Sasuke and Chizhao’s “peak” showdown quickly spread throughout the school.
Suddenly, the two became popular figures in the school. No matter where they went, there would be some fanboys and fangirls surrounding them, giving gifts and trying to get close.
Chizhao, who had never experienced celebrity treatment, naturally accepted all the goodwill from those around her.
She established a good reputation among her classmates. In everyone’s eyes, she was a gentle, talented girl, completely opposite to the aloof Sasuke.
During this time, Chizhao’s snacks never ran out, but she mostly shared them with Choji and Naruto, keeping only a small portion for herself.
She was even so young that she had already received many small flowers from boys, which made Naruto quite unhappy.
However, after a while, Chizhao also understood Erzhuzi’s troubles and even regretted her impulsiveness at that time.
This day, she was listening attentively to the lecture as usual, her thoughts unknowingly drifting far away, until the bell for class dismissal finally rang.
Just as she was about to leave the classroom, she saw a familiar figure standing at the classroom door.
She quickly pulled back Naruto and Shikamaru, who were about to leave their seats, and shielded them with her body.
The two, who had been suddenly pulled back, looked behind them in confusion. Naruto tilted his head, looking at the sneaky Chizhao, and scratched his head.
“What are you doing, Chizhao?”
“She must be hiding from some trouble… but don’t use us as shields…”
Chizhao, whose intentions were seen through by Shikamaru, smiled awkwardly: “Help me, please help me, he’ll leave in a moment…”
“Ah? Is someone going to bother you again? Damn it, they’ve been getting more and more out of hand lately!”
Naruto turned around, gripped Chizhao’s shoulders, his eyes burning with fire, and shook her continuously.
“Tell me who it is, I’ll go teach him a lesson for you! Tell me quickly!”
Chizhao had already seen stars from Naruto’s shaking. Unable to bear it any longer, she raised her hand and gave Naruto a sharp rap on the head. Instantly, a small bump appeared on Naruto’s head.
“Ouch!”
“Calm down, he’s gone.”
【Bad Deeds Progress + 4】
Clutching the small bump on his head, Naruto looked towards the door from his perspective, still feeling that everyone was suspicious.
“Hmph, if he appears again next time, you must tell me, believe it!”
Chizhao sighed, reluctantly agreeing.
Hopefully, there won’t be a next time.
Shikamaru, with his hands in his pockets, leaned on the edge of the desk, looking at the glances occasionally cast their way from outside the classroom, and spoke in a leisurely tone.
“It seems being popular is really troublesome.”
“I think it’s a good thing. This way, I’ll have lots and lots and lots of snacks to eat.”
With snacks already piled up like a small mountain in his desk drawer, Choji happily tore open a bag of potato chips and ate them with a satisfied expression.
“Choji~ these snacks weren’t given to you…”
“What does it matter? Chizhao gave them to me anyway!”
Shikamaru shook his head, saying nothing more, his gaze falling again on Chizhao’s face, who was dealing with other children with a troubled expression.
Shrugging helplessly, he walked out of the classroom alone.
Elementary school usually ended quite early. Chizhao declined Sakura’s invitation to go play together.
She went home, changed into a new set of clothes, slung her cang luan blade over her back, and headed towards her training spot in the back mountain.
She had promised Jiraiya that she would build the small cabin, and the current progress was far from enough; she couldn’t be lazy.
As she passed through the forest in the back mountain, Chizhao felt a gaze lingering on her back. She drew a Shuriken and continuously threw it at the large trees behind her.
Several Shuriken collided in the air, and one of them changed its angle, actually curving in mid-air and embedding itself in a blind spot.
A tender gasp came from behind the tree, and Chizhao quickly ran over.
She saw a boy with tears in his eyes, sitting paralyzed on the ground, which made her exclaim in surprise.
“It’s you?!”
Chizhao sat on the grass leaning against a large tree, wiping a Shuriken, with a boy kneeling properly beside her.
She put the Shuriken back into her leg pouch and sighed softly:
“You’re the one who’s been sneaking around following me lately, aren’t you? Speak, what do you want with me?”
“Waaah!!!”
The boy prostrated himself before Chizhao, crying with snot and tears streaming down his face.
Startled by the sudden, miserable sound, Chizhao quickly held onto the tree trunk behind her, fearing that the boy in front of her would suddenly mutate.
“Please, Chizhao-sama, help me find Xiaofu!”
Upon hearing the boy’s request, Chizhao finally relaxed a little, then repeated in confusion:
“Xia… Xiaofu…?”
“That’s right…”
The boy, kneeling on the ground with two lines of tears on his cheeks, continued to speak with sniffles:
“Xiaofu is my puppy. A few days ago, I was playing with him here, and he chased a rabbit into the forest…”
“I’m too timid to look for him alone, but he hasn’t come back yet, and I’m very worried…”
Now Chizhao understood; he wanted to use her as a tool.
“So you want me to help find Xiaofu? Why not ask someone else?”
“Because everyone says you’re very strong and very gentle… so…”
Sure enough, because she was popular, she got herself into trouble.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to help, but if she did, her Good Deeds Progress would increase.
She had already tried her best to avoid doing good deeds, but trouble still found its way to her.
【Little Wang, what’s the current progress?】
【Good Deeds Progress + 6, Bad Deeds Progress + 4】
It seems the two progresses aren’t far apart, but if she helps find this puppy…
“Please, Chizhao-sama! Please help me, Xiaofu ran off in that direction, not far from here…”
“You don’t want a puppy to just die in there, do you…”
The boy in front of her pleaded bitterly. Seeing his snot about to rub against her, Chizhao frantically pulled her neck back and hastily agreed:
“Alright, alright, I’ll help you, I’ll help you, just don’t come any closer!”
Standing up, Chizhao patted the dust off her clothes and walked forward.
She looked back at the boy, who was smiling again, and asked: “By the way, I still don’t know your name.”
“Me? My name is Yu Chuanwu…”
Yu Chuanwu? What a strange name.
“Because my father used to be a medicine seller, so my name is related to herbs…”
Yu Chuanwu seemed to have noticed Chizhao’s confusion and specifically explained it to her.
“I see, that’s quite unique…”
Then Chizhao stopped and looked into the depths of the forest: “Are you sure Xiaofu ran in there?”
“Yes, he’s in there…”
Looking at the dense forest ahead, Chizhao felt an uneasy premonition.
“Xiaofu~~~~~~~~”
Yu Chuanwu cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted into the forest. Unexpectedly, a weak whimper from a dog actually came back.
“Ah, it really is Xiaofu!”
“Let’s go in quickly!”
Chizhao charged ahead, frantically running in the direction of the puppy’s whimper.
The forest grew denser and denser, even blocking out the sun’s rays, making the entire forest dark and damp.
The thick fog around them gradually spread, making it difficult to even see the path ahead.
Chizhao suddenly felt a bad premonition and anxiously called back: “The fog is getting thick here, it’s too dangerous, we should go out first…”
Turning around, there was no sign of Yu Chuanwu. Chizhao’s heart tightened.
Did they get separated?
“Yu Chuanwu! Where are you! Yu Chuanwu!!!”
Suddenly, a cold glint came from behind her. Chizhao agilely dodged to the side.
Her gaze fell on the Kunai embedded in the mud. She cautiously changed her stance and ran behind a large tree to hide.
Is it an enemy? Why would they be here? Was Yu Chuanwu captured?
Damn it…
Too many questions filled Chizhao’s muddled mind, making her a little panicked.
This was her first time facing an unknown danger, and her hands were actually trembling slightly. She tried to keep herself calm, peeking her head out to observe what was ahead.
The sound of something cutting through the air came from behind again. She quickly turned around. In her line of sight, several Shuriken pierced through the thick fog, flashing with cold light, approaching her.
Chizhao’s eyes sharpened. She drew the cang luan blade from her back and, with quick reflexes, blocked all the Shuriken.
The crisp sound of cold weapons colliding rang out. Several Shuriken scattered on the ground, disappearing into the thick fog.
“Hoho~ I didn’t realize you had some skill…”
That voice…
Chizhao looked up in disbelief, only to see Yu Chuanwu standing on a tree trunk, grinning at her with eyes that didn’t match his age.
“Yu… Chuanwu?”