Making Full Use of Everything

Jirobo withdrew his gaze from Hui Youling and let out a long sigh. Keeping an eye on Hui Youling was a strict order from Lord Orochimaru, and he felt the task was truly exhausting.

"Let's go. Today's mission is a big one, so Lord Orochimaru sent all of us out," Jirobo said slowly, glancing at his companions.

The others exchanged looks. They didn't dare disobey Lord Orochimaru's orders, so they could only follow Hui Youling.

But after chasing for a while, they still hadn't caught up with Hui Youling. When they reached their destination, they found two giant snakes rampaging through the woods. Screams and sobs sounded from every direction.

They exchanged astonished looks, then stared toward the area ahead, baffled. Why were Lord Orochimaru's summoned beasts here?!

They hurriedly leaped into the glow of the fires and landed on the roof of a relatively intact house. The broken roads below were filled with panicked people fleeing in every direction. With everyone running, they couldn't make a move.

"What on earth did that woman do?!" Tayuya stamped her foot in fury, wishing she could crush Hui Youling.

Sakon had been watching their surroundings the whole time. After a moment, he laughed. "This is interesting. Hui Youling actually contracted with Lord Orochimaru's summoned beasts."

Jirobo frowned as he watched the giant snakes in the distance. Their fanged mouths gaped as they slithered around, crushing and wrecking everything in their path. They had damaged quite a few houses and injured some villagers, but most of the people had managed to scatter and escape.

"As expected of Lord Orochimaru's student. I've never even seen a contract like this before," Kidomaru said with a faintly mocking tone, though a trace of excitement flickered in his eyes.

Hui Youling was already able to summon two giant snakes, each dozens of meters long, at such a young age. If she kept growing like this, she would definitely be interesting. He wouldn't have to worry about being bored with nothing to do. He loved fighting more than anything.

A burst of flames suddenly descended from the sky, striking the Four Sound Ninja directly. They hurriedly jumped away, but a gust of wind swept in and the flames suddenly spread. They were caught somewhat off guard.

"Earth Release: Earth Shore Return!"

Jirobo quickly formed Hand Seals and raised an earthen wall to block the Wind Release attack.

The Wind Blade carved a deep gash into the wall, but in less than a second, the earth had quickly restored itself.

The Four Sound Ninja now knew who had attacked them. Tayuya had already taken out her flute, her furious face twisted.

She shouted into the air, "Hui Youling, are you trying to get yourself killed?!" As she spoke, she searched for Hui Youling's silhouette. Flames blazed all around them, bathing everything in red, but Hui Youling was nowhere to be seen.

Just as they were about to give up searching, a dark voice came from behind them. "You're just too slow."

Tayuya's heart leaped. She turned around in shock. Somehow, Hui Youling had appeared not far behind them.

The attack had clearly come from the front just moments ago!

Sakon hadn't expected Hui Youling to get behind them either, but he wasn't too surprised. He turned to face her, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly as he demanded, "Lord Orochimaru ordered us to capture all the men in the village. What do you call this mess you've made?"

Hui Youling looked at Sakon, her cool eyes expressionless. "You wanted me to attack. This is what happened when I did."

Tayuya thought Hui Youling was being completely unreasonable, twisting the facts to suit herself. "Hui Youling, you just want to wreck the mission and do whatever you please!"

Jirobo looked into Hui Youling's dark eyes. They were as cold as ever, full of contempt and a hint of destruction. Now that he thought about it, they did resemble Lord Orochimaru's eyes.

Hui turned her gaze to Tayuya. "All the ninjutsu I've learned are like this. Didn't you know?"

Tayuya had no patience left for arguing with her. She had always preferred action to words. She raised her Demonic Flute, ready to cast a genjutsu.

Kidomaru hated Tayuya's genjutsu most of all, and hurriedly stopped her. "Hey, hey, hey! We're right here, too."

"Tch..." Tayuya had no choice but to stop, glaring fiercely at Hui Youling.

"Arguing won't help now. We should finish the mission first," Jirobo said, trying to ease the tension.

"Finish it? Do you think there's any chance of completing this mission now?" Sakon asked mockingly.

Jirobo didn't answer. He calmly looked at Hui Youling, as if waiting for her to respond.

Hui Youling met Jirobo's gaze. The other members of the Four Sound Ninja slowly straightened and moved to stand beside him. Their dangerous eyes fixed on Hui Youling, and Tayuya could barely hide her sneer. The tension stretched taut, ready to snap at any moment.

Hui Youling tilted her head toward them, her deep, dark eyes fixed on their faces. The darkness seemed to spread without end, as though it would wrap tightly around her. Flames surged behind her, making her look unnaturally bewitching, like a ghost that had crawled up from the banks of the underworld river.

Astonishment flashed across the Four Sound Ninja's eyes, and they furrowed their brows slightly. Something was badly wrong. Hui Youling looked so different from usual.

Her dark eyes were the complete opposite of how they had been just moments ago. Before, she had seemed to bear a trace of Orochimaru; now, she looked like an empty monster.

"Hui Youling?" Jirobo was the first to speak, trying to break the frozen silence.

Hui Youling closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were cool and clear once more. "Go capture them. I'll tell you where they are."

Sakon narrowed his eyes at Hui Youling. The atmosphere around her had returned to its usual cold indifference. He sneered, though he understood a little why Orochimaru had taken an interest in her.

Kidomaru laughed too. Enemies like her made him all the more excited. She was unpredictable—fascinating beyond compare.

Hui Youling paid the others no more attention. She swept out her chakra and located quite a few people who had been left behind. "Two o'clock, 150 meters. Four o'clock, 342 meters, 253 meters..."

The Four Sound Ninja exchanged glances. They didn't dare delay Lord Orochimaru's business, so they resigned themselves to searching where Hui Youling directed them.

The mission once again turned into Hui Youling calling out the locations while the others struggled to capture the villagers. There were still fewer people to capture than they'd expected. The village had originally been more populous, but Hui Youling had spooked the residents, allowing many to escape.

No one spoke on the way back. Hui Youling walked alone at the front, carrying nothing, while the others hauled a great many people behind her.

When they handed the captives over, Orochimaru asked what had happened to their numbers. But after listening to Tayuya complain, he merely gave Hui Youling an indulgent look and didn't blame her at all.

After that, Hui Youling's relationship with the Four Sound Ninja remained poor. Orochimaru still sent her out on missions with them to capture people. Aside from Tayuya, who often picked fights with Hui Youling, the others weren't friendly toward her, but they didn't openly come to blows.

Hui noticed, however, that Jirobo's Earth Release had gained the ability to recover. That power felt very familiar to her. She had once suffered a loss because of it.

After seeing this power countless more times, she finally couldn't help asking, "Could your Earth Release always recover on its own?"

Jirobo turned his head toward her. He had been keeping an eye on her all this time, and that side of Hui Youling hadn't appeared again. She was still very cold, but she completed missions quickly and cooperated fairly well.

"It was a transplanted ability. The person I got it from was the one who fought you back then." Jirobo answered honestly, his calm tone carrying not a trace of inferiority.

Hui smiled, the corner of her mouth curling up. "I'll never forget that person. His ability really suits you."

At Hui Youling's words, Jirobo glanced back at her, then silently turned his head away again.

Hui shrugged. She wasn't trying to provoke him. She was stating a fact. But Orochimaru really did make full use of everything. The thought sent a sudden chill down her spine.