In the end, Ning Xue no longer cared about Sasuke, and took out the scroll from the small bag on his waist and channeled his own items.
He first found the medical kit, briefly treated the wounds on his body, and applied a thin layer of ointment on the wounds.
After doing all this, he took out the contact lenses from his backpack, took off the mask, and put it on carefully.
Her pure white eyes were covered by dark black contact lenses, making her look just like ordinary people.
While he was dealing with it, he asked without looking back.
"Are you in a hurry now?"
Sasuke stood behind him, somewhat confused after hearing this.
"Don't rush."
"Then come with me for a walk."
Ning Xue put away the medical kit, stood up, and patted the dust on his clothes.
"Those who were arrested need a place to settle down."
Sasuke didn't answer immediately, just looked at him, was silent for a moment, and then nodded slightly.
A few days later.
Land of Fire, somewhere on the border.
In the dark underground space, Kakkō swayed.
A figure wearing a swirling orange mask sat quietly on a raised rock, with one leg draped casually and in a lazy posture.
From one of the holes in the mask, a scarlet Sharingan was revealed, squinting slightly as if thinking about something.
"Oh? Interesting."
He spoke softly, his voice low and with a hint of amusement.
"Orochimaru is actually dead."
In the air nearby, a pitcher plant-like plant slowly emerged from the ground.
The black and white body, half of which is wrapped by huge Venus flytrap leaves, is exactly Zetsu.
"Akatsuki, do you know?" the masked man asked, turning his head.
"No, I don't know yet."
Jue shook his head, his voice was hoarse, and there was also a hint of doubt.
"But it's a little strange.
The person who killed Orochimaru was not the Uchiha brat he trained, but someone else?"
"Who is it?" The masked man's Sharingan turned slightly.
"It's the one Deidara mentioned last time, the person who blocked his bomb."
Jue paused and added.
"He fought head-on with Orochimaru, and in the end it was Sasuke who made up for it.
And... that white-haired ninja seems to know Sasuke."
The masked man was silent.
He tapped his fingers lightly on the edge of the rock, making a monotonous and rhythmic sound.
"Ice Release..." He suddenly chuckled, his tone a little cold.
"Maybe this is the last."
"Then what's next?" Jue asked.
"Don't worry about it."
The masked man stood up, patted his robe, and spoke in an understatement.
"Just keep an eye on me, don't alert others for now."
He turned around, his back facing Jue, and the scarlet Sharingan was shining dimly in the darkness.
"However, I didn't expect that the one who knows Ice Release can actually compete with that Orochimaru and is still alive."
"His strength is not weak."
Jue added.
"Orochimaru has had his hands sealed, but he still has considerable fighting power.
It's a pity that the final reincarnation failed, otherwise it's not certain who will lose and who will win."
The masked man touched his chin and suddenly smiled.
The laughter was very light, with an indescribable joy.
"Since he knows Sasuke and has such strength..."
He paused, and his brows under the mask seemed to relax slightly.
"As long as you guide it well, you may not be able to become my chess piece."
He never spoke again, but quietly sank into the ground.
the other side.
Land of Fire border, a small town where Konoha Ninja is stationed.
Ning Xue and Sasuke stood on a high ground outside the town, watching from a distance the group of people he rescued, Earth Flow entering the town gate one after another.
The villagers who were released from Camel Mountain hills and the group of people who had previously evacuated from the unknown town met here.
In the crowd, there was the joy of reunion, but also the silence of not being able to wait for a response.
A young mother held her child in her arms and cried heartbrokenly in the crowd.
Her husband did not come back.
The man who failed to survive in the Camel Mountain cellar remained in that cold pile of corpses forever.
An old man stood there, with his back hunched over, and his cloudy eyes looked at the crowd for a long time. Finally, he turned around silently and walked out of the town.
The person he was waiting for didn't come back either.
But there are also many people who have waited.
The boy who stole the wallet found his father in the crowd.
The boy dropped the dagger in his hand, rushed forward, and hugged his father's withered body, hugging him so tightly that he could hear the rattling of his father's bones.
"Stop... stop, son... it hurts..." the man cried out in pain, but his voice was muffled, as if he was suppressing something.
After hearing this, the boy did not let go. He just buried his face in his father's arms, his shoulders shaking violently.
He waited.
The girl who asked Ning Xue for candy, and the girl who was protecting her younger siblings, also waited until their parents arrived, and they hugged each other and cried together.
There were also those young people who escaped from the Camel Mountain cellar and found their parents in the crowd. Some knelt down, some hugged, and some just stood there, crying silently.
And those who have been locked in the cellar for too long and no longer recognize their relatives can only stand there blankly, looking at the strangers rushing toward them, at a loss.
The ninjas stationed in the town stood at the gate of the town, looking at this group of refugees in ragged clothes, with sallow faces and skinny muscles, and frowned so hard that they could kill a fly.
"You said... a white-haired man saved you?"
they asked over and over again.
The answers are all the same.
"He's wearing a mask."
"He knows how to use water and ice."
"He freed us from the cellar."
"He killed the guards and told us to come here."
Then I don't know anything anymore.
Except for the boy who stole his wallet, no one knew his name, no one knew where he came from, and no one knew where he was now.
One of the captains sighed, waved his hand, and asked his men to arrange these people into the temporary tent.
"Another nosy person."
He muttered something in a low voice, turned around and walked into the town.
What he didn't know was that the "nosy" person in his mouth was standing on the high ground outside the town, watching all this silently.
Ning Xue stood there, looking at those reunited hugs, those silent cries, and those lonely figures looking around blankly in the crowd.
He didn't speak or show any expression. The face under the mask was still as calm as water.
It's just that the eyes covered by colored contact lenses were slightly lowered.
Sasuke stood beside him, looking at the town as well.
"Are you leaving?" he said in a calm tone.
Ning Xue didn't answer, just turned around and walked towards the outside of the town.
Sasuke followed him.
The two of them walked a few dozen meters, and Ning Xue's footsteps suddenly paused.
He didn't look back, just turned his face slightly.
"Next stop, where to go?"
Sasuke glanced at him.
"Go find someone."
"Who?"
"Suigetsu."
Ning Xue was silent for a moment. He didn't ask who this person was or where to find him. He just nodded and continued walking forward.