Battle Against Tayuya

After training for so long, Hui realized that Orochimaru's collection was truly vast; the number of ninjutsu scrolls kept increasing, as if they were endless.

No longer serving as a mere punching bag, Hui Youling was finally able to spar proficiently with Kimimaro.

Although Hui was completely helpless whenever Kimimaro used his Bone Bullets, his more refined techniques always caught her off guard.

Injuries were a frequent occurrence, and Qingsi's workload increased because of Hui Youling, leading him to constantly complain:

"How did you end up this weak?"

"Can you stop coming to me all the time?"

"You've learned so many Wind Style techniques, yet you can't even block his Bone Bullets?"

Furthermore, Qingsi's favorite thing to say was, "You're just a brat, why are you pushing yourself so hard?"

However, Qingsi was a true example of someone whose bark was worse than his bite; despite his constant grumbling, he was never sloppy during treatment and treated her with rare seriousness.

In his eyes, Hui seemed like nothing more than a brat—a rather "troublesome" brat at that.

Hui Youling was actually very afraid of pain, but ever since she began learning under Orochimaru, she understood that the outcome of a battle could be reversed by a moment of fear or hesitation; seizing that single second could lead to a different result.

Every time he treated her, the disdain in Qingsi's eyes was obvious, yet seeing him like this always made Hui smile involuntarily.

The green chakra was truly warm, easing the pain in her body and seemingly smoothing out the grievances in her heart. Being able to have someone heal her when she was beaten to a pulp was truly a blessing.

Yet, at some point, she began to feel that getting hurt didn't matter—after all, Qingsi would always heal her. Besides, she had no way back; staying here meant she had to exhaust every effort to strengthen herself.

Her training in Wind Style ninjutsu progressed relatively quickly. Orochimaru would watch from the sidelines, occasionally offering Hui suggestions. He would guide her on the required level of her ninjutsu and even how to expand upon them.

Among these techniques, Hui liked the Wind Blade the most. With Orochimaru's guidance, she pursued perfection even in simple Wind Blades, spending a long time training on their activation time and quantity.

However, one day Orochimaru tossed her a few scrolls and vanished, and she hadn't seen him once in the past few months.

Instead, she encountered the Sound Four: Kidomaru, Tayuya, Sakon and Ukon, and Jirobo.

"Yo, so this is the person Lord Orochimaru brought back? How pathetic!" Tayuya's brash voice rang out, filled with indescribable disdain.

She looked at Hui Youling in the arena, feeling nothing but confusion. Why would someone like this be valued by Lord Orochimaru, even receiving more training resources than them?

She hadn't expected someone deemed important enough by Orochimaru to be taught by Kimimaro to be this weak. She probably couldn't even beat her, let alone Kimimaro.

Hui barely dodged another round of Kimimaro's bone swords, clinging to a tree trunk while looking at the dense forest of bone swords on the ground, her scalp tingling.

She didn't even bother to pay attention to Tayuya's provocation. Just as Hui was waiting for an opening, Kimimaro stopped.

"Let's end it here for today." He said flatly. The bone swords on the ground gradually vanished. His tone was monotone and devoid of emotion—something Hui could never quite accept; she didn't want Kimimaro to be like an ice sculpture.

Thinking this, a sense of resentment inexplicably rose in her heart. Yes, I am too weak. I can't even catch Kimimaro's eye, so how could he ever communicate with me?

Hui turned her head to look at the person who had spoken, squinting slightly; she hadn't expected it to be Tayuya.

"It wouldn't be bad if you came to spar with me!" Hui said loudly enough for everyone present to hear.

Tayuya had originally shut her mouth after seeing Kimimaro stop, but hearing Hui's provocation, her temper flared. "Oh, you really have some nerve, you trash!"

"Tayuya, girls shouldn't use foul language." A voice drifted over as Jirobo slowly walked out. The colors in Hui's eyes shifted, and a thought began to sprout wildly in her heart.

If she could defeat the Sound Four, her strength would surely be acknowledged. However, she wasn't that impatient; the power of the Sound Four was not something she could underestimate right now, but she wanted to try.

Kimimaro looked at Hui, ignoring her self-defeating behavior. She would get beaten up by Tayuya anyway, and since his task was complete, it didn't matter to him.

He leaped lightly to Jirobo's side. Jirobo lowered his head and said respectfully, "Lord Kimimaro, Lord Orochimaru is looking for you."

Tayuya bit her lip uneasily and stepped aside. Kimimaro gave a grunt and left without looking back.

Hui clutched her forehead in annoyance; she hadn't expected Orochimaru to be back, though she did have some questions she wanted to ask him.

Hui leaped lightly, left the training ground, and landed beside Tayuya.

"How about a fight?" Hui said straightforwardly. The fire that had been extinguished in Tayuya flared up again upon seeing the smile at the corner of Hui's mouth. She roared angrily, "You're courting death!"

Hui just chuckled, her gaze shifting to the dueling arena below the observation deck. Tayuya snorted coldly, and the two leaped into the arena with tacit understanding.

Jirobo frowned, looking at the two with dissatisfaction, but he didn't say anything. Although he thought Hui was weak, he understood that Orochimaru wouldn't bring back someone useless.

However, while Kimimaro might hold back, Tayuya certainly wouldn't. He was actually curious to see how much capability this person had.

Tayuya was likely serious about teaching Hui Youling a lesson, as she didn't hesitate to use her puppets from the start, the Demonic Sound slowly beginning to play.

Hui was slightly surprised to see Tayuya without the Cursed Seal activated; it seemed Orochimaru's Cursed Seal experiments weren't successful yet, as even Kimimaro didn't have one.

This was the perfect chance to see the strength of a non-Cursed Seal Tayuya. She quickly formed hand seals, and a series of Wind Style attacks surged toward Tayuya.

Tayuya's pupils constricted as she cursed internally, "Damn it!"

She hated Wind Style the most; it blew her sound waves apart.

"Wind Style: Wind Blade!"

Hui formed seals rapidly, her footwork never stopping; she had grown accustomed to forming seals while fighting.

Tayuya's puppets chased Hui relentlessly, but the Wind Blades grazed the puppets' bodies and flew rapidly toward Tayuya. Tayuya retreated repeatedly, growing even angrier.

The distortion on her face carried a hint of killing intent, like a lion whose territory had been invaded by a cat. She desperately wanted to crush Hui Youling.

The ground was constantly scarred by the Wind Blades. Every time Tayuya raised her Demonic Flute, Hui's massive Wind Style would blow over, leaving her no chance to play.

She never imagined that Hui Youling's Wind Style would be so relentless. Although it didn't have much raw attack power, the wind mixed with gravel stung painfully when it hit her body.

Hui Youling was very fortunate that the ninjutsu Orochimaru taught her did not require overly difficult hand seals, and the practical training of her ninjutsu was also perfected with Kimimaro's help.

Tayuya dodged Hui Youling's Wind Style attacks incessantly while also controlling her puppets to strike at her.

The two were at a stalemate, and Tayuya felt as though she hadn't been able to exert even a fraction of her true power, which left her feeling incredibly furious.

Jirobo watched all of this with a calm gaze, showing not a hint of surprise as the ground was bombarded.

"Attack!" Tayuya commanded her puppets, her entire body now surging with flowing chakra.

A flicker of light flashed in Hui Youling's eyes; she hadn't expected Wind Style to be such a perfect counter to Tayuya!

"Go to hell!" Tayuya roared.

The headless puppet arrived in front of Hui Youling in an instant, its massive foot crashing down.

Having grown accustomed to Kimimaro's surprise attacks, Hui Youling retreated rapidly, but at that moment, the mace of another puppet swung toward her lower back.

The disadvantage of rarely fighting multiple opponents became apparent; Hui Youling could not dodge in time, and the puppet sent her flying to the other side as she leaped backward.

Tayuya curled her lips into a contemptuous smile as she watched Hui Youling fly past her in a sorry state and slam into the ground, drawling, "It's over, trash!"

Hui Youling spat out a mouthful of blood, but the next instant, with a poof, she transformed into a piece of wood.

"How is that possible!" Tayuya hurriedly scanned her surroundings, but a Wind Blade struck from behind her, forcing her to dodge to the side.

Yet, before she could react further, she felt the cold edge of a kunai pressed against her neck.

She heard Hui Youling's cold voice say, "You lost, cough!"

Tayuya's eyes were filled with disbelief; the person she had just wounded should be lying on the ground unable to move, so when had she gotten behind her?

As soon as she finished speaking, Hui Youling crouched down, curling her body as she began to cough violently, "Cough, cough, cough!"

Tayuya turned around in confusion to look at Hui Youling, only to see blood spreading from her back, staining the ground red.

"How could you..." Tayuya's brows furrowed tightly; if the mace had hit a substitution, she shouldn't have sustained such an injury.

Jirobo felt that was enough, so he leaped down from the viewing platform, "Tayuya, that's enough. I'll go call someone."

"Cough, cough, haha, it's fine, I'll go find Qingsi myself..." Hui Youling said slowly, her smile truly forced.

She took a pill from her pouch and swallowed it, her expression instantly contorting as if she were in even more pain than when she had been injured.

After a while, Hui Youling stood up, cast a half-smiling, half-mocking glance at Tayuya, and vanished, leaving only an afterimage before the two of them.

"Damn it!" Tayuya angrily lashed out at where Hui Youling had been, but Hui Youling was already gone, and Jirobo reached out to stop her, "In the end, she is the person Lord Orochimaru chose."

Tayuya gritted her teeth fiercely and recalled her puppets, "Jirobo, did you see how she did that?"

The question still lingered in her mind; she didn't know how Hui Youling had managed to get behind her.

"No, but I can confirm that you definitely hit her," Jirobo replied, "As for why she ended up behind you, I am not entirely sure either."

"Damn it!" Tayuya cursed in frustration, marking Hui Youling down in her heart; she would not let this girl off the hook.