Traveling Scholar

"Hoo..."

Hui stood panting on a tree trunk, staring at the craters on the ground below. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead; she hadn't expected to dodge so many, but the speed of those bone bullets was truly terrifying—even her Wind Release couldn't block them.

Kimimaro lifted his gaze to look at Hui Youling on the tree trunk, his eyes narrowing slightly. Wind Release ninjutsu did indeed mitigate the disadvantage of her lacking close-combat ability, but blindly dodging was meaningless if she couldn't overcome her own shortcomings.

"Shikotsumyaku? Dance of the Clematis!"

Hui could only vaguely sense Kimimaro mobilizing a massive amount of chakra. Her hands moved faster than her brain could react, but in the blink of an eye, Kimimaro, who had been ten meters away, was already behind her.

Hui Youling's eyes widened in terror, yet her hands did not stop weaving seals. It was her first time seeing this attack from Kimimaro, and her heart felt as if it had risen to her throat. Kimimaro, gripping his bone blade, was like a grim reaper, effortlessly reaping the lives of others.

Kimimaro's bone blade thrust toward Hui Youling. She dodged in a panic, but even though she could barely perceive the movement, the blade still sliced across her face. Before she could recover, the next strike followed rapidly. Finally, she completed her seals; she had no choice but to gamble. "Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!"

Kimimaro watched as Hui Youling's cheeks puffed out, realizing this attack was different. However, Hui Youling was fast, and the massive cannonball of wind blasted toward him, the sheer force of the gale pushing him backward.

"BOOM!"

The ground shook from the immense impact, and trees toppled over in rows. Hui looked at the swirling dust in the distance; the power of the ninjutsu was not insignificant, and she felt a slight sense of relief.

She didn't have much chakra left, but this final strike had at least been unexpected and carried decent power. She only hoped it would have some effect.

Before Hui could celebrate for long, she didn't expect Kimimaro to burst through the smoke. He was now fully armored in bone blades, the bone spurs on his palms thrusting toward her without mercy.

His speed was so great that she could only see afterimages, and in the next instant, that razor-sharp bone spur was right before Hui Youling's eyes.

Hui's legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground. Habitually, she raised her hands to block, closing her eyes to endure the blow.

She waited for a long time, but felt no pain. A flash of doubt and surprise crossed her mind.

When she opened her eyes, she saw the bone spur hovering just one centimeter from her wrist.

Hui Youling looked at Kimimaro in astonishment, expecting him to wound her without mercy as he always did, yet today, he had stopped.

Kimimaro glanced at Hui indifferently, retracted the bone spurs on his body, turned around, and left without a word.

"Kimimaro..." She truly hadn't expected him to hold back like this today.

It took a long time for Hui to snap out of it. She realized she was still sitting blankly on the ground and struggled to stand, only to find she had no strength left. That damn ninjutsu of Orochimaru's was truly lethal!

Her shoulder was also aching intensely. She reached up to touch it and found her hand covered in blood. Looking down in shock, she realized her shoulder had been pierced through; only now did the true pain register.

When had she been stabbed by Kimimaro? Was it during that high-speed piercing attack? His speed was just too fast—when would she ever reach that level of strength?

"The power is decent, but it places a heavy burden on the user," Orochimaru's raspy voice drifted over.

Hui turned her head to look. Before long, Qingsi arrived at her side to treat the wound on her shoulder, his dark eyes unreadable as he pondered something.

"Teacher, are there any other ninjutsu? This one completely fails to break through Kimimaro's defense," Hui complained, her hand still desperately pressing against her pierced shoulder.

Although sparring was meant to test one's strength and adaptability, she had indeed tried Orochimaru's new ninjutsu, and the result had been a tragedy. If Kimimaro hadn't held back, her injuries would have been far worse.

Furthermore, she couldn't even confirm if she could defeat her opponent, having rendered herself defenseless after just one technique.

"Hui, your experiment was good. Looking at today, your ability to sense chakra has also improved; otherwise, you wouldn't have forced Kimimaro to defend. Heh heh," Orochimaru said in a low voice, casting a glance at her.

Didn't expect her to grow so quickly, though it is still far from enough.

"I just feel like something is missing," Hui said silently, carefully recalling the sensation from that moment.

"Tomorrow, come find me. We shall try other ninjutsu," Orochimaru said before turning and leaving.

Hui frowned involuntarily, lowering her head into deep thought.

If she could truly awaken the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, she wouldn't be in such a pathetic state right now. But how exactly was one supposed to awaken it? Orochimaru had never brought up training in that area.

"AH!!!"

Hui suddenly let out a blood-curdling shriek, glaring at Qingsi as she yelled, "Qingsi, you're definitely doing this on purpose! It's one thing that the pills you make for me taste worse and worse, but you intentionally cause me excruciating pain every time you treat me!!!"

Qingsi adjusted his non-existent glasses, his expression inscrutable. "Oh, is that so? Then I shall stop treating you." As he spoke, he withdrew his hands, preparing to leave.

Hui's mouth twitched. "Ah, I didn't say anything! That wasn't me just now. I really need Brother Qingsi's treatment." Hui looked at Qingsi with an expression of utmost sincerity, while internally, she was screaming.

Qingsi snorted coldly and continued the treatment. Hui bit her lip in agony, feeling that life was full of "surprises." Who even was this black-bellied man?!

He was no longer the Qingsi she knew.

To avoid being bullied further, perhaps she should learn medical ninjutsu herself. She wondered if she had any talent for it.

But if she kept being toyed with by Qingsi, she would either be killed by Orochimaru or poisoned by Qingsi. With that thought, her resolve to learn medical ninjutsu grew even firmer.

The next day, Hui followed Orochimaru's instructions and went to the training ground to find him. Instead of the perverted ninjutsu she had expected, Orochimaru taught her some of his own original techniques. Watching him soften and transform into a snake, Hui found it hard to look at.

However, she only dared to follow Orochimaru's teachings obediently. Fortunately, she wasn't afraid of snakes, or else it might have led to an unmanageable scene.

And so, the sparring with Kimimaro came to a halt as Hui focused on learning new ninjutsu, refining them, and then perfecting them.

But they didn't stay in that place for long. Orochimaru began to wander, taking her with him as they traveled between various ninja villages.

Orochimaru spent the journey handling his own affairs, sometimes handing Hui a scroll to practice on her own before disappearing for long periods. Occasionally, he would have someone pass on a message, telling her to go and bring someone back.

She had become something of a hunter; she was either capturing this person or escorting that one. Orochimaru always needed many "test subjects."

It started with ordinary people and eventually progressed to ninjas. Hui was like a hunter in the night, bringing back the targets Orochimaru had set his sights on one by one. She had never imagined she could reach this point.

Executing Orochimaru's orders absolutely, she seemed to have become the very type of person she had once wanted to change. She kept plundering, while her opponents grew increasingly powerful.

It was no longer the "sparring" she had done with Kimimaro, but real, life-or-death combat. Having brushed past death several times, Hui felt a string inside her heart slowly beginning to snap.

Perhaps out of fear, or perhaps out of a yearning for power, Hui did not retreat.

Watching these people being sent into the laboratory one by one, Hui turned and left in silence; even without looking, she knew that place was the modification chamber.

Those who managed to emerge became incredibly strong, and more than once, Hui witnessed them using this power to exact revenge on others.

However, there were also many defective products destroyed by Orochimaru, dying right before her eyes while begging her to save them.

Having traveled through various nations, she had seen too many impoverished places and chaotic lands where human life had become cheap; she could not even protect herself, so how could she possibly protect anyone else?

Hui could only strive desperately to improve her cultivation, as Orochimaru's objectives increasingly surpassed her strength. Combat was a matter of life and death, and she had even grown accustomed to using sneak attacks to strike first.

While walking alone through a night market one time, Hui spotted a mask shop. Driven by some unknown emotion, she bought two masks that looked rather silly.

When she put on the mask, it felt as if something had been hidden, or perhaps some belief in her heart had been shielded; Hui felt the corners of her eyes grow damp.

Yet, she struggled to recall what her belief actually was, possessing only a single thought: she did not want others to know that this person was her, nor did she want them to know she had done these things.

Wearing that silly mask, she wandered through the dark of night, relying on her meager strength to shake a behemoth. Her backbone did not grow much stronger, but she became increasingly obsessed with ninjutsu that could save her life.

The Wind Style ninjutsu, which should have been the most destructive, was cultivated by her into a means of escape, including her semi-awakened Mind's Eye of the Kagura.

But the objective had to be completed; no matter how many times she fled, she still had to take that person away, racking her brains and utilizing every possible means to achieve that goal.

She did not know the consequences of defying Orochimaru's orders, but the mere thought of it caused a terror to bloom from the deepest depths of her heart.