Deep Night Conversation

That night, the various teams had already fallen into a deep sleep, leaving only Zeyu, Neji, and Gaara awake to stand guard.

The forest was deathly quiet at night, with the bright moonlight spilling through the windows and onto the floor.

The three teams were stationed in different corners of the room.

Neji sat on a chair with his arms crossed over his chest, leaning against the wall, looking toward the other two corners with a sense of boredom.

Although it was the dead of night, the presence of moonlight meant that visibility was not significantly hindered.

Gaara was staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.

Zeyu was meditating and training, as he usually did.

What is this guy doing? Neji wondered.

He immediately activated his Byakugan to observe Zeyu closely.

It was a good thing he did, because the moment he looked, Neji was struck with shock.

Under the gaze of Neji's Byakugan, two fist-sized spheres of chakra inside Zeyu's body were moving rapidly in irregular patterns, darting around incessantly.

This indicated that Zeyu could manipulate the chakra within his body with both ease and precision.

Moreover, the density of those chakra spheres was incredibly pure; they were clearly compressed, and if unleashed, they could easily manifest as large-scale ninjutsu.

Realizing this, cold sweat broke out on Neji's forehead, and he couldn't help but think:

This... impossible! Is this guy... a genius? To be able to do this, he might even be capable of releasing two types of ninjutsu simultaneously!

Just as Neji was thinking this, Zeyu guided the two chakra spheres to his abdomen, where they began to rotate around his dantian.

Hm? Is he trying to do something? Neji thought, leaning forward to observe more closely, his brow furrowed.

Veins bulged on Zeyu's forehead as the two chakra spheres spun faster and faster—to Neji's eyes, they were moving so quickly they left afterimages.

Before long, a third, smaller chakra sphere appeared at the dantian and began to expand, though it lacked the purity of the other two.

Is... is he even human? Neji's pupils dilated, and he couldn't help but swallow hard.

Zeyu slowed the speed of the other two spheres, attempting to control the newly formed chakra sphere to join the rotation.

Neji, still observing, was shocked once again. Unable to believe his eyes, he reached up to touch his temples, confirming he had indeed activated his Byakugan only when he felt the protruding veins there.

Heh... I must be dreaming, Neji thought.

By now, Zeyu was drenched in sweat, gritting his teeth as he struggled to control all three chakra spheres, forcing them to orbit one another while moving slowly through his body. The veins on his forehead stood out even more prominently.

So... so powerful, Neji thought to himself.

On the other side, Gaara suddenly stood up and began to walk slowly toward Zeyu.

Neji noticed Gaara rising and, with a furrowed brow, glanced at Zeyu, who was still training, before immediately standing up to follow.

As Gaara reached the center of the room, Neji appeared before him and blocked his path.

"What are you doing?" Neji asked coldly, his voice low.

Gaara glanced at Neji and replied softly:

"It has nothing to do with you. I have something to say to Zeyu."

"Hmph, unfortunately, I don't want you going over there right now," Neji said.

"You..." Gaara frowned, glancing at Zeyu, who was not far behind Neji.

He had been too far away earlier to gauge Zeyu's condition, assuming it was just ordinary training. Now that he was closer, he could see that Zeyu was covered in sweat and looked to be under immense strain.

"So, what are you going to do about it?" Neji asked with a faint smile.

"..."

"Then I will wait a while before going over," Gaara said, turning around to find a bench and sitting down directly.

Uh, just like that? Neji thought, finding it hard to believe that this intimidating person had conceded so easily.

With no other choice, Neji followed suit and sat down on another bench nearby.

After waiting for a while, Zeyu finally reached his limit and collapsed backward, gasping for air.

Not good, my head hurts, Zeyu thought. Feeling the backlash of pushing his training to the limit, he hurriedly began to rub his temples.

After rubbing them for a short while, he noticed the gazes of Gaara and Neji from not far away.

Zeyu stood up, walked over to the two of them, and asked softly:

"Neji? What's wrong? It's the middle of the night, what are you two doing?"

Gaara was the first to stand up, saying, "Zeyu, I have something to tell you."

Neji added, "That's exactly it. I'm curious myself—what could you possibly have to talk about?"

Huh? I want to know that too. What could I possibly have to talk about with Gaara? Zeyu wondered.

He glanced at Gaara and found the other boy staring at him with an expectant look, as if his eyes were pleading for Zeyu to agree.

"Uh... fine, what is it?" Zeyu asked with a helpless expression.

"This isn't the place to talk. Follow me," Gaara said, turning and walking out the door.

Zeyu watched Gaara leave, looking completely bewildered.

"I won't disturb you further, then. I'm off," Neji said. Seeing that the other party didn't want him to know, he stood up and left.

"Brother Neji, thank you," Zeyu said to the departing Neji.

On one hand, he was thanking him for not prying into the matter between him and Gaara; on the other, he had just realized that Neji had been protecting him while he was fully focused on his training.

"Hm, be careful," Neji said, pausing before continuing on his way back.

Zeyu followed Gaara out of the room and into the nearest hallway. It was pitch black, with no windows in sight.

Zeyu walked behind him, hands in his pockets, observing his surroundings.

"What do you want to talk about, Gaara?" Zeyu asked.

Gaara turned around, having already gathered a handful of sand in his palm.

Zeyu was startled at the sight; he immediately pulled his hands out and drew the short blade from behind his waist, taking a defensive stance.

"You guy... you really aren't honest, are you?" Zeyu said with a cold gaze.

Seeing that Zeyu had already prepared for a fight, Gaara quickly waved his hands to explain.

"No, no, that's not what I meant. I just wanted to ask you for some advice."

"Huh?" Zeyu was full of confusion.

"I've noticed you're very skilled at training, and I wanted to ask for some methods that might help me control my sand better," Gaara said, holding the sand out toward Zeyu with both hands.

Zeyu squinted and leaned in closer to study the look in his eyes.

At the same time, he gripped his short blade tightly, ready to lash out and strike at the slightest sign that Gaara intended to harm him.

The two were about two or three meters apart, but it was so dark that Zeyu had no choice but to step closer to Gaara.

"Don't move... I can't trust you yet," Zeyu said coldly.

"Ah... right," Gaara stood still and whispered.

In the pitch-black environment, with Zeyu slowly approaching and the cold glint of the short blade in his hand, Gaara couldn't help but swallow hard, his heart tightening.

When they were only a meter apart, Zeyu finally saw the look in Gaara's eyes. He didn't detect anything unusual; there wasn't a shred of killing intent, and Gaara was still just holding the sand.

Zeyu sighed and sheathed his blade, crossing his arms over his chest.

Seeing Zeyu put his weapon away, Gaara let out a sigh of relief.

"Is that the only reason you wanted to see me?" Zeyu asked.

Gaara lowered his head and remained silent for a moment before speaking slowly.

"Also... about my mother. I figured there would be more and more people here later, so I wanted to get this cleared up with you tonight."

"Oh, is that so?" Zeyu said.

Ah, this... should I ask about Karura? Or should I come up with some excuse to brush it off? I can't exactly tell him I've read the script, Zeyu thought.

As he spoke, Zeyu plopped down onto the floor.

"How about... we sit down and talk about it slowly?" Zeyu said, feeling a bit guilty.

Gaara sat down as well.

"So, Zeyu, how did you know about my mother?" Gaara asked with a serious expression.

Cold sweat was already beading on Zeyu's forehead as he frantically searched his brain for an excuse.

The backlash from his intense training hadn't fully faded, and the effort of thinking was giving him a headache, so he quickly pressed his temples.

Gaara looked at Zeyu with some confusion, but thinking that Zeyu might still be feeling unwell from his training, he didn't rush him and instead looked down, playing with the sand in his hands.

"That... well, when I was attacking you during our fight, I just felt like that sand was talking," Zeyu said suddenly.

"What did it say?" Gaara turned his head to look at Zeyu.

"The sand seemed to be saying..." Zeyu looked at Gaara and paused.

Gaara stared intently at Zeyu.

"'Do not hurt my child.' That's what it said," Zeyu replied.

Upon hearing this, Gaara's eyes widened, his pupils trembling, and tears slowly began to well up.

"Is that so..." Gaara said, looking back down at the sand in his hands. He felt the fine texture of the grains as tears welled up in his eyes, eventually spilling over and dripping onto the sand and the back of his hand.

In the cold, dark hallway, Gaara wept silently, his tears hitting the sand in his hands and slowly forming clumps. Zeyu watched quietly from the side, his heart heavy with complex emotions.

Even though I lied to him, that maternal love is real... Man, I miss my mom too... Zeyu thought, his own eyes growing moist before he realized it.

"Huh? These two... are they crying?" Neji, sitting cross-legged on a bench with his Byakugan activated, thought in confusion.

"Tch, boring," Neji said, deactivating his Byakugan and closing his eyes to rest.