First Meeting with Gaara

The following days were a repetition of this life. She killed those who bit too hard, and Orochimaru did not interfere; once one was killed, he would simply replace them with other test subjects. She had to be bitten again, and realizing she was only bringing this upon herself, she could only grit her teeth and endure the bites.

Her chakra was being drained frantically, and the tooth marks on her hands became increasingly difficult to heal. Moreover, these guys were truly like lunatics, possessing freakish strength; Eiyuling felt they didn't want to be healed, but rather wanted to devour her flesh and blood.

Drained of chakra to the point of collapse, she drifted into a hazy unconsciousness. In her dreams, she felt as if her throat had been pierced, parched to the point where she couldn't make a sound. If only there were a single drop of water!

Eiyuling felt as if her entire body had been plunged into molten lava. Instinctively, she struggled desperately, unable to shake off the nightmare.

Just then, a drop of water fell into her throat, spreading like a river overflowing across a wild meadow.

She slowly opened her eyes. The blurry shadows were indistinct, but the person looking at her was smiling coldly. Eiyuling lowered her gaze to look at the person, only then realizing it was Zhan.

She just stood there quietly, sneering, her laughter wanton and icy. Eiyuling didn't know what she was laughing at, but her heart was pierced with a sudden pain; she wanted to cry, but felt only a dry, stinging sensation in her eyes.

Eiyuling lifted her eyes to the sky and the corners of her mouth curled up, mirroring Zhan's smile—cold and chilling, yet her eyes remained flat and waveless. It was the indifference of someone who had tasted despair, the kind of apathy where nothing mattered anymore.

It seemed there was nothing left in the world worth grieving over, nor anything worth sighing about. She only needed to keep her purpose in mind, to remember her resolve, so she would not abandon the hope of the future.

When Orochimaru required her to provide treatment, she could only use medical ninjutsu to treat them with the assistance of the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, forcibly pushing her twenty-percent proficiency in medical ninjutsu up to forty percent. If they truly couldn't be saved, Eiyuling had no choice but to offer her hand for them to bite.

At such times, her expression was nothing but flat. She would stare at those test subjects with a stiff face, her tone icy as she said, "If you dare bite too hard, I will kill you."

Orochimaru would watch silently from the side, not interfering, continuing his experiments and letting Eiyuling do as she pleased. He felt that watching the show from the sidelines wasn't bad at all.

Finally, after two months of experimentation, the first case was a success. Eiyuling treated herself while being bitten, managing to avoid being covered in tooth marks. Had she not learned medical ninjutsu, she likely would have been reduced to a tooth-mark-making machine.

Watching the experiment succeed, there was not a trace of expression on Eiyuling's cold face, though she felt an inexplicable sense of relief in her heart. She turned to look at Orochimaru and asked, "Teacher Orochimaru, may I leave now?"

Orochimaru looked at her without speaking, his cold pupils fixed tightly upon her, seemingly filled with dissatisfaction and threat.

Instead, there was not a single ripple in Eiyuling's heart. Her flat gaze met Orochimaru's directly; the fear and inferiority of the past were gone, replaced by a feeling entirely different from before.

Seeing this look in Eiyuling's eyes, Orochimaru chuckled and said softly, "You may."

Eiyuling's heart skipped a beat, as if she had finally found release. She turned and left the laboratory without a shred of lingering attachment.

Behind her, Orochimaru's snake-like eyes stared intently at her departure. A chilling smile suddenly tugged at the corners of his mouth, and he extended his tongue to lick his lips, his eyes filled with pleasure and excitement.

Uzumaki Eiyuling—she was becoming more and more to his liking.

Packing her things, Eiyuling left without a moment's hesitation. Orochimaru really didn't stop her; he likely had his own matters to attend to. However, she took quite a few ninjutsu scrolls with her when she left, so she could practice on the road.

She encountered many interesting things along the way. She stumbled upon a particularly beautiful jade shop and found herself stopping without realizing it.

Looking at the round, lustrous jade, she suddenly wanted to craft a jade ornament, though unfortunately, she didn't have much money on her.

This reminded Eiyuling of the black market—the easiest place to make money, and also the hardest.

Thus, she began to quietly inquire about the location of the black market. To her surprise, the jade shop owner actually knew where the exchange was and told Eiyuling quite enthusiastically.

Eiyuling looked at the shopkeeper with an amused expression, but said nothing more.

Afterward, following the owner's directions, she truly found the black market. She took on a few simple D-rank missions, completing them quickly using the Clone Technique. Assassinations, treasure hunting—it was just a few tasks, not much different from when she was with Orochimaru.

In less than a week, she had saved up enough money to have the jade shop owner craft a jade gourd with the character "Love" carved onto it.

Eiyuling was quite happy when she received the item, and after stowing it away, she departed.

For the rest of the journey, Eiyuling didn't dare to delay. She headed straight for the Land of Wind, the villages along the way growing increasingly dilapidated.

In those impoverished villages, Eiyuling encountered theft more than once. If she had actually been robbed, she wouldn't have been much of an elite ninja.

However, the further she went, the more vicious the people became, eventually resorting to direct robbery.

Eiyuling lifted her eyes to look at the few people surrounding her, a cold sneer in her heart. A few commoners dared to approach her? They didn't even have chakra; no wonder she hadn't sensed them beforehand.

"Kid, hand over your valuables! I... cough!" The tall, burly man didn't even finish his sentence before Eiyuling kicked him flying. The others hadn't even reacted before they were kicked away one by one.

Eiyuling retracted her foot, straightened her clothes, and walked toward the burly man who had spoken first.

She stepped on the man's stomach and said flatly, "How much further is it to the Land of Wind?"

"You... you are... a ninja..." the burly man asked in terror. Looking at the frail-looking boy, he never imagined he was a ninja.

The pressure from Eiyuling's foot slowly increased, crushing his stomach. She said nothing, her cold face staring straight at the man.

His face turned purple, and he hurriedly said, "A few more kilometers!"

Eiyuling retracted her foot and lowered her head in thought. After a while, she left the area. The men watched Eiyuling's departure with pounding hearts, looking at each other with lingering fear.

"That guy's eyes... were truly terrifying..." one man stumbled up from the ground and hurriedly went to help his boss.

The tall, burly man stood up while rubbing his chest, gasping for air as he said, "Are... ninjas... all that terrifying nowadays?"

His subordinates looked at each other and lowered their heads.

On the other side, Orochimaru looked at Guren before him. "Guren, have you seen her?"

"Is Teacher referring to that Eiyuling?" Guren asked, puzzled.

"Yes."

"I saw her from a distance. Does Teacher intend to have her take charge of the matters on the island?" Guren asked, confused.

"No, now is not the time. You should also speed up the progress on your end. If you need a medical ninja, I will assign Qingsi to you."

"Fine..." Anko didn't know why she felt a sense of loss in her heart; she actually didn't want to concern herself with those matters anymore, but this was a request from her teacher.

Watching Anko leave, a cold sneer curled the corners of Orochimaru's mouth. In truth, what he had been experimenting with all along was the Cursed Seal, constantly adjusting the concentration until it was acceptable for others. Because the mortality rate was too high, he needed the Uzumaki Clan to improve the survival rate.

He had initially thought of using Kabuto, but compared to medical ninjutsu, the direct healing of the Uzumaki Clan was more effective, and Hui had always been a clever person.

Hui lingered on the outskirts of the Land of Wind for several days, unable to think of a way to enter Sunagakure.

The defenses of this ninja village were like a fortress, not something she could easily break into, and there was also a vast desert acting as a natural protective shield; many people from outside villages had gone missing in that desert.

After circling a few times, she finally heard about a merchant caravan looking for ninjas to escort goods into Sunagakure. At such times, Sunagakure would allow these people entry to conduct trade. Sunagakure was confined to the desert, making it difficult to enter or leave, and the flow of supplies relied entirely on these merchants coming in to sell their wares.

After inquiring for several days, Hui finally found a caravan willing to hire her. Of course, this only happened after she defeated the ninja the caravan had already hired. Seeing Hui, such a little bean, wanting to be a mercenary ninja, many had mocked her, but Hui naturally showed them no mercy and gave them a sound thrashing, properly demonstrating her strength.

However, the commission was truly meager. If it weren't for the sake of getting inside quickly, Hui would never have agreed to protect these burdens, though that didn't mean she wouldn't cause them some trouble along the way.

The goods these fellows were transporting were actually being targeted by others. The Land of Wind only dispatched a few ninjas to protect the official caravans; everyone else was just looking to make a profit, and Sunagakure didn't exclude them, though they had to hire their own escort ninjas.

It seemed those coming to rob them included both ordinary people and ninjas from other countries; this trade route had always been a fat piece of meat.

After dealing with a ninja who had nearly killed the captain, Hui looked at him as he scrambled away in terror and chuckled lightly, "I'll say it again: I only acted because you increased the commission. If you annoy me, I'll just walk away; the commission you paid only covers the journey to this point anyway."

"Yes... yes... I didn't expect such a young brother to be so formidable. Please, bear with us," the captain said, flattering her with the craftiness of an old fox.

Hui raised an eyebrow. She had indeed lured this ninja here on purpose, but she hadn't expected him to be so capable; many people had been caught in the crossfire, and aside from the captain's cargo, everyone else had suffered some losses.

Yet, Hui hadn't expected why a ninja of such skill would appear, and as for being able to lure him here, she didn't know that this person's target had actually been her all along.

In the end, however, they finally entered Sunagakure and began their trade. It was rare for Sunagakure to be this lively.

Having spent so much effort, she had finally arrived at Sunagakure today. Hui didn't know the approximate time of the first assassination, but the tragedy of Yashamaru should not have happened yet.

She didn't know if she could prevent it, but Hui truly wanted Gaara to know that someone cared for him.

Hui looked up at the sky; the storm had not yet arrived, and it was the perfect time to conduct business. She bid the caravan farewell and left.

She wandered around Sunagakure, as she didn't know where Gaara's home was.

There were indeed children running out to kick a ball on the street. Hui felt a bit dejected; she didn't know if she would be able to meet Gaara, but no matter what, she would absolutely not give up.

The image in her mind remained so clear: Gaara sitting all alone on a creaking swing, the squeaking sound of the chains rubbing against each other becoming the only noise in the alley.

He kept his head low, his eyes filled with loneliness, his hands tightly clutching that small teddy bear doll.

Hui remembered that swing, so before that event occurred, she had to find it; perhaps then she could encounter Gaara.

Hui didn't know if she had the luck to wait until that moment, but in her heart, she was praying that she would. Perhaps coming to Sunagakure would end in vain; only fate could link the two of them together.

She had prepared for so long, hoping only that the heavens would grant her a chance. Even if she lacked that luck, she hoped that when they met, he would not yet be the Asura who had locked away his heart.