Making the Best Use of Everything

Jirobo withdrew his gaze from Hui Youling and let out a long sigh. Keeping an eye on her was a death order given to him by Orochimaru, and he felt this task was truly exhausting.

"Let's go. Because today's mission is quite heavy, Lord Orochimaru had us all dispatched," Jirobo said slowly, his eyes shifting toward his companions.

The group exchanged glances; not daring to defy Lord Orochimaru's orders, they had no choice but to follow in Hui Youling's footsteps.

However, after chasing for a while, they failed to catch up to her. Upon reaching their destination, they discovered two giant snakes rampaging through the forest, with screams and wails echoing everywhere.

The group looked at each other in astonishment, staring into the distance in confusion. Why would Lord Orochimaru's summoning beasts appear here?!

They quickly leaped into the firelight, landing on the roof of a relatively intact house. Seeing the panicked people fleeing along the ruined roads, they realized that with everyone running about, it was difficult for them to take action.

"What on earth did that brat do?!" Tayuya stomped her feet in anger, wishing she could crush Hui Youling.

Sakon had been observing the surroundings the entire time. After watching for a moment, he laughed, "Interesting. That brat Hui Youling actually contracted Lord Orochimaru's summoning beasts."

Jirobo frowned as he watched the giant snakes in the distance, their fangs bared as they slithered about, crushing and destroying everything in their path. While many houses and villagers were caught in the wake, even more people had scattered and escaped.

"It seems Orochimaru's disciple is indeed different. We've never even seen this contract before," Kidomaru remarked with a faint sneer, though a hint of excitement flickered in his eyes.

For Hui Youling to be able to summon two such dozens-of-meters-long giant snakes at her age—if she continued to grow like this, it would certainly be interesting. He wouldn't be bored or lacking entertainment anymore; fighting was his favorite thing, after all.

Suddenly, a massive fire descended from the sky, precisely striking the area where the Sound Four stood. They leaped away in haste, but a gust of wind followed, causing the flames to expand rapidly, catching them off guard.

"Earth Style: Earth Land Return!"

Jirobo quickly formed hand seals, raising a wall of earth to block the Wind Blade attack.

The wind blades carved deep gouges into the earthen wall, yet within a second, the wall rapidly regenerated.

The Sound Four now knew who was attacking them. Tayuya had already drawn her Demonic Flute, her face twisted in fury.

She shouted into the air, "Hui Youling, are you trying to die!" As she spoke, she scanned the area for a glimpse of her, but the surroundings were filled with raging, crimson fire, and there was no sign of Hui Youling.

Just as they failed to find her, a dark voice drifted from behind them: "You are all too slow."

Tayuya's heart skipped a beat. She turned around in shock to see that Hui Youling was already standing not far behind them.

But the previous attack had clearly come from the front!

Although Sakon hadn't expected Hui Youling to appear behind them either, he didn't show much surprise. He simply turned to face her, a slight smirk on his lips as he questioned, "Lord Orochimaru's intention was to capture the men of the entire village. What is the meaning of you turning it into this?"

Hui Youling looked at Sakon, her cold, clear eyes devoid of ripples. "You wanted me to take action. This is the outcome of my actions."

Tayuya felt Hui Youling was simply unreasonable, completely twisting the logic. "Hui Youling, you just want to sabotage the mission at will!"

Jirobo looked into Hui Youling's eyes. Those black orbs remained as indifferent as ever, harboring disdain and destruction. Now that he looked closely, they really did resemble Lord Orochimaru's gaze.

Hui turned her gaze toward Tayuya. "The ninjutsu I learned is all like this. Did you not know that?"

Tayuya had no patience left for idle chatter; she was someone who preferred action over words, and she picked up her Demonic Flute, ready to unleash a genjutsu.

Kidomaru, who found Tayuya's genjutsu the most annoying, quickly intervened. "Hey, hey, hey! We're still standing right here."

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

"Talking is useless now. Let's finish the mission first," Jirobo said, trying to ease the tension.

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

Jirobo did not answer, looking at Hui Youling with a calm expression, as if waiting for her answer.

Hui Youling locked eyes with Jirobo. The other members of the Sound Four slowly straightened up and walked to Jirobo's side, their dangerous gazes fixed on her. Tayuya's sneer was barely contained; the atmosphere became like a taut string, ready to snap at any moment.

Hui Youling tilted her head to look at them, her deep, ink-black eyes fixed upon them. That darkness continued to spread, as if it wanted to wrap tightly around her. Behind her, the fire soared into the sky, making her look exceptionally bewitching, like a phantom climbing the banks of a ghost river.

The Sound Four's eyes flashed with astonishment, and they furrowed their brows slightly. Something was very wrong; this version of Hui Youling was vastly different from her usual self.

Her dark eyes were the complete opposite of a moment ago. If she had seemed to carry the shadow of Orochimaru before, now she was like an empty, monstrous shell.

"Hui Youling?" Jirobo spoke first, attempting to break the frozen atmosphere.

Hui Youling closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, they were cold and clear once more. She said faintly, "Let's capture them. I will tell you the locations."

Sakon squinted at Hui Youling, noticing that the aura around her had returned to that cold indifference. He sneered, though in his heart, he began to understand why Orochimaru had taken a liking to her.

Kidomaru also laughed. For an enemy like this, his nerves only grew more excited—capricious and extremely interesting.

Hui Youling ignored them, sweeping out her chakra to locate the remaining survivors. "2 o'clock direction, 150 meters; 4 o'clock direction, 342 meters, 253 meters..."

The Sound Four exchanged glances. Not daring to ruin Orochimaru's plans, they resigned themselves to searching according to her instructions.

This mission turned into Hui Youling calling out locations while the others did the hard work of capturing people. However, the number of people they managed to catch was far lower than expected. The village originally had more inhabitants, but Hui Youling's act of startling the prey had allowed many to escape.

No one spoke on the return trip. Hui Youling walked in front, carrying nothing, while the others followed behind, hauling several captives.

When they handed over the prisoners, Orochimaru asked about the discrepancy in numbers. Yet, after listening to Tayuya's complaints, he merely gave Hui Youling an indulgent look and, surprisingly, did not blame her at all.

After this, the relationship between Hui Youling and the Sound Four remained poor, but Orochimaru continued to have them team up to capture people. Aside from Tayuya, who often picked fights with Hui Youling, the others—while unfriendly—did not resort to direct violence.

However, Hui did notice that Jirobo's Earth Style had become capable of regeneration. This ability felt very familiar to her; she had suffered because of it herself back then.

Until much later, having witnessed this power countless times, she finally couldn't help but ask, "Could your Earth Style regenerate on its own before?"

Jirobo turned his head to look at her. During this period of surveillance, that version of Hui Youling had not appeared again. Although she remained cold, she completed missions quickly and was relatively cooperative.

"Ability transplantation. And the person who was transplanted was the one who fought you back then," Jirobo said truthfully, his flat tone devoid of any self-deprecation.

Hui curled her lips into a smile. "I could never forget that person. His ability is indeed very well-suited for you."

Hearing Hui Youling's words, Jirobo glanced back at her, then turned his head away in silence.

Hui shrugged. She wasn't trying to provoke him; she was stating a fact. But Orochimaru really did make the best use of everything—it was inexplicably chilling.