It was an hour later that the girl found him by a bush that had been trimmed by the harsh winter and reduced to dry branches.

The surroundings were littered with the marks of the aftermath of the battle, the dead grass was trampled by wild beasts and mixed with the dirt, a tree that was not too small was broken by the waist, the fractures were uneven, and the wood residue was scattered around the poor stump.

Black and red blood was scattered all around, and only two places converged into an irregular shape of black and red. A huge boar lay ten meters away from the girl, covered in wounds and bleeding, like steel thorns, its stiff hair stained with black and red blood. His broken fangs mingled with black-red blood, and he grunted feebly, waiting for death in the cold air.

A short knife drenched in half-congealed black-red blood was stuck in the boar's left eye, which was probably the reason for the death of the sturdy creature.

The girl saw that the dried branches were congealed with blood, and the black-red solid condensed into the shape of droplets about to fall, as if time had stood still.

The dead branches shivered in the cold wind, and the girl felt cold.

She stiffened over to the person she loved and took his cold hand.

A thick fang was sticking into the chest of the fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, and with every faint breath, a little blood would overflow from the boy's chest.

Youthful spirit.

"You idiot... Why do such a dangerous thing, why be careful?" the girl's warm tears fell on the boy's face.

The boy blinked, the corners of his mouth raised, revealing a smile as usual.

"I'm sorry... Small. Forgive me. ”

The boy's voice was so small that the girl's body shook. This is said every time a teenager is injured and a girl is treated for a wound.

"Stupid, if you don't get up, I don't want to forgive you·······" The girl's hand shimmered with a faint blue light.

The boy understood that it was too late, and death was already a doomed outcome for him.

"Don't cry... Xiao Tou... ”

"Don't you talk, okay····· I've been... Already..." The girl bit her lip tightly, trying not to let the tears welling up. It didn't work, she couldn't cure him.

Severe blood loss caused the teenager's lips to lose their color, chapped and pale.

"Stop the treatment, Xiao Tou, it's useless. ”

"In my clothes... I have a letter in my clothes······ It's the chief's. The young man said in a loud voice, and the powerless darkness almost enveloped him.

"Don't speak!" cried out the girl in a panic. Her tears welled up, she couldn't repair her wounds, she couldn't suppress the blood that was spilling.

"Listen to me, that letter is important, don't... Let the blood..." The frowning young man said weakly.

The girl knew that the boy had always had such a temper, and for the orders of the leader he always put first, before his own life. If she doesn't come up with the letter, the boy will keep reminding her.

Reaching into the boy's wet clothes, the girl finally found the letter hidden in the pocket of the boy's chest.

A corner of the letter had been eroded by blood, and it was clipped by a hairpin carved with maple leaves. The girl did not care, put the letter in her arms and continued to treat the teenager.

"Don't you want to see it····· Let me know you in advance····· We can go to Otoshinobi Village. Really······ I wanted to surprise you········· Let that kid from Kinoshita know... It's such a shame. The boy closed his eyes, breathing.

"Don't tell them about my death... You should be happy today····· Tomorrow you're going to go to Otoshinobi Village... Bring the boar back and let them all eat it. ”

"Long-winded... Long-winded, long-winded... Don't speak!" cried the girl.

So the boy smiled apologetically and stopped talking, though he still had much to say. For example, if you like her, but a person who is about to lose her life, why is it necessary to occupy a place in other people's thoughts to make it painful.

"How did you survive, lucky little one. ”

At the last moment of his life, Kazuya Yamada remembered the boy who came slowly in the firelight, like a god.

Breathing··· Finally gone.

I don't know how long it took, but the first snowflakes fell from the gray sky and landed on Kazuya Yamada's wounds, melting the blood that remained warm.

The light from Kazama's hand flickered faintly for a few moments before finally vanishing, and she drained all of her chakras.

Somewhere in the forest came the worried cries of their companions.

"Xiao Tou !!!!! and also !!!"

Kazama didn't answer, she held Kazuya Yamada's hand and stayed quietly with him.

'You idiot, chief, dreams or whatever, I don't care. The only thing I've always looked forward to is you. But since it's your dream, I'm sure I'll continue to do it. ’

Thinking so, Kazama kissed Kazuya Yamada's cold lips.

Kinoshita, who had been anxiously searching for his friend, finally found the two he was looking for.

He saw a mess of meadows, a fallen tree, and a huge boar····· There is also a girl hugging her dead friend in the light snow.

"Abominable ······" He slammed his fist into the tree, and for a moment blood was dripping with blood.

"I have taken control of the Otoshinobi Village, and it will become your village, your new home. A smiling Kinoshita finished reading the last sentence of the letter. Then cheers shook the whole forest.

Most of the people gathered here were children around 12 years old, the youngest was only 5 years old, but the oldest was 20 years old. People cheered and discussed sandwiches and broth with juicy wild boar.

Others danced around the campfires they had built. A child who has studied music plays his flute and plays joyful music.

This is a gathering place set up by Yakamiki, and the children rely on financial subsidies from Yakamiki and small jobs for people in nearby villages to survive. The cultivation of refining chakra strengthened their physique, allowing the strongest among them to hunt in this forest.

They have built houses on the edge and have encountered bandits and bandits, most seriously when the leader sent his ninjas to reclaim their residence.

They have experienced bitter cold and hunger.

In their minds, these painful days will fade away with the chief's letter, and they are going to Otoshinobi Village, the chief's village.

"Kinoshita, tell me what about Kazuya?" said the young man with a broken hand as he walked over to Kinoshita, who was watching the people. Kazuzu Yamada was also the leader of this gathering place, after the original chieftain, who was also surnamed Yamada, was killed by robbers.

The young man didn't believe Kinoshita's statement that Kazuya went on a leader's mission.

Kinoshita pushed the young man away and left alone. This made the young man clench his fists, he was a supporter of Kazuya, and Kinoshita, the number two person in the village, had never dealt with him.

"Sister Xiao Tou, aren't you going to dance. Lying by the window, a girl asked Toru Kazama in the house. Kazama shook her head with a smile, and the girl shrugged helplessly at the boys' searching gaze to rejoin the group.

The silent Kazama rubbed the maple leaf hairpin in his hand, and then smiled and put the hairpin on his head.

·············

"Let's go, Tou. After selling the chopped firewood, Kazuya greeted Toru Kazama.

So the girl named Toru Kazama reluctantly turned back, and in the place where she had been looking, a simple hairpin carved with maple leaves lay quietly.