Furan's Youth

Ferocious. The moment I saw her, all five of my senses lit up with red alerts.

"Who are you?!"

That harsh voice hardly sounded like it belonged to a girl. It was more like a savage who had survived in the wild for years, threatening an enemy who had invaded her territory.

"Um... my name is Qingyue. I ended up here because of an accident. Could I squeeze into this cave with you?"

"Get out!"

My ingratiating words were met with a sharp refusal. Unable to do anything about it, I turned around, ready to leave the cave and search for another shelter.

The instant I turned around, Observation Haki warned me.

When I looked back, the girl had leaped high into the air like a four-legged beast and swung a heavy fist at me!

Thinking it was just an ordinary little girl's punch, I did not use Dragon Saint Battle Aura. I simply raised a hand, intending to block it.

The next instant, the girl twisted her body in midair and whipped a kick into my face, sending me flying.

I crashed heavily into the stone wall. A wave of dizziness hit me, and the left side of my face gradually seemed to lose feeling...

This girl... she was indeed nearly half a head taller than me, but she could not have been more than two or three years older, right?

What was with that monstrous strength?

After reactivating Dragon Saint Battle Aura, I assumed a stance and watched the girl warily.

This girl was probably no ordinary person. That long red hair... in this world, only members of the Uzumaki Clan likely had it.

A survivor of the Uzumaki Clan, or perhaps another reincarnator?

No, she probably was not a reincarnator. As a reincarnator myself, I had reason. This girl looked more like a wild animal.

Whirlpool Village had been completely wiped out. After barely escaping, the girl had likely drifted from place to place until she ended up living out here in the wilderness...

That was probably the most reasonable explanation.

"Are you from the Uzumaki Clan?"

"You're here to capture me too! The ones who hurt Father and Mother, the ones who hurt my clansmen, all deserve to die!"

She charged at me again? Help, how exactly had I managed to make her see me as a bad guy?!

Big sister, could you at least take one look at me? I was just a harmless, adorable little handsome guy with golden-brown hair!

Faced with the girl's completely unguarded punch, I decided to first show her the absolute gap in our strength before attempting any negotiations.

Someone who could not even communicate properly had to be defeated first. And I had to defeat her from the position of a superior.

I crossed my arms and unleashed all of my Dragon Saint Battle Aura to block her fist. I did not even take a step back. Under the girl's stunned gaze, I seized her wrist and slammed her heavily into the ground.

Though I had controlled my strength enough not to kill her, that blow should have broken several of her bones.

Forgive me, but without taking away some of your ability to move, there was no way to communicate.

Yet unexpectedly, the girl managed to get back up even after suffering such severe injuries!

Her movements were already extremely sluggish, and she jerked along like a robot, yet she still swung her fist at me.

For some reason, the sight made my heart tighten. It reminded me of how I had once been pinned to the ground and humiliated in my previous life.

Back then, I had been pressed to the bathroom floor. The person straddling me first beat and kicked me, then poured all kinds of filth and cold water over me.

I did not resist, because I did not dare to.

But this girl resisted. Even with such a huge disparity in strength, she still threw that punch.

I did not dodge it and let it land on my face. Then, overcome by pain and exhaustion, the girl collapsed to the ground.

Looking closely, I realized that the girl's clothes were clearly far too small for her, and they were covered in scratches from kunai, ninja blades, and animal claws.

She was drenched in blood and caked with mud. She truly no longer looked like a girl under fifteen.

Her nerves had probably been stretched to their limit. After suffering such intense pain, she could no longer hold on and had passed out.

[Teacher Hill, can I have one of those recovery potions?]

[Of course, Lord Qingyue, but you will need to pay a small amount of Power of Fate. We will settle the previous potion together with this one.]

Huh? I had to pay for this thing? What kind of shop was this? So stingy!

After paying quite a bit of Power of Fate, I obtained a potion that could quickly restore someone to perfect condition.

Just in case, I bought five more potions and put them in the medical kit Rin had made for me herself. They were quite expensive, so I could not bear to buy too many.

The ninja blade I was currently using was a replacement I had gotten from the old Third Hokage. Naturally, I had replaced its guard with the one Rin had given me.

After giving the girl the potion, I built a fire in the cave and found some suitable leaves to cover the entrance.

While I went hunting, I also gathered dry grass and branches, intending to make a bed.

This was a dense forest, and judging from the clouds overhead, it might rain at night. I still needed to guard against insects.

After catching a wild boar and several fish, I used Hill's identification ability to find some edible wild vegetables and fruits.

When I returned to the cave, I followed Hill's instructions step by step to butcher the boar, score the meat, then knead the wild vegetables and fruits together with the steaks in the proper proportions to marinate them.

Thankfully, I had listened to Rin's suggestion and packed alcohol and salt in my medical kit. The former was for disinfection, while the latter was for replenishing sodium when necessary.

I set the marinated pork steaks and fish over the fire to grill, then found a stone slab as smooth as possible and placed it above the flames.

I collected some of the grease dripping from the roasted meat in a container, brushed it over the stone slab, then added wild vegetables and slices of meat to make a hotplate grill.

The fragrance soon spread through the cave. As expected of Hill—even a kitchen idiot like me could make something this delicious under his guidance.

Come to think of it, there was no staple food... Hopefully, the fructose in these wild fruits would be enough. Without carbs, I really had no energy. I should have brought more rations with me.

While the meat cooked, I kept thinking about how to deal with this little girl.

Her identity was likely that of an Uzumaki Clan survivor who had originally died in the war. If possible, I still wanted to save her.

With her identity as a member of the Uzumaki Clan, she would not face much resistance living in Konoha. I could also ask Sakumo to vouch for her.

Besides, Kushina was still there. She would definitely ask Minato to take this girl in.

For now, the girl probably would not trust others easily. So the way I interacted with her should not be through gentleness. Instead, I needed to make demands as a powerful superior before giving her warmth and food.

Not long after the meat was done, the girl suddenly jolted awake, then deliberately pretended to still be unconscious while secretly watching me.

She even thought like a beast. Still, that was understandable. She had probably been hunted for a long time.

"Stop pretending to sleep. If you want to eat, come and ask me properly. Agree to my conditions, and you can have a comfortable mattress, hot food, and a warm fire. Besides, I was the one who healed your injuries."

Hearing Qingyue's words, the girl realized she could not defeat him. She gritted her teeth, unwillingly got up, and shuffled toward him.

"Introduce yourself first. Who are you, where did you come from, and why are you here?" As soon as the girl approached, Qingyue immediately questioned her with the bearing of a superior.

The girl did not want to answer Qingyue, but she looked at the steaks sizzling with oil over the fire, the tender fish dripping with juice, and the fresh wild fruits.

Then she looked down at her shriveled stomach. Blushing, she gritted her teeth and chose to speak.

"Furan. The village is gone. I escaped here."