Travels

"Phew..."

Hui stood on a tree branch, panting hard as she looked at the craters below. Cold sweat trickled down her back. She hadn't expected to dodge so many attacks, but those bone bullets were unbelievably fast. Even Wind Release couldn't stop them.

Kimimaro lifted his gaze toward Hui Youling on the branch and narrowed his eyes slightly. Wind Release Ninjutsu had indeed helped make up for Hui Youling's weakness in close combat, but there was no point in constantly dodging to cover for her shortcomings.

"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Clematis!"

Hui could only faintly sense Kimimaro gathering a large amount of chakra. Her hands reacted before she could think. In the blink of an eye, Kimimaro, who had been ten meters away, was behind her.

Hui Youling's eyes widened in terror, but her Hand Seals didn't stop. This was the first time she had seen Kimimaro use an attack like this. Her heart seemed to leap into her throat. Holding his bone blade, Kimimaro was like the Grim Reaper, casually reaping lives.

Kimimaro's bone blade thrust toward Hui Youling. She hurriedly dodged, but even though she could barely sense it coming, the blade still sliced across her face. The next attack came just as quickly. At last, she finished her Hand Seals. She could only take a gamble. "Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!"

Kimimaro saw Hui Youling's cheeks suddenly puff up and realized this attack was different. But Hui Youling was fast. A massive Wind Release projectile blasted toward him, and the powerful gust sent him flying.

"Boom!"

The ground shook under the tremendous impact, and trees toppled one after another. Hui watched the dust billow in the distance. The jutsu had packed quite a punch, and she felt slightly relieved.

She didn't have much chakra left. At least this final attack had caught him off guard, and it was powerful, too. She could only hope it had some effect.

Hui hadn't had long to celebrate before Kimimaro emerged through the smoke. His body was now protected by bone blades, and the spike in his palm thrust mercilessly toward her.

He was so fast that all she could see was a blur. Then, in the next instant, a sharp bone spike was right before Hui Youling's eyes.

Hui's legs gave way, and she collapsed to the ground. By instinct, she raised her hand to shield herself and shut her eyes, bracing for the blow.

She waited a long time but felt no pain at all. Confusion and surprise flickered through Hui's mind.

When she opened her eyes, the bone spike had stopped a centimeter from her wrist.

Hui Youling stared at Kimimaro in surprise. She had thought he would hurt her as mercilessly as usual, but today he had stopped.

Kimimaro glanced at Hui, withdrew the bones from his body, then turned and left without a word.

"Kimimaro..." She truly hadn't expected him to stop this time.

It took Hui a long while to come back to herself. She realized she was still sitting there in a daze. She struggled to her feet, only to find she had no strength left. Damn Orochimaru and his deadly jutsu!

Her shoulder hurt terribly, too. She reached up to touch it, only to find her hand covered in blood. She looked down in shock and realized her shoulder had been pierced. Only now did the pain really hit her.

When had Kimimaro stabbed her shoulder? Was it during that upward thrust? He had been so fast. When would she ever reach that level?

"The power is impressive, but it puts a heavy burden on the user," Orochimaru said in his hoarse voice.

Hui turned her head. Before long, Qingsi came to her side and treated the wound on her shoulder, his dark eyes unreadable.

"Teacher, do you have any other jutsu? This one can't break through Kimimaro's defenses at all," Hui complained, still desperately pressing down on her pierced shoulder.

Battles depended on the circumstances and tested a person's strength and ability to adapt. But she really had tried Orochimaru's new jutsu, and the result had been disastrous. If Kimimaro hadn't held back, she would have been much more badly hurt today.

And she still couldn't be sure she could defeat her opponent. Just one jutsu had left her completely defenseless.

"Hui, your experiment went well. From what I saw today, your ability to sense chakra has improved, too. Otherwise, you wouldn't have made Kimimaro go on the defensive. Heh." Orochimaru's voice was low as he glanced at Hui.

She's growing pretty quickly, but she still has a long way to go.

"It feels like something's missing," Hui murmured, carefully recalling how it had felt.

"Come see me tomorrow. We'll try some other jutsu," Orochimaru said, then turned and left.

Hui frowned unconsciously and lowered her head in thought.

If she could truly awaken the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, she wouldn't be in such a sorry state now. But how could she awaken the Mind's Eye of the Kagura? Orochimaru had never mentioned training for it.

"Ah!!!"

Hui suddenly let out a bloodcurdling wail and glared at Qingsi. "Qingsi, you're doing this on purpose! The pills you make for me keep getting harder to swallow, and every time you treat me, you deliberately make it hurt like hell!!!"

Qingsi pushed up his nonexistent glasses, looking inscrutable. "Oh, is that so? Then I won't treat you anymore." As he spoke, he pulled his hands away and started to leave.

Hui's mouth twitched. "Oh, I didn't say anything. That wasn't me just now. I really need your treatment, Big Brother Qingsi." Hui looked at Qingsi with an utterly sincere expression, while screaming inwardly.

Qingsi snorted and continued treating her. Hui pressed her lips together in anguish, feeling that life was full of surprises. Who the hell was this sadist?!

He wasn't the Qingsi she knew anymore.

To keep from getting bullied again, maybe she should learn Medical Ninjutsu herself. She wondered if she had any talent for it.

But if Qingsi kept messing with her like this, she'd either be killed by Orochimaru or poisoned to death by Qingsi. The thought only strengthened her resolve to learn Medical Ninjutsu.

The next day, Hui went to the training ground to find Orochimaru as he had instructed. There were no bizarre jutsu like she had expected. Instead, Orochimaru taught her some of the techniques he had developed himself. Watching him soften and turn into a snake, Hui could barely stand to look.

Still, she obediently followed Orochimaru's instruction. Fortunately, she wasn't afraid of snakes; otherwise, things might have gotten out of hand.

And so her sparring sessions with Kimimaro came to a halt. Hui spent all her time learning new jutsu, honing them, then refining them further.

But she didn't stay there long. Orochimaru soon took her wandering from place to place, traveling between the various shinobi villages.

Orochimaru went about his own business along the way. Sometimes he gave Hui a scroll and told her to train on her own, then disappeared for a long time. Every so often, he'd send someone to tell her to bring someone back.

She became like a hunter, capturing one person and escorting another. Orochimaru always needed plenty of "test subjects."

At first, they were ordinary people. Eventually, they were shinobi. Hui was like a hunter in the night, taking away every target Orochimaru had set his sights on. She had never imagined she could go this far.

She followed Orochimaru's orders without question, becoming just like the people she had wanted to change. She kept taking others away, and her targets grew stronger and stronger.

It was no longer "play fighting" with Kimimaro. These were real battles for life and death. Death had brushed past her several times, and Hui could feel a thread inside her slowly fraying.

Maybe she was afraid. Maybe she yearned for power. Either way, Hui didn't retreat.

As she watched those people get sent into the laboratory one by one, Hui silently turned and left. She didn't need to see it to know that was where they were altered.

Those who came out alive were all much stronger. More than once, Hui saw them use that power to take revenge on others.

But Orochimaru also destroyed many failures. They died right before her eyes, begging her to save them.

They traveled through many countries. There were countless poor regions and plenty of places in chaos, where human lives were cheap. She couldn't even protect herself, so how could she possibly protect others?

Hui could only train desperately, because Orochimaru's targets were increasingly beyond her abilities. Every battle was a fight to the death, and she had even grown used to striking first with a sneak attack.

One night, while walking alone through the night market, Hui spotted a mask shop. On an impulse she couldn't explain, she bought two silly-looking masks.

When she put on a mask, it felt as though she had hidden something—or protected some belief within her. Hui felt the corners of her eyes grow damp.

But she could hardly remember what she believed in. She only knew that she didn't want anyone to know it was her. She didn't want anyone to know she had done these things.

Wearing that silly mask, she roamed through the night, relying on her meager strength to shake the mighty beast. She hadn't become much tougher, but she cared more and more about jutsu that could help her escape.

The Wind Release jutsu that should have been the most destructive became escape techniques in her hands, along with her partially awakened Mind's Eye of the Kagura.

But she had to complete her mission. No matter how many times she fled, she still had to bring that person back. She racked her brains and used every means at her disposal to achieve her goal.

She didn't know what would happen if she disobeyed Orochimaru's orders. She only knew that the thought alone made fear rise from deep within her.