Teasing

Senju Arashi said, "You can do anything you want to me, you know?" As she spoke, she used every ounce of her strength to adjust her posture, showing off her curves to better effect.

Senju Arashi's master had been the strongest kunoichi of the previous generation of the Senju Clan. She had once taught Arashi that if she ever found herself in a life-or-death situation, she could use her looks as a weapon of last resort.

Senju Arashi had never been in such a desperate situation before. No one could have expected that simply going to collect some supplies would lead her to encounter two shinobi with Mangekyo Sharingan.

Under different circumstances, Qiancao might really have been tempted.

But exhausted as he was, looking at Senju Arashi—covered in mud and water, struggling to put on a seductive expression but grimacing in pain—he just couldn't muster any interest.

Still, killing her outright was out of the question. He put the Kunai back in his waist pouch and took out some wire to tie Senju Arashi up. All the while, she kept babbling nonsense:

"Ow! Be gentle! Don't be in such a hurry..."

"Hey, little guy, this is your first time doing this, isn't it? Don't be so nervous. Take aim before you go for it."

"This is actually my first time being treated like this, too. Quick, help me check if I'm bleeding."

Qiancao was at a loss for words. Unable to help himself, he asked, "Do you usually talk like this?"

Senju Arashi smiled. "Why are you asking so many questions? I read all this in a bestselling book. It said men all like this sort of thing, didn't it?"

Qiancao gave a dismissive smile. As an internet user of the modern age, he knew far more than this woman who thought herself so worldly. He just couldn't be bothered to argue with her.

Seeing his disdainful expression, Senju Arashi assumed he hadn't understood her dirty jokes. She looked him up and down, suddenly realizing. "Oh, I see. I forgot you're still just a boy!"

Qiancao felt aggrieved. If he hadn't been injured when he cushioned her fall just now, and she hadn't looked down on him like that, he would have shown her exactly what it meant for a small horse to pull a heavy cart.

Seeing the little boy's frustrated expression, Senju Arashi laughed even harder, as if even her pain had eased.

Hearing her laughter, Qiancao couldn't help saying, "You're making fun of me like this. Aren't you afraid I'll get angry and kill you?"

Senju Arashi stopped laughing and said seriously, "I have a special ability. Do you believe me?"

"Special ability?" Qiancao repeated the unfamiliar term, puzzled. He hadn't learned that word yet and didn't understand what it meant.

Senju Arashi assumed he didn't believe her, so she explained, "I can tell whether someone is a good person just by looking into their eyes."

Qiancao said, "Then in your eyes, wouldn't every Uchiha with Sharingan be a bad person?"

"Not necessarily," Senju Arashi said gently. "Sharingan is just a tool. How it's used depends on each person's character."

Though Qiancao agreed with her, he still felt frustrated. "Too bad my Sharingan has only brought me trouble."

Senju Arashi smiled. "It hasn't all been bad luck. If you didn't have Sharingan, you wouldn't have met me!"

"It's wartime now, so of course people fear the Uchiha Clan, who possess Sharingan. But I believe that one day, when the war is over, both the Uchiha and the Senju will live happily."

Qiancao sighed inwardly. After the war ended, the Senju and Uchiha did enjoy a period of peace. But eventually, the Uchiha were still wiped out.

Still, seeing Senju Arashi smile moved him. His frustration eased a little. He had watched more than seven hundred episodes of Naruto, after all. There was no need to be so pessimistic over a bit of bad luck.

To thank Senju Arashi for comforting him, Qiancao helped her settle into a more comfortable position.

Feeling his kindness, Senju Arashi asked, "By the way, I still don't know your name."

"Uchiha Chigusa."

"Uchiha... Chigusa. My name is Senju Arashi. It's nice to meet you!" Senju Arashi repeated his name a few times to commit it to memory.

Then she added, "There's something about you that's so different from an ordinary shinobi. Maybe we could become friends!"

"What? Do you hate shinobi too? Do you want to destroy the Shinobi World?" Qiancao couldn't help asking.

Senju Arashi was taken aback. After thinking for a moment, she answered frankly, "I just don't like how everyone's killing and fighting each other right now. I'm not that extreme."

When Qiancao fell silent, she couldn't help asking, "Has the Uchiha Clan become so extreme that they're already planning to destroy the Shinobi World?"

"No," Qiancao quickly explained, realizing she'd misunderstood. "It's just that one of my friends was treated very unfairly, so her ideas have become a little extreme."

Hearing the affection in his voice, Senju Arashi raised her brows and asked in a teasing tone, "Just a friend?"

Qiancao wondered what she was saying to an eleven-year-old boy. Still, he didn't rush to deny it.

Seeing that he didn't want to talk about it, Senju Arashi reined in her teasing and said seriously, "You should protect yourself and your friend."

"I've seen too many Uchiha fall down an extreme path after losing someone they loved. Then they hurt others, and everyone gets trapped in a cycle of hatred."

She gave a bitter laugh. "That's what happened with the Senju and the Uchiha. Even if both sides wanted to stop, the hatred between them had built up too deeply. Who could just swallow their pride and let it go?"

Qiancao fell silent. If even the United Nations couldn't solve that problem, what was she asking him for?

Just then, Shiri, who had been unconscious for a long time, suddenly coughed twice. Qiancao hurried to her side.

Her face was pale. Before she even opened her eyes, she bent to one side and vomited a mouthful of green liquid.

She couldn't stop throwing up, so Qiancao had no choice but to endure the pain in his arm and rub her back to soothe her.

Only after Shiri had thrown up all the green liquid did her expression gradually settle. She opened her eyes and saw Qiancao beside her. As if relieved, she said:

"I'm glad you're all right."

Moved that she had been worried about him first, Qiancao smiled at her, then turned to ask Senju Arashi, "What did you do to Shiri? Why did she throw up that stuff?"

"So she's your sister..." Senju Arashi strained to lift her head and glance at Shiri. "When I fought her yesterday, I injected her with Neurotoxin. Otherwise, I couldn't have beaten her so quickly."

Qiancao had no time to explain their relationship. At the words "toxin," he hurriedly asked, "Will it affect her health?"

Senju Arashi said lazily, "She should be fine now that she's thrown it up. But the weakness in her limbs will last another two or three days."

Hearing that it would last two or three days, Shiri quickly asked, "How long was I unconscious? Hasn't the poison in you and Wuming worn off yet?"