The Journey

"Why are you leaving again? Hui, when will you be back? How long will you be gone?" Naruto chased after Hui, watching her pack her things, his heart already in a frantic whirl.

"Naruto, I have to leave now. You must continue your training while I'm away. I will come back, but if I catch you slacking off, I will absolutely beat you to a pulp!" Hui tucked a few notebooks into her bag, when suddenly, she spotted a scroll not far away.

She paused, picked up the scroll, and saw it was the Three Body Technique they had studied long ago. Opening it, she noticed some annotations—they looked familiar, as if she had once said them herself.

"Naruto, did you write these?" Hui turned and asked.

Naruto walked over, saw the scroll Hui had opened, and scratched his head. "I'm too slow, so I just wrote down what you said, like how you keep your notes."

Hui laughed, her eyes filled with nothing but comfort. "You're not slow, Naruto. You just haven't reached your moment yet."

"Really?" Naruto asked excitedly, then added with confusion, "But what moment am I waiting for?"

"You'll understand in the future. For now, just focus on your taijutsu, how about that?" Hui said softly. She figured it was better to leave the formal study of the chakra system for the Ninja Academy.

"Oh, right, here. A new taijutsu scroll for you." Hui pulled another roll from her bag. Naruto's eyes widened; she had already given him more than one, and he hadn't even mastered those yet. Now...

Naruto's face crumpled into a mask of misery, and he looked at Hui with a resentful expression.

"Alright, don't look so glum. Take this one to Rock Lee for now. The ones I gave you before are enough for you to study. If you manage to master those, you can ask Rock Lee for this one back, okay?" Hui suggested, not wanting to force him.

"...Okay... I understand..." Naruto reached out to take the scroll, his head hanging low, lost in his own thoughts.

Hui patted his shoulder. "I'm leaving now. I've left money for you, right next to the piggy bank. If you want to eat at Ichiraku, you can treat yourself after you finish your training, but you can't eat there every day!"

Naruto's face lit up with anticipation the moment he heard "Ichiraku," but at the final instruction, he pouted pitifully. Hui smiled, shouldered her bag, and walked toward the door.

Naruto turned to look at her but didn't go to see her off. Hui glanced back at him and chuckled. "Remember to work hard! Who knows, maybe you have a mission of your own!"

Hearing this, Naruto beamed, his face bright with excitement. "Okay!"

At the gate, Hui saw Orochimaru. Izumo and Kotetsu were still looking at him with expressions of awe. Hui truly hadn't expected this; perhaps the glory of being one of the Sannin was such a powerful halo that even their gazes toward her were filled with the respect one gives to a promising successor.

This left Hui speechless. Orochimaru, that pit, must have dug a trap for her long ago. Yet, he never forced anyone; he simply let them walk willingly into his schemes. There was only one word for such a person: "A bottomless pit!"

Kotetsu handed the travel permit to Hui with an expectant look, but Hui felt only a sense of helplessness. She had no choice but to follow Orochimaru's pace out of Konoha.

The two walked in silence for a distance before Hui finally asked, "What do you need me to do, Teacher?"

"Hui, you are of the Uzumaki Clan, aren't you?" Orochimaru's voice drifted over, calm and flat.

Hui froze, a sense of foreboding growing stronger in her heart. Just as she expected, Orochimaru continued slowly, "That way, others can absorb your chakra to recover."

"...Orochimaru-sensei, will this... kill me?" Hui knew she had no way to oppose his proposal, and in fact, one of the prerequisites for her becoming his student had been her Uzumaki heritage.

"Hehe, no. I still need you for many things." Orochimaru laughed with that same cold, chilling tone that felt inexplicably eerie.

It wasn't that Orochimaru was mocking her; his laughter was simply cold by nature.

"...Fine, I can do it. But after this experiment, I want to travel and study elsewhere." Hui didn't bother with pleasantries. It was better to state her demands now than to be sentimental and end up with nothing.

"Very well. Let's go, we need to pick up the pace." Orochimaru had no intention of forcing her; as long as Hui grew into the shape he found interesting, and as long as she stayed away from Konoha, everything remained within his calculations.

Hui pursed her lips. He had agreed so quickly. Even though she didn't know what she would face, she had no choice but to nod and quicken her pace.

Following Orochimaru into the laboratory, Hui felt her scalp tingle as she looked at the unrecognizable thing before her. She felt a wave of nausea and aversion. This was the first time Orochimaru had brought her into his lab, and she really didn't want to look. The creature, alien-like, viscous and filthy, was screaming in agony, its body covered in dense, black seals.

Even though she had guessed the scene would be repulsive, witnessing the entire process made her realize she couldn't handle it.

Hui furrowed her brows and raised a hand to shield her eyes, refusing to look at the scene any longer, her breathing slowing down significantly.

With a final, piercing scream, the person fell silent. Orochimaru removed his protective gear and looked at Hui.

Hui walked forward with a stiff body, doing her best to turn her head away. She extended her hand toward the person's mouth. The man suddenly unleashed his last bit of strength, biting down on Hui Youling's arm like a madman. A ring of teeth marks formed instantly.

Hui shuddered, the pain excruciating. The guy was trying to crush her bones. A surge of inexplicable rage rose in her heart, and her other hand moved faster than her thoughts, clamping onto the man's throat, her grip tightening unconsciously.

The man paused, suddenly unable to breathe, and his bite loosened. He gasped out, "Save... me... save me... Lord Orochimaru..."

Orochimaru watched Hui with an inscrutable expression, the corners of his mouth curling into that same eerie smile. Hui's eyes were filled with nothing but cold light, her tone dropping to freezing. "Heh. If you want to live, don't provoke me. I am not a merciful person. If you dare bite that hard again, I will kill you first!"

He looked at Hui, pleading, and nodded frantically. Hui released his throat, watching him gasp for air, her eyes narrowing.

After a moment, he looked up at Hui Youling and seemed to see eyes like a snake's. The cold, bone-chilling gaze seemed to freeze his soul, carrying the scent of death. He looked at Orochimaru in terror, his eyes widening suddenly. The gazes were too similar. Who exactly was this child?

Seeing that he still had the energy to make expressions, and knowing he had absorbed enough of her chakra from that bite to stay alive, Hui figured he wouldn't die now.

Hui gave him a cold look, turned to Orochimaru, and said, "Teacher, he's been saved. I don't want to be bitten by these pieces of trash again."

"Mm. Stand to the side and wait," Orochimaru said in his raspy, low voice.

Hui retreated to her spot, watching Orochimaru continue his experiment. She looked down at the bite marks on her hand and realized a chunk of flesh had been torn away, revealing an ugly wound beneath. A wave of disgust rose in her throat. Many emotions flickered through her eyes, but she slowly gathered a ball of green chakra in her hand, pressed it against the wound, and stared blankly as it slowly healed.

Though Orochimaru was busy with his experiment, he noticed Hui's actions. An Uzumaki, a natural healing vessel, learning medical ninjutsu... how very interesting.