Deep within the dense forest at the border of the Land of Hot Water stood an abandoned hunter's cabin.
Most of the cabin's wooden planks had rotted away, and several holes leaked through the roof. Moonlight slanted in through the gaps, casting mottled patches across the floor. The air was thick with the moldy stench of decaying wood, mixed with the damp scent of earth and moss.
Kurenai Yuhi used a kunai to shave off several protruding splinters, then took out simple medical bandages from her ninja tool pouch and spread them over a relatively clean spot in the corner. Her movements were gentle, but her fingers trembled slightly—the battle had been brief, yet the aura radiating from that blue-eyed female ninja had instinctively filled her with fear.
That was not chakra a human should possess.
"Sit down first." Hong supported Hyuga Xiao by the shoulder and helped him lean against the wall.
Xiao's left shoulder was no longer bleeding, but strange patterns had surfaced across his skin—the black mark of the Caged Bird Seal intertwined with the pale blue lines of the Covenant Stone Fragments like two venomous snakes tearing at each other. His breathing was somewhat rapid, and fine beads of cold sweat covered his forehead.
"I'm fine." Xiao's voice was calm, but Hong could hear the suppression beneath it.
She took a waterskin from her robes, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to him. When Xiao accepted it, his fingers brushed the back of Hong's hand, and she felt that his body temperature was frighteningly low.
"Your hand is freezing."
"A side effect of the fragments." Xiao took two drinks before returning the waterskin. "They're altering my body, and draining my vitality as well."
Hong said nothing. She merely took out the two Covenant Stone Fragments from