Sensing Ability

"Cough!" Uzumaki Eiyuling could not control herself as another mouthful of blood sprayed out. Her eyes were cold and clear, devoid of any playfulness or excitement.

Her body trembled uncontrollably, her back feeling alternately hot and cold.

Leaning against the wall, her body began to shake involuntarily. She knelt on the ground and began to retch, though only dry heaves came out, as if something slimy and foul-smelling were churning in her stomach.

If there had been a mirror, she knew she would have looked utterly wretched. She hurriedly fished another pill from her pocket.

"Cough, cough!"

She began to cough again. That sense of nausea refused to dissipate, causing her tears and snot to mingle together.

"Isn't that the thing you hate eating the most?" A cordial voice drifted over, though the words were laced with inevitable mockery.

Then, a uniquely hoarse voice added, "Well done, Eiyuling, but it is still not enough."

Eiyuling's pupils constricted. She hurriedly wiped the stains from her face and stiffly looked up at the two people walking toward her: Qingsi and Orochimaru.

Eiyuling had intended to find Qingsi, but she had never expected to run into Orochimaru. Besides, hadn't Kimimaro gone to find him?

Seeing Orochimaru now, she didn't know what to feel. It had to be at her most pathetic moment; she didn't want him to see her looking like a stray dog.

Orochimaru's snake-like eyes stared fixedly at Eiyuling. "Your perception still hasn't fully taken effect, has it? Otherwise, you wouldn't have been injured. Hehe..."

Seeing that Eiyuling was in bad shape, with cold sweat dripping from her forehead and the scent of blood heaviest around her, Qingsi realized she was completely drained from excessive blood loss.

He stepped forward silently to support her, and upon seeing the wounds on her back, a flash of surprise crossed his eyes.

What kind of weapon could have caused so many bloody holes? Eiyuling must have been pushing herself too hard again.

Qingsi sighed inwardly, using medical ninjutsu to heal the wounds on her back. The warm chakra allowed Eiyuling to relax slightly.

Finally feeling less pain, Eiyuling looked up at Orochimaru and asked, "Does Teacher have some sort of plan?"

She no longer wanted to guess Orochimaru's motives; she would just follow his expectations. He likely wouldn't want a student who didn't listen.

Orochimaru's lips curled into a smile. Eiyuling was smart, and he liked that intelligence. "You know you are of the Uzumaki Clan, and you know of the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, right?"

Eiyuling nodded, answering truthfully, "I know, but not very clearly."

"It perceives all chakra, ignoring physical objects and barriers," Orochimaru explained.

Eiyuling was startled, having vaguely felt there was more to it than that. "So, the attacks I've been able to vaguely sense... were they actually chakra?"

She hadn't anticipated Tayuya's attack at all. It was only when she dodged the first puppet that she sensed something else approaching from behind, prompting her to start forming hand seals. It had been too late, and she had been struck, but she had managed to complete the Substitution Technique in the end.

If not for that split-second of perception, she might not have even had time for the seals, and she would likely be lying there unconscious right now.

"Heh, indeed, but your current level is far from enough," Orochimaru said with a light chuckle. "Kimimaro's omnidirectional attacks are perfect for triggering your ability. It seems there has been some small success."

Eiyuling fell silent, bowing her head to ponder the day's events. Then, she looked solemnly at Orochimaru. "Teacher, can you help me fully awaken the Mind's Eye of the Kagura?"

"Of course..." Orochimaru's snake-like eyes seemed to glow as he coldly watched his prey.

Eiyuling sat blankly on the medical bed. After checking all the vitals, Qingsi turned to her. "You are still as reckless as ever. It's a good thing your constitution is special."

"But coming to me for treatment every few days—no, every few hours—is just too pathetic," Qingsi mocked her without mercy.

Eiyuling looked at Qingsi helplessly. "Sigh... what can I do? You're the only one with such excellent medical ninjutsu."

In this somewhat oppressive base, Qingsi was the one who made her feel most at ease. Her heavy mood seemed to lighten, and even her tone of voice changed when chatting with him.

"Knowing you is nothing but trouble!" Qingsi snorted coldly.

"If you say that, I'll be desperate. I don't want to die either!" Eiyuling looked at Qingsi with a pained expression. Fortunately, Orochimaru had assigned Qingsi to treat her specifically; otherwise, she would have suffered even more at this rate of injury.

Although Qingsi was calculating, their current dynamic was decent, which was one thing that gave Eiyuling peace of mind. As for whether the friendliness was merely superficial, Eiyuling didn't want to think about it.

"Take this. Once a day. Don't blame me if you die!" Qingsi handed Eiyuling a medicine bottle containing several strange red pills.

Eiyuling's brows furrowed tightly. "No way. Is this bitter? Is it hard to swallow?"

Eiyuling felt this really wasn't her fault; these things were on par with the military rations Sakura made—disgustingly bad.

"What do you think?" Qingsi retorted, chuckling as he watched her pained, conflicted face.

"Qingsi, are you doing this on purpose? I feel like these pills weren't this bad before. Now they taste more and more like eating sh*t!"

Eiyuling swallowed a pill with her eyes closed, her body trembling, which was proof enough of how terrible it tasted.

"Heh, who knows?" Qingsi said with a cold smile, looking increasingly amused by her reaction.

Ten thousand horses were galloping through Eiyuling's mind. This black-bellied man had definitely done something malicious; the fact that the medicine kept getting worse was proof!

Eiyuling glared at Qingsi indignantly. "I'm leaving. Today's training isn't over yet."

Qingsi ignored her and returned to his experiments. Eiyuling rolled her eyes, jumped off the bed, and left. In front of the computer, Qingsi stared intently at the test results.

"Uzumaki Eiyuling... what a strange recovery ability and vitality. No wonder Orochimaru wants to prepare for that experiment."

Ever since Orochimaru returned, Eiyuling's training had become even more grueling. Fortunately, her progress was good. Being able to feel herself growing stronger made that heavy feeling in her heart seem to fade quite a bit.

As long as things continued to develop this way, she would become stronger and stronger. As long as she kept learning, the number of ninjutsu she could use would increase.

Kimimaro's attacks became increasingly merciless. Eiyuling could only rely on her vague perception to dodge. Fortunately, her Wind Release had improved significantly; even if she didn't sense an attack, she could still use Wind Release to block some of them.

Today, she was summoned once again to learn new Wind Release ninjutsu. Hui had grown accustomed to Orochimaru's forced-feeding style of instruction, but looking at his dangerous expression, she felt as though she had become a lab rat.

Because these ninjutsu, when used, were all "a thousand damage to the enemy, eight hundred to oneself" affairs!

She reckoned these were likely ninjutsu Orochimaru had concocted himself, with her serving as the test subject; if not for her tenacious will to survive, she had no idea how many times she would have died already.

However, it could not be denied that these ninjutsu were truly powerful. Although her own strength was weak and she could not display much of it, she was now able to hold her own against Kimimaro for a short while.

Observing the strange hand seals for today's ninjutsu, Hui tilted her head in confusion and looked at Orochimaru, who, for once, offered an explanation: "This is a secret technique of the Demon Wind Clan. You may give it a try."

"Demon Wind?" A question mark formed in Hui's mind. It sounded so familiar—what exactly was it? She shook her head, unwilling to dwell on it, and attempted the sequence, but there was no reaction at all, deepening her confusion.

Hui turned around and said to Orochimaru, "This isn't a ninjutsu, is it!"

The next instant, her heart skipped a beat. Sensing a faint surge of chakra incoming, she reflexively leaped far away from where she had been standing.

Countless leaves flew in from nowhere, slamming into the ground with the wind. The earth sank instantly, riddled with deep lacerations; there was no doubt that had it struck her body, she would have been severely wounded again.

Hui saw a lock of her red hair had been shorn off, drifting slowly through the air as it fell. Her heart still racing with lingering fear, her face twisted in frustration—was Orochimaru trying to murder her again?

"Heh, it really is different. I didn't expect you to actually be able to manifest it, though you have no way to control the target," Orochimaru said in his languid voice.

"I almost died again!" Hui jumped up and glared at Orochimaru. Having been set up so many times, she was incredibly stifled.

"It seems it still needs some improvement." Completely ignoring her, Orochimaru spoke to himself and walked away.

Hui watched him leave in a fit of rage, yet she was helpless to do anything about it.

Situations like this were too numerous to count. No matter how much Hui resisted, she would inevitably be treated as a lab rat again next time, forced to practice his inexplicable ninjutsu.

As a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring, Hui truly had to thank her own weak chakra sensory abilities; otherwise, she couldn't imagine how miserably she might have died.