Time flew by like a white colt streaking across a gap, and half a year passed in the midst of busyness and cultivation.
Chizhao looked at the newly built wooden house before her, a sense of indescribable accomplishment welling up in her heart.
She stood with her hands on her hips, a satisfied smile on her face.
"How is it? This wooden house looks pretty good, right?"
"Hmph~ If it weren't for this old man's help, you might not have even finished it."
Shukaku squatted nearby, a proud expression on his face.
"Yes, yes, yes! Thank you, Lord Shukaku!" Chizhao responded half-heartedly, then turned and muttered under her breath:
"You little rascal, you ate so many of my bentos..."
"Hm? What are you muttering about?"
"I said this little house still needs some fine decoration."
Shukaku jumped onto Chizhao's shoulder, puzzled.
"What do you mean by fine decoration?"
"It means this wooden house could use more decorations, like flowers and plants, furniture, and we could even make simple tables and chairs from the leftover wood... And there's more..."
As she spoke of these things, the 'infrastructure fanatic' attribute deep within Chizhao's soul seemed to be activated, eager to get to work.
"We could build a small wooden bridge here, and cultivate a field there—it would be the perfect retirement life!"
Shukaku watched the girl planning around the wooden house, not understanding.
He couldn't comprehend why someone with such powerful abilities, someone who could easily seal a Tailed Beast, only wanted to farm.
Should he say she was too foolish or too naive?
"Hey! Chizhao!" Shukaku suddenly shouted, jumping to the ground.
Chizhao, immersed in her own thoughts, snapped back to reality and turned to look.
"What's wrong? Do you have any good ideas?"
Shukaku, usually quite laid-back, was staring at her seriously, which made her a little confused.
"You possess such immense power, do you not have any other pursuits or ideas?"
Chizhao propped her chin with her finger, carefully pondering Shukaku's words about "other ideas."
Because she still retained memories from her previous life, she had always held onto a longing for a peaceful existence.
She truly didn't have any particular ambitions, and coupled with the constraints of special settings, for her, a simple daily life was the best choice.
"Isn't world peace good? I hope there are no conflicts, and everyone can live a stable life."
Shukaku burst into laughter as if he had heard a joke.
"Hahahaha, that's impossible... What this old man has learned in his hundreds of years of life is that among you humans, there is only endless struggle and greed."
"The power brought by Chakra only makes desires constantly expand. The peace you speak of... is merely an unattainable dream."
Chizhao was silent, feeling that Shukaku had a point. Combined with her memories from her previous life, this world indeed experienced the Fourth Ninja World War in the end.
She shrugged, indicating compromise.
"Alright then, I can only find a place of refuge to help everyone."
Chizhao's indifferent attitude and her easy acceptance of 'lying flat' angered Shukaku, who leaped from the ground, his face full of indignation.
"You fellow! You give up too easily! What if you had the ability to change the world?"
Chizhao, busy decorating the wooden house, stopped her movements abruptly at his words.
Seeing that he had touched Chizhao's heart, Shukaku struck while the iron was hot, crossing his arms and continuing:
"Just like you separated this old man from Gaara's body, changing his life trajectory..."
Chizhao, of course, was well aware that her every action would involve the fates of many people.
Whether it was Jiraiya, who was converted into a Membrane Card, or Gaara, who lost his Tailed Beast because of her, or even her own arrival, all had brought unforeseen consequences.
But precisely because of this, she was very afraid that her actions would lead to an irreversible situation.
Moreover, the shadows of her past life were deeply imprinted in her soul like a brand.
She was now both Shiratori Chichao, who had a tragic past life, and Natsu Yuu, who had finally found happiness.
"Let's talk about it later. I'm still a child, and children should act like children!"
Shukaku was speechless, thinking to himself: What kind of child can seal a Tailed Beast?
After making some simple wooden tables, Chizhao returned home as the sun set.
All the way, she pondered Shukaku's words, the question constantly replaying in her mind:
"If I had the ability to change...?"
A rich array of dishes lay on the dinner table, but the girl, uncharacteristically, only picked at the rice in front of her.
Keiko, noticing her unusual behavior, asked the distracted Chizhao with concern:
"What's wrong, Chizhao? Did something unpleasant happen?"
Chizhao snapped back to reality and forced a smile.
"Huh? I'm fine, Grandma, just a little tired..."
"Is that so?"
Keiko didn't press further. She picked up a piece of fried chicken and placed it in Chizhao's bowl, saying softly:
"No matter what happens, fill your stomach first!"
Looking at the food before her, her heart softened. She looked up, her eyes gleaming with seriousness.
"Grandma, if you were a very powerful person, what would you do?"
Keiko paused, then replied after a moment of thought.
"I would help the country resist foreign enemies, punish evil and promote good, and help the weak."
"But what if you were someone who couldn't do too many good deeds? And the more good deeds you did, the weaker you would become... Conversely, the more bad deeds you did, the stronger you would become..."
Keiko was full of questions at Chizhao's query.
"Huh? What kind of strange question is that?"
Chizhao lowered her head, pretending to be calm as she picked at the food in her bowl.
"This is something my classmates and I were discussing... so I wanted to ask Grandma's opinion..."
Keiko put down her chopsticks, closed her eyes, and pondered. A moment later, she opened her deep eyes:
"Then I would do nothing at all..."
Chizhao, surprised, lifted her head from her rice bowl, her gaze reflecting the gently smiling Keiko.
"If there are such troublesome constraints, then I would rather be a simple and happy person, grow up well, and accompany my family well. That would also be a very remarkable thing, wouldn't it?"
Chizhao's heart felt as if it had been struck by something. She stared wide-eyed at Keiko, who was gently wiping her mouth.
Her heart was already like a lake with ripples, fluctuating unsteadily.
This sentence seemed to be Keiko's own answer, and it also seemed to be an answer given to her...
After dinner, Chizhao tossed and turned in bed, Keiko's and Shukaku's words echoing in her mind.
The two voices overlapped, as if two forces were constantly pulling at her thoughts, leaving her physically and mentally exhausted.
For a moment, her mind was a chaotic mess, without a clue. She let out a frustrated shout and pulled the covers over her head, trying to escape the jumbled voices.
I'm not thinking about it, I'm not thinking about it, just let nature take its course!
Just then, she vaguely heard Shukaku's voice coming from beside her ear.
"Am I going crazy?! How can I still hear Shukaku's voice...?"
A few seconds later, Chizhao suddenly realized, removed her pillow, and saw one of the Membrane Cards glowing faintly. Shukaku's voice was coming from inside it.
Chizhao held the Membrane Card to her ear, as if holding a mobile phone in her previous life.
"Hello? Shukaku, what's wrong?"
Shukaku's voice came from the Membrane Card: "Well... it's like this... this old man just fished someone out of the river..."
"His eyes seem to have been gouged out... He's still breathing. This old man didn't want to bother, but he's too much of an eyesore, so I thought I'd tell you..."
Eyes gouged out?!
Chizhao, shocked, threw off her quilt and stood up.
At this time, could it be...?