"Tap... tap..."
Feeling the vibrations traveling through her bamboo cane and sensing the flat ground reflected back to her, the girl stared ahead and walked forward step by step. Her steps were somewhat cautious, somewhat unsteady, as she slowly made her way onward.
Three more months. Only three months left...
She walked silently, her brows slightly furrowed. Within her pale, somewhat dazed or hollow Byakugan was a trace of stubbornness.
In her heart, she silently counted the days.
At the same time, following the thought in her heart, she could not help touching the basket hooked over her right arm and pursing her lips.
He hadn't been eating properly these past few days. Today, I have to watch him finish it.
Feeling the basket beneath her hand and the warmth rising from it, the stubbornness in the girl's eyes grew stronger.
Now, I'm the only one left. No matter how great the difficulties ahead are, I can't lose heart!
In the end, her thoughts settled upon that resolve.
"Smack!"
However, at that moment, a crisp impact suddenly burst against her temple. Her face jerked sharply to the left, and a streak of blood immediately flowed from her right forehead.
"Tap... tap... tap-tap-tap..."
At the same time, a sharp pebble dropped beside her feet, bouncing away until it rolled to the roadside.
"Traitor!"
A boy's voice came from her right, his words filled with resentment and disgust.
Yet the girl seemed either accustomed to it or simply unconcerned. After being struck by the pebble, she paused slightly, then moved her bamboo cane again. Once she judged from its feedback that there were no obstacles ahead, she stared forward with her pale eyes and took a step.
"Thud!"
But at that instant, a foot suddenly shot out diagonally from the left and