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Late at night.
The red-haired woman woke up and the first thing she did was search for her daughter. She felt relieved when she saw her daughter beside her.
"Mom!"
The little girl, whose eyes had been fixed on her mother, was the first to notice her mother waking up. Seeing her mother try to sit up, she quickly reached out to support her mother's back and helped her sit up halfway.
The red-haired woman gently stroked her daughter's dry, red hair and said with a smile, "Where are the rice balls?"
"Here," the little girl took out two rice balls wrapped in cotton cloth from her bag. She gently unfolded them, picked up one and handed it to her mother. "Mom, here, eat."
"Okay." The red-haired woman smiled and took the rice ball, but after taking only a small bite, she gave it back to her daughter. "Okay, Mom is full. You have to finish the rest, okay?"
"But Mom..."
"Mom isn't hungry." The red-haired woman gently hugged her daughter and said, "Mom ate a soldier's ration pill. I won't be hungry for a whole day."
The little girl named Yezi turned her head to look at her mother. She didn't see her mother's face, only the rows of bite marks on her mother's neck. Her heart sank, and she was unable to say anything more.
Yezi lowered her head and quietly ate the rice ball. Her mother's big hand gently stroked her dry, red hair. She could feel the warmth from her mother's hand, but she could also feel the cold despair hidden beneath it.
Yezi was twelve years old.
In the cruel and precocious ninja world, twelve-year-old children already understood everything.
Yezi knew how desperate their situation was.
She had tried to resist, but all she got was her mother suffering even more.
She knew that it was she who had dragged her mother down.
She knew even more that if she died, her mother would have no reason to live.
But as long as she was alive, her mother would continue to endure endless pain, becoming food for others, allowing others to bite her at will.
Neither living nor dying was a good option.
Endless pain, endless despair, surrounded the mother and daughter with a head of red hair.
The next day.
Before the sun had risen, the small door of the wooden house was knocked on. The red-haired woman told her daughter not to leave the house, then opened the door with a numb expression.
Seeing her mother's numb face, like a zombie, as she closed the door, the little girl Yezi's heart felt as if it was bound by a thin rope, the other end tied to her mother, sending out waves of heartache as her mother walked away.
Unconsciously, a dry tear fell from the corner of her eye.
Yezi clenched her hands, then loosened them, clenched them again, and finally let go completely. She crawled back to the corner of the wooden house where the sunlight couldn't reach and silently watched the door, waiting for her mother to return.
…
The Land of Water.
In the central mountainous region, on a mountain road.
Three black iron chains extended from Li Yao's back, firmly binding three ninjas with Takigakure forehead protectors.
"Do you know where the Uzumaki clan is?"
One of the Takigakure ninjas was bound by the black iron chain and pulled in front of Li Yao. He retracted the genjutsu Chakra from the man's head, and after the man woke up, he immediately asked.
"Who are you?"
The awakened Takigakure ninja didn't answer Li Yao's question. After all, anyone walking on the road, suddenly their vision goes black, and when they regain consciousness, they find themselves bound by chains by a stranger. They would only instinctively ask who the person who bound them is.
"Let me go, you bastard."
The Takigakure ninja didn't seem to understand his situation. He struggled constantly, while also cursing Li Yao.
"Do you know anyone from the Uzumaki clan?" Li Yao continued to ask.
Creak, creak, creak... As he asked, the black iron chain tightened.
"Uh..." The Takigakure ninja's face instantly turned red, as if his body was about to burst.
Now, this Takigakure ninja finally realized his situation. The fear in his eyes could no longer be hidden.
"You... who are you? Do we have a grudge? Why are you capturing me?"
The Takigakure ninja saw that Li Yao didn't have a forehead protector from any ninja village, so he guessed that Li Yao shouldn't be from Kusagakure Village. That meant he must be seeking revenge.
But he didn't remember having an enemy like Li Yao.
"I'll ask you again, do you know anyone from the Uzumaki clan?"
Li Yao frowned, losing his patience. He asked again. If he kept talking, this person wouldn't be worth wasting time on anymore.
The Takigakure ninja understood the killing intent in Li Yao's eyes. He knew that if he didn't give Li Yao a satisfactory answer, his life would be over.
Thinking about this, he panicked. He frantically recalled information about the Uzumaki clan in his mind. At this time, information about a medical ninja in the Kusagakure base camp on the front line battlefield came to mind. Although he hadn't confirmed the identity of the medical ninja, he didn't care at this moment. He immediately said, "Behind the Kusagakure front line battlefield, I heard they have a red-haired medical ninja. That medical ninja's body is special. As long as someone bites her, they can recover from their injuries."
"That red-haired medical ninja must be from the Uzumaki clan. Only people from the Uzumaki clan have red hair and a strong legacy of medical jutsu."
Red hair.
The ability to heal by biting someone.
After listening to the Takigakure ninja's words, Li Yao thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up. He knew he had found someone from the Uzumaki clan, and it seemed like a talented one.
The Kusagakure medical ninja should have the same constitution as Uzumaki Karin. Maybe she's Karin's mother... or father?
No matter what their identity is, that medical ninja must know a lot about the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques. It's definitely right to learn from her.
"Let's go, take me to find that Uzumaki clan medical ninja."
Li Yao grabbed the Takigakure ninja and jumped onto the back of the Black Iron Giant Eagle. The other two Takigakure ninjas were useless. After their Chakra was absorbed and stored in the giant sealing scroll, Li Yao gave them a quick death.
The surviving Takigakure ninja trembled for a moment, then calmed down.
Late at night.
The border between the Land of Grass and the Land of Water.
Kusagakure base camp. The red-haired woman, who had finished a day of "treatment" and returned to the small cabin, hugged her daughter and looked out the window blankly.
She didn't know how much longer she could hold on.
She didn't know if this persistence would allow her daughter to live.
She didn't know anything. Since the moment they escaped from the Land of Whirlpools, despair had been hanging over them.
The entire ninja world was chasing them down.
Along the way, the surviving members of the clan disappeared one by one.
Her husband died protecting them, her and her daughter.
In the end, they couldn't escape and were captured by Kusagakure.
The reason she was still alive was because she was still useful. Once she couldn't hold on and died, her daughter would follow in her footsteps, being eaten like meat until the day she died.
"Who will save us?"
"Who will save us?"
The red-haired woman's numb eyes didn't have a glimmer of hope. On the road to escape, she had seen with her own eyes that Konoha's ANBU was also chasing after the Uzumaki clan.
Even Konoha, who had been their allies for generations, was chasing after them. Who in this world could help them?
"Hmm... this is..."
Suddenly, a glimmer of light flashed in the red-haired woman's numb eyes. She quickly got up.
"Mom..." The little girl Yezi, who was lying in her mother's arms, saw this and got up, looking at her mother with confusion.
The red-haired woman quickly walked to the door of the wooden house, opened it, and walked out. Yezi hugged her mother's waist, her eyes cautiously observing the outside.
Golden!
Golden chains, like intertwined vines, were densely spread throughout the camp, as if dyeing the entire camp golden.
Yezi looked at the golden chains curiously.
For some reason, she felt that these golden chains were familiar and comforting.
"Clan... clan... clan members are here to save us!"
---
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