A minute passed quickly.
Crouching in front of the window like a statue, Kiritsugu peered through his binoculars at the spot where Naoki was hiding. He placed his finger on the trigger, then released it, repeating the motion over and over.
In the room where no one else was present, the only sounds he could hear were his own breathing and the beating of his heart.
This was now a battle of endurance. If Naoki had been shot in the shoulder and not treated immediately, the blood loss alone could kill him. As an ordinary person, he wouldn't be able to handle such an emergency. Therefore, in theory, as long as Kiritsugu kept watch, it wouldn't be long before Naoki died from excessive blood loss.
The only person who could potentially influence or even overturn the status quo was Saber, but Morgan and Lancelot were there to hold her back.
In reality, Naoki had no other choice. When he could no longer stand due to blood loss and collapsed from behind the wall, exposing his body—even if it wasn't his head—Kiritsugu would pull the trigger without hesitation.
'Come on, let's see how long you can last, let's see how long you can hold out, Natsukawa Naoki.'
"——!"
At that moment, suddenly, a figure flashed across Kiritsugu's line of sight!
Without a second thought, his finger instinctively pulled the trigger, and a bullet shot out of the barrel in an instant! The bullet pierced through the glass and flew straight toward the man!
However, something happened that Kiritsugu couldn't believe.
*BANG!*
The bullet hit the wall.
The figure had dodged the bullet!
'How is that possible?'
Kiritsugu stared at the figure again. It had to be Naoki, but how?
'Voluntarily revealing your location? Foolish!'
Aiming at Naoki once more, Kiritsugu steadied himself and pulled the trigger again to fire another shot. But as the bullet left the gun, through the binoculars, he clearly saw an astonishing sight!
Almost at the exact moment he pulled the trigger, Naoki had clearly made a dodging motion! Although he looked awkward and unsure how to adjust his center of gravity, he had managed to evade the bullet at the very moment it was fired!
How was this possible? The distance was less than a hundred meters. How could a human dodge a bullet? Unless he already knew where the bullet was going to be aimed.
"Could it be—future vision?"
The information Morgan had provided did mention that Naoki possessed Mystic Eyes, but the details were too scarce to determine the exact type. Judging from the current situation, it was clearly a Mystic Eye capable of foreseeing the future!
"Tch, in that case, precise shooting won't work."
Clicking his tongue in frustration, Kiritsugu quickly stored his sniper rifle, disassembled it, and placed it in its case. He then pulled out two handguns from another case.
Long-range sniping was no longer effective, and future vision would save his life multiple times. But if it came to close-quarters combat with a significant power gap, even with future vision, Kiritsugu didn't think he would lose to an ordinary student.
'Judging from the direction he was running earlier, he should be heading toward me, so—'
Having decided on his next move, Kiritsugu immediately grabbed his weapons and left the house.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
A street corner.
"Haaa…..Haaa…Haaa…."
Leaning heavily on a utility pole and gasping for breath, Naoki glanced at his bleeding shoulder and let out a deep sigh: "Huh~ I really haven't been exercising enough. I'm exhausted after just walking a few hundred meters... But it seems the shooting has stopped?"
It appeared his life-or-death gamble had paid off.
Kiritsugu's guess was completely wrong. Naoki didn't have future vision and didn't know where the bullet would come from. The reason he had been able to dodge the bullet earlier was because he was gambling.
Naoki didn't know where the bullet would come from, but he knew where it would go—wherever he was, Kiritsugu's bullet would only be fired with one purpose: to kill the target. So, in reality, the point where the bullet would land was predetermined.
That was all.
Therefore, he only needed to dodge when he felt he could. He didn't need to predict where the bullet would land, nor did he need to predict when it would be fired. He simply relied on his intuition and ran as fast as he could!
Fortunately, his gamble had paid off.
"Two sniper shots...HAHAHAHA, I think I've used up all my luck in just a few dozen seconds."
Dodging two bullets in a row was no longer just luck—it was a genuine gamble with his lifespan. If life could be expressed in numbers, Naoki was certain he had lost decades of his life in an instant!
But it didn't matter. After dodging the sniper shots, the rest would be easy.
Meet Kiritsugu, then stare him down with these Mystic Eyes! Unlike Servants, if it was a human soul, Naoki was confident he could completely destroy it in one or two seconds!
The moment they met would be the moment the battle between Masters would be decided!
*BANG!*
A gunshot suddenly rang out, and Naoki's thigh was hit without warning!
"AAAAAAAHHHH…."
Screaming in pain, he leaned against the wall with his uninjured left shoulder and looked down at his shot right leg. "My right arm and right leg are useless now... Speaking of snipers? Where are they this time?"
He was in trouble.
With his right leg injured, Naoki couldn't run even if he wanted to. His method of saving himself by relying on instinct to dodge bullets no longer worked. Now he was a cripple who couldn't move.
It was over!
And in the next moment, something happened that made Naoki even more desperate.
The sound of a swarm of insects reached his ears. From the alley across from him, dragging his half-dead body, Kariya emerged under the shadow of countless flying insects, his clouded eyes fixed on Naoki.
At the same time.
The sound of a pistol being loaded came from the other side. At the intersection not far away, Kiritsugu raised his gun and aimed it at Naoki.
Attacked from both sides! No, including the unknown sniper, they were actually surrounded from three directions!
'Ha Ha Ha.....'
Naoki couldn't laugh at all, and at the same time, he couldn't help but regret his carelessness... He had said he would hold out until the end, but driven by competitive spirit and pride, he had turned around and rushed back.
What had he actually done?
It was over.
Naoki's vision suddenly darkened. He lifted his head slightly and looked ahead. What appeared before him was Kariya's corpse-like face. A moment later, Kariya turned and stared at Kiritsugu.
"Eat, insects."
A short incantation left his lips, and the countless flying insects around him surged forward in an instant—heading straight for Kiritsugu!
"What the—?"
Not only Kiritsugu, but even Naoki was stunned.
Looking at the figure behind him, Naoki couldn't help but ask: "Matou Kariya, you...what the hell is this..."
"I told you... I swore..." Turning his head, Kariya gave Naoki a smile worse than crying, "You are Sakura's savior, and I... I won't attack you in this Holy Grail War... Even though I was controlled by... that Caster... and did shameful things..."
"You.....are you saying—"
Had he really regained his will on his own despite being hypnotized by Morgan?
How strong was this man's willpower?
Leaning against the wall with Naoki on one side and Kariya on the other, he said to him, "Leave the rest to me. You go first."