Sasuke opened the door again, but his expression was obviously not as calm as before.
"Hey, Sasuke, I'm back after blowing the wind."
Suigetsu was leaning against the counter, still holding the toothpick in his hand, and his tone was so frivolous that he deserved a beating.
Sasuke didn't look at him.
His gaze crossed Suigetsu and fell directly on the white figure in the corner of the room.
Ning Xue was sitting against the wall, holding a notebook-like book in his hand. His expression under the mask was not clear, but the movement of turning the pages paused slightly the moment Sasuke entered the door.
The two people's eyes met for a second.
Ning Xue lowered his head first and continued reading as if nothing had happened.
Sasuke withdrew his gaze and walked up to Cat Granny.
"We're leaving."
His voice was as calm as ever, but who was Cat Granny? She had watched this child grow up, how could she not hear what was beneath that calmness.
She took a puff from the cigarette rod and slowly exhaled a mouthful of white smoke. Her cloudy eyes narrowed slightly behind the smoke and looked at Sasuke's expressionless face.
After a long time, she sighed softly, shook her head, and did not question or hold back.
"Let's go." She waved her hand, her voice hoarse.
Sasuke nodded slightly, turned around and walked towards the door without looking back.
"Gone."
He dropped two words, as if informing and urging.
Suigetsu When I heard the sound of "leave", I felt that the tone was wrong.
He looked at Sasuke's back, then looked back at Ning Xue, his brows raised slightly.
The atmosphere is obviously not right. Sasuke looked like this when he came back from a trip. It must have something to do with this guy.
Karin also noticed something strange.
Her eyes glanced back and forth between Sasuke and Ning Xue several times, her lips moved, wanting to ask something, but in the end she tightened her lips and quickly followed Sasuke out of the door.
Jugo followed in silence without saying a word.
Suigetsu was last. He approached Ning Xue with slow steps, lowered his voice, and spoke with squinting eyes.
"Brother, what did you say to Sasuke? The look in his eyes when he came back was obviously wrong."
Ning Xue put the book in his arms and stood up. He glanced sideways at Suigetsu and said calmly.
"You will know later."
Suigetsu twitched the corner of his mouth, thinking, aren't you talking nonsense? But he didn't ask any more questions, since he wouldn't say anything anyway, so it would be better to save some saliva.
The four of them followed Sasuke and walked out along the dim tunnel.
Cat Granny leaned against the door frame, watching the figures gradually disappearing into the darkness, took a puff of cigarette, and slowly exhaled a mouthful of white mist.
"Poor child."
When everyone walked out of the tunnel, the sky outside had completely darkened. Only scattered stars flashed across the night sky, making the waning moon in the sky no longer lonely.
The moonlight shines on the dilapidated ruins, illuminating the broken walls and collapsed roofs like tombstones.
Sasuke stood at the entrance of the tunnel, looking up at the waning moon, wondering what he was thinking.
Suigetsu, Karin, and Jugo stood behind him, glancing towards Ning Xue from time to time.
Suigetsu elbowed Karin and lowered his voice.
"Hey, do you think Sasuke was fed some kind of ecstasy soup by that guy?"
Karin rolled his eyes at him. "You must be mentally ill."
"So what do you think they talked about?"
Karin did not answer.
She looked at Sasuke's back that looked particularly lonely in the moonlight, bit her lip, and felt inexplicably uneasy.
She could feel Sasuke's Chakra, and that familiar and reassuring feeling was still there.
But at this moment, there is something indescribable, like a volcano being suppressed by thick rock formations, with undercurrents surging beneath the calm surface.
She didn't know what the masked man said to Sasuke, but she knew that something was wrong with Sasuke now, very wrong.
"Let's go."
Sasuke finally moved.
He didn't look back, he just stepped forward, his voice drifting from the front, slightly blurred by the night wind.
"Go and look for traces of Akatsuki."