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On the broken city wall, The two of them watched as Shennong leaped away, their gazes somewhat dazed.
Uchiha Shi took a deep breath, glanced at the Scroll containing the Zero-Tailed Beast's Dark Chakra, and tucked it into his leg bindings.
The Zero-Tailed Beast, known as the embodiment of Dark Chakra, is a naturally occurring power in the Shinobi World, separate from the Nine Tailed Beasts. The darker one's heart, the more powerful the force it can unleash.
Holding this Scroll, Uchiha Shi felt a heavy weight in his heart.
To be honest, he couldn't understand why he, who had only pretended to be righteous and was courting death, could receive such a precious gift.
This also gave him a warning.
His current actions, though somewhat misguided in motivation, were essentially similar to those of a protagonist in a Shonen Manga.
Courting death was indeed more convenient, But the side effects of being a protagonist in a Shonen Manga also came with it.
Why did he always get mysterious help from old men at critical moments?
This was too strange.
His true intention was to not involve anyone, not change any major plot developments, and to find a suitable opportunity and a suitable strong enemy in the vast Shinobi World, and then be killed.
What went wrong?
Uchiha Shi frowned, feeling that things were not as simple as they seemed.
"Come on, what are you still standing there for?" Terumi Mei, noticing his pensive look, waved a hand in front of him and urged softly.
Uchiha Shi frowned, his suspicious gaze landing on the girl who had spoken.
He suddenly realized the truth.
The key to the problem was this cute but devilishly wicked girl!
It was her insistence on coming along, then bringing Fugaku and Shennong, that formed this absurd little team.
Indeed, women only hindered his courting of death!
"No rush to leave."
Uchiha Shi's expression darkened, and he swatted away Terumi Mei's hand. After a moment of complex thought, he looked at her and coldly asked:
"I remember you said you needed to find someone crucial to you and your village, right?"
Terumi Mei was taken aback.
"That's correct."
She bore the great responsibility of the Hidden Mist Village, needing to find the ruler that everyone in the village was counting on.
This was the fundamental reason she was in the Land of Hot Springs.
Uchiha Shi stared at her coldly, his gaze questioning:
"I remember you said on the cliff that if I could create an opening for you, you could find the information you needed and Fugaku's location."
"Did you find it?"
Terumi Mei, facing Uchiha Shi's increasingly cold gaze, felt increasingly uncomfortable. She furrowed her brows and explained:
"I have found Fugaku's location. We can go there now, you don't have to worry."
"That's not what I'm asking."
Before she could finish, Uchiha Shi cut her off coldly:
"I'm asking if you found the information you needed."
Terumi Mei's heart sank, her mind churning. Uchiha Shi's words pulled her back from the fantasy of a righteous ninja adventure where justice would triumph over evil.
She fell silent for a moment, then bit her lip and nodded silently:
"I found it."
Uchiha Shi nodded and then asked:
"If that's the case, you have no reason to continue, right?"
He stared intently at the girl in front of him, his words cold and distant, as if interrogating her while tied to a chair, "You've gotten what you wanted. In exchange, I just need you to use Lava Release to open a hole here for me to dive into."
"Then, don't get in my way, and get lost."
"Understand?"
Terumi Mei couldn't help but look up, her eyes wide with shock and her clear green eyes slightly widened:
"Wait, didn't we agree to save Fugaku? He's one of us."
Uchiha Shi cut her off coldly:
"Shut up!"
He looked at the girl in front of him, sneered, and asked with a look of surprise and disdain:
"This team was already strange enough, and now it's even stranger. You, a Hidden Mist Village ninja, a member of the forces ravaging this land, actually pity a kid from the Land of Hot Springs?"
"Who are you pitying?"
"In the end, what can you do, someone who just freezes in fear when facing Kakuzu?"
"If you had made a more decisive decision back then, we wouldn't have run into Kakuzu. If you had led us to escape immediately afterward, Fugaku wouldn't have been captured by Kakuzu."
"You made every step a wrong choice, so stupid, how can I trust you?"
Each word tore away a layer of Terumi Mei's illusions, Her expression darkened, and she looked up, her eyes gradually turning cold.
"Uchiha Shi!"
"What do you think of everything we've been through?"
Hearing this, Terumi Mei couldn't help but clench her fists and glare coldly at Uchiha Shi.
As a Hidden Mist Village ninja, as a ninja raised with the belief that 'ninja are tools', This long yet short day, For Terumi Mei, was an entirely new experience, A feeling of genuine exchange and trust, Such a brief and beautiful fantasy, was cruelly shattered by Uchiha Shi.
Uchiha Shi's face was cold, and he raised an eyebrow:
"Maybe, it was just a mutually agreeable transaction?"
He looked at Terumi Mei coldly and said indifferently:
"Let's end it here."
"You continuing to follow will only hinder my actions!"
"Make a choice—"
"Either finish this transaction and get lost, or turn around and leave now. After all, you've already gotten what you wanted, haven't you?"
"Or,"
"After hearing such harsh words, you, this brainless woman, can't accept it and want to kill me here?"
Saying this, Uchiha Shi couldn't help but laugh lightly.
"Heh, if a ninja from the Blood Mist Village makes this choice, I wouldn't be surprised."
In the next moment, He opened his Sharingan, his icy red eyes tightly fixed on Terumi Mei, Waiting for her to make a choice.
Terumi Mei took several deep breaths, then lifted her cold green eyes, a hint of anger rising in them.
She clenched her fists and fell silent for a moment, then finally exhaled and gritted her teeth:
"If you insist on treating everything that happened before as a transaction..."
"Then, let it be."
"I will open the passage, and then, you can jump down to your death!"
"I won't care about you anymore!"
Hearing this, Uchiha Shi couldn't help but laugh, "Then, that's perfect."
Coming to this world, Uchiha Shi's journey had always been a solitary and doomed game.
He only needed to run headlong, and that was enough!
These meaningless bonds, he could sever them.
These forced expectations, he could betray them.
It didn't matter, it truly didn't matter.
Heart-to-heart connections only dulled his senses and slowed his movements.
At this moment, Uchiha Shi saw his true self, and understood his path.
At some point, the sky above the castle was covered with thick clouds, and a light rain began to fall.
With this resolve, he and Terumi Mei walked silently towards the center of the castle.
The journey was silent, Finally, they stood in front of the castle's main gate.
(End of Chapter)