ye vanished, he instinctively swung his scythe horizontally to prevent a sudden ambush by the reappearing Lian Ye.

Unfortunately, his reaction was still too slow.

In the split second the scythe cut out, Lian Ye appeared beside him, his Tachi thrust straight into Banzang's waist.

"Pfft—!"

The sharp blade pierced flesh, blood spurted!

Banzang barely twisted aside to dodge the lethal strike, but his abdomen was still slashed with a wound dozens of centimeters long, blood continuously flowing from it.

He roared, then delivered a backhand elbow strike toward Lian Ye's chest, which was just within arm's reach.

"Bang!"

Lian Ye was knocked back several steps, but the smile at the corner of his mouth deepened.

Banzang gasped, blood gushed from the wound, yet his gaze grew fiercer. Had he not reacted quickly, both kidneys would probably have been pierced through.

"Kid... you've completely angered me."

He hadn't expected that a mere information gap would put him in a passive position; if he didn't swiftly kill Lian Ye, he would likely die from excessive blood loss.

He simply didn't notice that the blood flowing from his abdomen had changed from red to dark red.

Just as Banzang was about to kill Lian Ye with all his might, he suddenly sensed a change in his body.

Cold rain struck his face, his vision began to blur. The fingers that had been gripping the scythe suddenly twitched with a spasm, a sharp pain shooting from the wound like lightning, spreading through his whole body.

"Cough...!"

A mouthful of black blood spurted from Banzang's mouth, splashing onto the muddy ground. His legs suddenly went numb, his knees slammed heavily into the standing water, sending up a cloud of turbid splash.

"I... I'm poisoned..."

He had thought that the Poison Sac of the Salamander implanted in his body would grant immunity to most toxins, yet he still got poisoned.

Banzang strained to look down, seeing his abdominal wound already turning a strange purplish‑black, the toxin spreading beneath the skin like a spiderweb.

He tried to form a seal, but found his fingers completely unresponsive, hanging limp at his side.

"Bang!"

His heavy body finally gave out, Banzang collapsed forward, his whole face slammed heavily into the mudwater. Rainwater mixed with soil poured into his nostrils, making breathing extremely difficult.

His pupils began to dilate, and all that remained in his ears was his own increasingly weak heartbeat.

... Is that how it ends?

He tried to struggle, but his body no longer obeyed, forcing him to lie in the cold mud, feeling his life slip away bit by bit.

He had not yet led Rain Hidden Village to break free from the great powers' oppression, nor helped this war‑scarred nation truly rise...

Unwilling, truly unwilling!

His dream had not even set sail when it met despair‑inducing waves.

A young man's figure gradually approached within his blurred vision, a pair of feet stopping before him. Banzang mustered his last strength to swivel his eyes, meeting those cold Sharingan.

Lian Ye stood before him, rain sliding down his black robe, his voice flat and calm.

"If you don't take the Antidote now, there's no salvation for you."

Lian Ye's voice seemed to come from far away. Banzang suddenly remembered—before the battle began, he feared killing Lian Ye, so he tossed him a bottle of Antidote, which Lian Ye didn't catch, instead casually throwing a bottle of Antidote back to him.

That bottle of Antidote was stored in his waist's Ninja Tool Bag.

He desperately tried to lift his hand, but the toxin had spread throughout his body, rendering even a single finger immobile. Despair surged like a tide; he could only stare rigidly at the Ninja Tool Bag at his waist, his eyes full of resentment.

I never imagined Shanjiaoyu Banzang... would meet his end in such a way.

Rain streamed down his cheek, indistinguishable as rain or tears. In these final moments of life, what he saw was not a montage of memories, but Rain Hidden Village's perpetually gloomy sky, and the civilians and ninja who had endured the great powers' oppression.

At this moment, he felt some regret for having harbored murderous intent toward Lian Ye.

If the two had only engaged in a simple spar, perhaps Yuzhi Bo Lianye wouldn't have been a bystander to death.

Indeed, Lian Ye's current actions, in his view, are exactly a bystander to death.

Banzang's eyelids grew heavier, as if he could slip away at any moment.

"Sorry, I forgot you were poisoned."

Lian Ye still wondered why Banzang hadn't taken the Antidote. Seeing Banzang's pitiful state, he realized the other was already riddled with lethal toxin, completely immobilized.

He crouched, took a single Antidote from the Ninja Tool Bag, pried Banzang's mouth open, and forced it in.

Although Banzang wanted to kill himself, ultimately it was because of his own cause; he could never just stand by and watch death, right?

Moreover, whether Banzang could be saved alive is a completely different matter.

Anyway, he had already done his best to remedy it; as for Banzang, he could only leave it to fate.

"Swallow it."

The pill dissolved instantly in his mouth, the bitter taste spreading through his palate. Banzang's pupils constricted as he stared at Lian Ye in disbelief.

"Ho ho ho..."

He tried to speak, but no sound came out.

"You want to ask me why I saved you?" Lian Ye stood up, his tone indifferent.

"Don't be too pleased yet; my poison's optimal antidote window is within thirty seconds. Now the toxin has penetrated the organs; whether you survive depends on how hard your fate is."

Banzang opened his mouth, staring blankly at Lian Ye.

Actually, he wanted to say—

Since you wanted to save yourself, why didn't you give him the Antidote earlier?

Had Lian Ye given him the Antidote earlier, this wouldn't have happened.

Ugh—!

Banzang arched his back, coughing up a large mouthful of black blood, as his consciousness began to dissipate. In his final field of vision was Lian Ye's turning back as he left, and the Heimao perched on the ruins, its golden pupils coldly watching him in the rain.

Seeing Lian Ye leave, the Heimao hurriedly followed.

The person and the cat gradually disappeared from his view.

Survive……

I must… survive…

Darkness devoured his consciousness.

The rain kept falling.

Only Shanjiaoyu Banzang lay in the mud, motionless.

……

"Lian Ye, can that guy still survive, meow?" Fat Cat tilted its head toward Lian Ye, asking in confusion.

It seemed to have seen Banzang somewhat dead.

"Whether he can survive depends on fate," Lian Ye shook his head, even he himself didn't know if Banzang could survive.

If Banzang truly died, World War II would never have broken out.

In that sense, he indirectly prevented a brutal war from erupting.

If Banzang didn't die, so be it; after all, the Salamander's Toxin is useless to him. If the war truly does… break out, give the Konoha Ninja an Antidote, leaving the Salamander with no use.

"Where are we going next, meow?"

"Earth Country."