“Shukaku, put the Membrane Card on the ground and stand back. I’ll be right there!”
On the other side, Shukaku looked at the Membrane Card in his hand with confusion.
Membrane Card? This must be the one in my hand, right?
He followed Chizhao’s instructions, placed the Membrane Card on the ground, and moved a few steps away.
“It’s set!”
Then he saw the Membrane Card on the ground emit a white light, and Chizhao jumped out of it.
Shukaku’s eyes widened, and he marveled to himself, “This… could it be a Space Ninjutsu?”
Chizhao quickly picked up the Membrane Card from the ground, hurried over, and asked anxiously:
“Where is he?”
“Over there…”
Under the bright Gekko, following the direction of Shukaku’s finger, a dark figure could vaguely be seen lying quietly by the river.
Chizhao’s heart tightened, and she rushed over. What came into view was indeed the face from her memory.
Uchiha Shisui!
Without time to think, Chizhao pulled out a healing Membrane Card from her 懷裡 and placed it on Shisui’s chest.
Ever since Shukaku had witnessed how Chizhao used these so-called Membrane Cards, he was no longer surprised by them.
After a short while, Shisui began to cough, expelling all the river water from his chest.
“Shi—” Chizhao suddenly realized that this should be their first meeting, and calling him by name directly might arouse suspicion, so she quickly changed her words.
“Are… are you alright? Are you okay?”
Shisui groaned weakly, his eyes tightly shut, and his whole body began to tremble.
“So cold…”
Shukaku placed his hand on Shisui’s forehead, his expression serious.
“He seems to be suffering from hypothermia; we need to warm him up.”
“There’s a lot of wood near the cabin that can be used for a fire.”
With that, Chizhao tried to pull Shisui up from the ground, but her small stature made it impossible for her to lift him.
At this moment, Shukaku’s large tail gently coiled around Shisui, lifting him steadily.
Chizhao gave Shukaku a grateful look, but Shukaku turned his head away haughtily: “This great one just saw that you were too weak…”
With Shukaku’s help, Shisui was quickly settled beside the cabin.
Chizhao swiftly gathered wood and ignited it with a fire bullet. The flames instantly dispelled the surrounding darkness, and the temperature rose significantly.
She removed Shisui’s equipment, wrung out the excess water from his clothes, and threw more wood into the fire to increase the heat.
She gently touched Shisui’s forehead; it was no longer so cold, indicating that his condition had stabilized.
Good Deed Progress +10, Progress Overflow:
Good Deed Progress +3
A faint light flashed on Chizhao’s clothes; she knew another Membrane Card had left her.
She sighed and sat beside Shisui, her gaze fixed on his closed eyes.
There was nothing she could do; she couldn’t just leave him to die, could she?
Shisui’s eyelashes were thick and long, casting a small shadow under the firelight, but unfortunately, those beautiful eyes could no longer open.
Shukaku approached Shisui, who was lying on the ground, and examined him closely.
“Judging by his attire, he must be an Anbu member, but why were both his eyes gouged out?”
That’s because he is Shisui, the strongest of the Uchiha clan, of course.
Chizhao, who vaguely remembered the cause and effect, chose to remain silent at this moment.
The night breeze carried a hint of chill, and because she had left in such a hurry, Chizhao was only wearing a set of pajamas.
She took out the remaining Membrane Card to teleport herself back to her room and changed into outdoor clothes.
Then she quietly went downstairs, got some food from the kitchen, and took a thin blanket from the wardrobe before returning to the small cabin.
Seeing the food Chizhao brought back, Shukaku’s eyes lit up again.
“This is for you, and this is for him…”
“Oh! Food! It smells so good…” Seeing the food, Shukaku eagerly began to devour it.
Chizhao gently covered Shisui with the thin blanket, her expression once again becoming solemn.
Shisui’s appearance here meant that it wouldn’t be long before the Uchiha clan would be massacred by Itachi.
From then on, Sasuke would embark on a path of viewing his brother as his lifelong enemy, thus initiating the main storyline of this world.
But she had, by a twist of fate, saved Shisui. Would this clan, destined for destruction, be altered in any way?
The firelight in her vision began to blur, and her eyelids grew heavier.
She yawned, unable to resist the overwhelming drowsiness, and lay down on the grass, falling into a deep sleep.
Shukaku, having finished his food, hopped over to Chizhao, looked at the girl’s innocent face, and gently twitched his black ears.
“This great one has never seen a girl as strange as you…” he muttered to himself.
The firelight danced on Chizhao’s peaceful face, and a large tail wrapped another thin blanket, gently covering her small body.
The dawn light pierced through the darkness, and the sky gradually turned golden.
Amidst the melodious bird calls, the girl on the ground twitched her eyelashes, and her emerald pupils appeared.
Chizhao got up from the ground, the thin blanket sliding off her. She rubbed her sleepy eyes, remembering the events of last night, and looked towards the figure on the other side.
Shisui still lay there quietly, as if he hadn’t moved all night.
And Shukaku sat beside him, seemingly grumbling with some dissatisfaction:
“That guy didn’t react at all all night, but you kept kicking off the blanket and talking in your sleep, making so much noise that this great one couldn’t get any rest.”
Chizhao understood that he was being disingenuous again, and couldn’t help but laugh:
“Then if you’re so annoyed, why did you cover me with a blanket?”
Shukaku turned his head away, still stubbornly speaking against his true feelings.
“Who… who covered you with a blanket… This great one wouldn’t care about you!”
Just then, a faint cough came from Shisui’s direction. Chizhao stood up and quickly walked over to check on him.
“Are you awake?…”
Shisui’s dry lips moved, mumbling. Chizhao ran to the river, scooped up some cool river water, and carefully fed it to his mouth.
His parched throat finally became moist. Shisui slowly let out a sigh of relief, and a low, slightly gentle voice drifted into Chizhao’s ears.
“Thank you… Chizhao…”
?!
How does he know my name?!
Chizhao, utterly shocked, froze in place. Shukaku also looked confused:
“He knows your name? Do you two know each other?”
Chizhao’s brain crashed again. She mechanically shook her head; no matter how much she racked her brain, she couldn’t figure out why the famous Uchiha Shisui would know her.
“How… why… do you know my name…?”
“That… it’s a bit embarrassing to say…”
Shisui coughed a few times, propping himself up on the grass with his elbows.
To make him more comfortable, Chizhao helped him to the shade of a tree, where he sat leaning against its trunk.
Looking at the boy, who was several years older than her, Chizhao felt a strange sense of unease.
“Actually, I… I’ve always been watching you…”
“Huh?”
What… what does that mean?