Dark Currents

"Victory is yours. You can dress up history however you like, and I'm your spoils of war, too." The woman gave up arguing and just lay on the ground, staring blankly into the darkness overhead. Uchiha Zhuang shifted his bottom closer to her and asked, "When are you coming out? Could you give Persia back to me?" The woman rolled her eyes at him, then turned over, showing him her back. Uchiha Zhuang left her alone and took out a sealing scroll. He retrieved his rations, along with a small gas canister stove and cookware, boiled some water, and ate crackers and nuts. He took a sip of hot water steeped with black tea, then pulled out two buckets of instant noodles, opened one, and poured in hot water.

While Uchiha Zhuang bustled about, the woman slowly turned around, her curiosity getting the better of her as she secretly watched him. The aroma of instant noodles soon filled the air, and the temptation proved too much. She sprang up, opened the other bucket, clumsily tore open the seasoning packets, poured in hot water, and waited for the noodles to cook. She anxiously counted the time Uchiha Zhuang had waited before lifting the lid. The moment it was time, she popped the lid off, and an incredibly rich aroma swept over her, nearly bringing tears to her eyes. The noodles had won her over completely. She copied him, using the fork to lift the noodles and slurping up a mouthful. The taste lingered wonderfully! Torn between gobbling them down and savoring every bite, she ate until not even a trace of broth remained. Still craving more, she held the empty bucket and stared fixedly at Uchiha Zhuang. He didn't budge, sipping his hot tea slowly. When begging got her nowhere, the woman huffed and walked over to him, pressing close as she breathed in the black tea's aroma. Uchiha Zhuang simply closed his eyes and continued to savor his tea with small, contented nods.

At first, the smell of black tea didn't seem like much to her. But the longer she breathed it in, the more comfortable she felt, until her whole body relaxed. She watched Uchiha Zhuang sip the tea slowly, letting it swirl around his mouth before it soothed his throat and trickled down into his stomach. Before long, she was swallowing her saliva as if it were tea, her eyes gleaming.

"If—just suppose I let this innocent girl go—would you keep taking me along to eat all these delicious foods?" The woman gazed at Uchiha Zhuang, full of hope. He nodded gently. "I'll take you to try the best food from every corner of the world. Wherever I go, I'll bring you along. But you mustn't leave my side, and you mustn't kill innocent people. Do you agree?" "I do!" she said solemnly, her eyes shining. "Then one last question. Who is the Creator Persia mentioned?" The woman smiled. "I can't tell you. You'll have to see for yourself to understand." As soon as she finished speaking, her whole body collapsed, and she fell to the ground with a thud.

Uchiha Zhuang couldn't make sense of it, so he set the matter aside and focused on replenishing his Natural Energy and speeding up his ankle's recovery. After a long while, Persia slowly got up and shook her head. When she saw Uchiha Zhuang, she rushed over in delight and hugged him tightly. "Is she asleep?" "Mm-hmm." Persia nodded obediently, her eyes clear as water. The familiar feeling told Uchiha Zhuang that this time it was the Forest Elf—Persia.

As Uchiha Zhuang comforted Persia and focused on healing, he failed to sense the dangers closing in from every direction. By the time Persia sensed them, countless Red Eyes had appeared in the darkness, visible to the naked eye. A ceaseless rustling came from the creatures crawling toward them. A flood of beetle-like insects surged forward. The huge mandibles around their mouths revealed their eating habits: they were ravenous for meat! No wonder the Balaxia Ruins were so eerily silent. These scavenger-like insects must have played a part, too, alongside the madwoman bent on revenge! Now that the woman's mental suppression was gone, the carnivorous crawlers had come out to clean up the battlefield. Seeing that only a faint bluish bruise remained around his ankle, Uchiha Zhuang stood and tested his footing. He could move without much trouble, but strenuous activity was still out of the question. "Persia, is there a passage from the bottom of God Peak to the outside? That crazy woman's in your mind, so she must know a way! I'll hold these insects off." Uchiha Zhuang's tone left no room for argument.

The insects crawled down the rock walls overhead with a ceaseless rustling, stretching farther than the eye could see. They wouldn't touch the water, and only advanced along the one path leading to the altar. When the insects entered range, Uchiha Zhuang struck first. "Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!" A massive torrent swept the swarming insects into the pool. The ones that fell into the water flailed all eight legs in the air, struggling briefly before going still. But the insects hit by the Water Release were completely unharmed. They shook themselves and charged at Uchiha Zhuang again. Seeing that his Water Release wasn't doing much damage, he immediately used "Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!" (The Fire Release Ninjutsu scrolls mentioned earlier had been no joke.) The powerful technique poured out continuously toward the swarm. The insects at the front burst and died, but those behind them charged on fearlessly. After several minutes of pouring out chakra, Uchiha Zhuang finally stopped, utterly drained. The swarm left behind layer upon layer of charred, foul-smelling shells and liquid. The insects behind them halted in unison, like a strictly disciplined army.

"Are you ready? I can't hold out much longer!" Uchiha Zhuang urged them. "Mm-hmm," Persia replied. Using Natural Energy, Uchiha Zhuang received her information: beneath the altar, there was an underground river in the water that led to a large river by the forest. "All right!" Uchiha Zhuang shouted. He promptly ate a Senzu Bean without hesitation, and as his energy recovered, he prepared to try that move. "Sage Art: Great Water Dragon Technique!" A colossal water dragon burst roaring from the pool, its upper body alone measuring twenty or thirty meters, its body three or four meters thick. He hadn't dared use it earlier because he'd been worried about the corrosive water, but now he had no choice. Uchiha Zhuang drove the water dragon into the swarm. Its body swept across everything, crushing the insects beneath it into broken limbs. Its repeated sweeps and collisions made the rock walls inside God Peak rumble deafeningly. Huge rocks began falling from above as dust billowed all around them. Seeing that most of the insects had been cleared, Uchiha Zhuang immediately sent the water dragon diving into the pool. With Persia guiding him, it rammed straight into the underground river's entrance. The small opening was smashed apart, widening into a huge breach. Everything at the bottom of the pool was sucked away. The dark green water formed a massive whirlpool, its level dropping at a visible rate. As they watched the insects slowly converge around them, the two grew increasingly anxious.

Any small groups of insects that charged them were burned away by a single Fireball from Uchiha Zhuang. When the water level fell below the opening to the underground river, he led Persia down the damp wall of the pool, leaping from ledge to ledge. At the opening, they listened to the underground river's raging waters and looked at the countless insects around them, their mouths gaping wide. Uchiha Zhuang brought out the Immortal-Binding Rope again and bound himself and Persia tightly together. Then they leaped in. With a splash, the two vanished into the churning current.