Rasa

Hui looked from behind Gaara and was surprised to see the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, who was Gaara's father, along with his guards. She sighed inwardly; in truth, Gaara probably still harbored fantasies about this man he called "father."

"It's fine, Gaara. The Fourth Kazekage has no hostility toward me," Hui said with a light chuckle. Gaara furrowed his brows as he looked at her, the sorrow in his eyes seemingly yet to dissipate.

However, the Fourth's gaze toward Hui shifted from cold indifference to scrutiny. He looked at Gaara and sneered internally, Using a Transformation Technique, how ridiculous. But I have no patience left to deal with him.

"Hui Youling?" His gaze landed on Hui this time. Hui did not evade him; she stepped out from behind Gaara and bowed respectfully. "Lord Fourth Kazekage."

The Fourth looked at the poised child before him, and considering her audacity in approaching Gaara, he did not find it particularly strange.

Nevertheless, he still had to prevent Hui Youling from being a spy sent by another nation. Although Gaara had already become a threat to the village, that did not mean he intended to let anyone else benefit from him.

Seeing that the Fourth remained silent, Hui Youling did not panic; she simply stood there respectfully with her head bowed. They were in the marketplace, and she had no idea why Rasa would stop them here.

This was hardly a suitable place to start a fight. If he had rushed over to intercept her, it was likely because they had been too conspicuous while playing, especially since she had brought Gaara here. Still, Hui Youling did not regret her actions.

The Fourth glanced around, noting that the gazes of others were focused on them. He did not want to cause a scene, so he had no intention of acting here. He looked at Hui Youling and commanded coldly, "Hui Youling, come to my office. I have some questions for you."

Hui turned her head to look at Gaara and realized he was still staring at Rasa, his eyes filled with an inseparable sense of loss and sorrow. Hui felt a pang of heartache, but she could only smile at him and say, "I'll come find you later. Make sure you keep the Cactus safe!"

Gaara shifted his gaze back to Hui. Seeing her gentle smile, his brows knit together slightly, but he eventually nodded. Hui winked playfully, and Gaara forced a stiff smile.

The Fourth took it all in, his eyes filled with mockery as he said coldly, "Let's go!"

As Hui turned to look at Rasa, Zhan suddenly spoke up. "Hehe, Hui Youling, it seems you've become too arrogant."

"Do you really think Sunagakure is Konoha? Gaara isn't someone someone like you can just get close to."

Hui's eyes were calm and ripple-free, but when she looked up again, she found herself inside her Inner World. She saw Zhan standing not far away, smiling at her. Beneath her feet was a pitch-black expanse of water, where dense clusters of small snakes seemed to be swimming, coiling and rolling over one another.

Hui looked down at her feet and realized she was standing on clear water, yet beneath the surface lay piles of bleached bones. Because the water was so clear, the bone patterns were visible.

Hui raised her eyes to look at Zhan, her face expressionless. Zhan had certainly gone to great lengths for today's scene; in the past, she might have panicked, but now, there was only a cold sneer in her heart.

Hui Youling's black eyes looked at Zhan like stagnant water, and she spoke in a voice as cold as ice. "Shut your mouth."

Zhan's brows furrowed instantly. After a moment of silence, her deep voice filled with anger. "Hui Youling, don't push your luck. You must understand that I have the right to control this body too!"

As Zhan said this, bright red blood began to seep from the white bones beneath Hui Youling's feet, staining the water red. Hui seemed to hear wails winding around her ears; in the next second, the bones would likely crawl to the surface.

Hui sneered in her heart, her expression unmoved as she said calmly, "So what? I am the one in control right now. Zhan, I will never let you disrupt my life, and don't you dare dream of fighting me for this body."

As Hui Youling finished speaking, Zhan suddenly chuckled. "Hehe... Hui Youling, you are truly too naive."

Hui narrowed her eyes at Zhan, her heart aching suddenly as if she were recalling many things, but they were too blurred. Hui bit her lower lip and said, "Zhan, if I can't even control you, then I don't think my existence has any meaning. Don't think you can come out and wreak havoc!"

Zhan looked at Hui Youling from a distance, smiling eerily before curling her lips upward. "We shall see."

Hui also chuckled, looking at Zhan with mockery. "My existence is not something you can easily erase."

Zhan's smile stiffened, and she spat viciously, "Get out!"

As soon as Zhan finished speaking, Hui found herself back in the outside world. Rasa was standing not far away; the time she had spent in her Inner World seemed to have lasted only an instant in the outside world.

"Tsk..."

Hui had not expected Zhan to possess such power. From the moment Zhan first appeared, their struggle had already begun, with her always in the light and Zhan in the dark.

As long as she was constantly surrounded by negative emotions, Zhan would continue to grow as if nourished. Hui could not imagine what would happen the day she could no longer control Zhan, but having come this far, she could not afford to lose.

Hui Youling looked up at Rasa, the man who was Gaara's father in name but had become his nightmare. Hui desperately wanted to demand if he even qualified as a father.

However... no matter how much annoyance and dissatisfaction she felt, she could not show a trace of it. Standing before her was the Kazekage of Sunagakure, a man her teacher could not easily defeat, let alone here in Sunagakure. She did not want to do something so foolish.

Hui followed the Kazekage's footsteps. The two nearby ninjas stepped aside, but they gave Gaara a wide berth, looking at him with wariness. Even their gazes toward Hui Youling were as if they were looking at an anomaly.

Gaara's eyes swept across the surroundings, filled with people looking for a show. However, when these people's gazes fell upon the Kazekage, there was only respect and awe. Hui Youling was taken away by Rasa, with two guards following closely behind her, just like a prisoner being interrogated.

Gaara watched Hui leave with a blank expression. Once her figure was completely out of sight, the expression on his face vanished in an instant. He looked coldly at the onlookers, feeling a sense of annoyance. He quickened his pace and left as well; he truly disliked these people, hated the crowds, and hated their gazes.

At the same time, the merchant who had hired Hui Youling saw the situation. He was left with nothing but terror. How could that hired ninja have provoked the Kazekage? How was he supposed to do business in the future!

Thinking this, he hurriedly told his subordinates to take charge of selling the goods, while he grabbed his money and rushed toward the Kazekage Office Building.

Hui Youling was brought to the Kazekage Office Building. Rasa sat in his office chair, watching Hui coldly as if sizing her up. Hui stood straight without dodging, looking up at Rasa with no smile on her face.

"You are a Wandering Ninja? Which ninja village were you from before?" Rasa finally asked, his voice cold, as if interrogating a criminal.

The identity of a Wandering Ninja had always been her go-to disguise; she had even changed her gender to male, which was what had been reported to Sunagakure. It seemed Rasa had looked into "his" background before moving to capture "him."

"Lord Kazekage, I left to train with my teacher, but now I am the only one traveling and studying. I am from Konoha." Hui answered Rasa's questions one by one, her voice calm and unruffled.

"Konoha?" Rasa said the word with a faint sense of detachment and hostility, but he still asked, "Who is your teacher?"

"My teacher is Orochimaru," Hui said in the same flat tone, completely unaware that she had said something shocking, because until now, she had not realized how famous the leader of the Sannin, Orochimaru, truly was.