"A woman dressed like a shrine maiden?"
Kuroki's eyes lit up.
Dr. Nake's face turned serious as he said in a deep voice, "That woman can cure even those tricky infant diseases, which shows how precisely she controls medical chakra. If we invite her, she might be able to save this guy!"
The Uchiha members' expressions shifted subtly, and the hope that had been dashed earlier began to rekindle.
Everyone turned to look at Kuroki.
However, Jaeger's face suddenly changed, his brows furrowing with fear as he stammered, "But... she's a bit terrifying."
Naruki asked in surprise, "What do you mean?"
Jaeger took a deep breath, steadied his emotions, and replied:
"When that woman came up the mountain, her shrine maiden robe was stained with a lot of blood, and she was carrying several rogue ninja headbands. I suspect she wiped out all the rogue ninjas in the area."
The Uchiha members were about to ask more questions.
But they were interrupted by Kuroki's side glance. He gestured for Jaeger to continue.
Jaeger's pupils shrank as he recalled his first encounter with the woman, feeling a chill down his spine:
"After she came up the mountain, she walked to our front door and politely knocked.
I opened the door.
The stench of blood was overwhelming.
I could see under her white hood—she looked very beautiful, but her glasses were stained with blood. Her eyes were squinting, and she had a gentle smile at the corner of her mouth. She was holding several white packages that were dripping blood.
In a soft tone, she said she wanted to stay the night and even handed me a lot of money, asking me to take care of her meals.
At that moment…
I wanted to refuse.
But reason told me not to act rashly. My intuition told me she meant no harm and just wanted a place to stay.
So, I forced myself to stay calm and led her to the empty wooden cabin on the right side of my house.
In the middle of the night, when she heard my child crying in pain, she came over on her own and healed my child.
From that, I believe she's a good person.
That's why tonight, I went out hunting with others to catch her some game as a thank-you. Normally, we wouldn't go out hunting at night.
Captain Kuroki...
You must not tell her that I told you all this."
Kuroki nodded and asked, "Is it the wooden house on the right side when you enter, about a hundred meters away, with the light on?"
The Uchiha members' eyes trembled slightly. They hadn't expected that Kuroki had already memorized the terrain of the area when he arrived.
Even the meticulous Mikoto couldn't help but look at Kuroki in surprise. In her time as a full-time ninja, she had never been this thorough.
Izumi clicked her tongue in amazement, feeling a sense of dread—a beautiful blonde woman, covered in blood, carrying severed heads… This felt just like the start of a ghost story.
"Yes," Jaeger nodded solemnly, as if bracing himself.
"Naruki, take some men and come with me. Izumi, you stay here with the others," Kuroki ordered briefly.
He was swift and efficient, leading his group out of the cabin. As they stepped out onto the rugged mountain path, they could still see the light flickering through the paper windows of the wooden cabin.
The four figures blended into the night.
They arrived at the cabin door.
Boom!
Naruki kicked open the wooden door. The two subordinates behind him, exasperated, sighed silently—this was typical of their captain's straightforward and decisive approach.
Kuroki gave Naruki a strange look and calmly said, "We're here to invite someone."
"My apologies... sorry..."
Naruki was full of regret, even considering pulling the door shut to redo the entrance.
But the subordinates had already followed Kuroki inside.
In the main hall, there was a wooden bathtub filled with water, pink petals floating on the surface, releasing steam into the air.
Water stains were scattered across the floor.
In the inner room, there was a bed with clean sheets.
Next to the bed was a bloodstained black-and-white shrine maiden robe, along with two pieces of purple lace underwear embroidered with classical floral patterns, with intricate lace edges.
The air was filled with the faint fragrance of orchids.
It was clear that a woman had been bathing here, but after hearing the commotion, she had left in a hurry, not even having time to put on her clothes.
Kuroki scanned the room, noting the woman's garments, and formed an impression in his mind:
Dignified on the outside.
Reserved on the inside.
A person skilled at disguising kindness and gentleness, but with methods as ruthless as a ninja's.
"Where is she?"
Uchiha Naruki glanced around the cabin, which was small enough to see in one look, and asked urgently.
One of the Uchiha team members sighed, "Even if there was someone, they probably ran off after Naruki kicked the door down."
Naruki's expression turned awkward. He fell silent and glanced at Kuroki, whose face remained impassive.
Splash—
Kuroki ran his right hand over the surface of the water in the bathtub. The petals scattered in two directions, and as his fingers touched the water, he sensed its warmth and came to a conclusion.
"She probably left right before we arrived," Kuroki said, pressing his hand onto the bathtub as he focused, trying something.
"Captain Kuroki, I'll take some men to chase her down..." Naruki began, but his words trailed off as his pupils widened.
The other two Uchiha members also had strange expressions.
Before their eyes, the bathtub beside Kuroki disappeared into thin air, without a trace.
The three were shocked—Captain Kuroki indeed knew the mysterious space-time ninjutsu!
"She doesn't want to fight, nor does she want to meet us. Let's go. In these wild mountains, tracking down a wandering ninja could take a lot of time," Kuroki analyzed.
After finishing his words and ignoring the shock on the faces of the three, Naruki turned and left the wooden house.
As for the tub and the bathwater, they now lay quietly in his storage space.
Kuroki already knew who this shrine maiden was.
It was just unexpected.
She was in Kikyo Mountain.
With golden hair, round glasses, dressed like a shrine maiden, exceptionally beautiful, and skilled in medical ninjutsu.
This was, of course, the well-known former member of Root, Kabuto's mentor, Nonō Yakushi.
Before and after the Uchiha massacre.
She was still alive.
As for why she was here.
When Kuroki and the others returned to the wooden house, he had a rough guess.
Seeing that Kuroki and his group had returned empty-handed.
Izumi, Mikoto, and the other Uchiha members immediately dimmed their eyes, even Jaeger felt downhearted for them.
Tamao himself suddenly laughed loudly: "If I die, it would lessen your burden, it's a good thing, don't be too sad!"
The sorrow among the group only deepened.
While the four were away.
Under Dr. Nake's guidance, Izumi had learned some basic bandaging techniques and, with Jaeger's materials, made a simple stretcher for Tamao.
Kuroki came up to Jaeger and reminded him, "We're leaving. Starting tomorrow, take your family to stay at the Kikyo City inn for a while."
He didn't explain much.
Jaeger, however, nodded seriously, showing his trust in Kuroki, then hurried into the kitchen.
The Uchiha members packed lightly, and two of them carried Tamao out the door.
Jaeger came running out with a pile of food and called out urgently, "Captain Kuroki, please take these things with you!"
Kuroki turned his head to look.
Jaeger hurried over, panting heavily, carrying ten pounds of smoked boar meat and bags of chicken and duck eggs.
The Uchiha members suddenly felt a warmth in their hearts.
Back in Konoha.
Walking down the street, they would always receive cold stares from the villagers. They never expected that a refugee, because of their captain, would treat them so sincerely.
Jaeger stuffed the food into Naruki and the others' hands, then pulled out a piece of parchment from his chest, handed it to Kuroki, and grinned:
"Captain, I don't know what mission you're going on, but this is a map I personally drew of this area. I hope it helps you!"
Kuroki didn't refuse his kindness, smiled, and said, "Go back now, take good care of your wife and children."
Jaeger nodded with a smile.
Izumi, holding the bag of eggs, hesitated and then softly reminded him:
"Mr. Jaeger, we've taken your Mist rogue ninja headband. Please don't pretend to be a rogue ninja out in the wild anymore. Even at the borders, it's a dangerous act within the Land of Fire."
Jaeger scratched his head awkwardly:
"It's just a trick to scare off mountain bandits. But we'll try to get stronger and not rely on little schemes like this."
Izumi, seeing that he was taking the advice well, nodded in satisfaction.
Dr. Nake also rushed out.
Seeing this group finally leaving, the doctor let out a long sigh of relief. These troublemakers were finally gone — what a relief!
Under the pitch-black night sky, Kuroki and the others quickly headed northwest. With a few swift movements, they blended into the night and disappeared at the end of the mountain path.
...
In the wilderness.
Amid the trees, under the moonlight, a graceful and mature figure sat on a branch.
She was wrapped only in a snow-white towel.
(End of the chapter)