Caught in the Net

However, in the face of true strength, rushing forward time and again only served to leave this body more broken; beliefs and the like were nothing but laughable.

Hui Youling collapsed in a wretched heap not far from Orochimaru, unable to even open her eyelids. She could well imagine her pathetic state—likely no better than a stray dog.

Her body ached intensely, and countless "whys" circled in her heart, threatening to drag her down into a graveyard of bones.

It seemed there was only one voice echoing in her mind.

I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die!

Orochimaru watched the person who had been beaten into such a miserable state, observing the fear and unwillingness in her eyes growing increasingly tangible. He felt an inexplicable excitement, as if he were watching Hui Youling being devoured bit by bit, pulled into his fold without her even realizing it.

He would seize the power of the Uzumaki Clan without hesitation and put it to good use. Thinking this, he extended his long tongue to lick his lips.

"Interesting," he thought.

Hui Youling struggled to rise, only to find her body trembling uncontrollably. Even the skin on her face seemed to twitch, and her muscles spasmed incessantly. She collapsed back down, losing all command over her own limbs.

So unwilling, so painful, so terrifying, I want to cry—but what good would that do?

If she backed down now, she would only die—swallowed into a serpent's belly, slowly dissolved by digestive fluids, and finally suffocated. She didn't want to die. Would someone please save her?

But coming here and becoming his student was entirely her own choice. No one could save her; no one could help her.

A single thought echoed in her mind: If only I were stronger! I don't want to die here!

Orochimaru stood in the distance, watching silently, the smile at the corners of his mouth no longer hidden. Hui Youling turned her head, glaring at Orochimaru with resentment.

She had never felt such hatred before; the loathing in her eyes seemed as if it could tear a person to pieces. Yet, she was deeply confused—why, why was she like this?

It wasn't until she spoke the words that she understood she had fallen: "I want to become stronger! Even if I have to accept other powers, it doesn't matter!"

When had she adopted such extreme thoughts? She had clearly decided from the very beginning not to follow in Sasuke's footsteps.

Yet, countless reasons in her heart told her that she had no chance of breaking out of her cocoon to become a butterfly. Without the power of the Uchiha Clan, she would only ever be a pawn for Orochimaru—a hopeless, irredeemable pawn.

Orochimaru's smile blossomed. "Hahaha, very well."

Hui Youling's eyelids fluttered, her lips turned pale, and her eyes felt painfully dry. It wasn't just grievance or despair, but confusion and degradation; she no longer understood what she was doing.

It seemed that from this moment on, she had abandoned her past self. She couldn't distinguish between her unwillingness and her fear, for she could no longer see any hope and only wanted to cling tightly to the faint glimmer of light in her hands.

Hui Youling had expected to be branded with a Cursed Seal, but Orochimaru brought her to meet someone familiar from her memories instead: Kimimaro. Everything felt like a cruel joke.

Upon seeing Kimimaro, for reasons unknown, her devoured sense of reason suddenly returned. Her eyes held nothing but shock and an indescribable, aching heartache.

Yet, Kimimaro didn't even recognize her. It was as if everything had been her own wishful thinking. They were all pursuing the meaning of their own lives; what standing did she have to feel pity for them?

But oh, why did she feel so unwilling? She had thought she could change others, yet she was the one who had changed. The current her was pathetic and cowardly, paranoid and timid.

She looked at Kimimaro, but in his eyes, there was not a trace of confusion or pain. The one who was truly lost and suffering was she, the fool who had deluded herself into thinking she could save others.

"Heh." That was the only thought left in Hui Youling's heart.

Too stupid, too stupid, too stupid. No matter how many times she experienced it, how could she have forgotten that human hearts change because of power? Perhaps only by truly speaking to him as an equal and truly understanding him could anything ever change.

Orochimaru's voice remained raspy as he said, "Hui Youling, from now on, Kimimaro will be in charge of your training."

Hui Youling turned her head to look at Orochimaru, whose eyes remained filled with mystery. She had already given up on trying to fathom his intentions, and a strange smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. Kimimaro—the strongest of the Kaguya Clan, a force of absolute terror—she looked forward to his guidance!

Kimimaro's face remained expressionless. Only after hearing Orochimaru's order did he glance at Hui Youling. "Understood!" he replied in his usual formal tone.

Hui Youling noticed the disdain and coldness in his eyes, and her heart trembled violently. Feeling as though she had lost her soul, she followed Kimimaro away in a daze.

Walking behind him, the cold aura surrounding him seemed ready to swallow her whole. Only now did she feel a flicker of doubt: why had Orochimaru suddenly brought her to Kimimaro? These people were the Sound Ninja from the Chunin Exams—why?

Hui Youling looked back at Orochimaru in the distance, only to see him turn and walk away. It was strange; she felt as if she had forgotten something...

Hui Youling's training became different. Kimimaro taught her ninjutsu and combat techniques with great seriousness. The sensation of fighting against a Kekkei Genkai was truly unique; these techniques were etched into their very bones, natural and fluid.

Whatever attacks the enemy used, his body and mind reacted instantly, neutralizing the strike while simultaneously launching a counterattack.

While he attacked her, he would remind her how to respond, yet even so, she felt like a complete novice.

She was constantly suppressed with no way out, though Kimimaro always managed to control the timing so as not to inflict a fatal wound.

Kimimaro retracted his bone spikes, looking at Hui Youling with neither joy nor sorrow. In his eyes, this person was merely one of Lord Orochimaru's test subjects—a slightly more important one.

Hui Youling dared not meet his gaze, yet her heart sank inch by inch. She had seen her own strength clearly and recognized her own weakness, yet the unwillingness in her heart refused to fade.

Her hands trembled as she clenched them. Her mind was filled with Orochimaru's dangerous, serpentine eyes. She could not stop here; to stop was to die, to stop was to end up like Karin.

Hui Youling raised her eyes to look at Kimimaro and said earnestly, "I'm sorry, could you please teach me again?"

Kimimaro glanced at her coldly and extended his bone spikes once more. Hui Youling gritted her teeth and performed the hand seals rapidly, though she no longer dared to look into those eyes.

Over the next few weeks, although she remained like a punching bag, Hui Youling truly felt her own progress. She began to understand that this kind of combat would change her from the inside out.

It seemed as if only Kimimaro's words remained in her mind—how to fight, how to attack. Her brain constantly rehearsed those scenarios, and her application of the Three Body Technique finally stopped being so rigid.

However, she didn't notice that from that day on, every time they fought, her eyes held nothing but Kimimaro's movements. Once the battle ended, she would drift off, her gaze unfocused and distant.

One day, Orochimaru came to watch from the sidelines, as if observing an interesting play.

When Hui Youling was pierced by Kimimaro's bone spike yet again, Orochimaru called for them to stop. "That's enough."

Upon hearing Orochimaru's voice, Hui Youling's body trembled for a fleeting moment, though she herself did not realize it. She looked up at Orochimaru, her unfocused eyes filled with nothing but indifference.

Orochimaru chuckled softly and walked slowly toward Hui Youling, while Kimimaro maintained his expression of neither joy nor sorrow, retracting the bone spikes from his body.

Orochimaru looked toward Hui, his signature raspy voice cutting through the air, "It is time to learn ninjutsu, Hui Youling."

Hui's hazy eyes flickered for a moment, and a faint smile bloomed at the corners of her mouth. Yet, inside, her heart was cheering as if her efforts had finally been rewarded; the light in her palms would no longer be limited to mere fireflies.

Orochimaru kept his gaze fixed on Hui Youling, a soft chuckle echoing in his mind, Hehehe... Hui Youling...

Hui followed Orochimaru to a larger outdoor training ground and took the piece of chakra paper he handed her to test her chakra nature.

Looking at the paper in her hand, she should have been filled with anticipation, even hope, to finally know her affinity and understand the future path of her development.

Instead, she felt only indifference.

The chakra paper split apart. Orochimaru's cold eyes narrowed slightly, and the smile on his lips gradually widened, "Wind, of all things. How interesting."

Hui's eyes drifted to the paper in her hand, appearing lost in a trance, before she suddenly loosened her grip.

The torn halves of the chakra paper fell, only to be caught by a gust of wind, fluttering upward and drifting slowly away from her sight, as free as the wind itself.

Her gaze followed the two fluttering scraps as her pupils slowly refocused. For some reason, a thought surfaced: the wind's attacks are the sharpest, and its destructive power is the greatest.

She spoke the words without a second thought, and upon hearing them, Orochimaru began to laugh, his inner excitement growing ever greater.

"I hope the ninjutsu you teach me can destroy the heavens and extinguish the earth," she said.