Caged Bird, Second Stage

Somewhere in a cave in the Forest of Death

"Is this the curse mark?"

A man covered in black, with cross-shaped markings across the center of his face and wings growing from his back, stared at his hands in disbelief.

This power was simply too great!

On closer inspection, this monster was actually wearing the attire of the Uchiha Clan—Sasuke Uchiha.

Standing before him were the four teammates who had entered the Forest of Death with Gaara. However, instead of Sunagakure forehead protectors, they wore those of Otogakure.

Even more bizarrely, all four of them were kneeling neatly before Sasuke, their faces filled with utmost reverence.

"When will you take me to see Orochimaru?"

A trace of anticipation showed in Sasuke's eyes. At that moment, he desperately wanted to meet Orochimaru, one of the legendary Three Ninja.

"Lord Orochimaru instructed us to send you to the secret base immediately after Konoha's Windmill Operation is over."

A short, fat middle-aged man among the four spoke respectfully.

"The Windmill Operation?"

Sasuke murmured expressionlessly.

"Lord Sasuke, how should we deal with them?"

The fat ninja pointed at several people lying on the ground. Hyuga Hakutaku, Yamato, Sakura, Temari, and Kankuro were all sprawled on the ground, apparently unconscious.

"Leave them."

Sasuke closed his eyes and continued adapting to the curse mark state.

Pfft, pfft, pfft.

Hyuga Yumi spat out three mouthfuls of blood in succession and collapsed headfirst onto Xiao Yun.

"Yumi!"

Xiao Yun was stunned. He truly hadn't expected this girl to risk her life to protect him.

Damn it, being too outstanding as a man really is troublesome!

"Yumi!"

Neji let out a startled cry and stopped, staring blankly at the woman before him.

"Neji, don't force me!"

Yumi wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and struggled to her feet. There wasn't the slightest trace of panic on her face.

"Is that so? I think I should be the one saying that."

Disdain appeared on Neji Hyuga's face.

"Neji, I'll ask you one last time. Are you really refusing to spare Xiao Yun?"

Yumi asked.

"Impossible."

Neji Hyuga answered resolutely.

"Then you can't blame me! Ninja Art—Caged Bird!"

Yumi's gaze suddenly sharpened as she formed hand seals.

"Ah!"

Neji Hyuga suddenly clutched his head and fell painfully to his knees. Beads of sweat instantly covered his forehead.

"Impossible! I clearly already removed the Caged Bird Seal!"

Neji Hyuga said, trembling.

"Neji, I'm sorry. You were exceptionally talented from childhood, so the Caged Bird Seal placed on you had two stages. You only removed the first."

A trace of apology flashed across Yumi's beautiful face.

"You bitch!"

Neji Hyuga tried to rise and fight for his life, but the increasingly intense agony left him unable to get up. Before long, he was rolling around on the ground in pain.

In less than a minute, Neji Hyuga had passed out.

"Yumi, is he dead?"

Xiao Yun looked at Yumi in confusion.

Yumi fell silent. Tears glimmered in her bright eyes as she looked sorrowfully at the motionless Neji on the ground and murmured, "Brother Neji, I'm sorry!"

Xiao Yun felt dejected. Although Neji had colluded with the Sand Shinobi and tried to kill him, for some reason, he simply couldn't bring himself to hate Neji.

If it had been him, he probably would have fought desperately too. His first love had been taken away, and his mother had even been ordered to bear the child of his enemy. No man could endure that.

But what the hell does any of this have to do with me, Xiao Yun? I was forced into it too.

Damn it, this transmigration has turned everything into a complete mess!

"Yumi, are you all right?"

Xiao Yun's gaze toward Yumi was filled with concern.

"I'm fine."

Yumi replied calmly.

Xiao Yun was overwhelmed with emotion. To save him, this woman before him had not only killed Neji, whom she had grown up with, but had even sacrificed her own reputation.

Sigh!

This is bad. How am I supposed to explain this to Tsunade?

Xiao Yun gave a bitter laugh.

"Xiao Yun, I know you're in a difficult position, but don't worry. Once we leave the Forest of Death, I'll explain it to Lady Tsunade."

Yumi gave a bleak smile.

"I... sigh, forget it. We'll talk after we get out. Focus on recovering first."

Xiao Yun let out a long sigh, feeling even more guilty. He finally understood what it meant to be unable to bear a beauty's favor.

At dawn

Xiao Yun had already recovered completely. This was all thanks to his Wood Release talent; his body already possessed extraordinary recovery abilities.

Especially after opening the Second Gate of the Eight Inner Gates, Earth Rejuvenation's healing effect became even more powerful. Thus, after only a few hours, Xiao Yun was already full of vigor again.

Next, Xiao Yun cast healing techniques on his teammates one by one. Before long, although they still could not move normally, some color had returned to their faces.

Xiao Yun did not even give up on Neji Hyuga. After several uses of Earth Rejuvenation, Neji Hyuga still had not awakened, but his breathing had become steady.

However, to Xiao Yun's surprise, Naruto seemed a little off after waking up. He looked somewhat abnormal.

"Uncle, I'll sing you a song. I've been thinking about the lyrics for a long time."

After saying that, he forcibly dragged Xiao Yun and Yumi together and sat them down. Then he cleared his throat. "There are two cows on the hill across from us. The cow said to the bull, I love you."

"The bull asked the cow, aren't you ashamed? The cow said, not ashamed, not ashamed, I love you."

"How was it? Uncle, Auntie, did I sing well?"

Everyone shuddered. What was wrong with this guy?

Seeing this, Xiao Yun could not help feeling deeply guilty. It looks like the Master-Servant Symbiotic Life-Generating Technique really can't be used anymore. If I use it a few more times, the future Seventh Hokage might end up in Konoha's mental asylum.

"Xiao Yun, what do we do next? And what about Gaara? How should we deal with him?"

Yumi asked.

"What do you think, Shikamaru?"

Xiao Yun turned to Shikamaru.

After pondering for a long while, Shikamaru said, "By this time tomorrow, we'll be able to leave the Forest of Death. The most important thing now is to find Sasuke's group and confirm their situation. If I'm not mistaken, they should have been trapped by other Sand Shinobi."

"As for Gaara, his identity is very special. My suggestion is to spare his life for now. After all, our every move is being watched. He has already lost his ability to fight, and killing him rashly might cause discord between Konoha and Sunagakure."

"That's right! Leave Gaara here and let fate decide his survival."

Xiao Yun nodded, fully agreeing.

Their most urgent task was to find Sasuke and the others.

Just then, several figures approached from the distance. Upon closer inspection, they were the three people from Sasuke's team. They limped toward Xiao Yun, but Sasuke himself was nowhere to be seen...