Xuandou Lord, I feel a bit hot

The two parties, one fleeing and one pursuing, rapidly retreated toward the dense forest in the north.

The chase continued for nearly half an hour.

The distance between the two sides gradually closed to a dangerous range.

Xuandou's breathing remained steady, but he had already begun to weigh whether he should use his Sharingan to force a counterattack.

Just then, gasping whispers came from the pursuers behind him:

"Captain, haven't we chased them too far? The mission site..."

"Yeah, if something goes wrong..."

For a ninja, mission priority is a creed carved into their very minds.

If they were to fail their mission because of chasing an irrelevant target, no one could afford the consequences.

Another ninja spoke up hesitantly:

"Judging by their attire, they look like people from Iwagakure... As long as they aren't from Konoha, it should be fine. Why don't we turn back now to avoid any complications..."

The bald ninja leading them had a shifting, uncertain expression.

He looked at Kurenai, who was being held in Xuandou's arms, and felt extremely reluctant to let go.

Having been on this mission for so long and stuck in this godforsaken forest, he had long grown tired of handling things himself.

Now that a top-tier female ninja had practically delivered herself to his doorstep, he couldn't bear to let her go.

After struggling for a few seconds, he finally gritted his teeth and ordered:

"The four of you, return to the mission site immediately, assist the wounded, and strengthen the perimeter. I will pursue them alone for a bit longer!"

As his voice fell, he surged chakra into his legs, his speed increasing sharply as he charged forward alone.

In his eyes, the person ahead was merely a medical ninja with decent aim, and since he was carrying an injured companion, his stamina must have reached its limit.

He alone was enough to finish them off.

The four subordinates exchanged glances, not daring to disobey, and turned back.

Ahead, Xuandou caught a glimpse of the four leaving and felt his mind settle slightly.

After running a bit further, estimating that the four had gone far enough, he deliberately slowed his pace.

The bald ninja was overjoyed at the sight, thinking to himself that the target was indeed exhausted, and accelerated to catch up, shouting:

"Can't run anymore? I'll send you on your way!"

Although he was slightly puzzled as to why this medical ninja had better stamina than a Jonin like himself, managing to run this far while carrying a teammate, none of that mattered anymore.

He was about to kill his opponent and have his way with the female ninja in his arms.

Thinking this, he closed in on Xuandou and the girl.

He quickly formed hand seals, and Wind Release chakra condensed into blades in his palms.

Just as the wind blades were about to be released, Xuandou suddenly turned his head.

A pair of scarlet eyes appeared before him.

"Sharingan? No! You aren't from Iwagakure! You are Konoha ninjas!"

The bald ninja's pupils constricted.

Years of battlefield experience had taught him many terrifying rumors about the Sharingan.

He lost all will to fight, hastily threw his wind blades, and without even checking the result, turned and ran.

He had to survive to pass this intelligence back!

Konoha had already discovered their plan; Sunagakure had to act early!

However, he had only taken two steps.

"Puchi!"

A cold, stinging pain pierced his chest.

He looked down in a daze; a kunai had been buried in his heart before he even realized it.

Xuandou's figure stood before him like a ghost.

"Im... possible... when did you..."

What this bald ninja did not know was that the moment he locked eyes with Xuandou's Sharingan, he had already fallen under Xuandou's genjutsu.

Even though Xuandou had not studied specialized genjutsu, he could still use the Sharingan to influence his opponent.

Xuandou had utilized the split second the man was dazed by the Sharingan to amplify the fear in his heart, successfully disrupting his perception.

From Kurenai's perspective, the bald ninja had stiffened slightly the moment he saw the Sharingan.

Then, he threw his wind blades into the empty space to the side and ran toward Xuandou, intentionally impaling himself on the kunai.

"Uchiha's ocular technique... truly an enviable Kekkei Genkai."

Kurenai sighed softly.

"Ordinary genjutsu requires the aid of sound, light, and environment, yet you all can do it with just a pair of Sharingan."

After killing the opponent, Xuandou had already begun forming hand seals.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

The flames swept over the corpse, quickly engulfing it.

Xuandou said with some regret:

"What a pity, this was a jonin captain. If there had been enough time, I could have interrogated him for more intelligence..."

Once the flames died down, Xuandou turned to Kurenai:

"Let's leave as soon as possible. I'll find a safe place to treat your injuries first."

"Ngh~"

Just as Kurenai was about to speak, her legs suddenly went weak, and a moan escaped her lips.

Thinking her injuries were simply acting up, Xuandou immediately picked her up and said:

"Hold on, let's find a safe place to neutralize the poison for you first."

Smelling the masculine scent on Xuandou, Kurenai's cheeks flushed imperceptibly, and she merely nodded.

On the other side, the group of Sunagakure ninja waited for a long time without seeing their captain return, and someone immediately realized something was wrong.

However, the ninja sent to search only found a patch of ash in the northern part of the forest.

The few ninja dared not conceal the truth, and the matter was eventually reported to the elder of Sunagakure, Ebizo.

"Are you certain the opponents were wearing Iwagakure ninja uniforms?"

Faced with Ebizo's inquiry, the group dared not be negligent and immediately recounted the detailed sequence of events.

"Furthermore, the direction those two retreated in was also north; they must be Iwagakure ninja."

Listening to their explanation, Ebizo let out a long sigh.

"Hoo~ It's fortunate they aren't Konoha ninja."

An hour later, near the border between the two countries, Xuandou found a hidden cave.

After carefully sensing the area to confirm there was no one else nearby, he whispered to Kurenai:

"Bear with it a little longer, we're entering the cave now."

At this moment, Kurenai's face was flushed, and her breathing was slightly rapid.

Clearly, the toxicity of the Sand Desire Flower Poison had begun to spread through her body.

Entering the cave.

He took a blanket out from his storage scroll:

"Where is the wound? Lie down on this first, and I'll help you treat it."

"It's... it's on my chest..."

Upon hearing this, Xuandou felt somewhat awkward.

Was the enemy's throwing technique really that tricky?

He truly didn't want to take advantage of someone in a vulnerable state.

"This... you'll have to take off your clothes so I can treat the wound..."

"And it must be treated as soon as possible, otherwise the poison will spread throughout your body."

Kurenai hesitated upon hearing this.

But out of trust for Xuandou, she still unfastened her collar with trembling fingers.

Her outer garment slipped away, revealing a large expanse of snow-white skin.

She closed her eyes, her ears burning red.

Although Xuandou had admired the works of many teachers in his past life, when truly faced with such a sultry scene, he couldn't help but blush himself.

He quickly took a deep breath to calm his emotions before proceeding to treat her wound.

Xuandou pressed his hand against her snow-white skin:

"My technique might be a little painful, bear with it."

Kurenai nodded upon hearing this.

Immediately following, a chakra scalpel gently sliced open the wound, revealing a small, thin needle.

"Ngh~!"

Kurenai couldn't help but let out a moan.

"Xuandou-kun... you... you be a little gentler..."

"Mm, I'll try my best."

"Mmm~ ah... it hurts!"

Kurenai cried out, her fingertips clenching the blanket on the ground.

Immediately after, a blood-stained senbon was extracted from her body.

Xuandou steadied his movements and continued to treat the next wound.

From time to time, Kurenai's pained groans echoed through the cave.

A moment later, the three blood-stained senbon were finally removed in their entirety.

Xuandou quickly disinfected the wounds, applied medicinal herbs, and carefully wrapped them with bandages.

Xuandou watched with lingering reluctance as Kurenai put her clothes back on.

"The poisoned needles have been cleared; the next step is to neutralize the toxin."

As he spoke, Xuandou handed Kurenai the standard-issue antidote pill provided by Konoha and thoughtfully offered her a cup of water.

Kurenai quickly swallowed the pill, waiting for the antidote to take effect.

Five minutes... ten minutes... twenty minutes...

Soon, thirty minutes had passed.

Seeing that Kurenai not only showed no signs of improvement after taking the antidote but was instead becoming increasingly flushed, Xuandou immediately realized the antidote was useless.

"How are you feeling now?"

Kurenai couldn't help but press her legs tightly together as she said:

"Xuandou-kun~ I... I feel like my body is burning up~"