20demayo Page 210
Page 210
Shion tried to explain.
But I found that the pain, struggle, and sense of relief buried deep in my heart could not be expressed in simple words.
In the end, she simply repeated herself, but her voice was much clearer and firmer than before, carrying a sincere sense of relief: "Thank you. Thank you for protecting Zusui."
This sudden, sincere thank you, a stark contrast to their previous spoiled, willful, cold, and mean-spirited demeanor, left the three members of Class 7 with a strong sense of unreality.
Naruto scratched the back of his blond hair.
Look at Shion, who is still wiping away tears, and then look at Azuho, who is filled with emotion and relief.
Finally, she looked at Sasuke and Sakura for help, silently mouthing, "Is she... normal now?"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow slightly and put away his Sharingan.
Although I still find this woman's emotional changes too drastic and difficult to understand.
But those Sharingan eyes didn't detect any trace of illusion or deception just now.
These tears... seemed real. He silently looked away, tacitly accepting the situation.
Sakura breathed a sigh of relief; it was good that she hadn't hurt herself.
Looking at Ziyuan's exceptionally vulnerable and genuine crying appearance after shedding her cold facade.
As a fellow woman, Sakura couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy and understanding.
She stepped forward and took out a clean gauze handkerchief from her ninja tool bag.
He gently handed it to Shion: "Miss Shion, wipe your tears. It's alright, it's all over now."
Ziyuan stared at the handkerchief handed to her, slightly taken aback, and then her eyes welled up with tears.
How long has it been... how long has it been since anyone showed such selfless, albeit altruistic, concern?
She hesitated for a moment, then took the handkerchief and whispered, "Thank you..."
Standing to the side, Shion cried, thanked him, and accepted the handkerchief. A layer of mist also appeared in the eyes of this loyal guard captain.
He knew all too well what Lady Shion was carrying on her shoulders.
The tears I shed now are not a sign of weakness, but rather a release after a tremendous burden has been lifted!
He bowed deeply, deeply to Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.
Her voice choked with emotion yet filled with unprecedented excitement: "Thank you! Thank you, esteemed ninjas! Not only did you save me and Lady Shion, but also..."
He glanced at Ziyuan, whose emotions were gradually calming down, and didn't say anything more, but his gratitude was evident.
Naruto looked at the scene before him, still somewhat confused.
But seeing that Shion was no longer crying so hard and that Ashiho was lively and energetic.
His easygoing nature took over again. He grinned and patted Azusa on the shoulder: "Hey, I told you there's no need to thank me! Protecting our clients is the duty of us Konoha ninjas! Right, you two!"
Sasuke did not respond, but turned and walked towards the edge of the giant pit, seemingly beginning to survey the terrain and consider his next route.
But the corners of his mouth seemed slightly softer than usual.
Sakura smiled and nodded, her gaze towards Shion becoming even gentler: "Yes, Miss Shion, Mr. Ashiho, please rest assured, we will continue to protect you."
Ziyuan carefully wiped away the tear stains on her face with the gauze handkerchief that had a faint herbal scent.
Although her eyes were still a little red and swollen, those purple eyes were no longer empty and lifeless.
Instead, it was like the sky after the rain, washing away the gloom and revealing a clear, fragile yet no longer hopeless light.
She looked at Naruto's sunny and confident face, the figure who had been prophesied to "die protecting her."
At this moment, it seemed as if she truly possessed some kind of... power to break free from fate.
Maybe... things really can be different?
This thought, like a tiny spark ignited in the darkness, burned fiercely in her heart.
Chapter 234 Arrival at the Ancestral Hall, Crisis Approaches
Ziyuan's transformation, like the melting of solid ice, silently but profoundly affected the team's atmosphere.
The once harsh and unreasonable shrine maiden who took others' efforts for granted has disappeared.
Instead, there was a mixture of shyness, gratitude, and even...
Shion is a little too cautious.
She would proactively ask if I needed to rest.
He clumsily helps gather firewood while Sakura prepares food.
When Naruto recounts amusing anecdotes about Konoha...
Although she remained silent, her purple eyes would gaze intently at him, occasionally flashing a barely perceptible glimmer.
As always, Azusa took meticulous care of her daily life.
She no longer scolds or criticizes, but instead whispers "Thank you, Zusui".
Although the voice was very soft, it was enough to make the loyal guard's eyes redden slightly.
This sudden, almost "gentle and considerate" change actually made the three students in Class 7 feel a little...uncomfortable.
"Hey, Sasuke,"
While they were resting at camp, Shion and Ashiho went to fetch water from a nearby stream. Naruto nudged Sasuke, who was resting with his eyes closed, with his elbow.
Lowering his voice, his face full of concern, he asked, "Do you think... she might be possessed by something strange?"
"Yesterday he had this 'what do I care if you die' attitude, but today... he seems like a completely different person?"
He scratched his golden spiky head, feeling even more awkward than facing ten Kusuna.
Sasuke didn't even lift his eyelids, replying indifferently, "She just doesn't need to pretend anymore."
His dark eyes looked at Shion in the distance, who was revealing her true girlish side: "She just let her guard down and showed her true self."
His tone was calm, as if he had already seen through everything.
"But..." Naruto wanted to say something more.
Sakura, while tidying up the medical kit, interjected with a laugh, "Idiot Naruto, isn't this a good thing?"
“Miss Shion’s ability to lower her guard and trust us can only benefit our upcoming mission. Moreover…”
She glanced in the direction of the stream, where Shiyuan was carefully holding a large leaf to hold water, with Zusui guarding her beside her.
"This Miss Shion looks... more like a sixteen-year-old girl who needs protection, rather than a cold priestess burdened with a heavy destiny."
Naruto followed Sakura's gaze and saw the afterglow of the setting sun shining on Shion's soft, light golden hair.
Her focused yet slightly clumsy profile was indeed... much more pleasing to the eye than her previous face, which was filled with numbness and harshness.
He scratched his head and muttered something.
"Well...that's true. But it still feels a bit strange..."
The change in the spikelet length was almost zero.
He remained taciturn, yet he took the utmost care of Ziyuan.
Lay out the softest hay, prepare the cleanest water, and always stand in the most dangerous direction when on guard.
However, when Shion whispered "thank you" to him...
His resolute face would reveal an irrepressible excitement and satisfaction, as if he had received the most precious reward in the world.
Two days of high-speed trekking through dense forests and mountain streams were spent in this subtle and gradually harmonious atmosphere.
The closer one gets to the center of the Swamp Country, the colder and thicker the air seems to become, permeated with a faint smell of sulfur and decay.
The surrounding vegetation also appeared more distorted and dark, as if it had been corrupted by some evil force.
Finally, at dusk on the third day, they arrived at their destination.
We crossed a desolate, black swamp shrouded in thick miasma.
The view suddenly opened up, but it was then replaced by an even heavier sense of oppression.
It was a huge ancient ancestral hall built against a steep, black cliff.
The architecture is rugged and primitive, constructed from massive black rocks.
Its surface is covered with traces of wind and rain erosion and dark green moss, exuding an ancient desolation and ominousness.
The entrance to the ancestral hall is a deep, enormous archway, like the mouth of a giant beast, pitch black inside, as if leading to another world.
What is most unsettling is the enormous, incredibly spacious platform in front of the ancestral hall that stretches all the way to the foot of the cliff.
On the platform, there stood countless stones...
Thousands upon thousands of waist-high, grayish-white oval stones.
Like giant, silent eggs, they are scattered haphazardly across the platform, stretching to the horizon.
The afterglow of the setting sun cast an eerie dark red glow on these cold stones.
The entire scene was eerily silent, with only the whistling sound of the wind blowing through the cracks in the rocks, like the sighs of the dead.
Wow...so many stones...
Naruto unconsciously exclaimed, breaking the suffocating silence.
He looked at the endless "sea of stones" before him and scratched his head: "This place... just looking at it makes me uncomfortable."
Sasuke's brows were already furrowed, and his crimson three-tomoe Sharingan instantly activated, his sharp gaze sweeping across the dense rocks like a searchlight.
He activated his eye power to its limit, attempting to capture any fluctuation of chakra or any sign of life.
However, the feedback was completely silent.
"No chakra pathways...no life signs..."
Sasuke's voice was deep and firm, with a hint of barely perceptible gravity: "These... are just ordinary stones."
As members of the Uchiha clan, their Sharingan judgments are almost never wrong.
Although Sasuke reached a conclusion.