It's normal to get a kaleidoscope as a first deposit of six yuan, right?

Many years have passed, and the gift box and the writing on it have turned yellow, but it is still quite well preserved. How could that little guy not even be willing to throw away the box?

Zhi Xue took off the note with the blessing, then carefully opened the gift box. Looking at the hand-drawn greeting card inside, she gently wiped the paper to smooth out its rough texture.

This was meticulously hand-drawn by her Sharingan. The image depicted was of the morning sun flying high in the sky above Konoha, and of Xiao Zhixue being welcomed by many figures in a wide-open space and being given a birthday hat.

Having lost her parents at a young age and having no friends, she must really like this gift, right?

For some reason, Zhixue's memory of the little girl receiving this gift was very vague...

Zhixue put the greeting card back into the gift box and tied it up with a pretty bow again.

If she could, she would still like to personally deliver this gift box to the original owner of the body, but unfortunately, she didn't remember anything at that time.

Zhi Xue opened the other gift box and looked at it. She wasn't surprised to see that it was empty, since the other gift box contained a cake.

He smiled as he watched Zhixue holding the birthday gift box and sighing from behind the door.

He had seen this before when he was packing his things. A friend in a dream... what an ethereal and beautiful phrase. It seems the person who gave this gift must be very kind-hearted. This is much better than his unromantic older brother.

As night fell, Shisui looked at Shisui, who was already asleep in bed, hugging her childhood toys, and closed the door.

Goodnight, Stop Snow…

Just as Zhishui was about to take a shower and go to bed, a knocking sound suddenly came from the doorway, which puzzled Zhishui. Who would be knocking on the door in the middle of the night?

Shisui walked over and was somewhat surprised to see Fugaku outside the door.

"Clan leader, what brings you here? Is it because Orochimaru's subordinates haven't been completely eradicated from Konoha yet?" Shisui's expression turned serious at the thought of Orochimaru, but Fugaku shook his head regretfully.

"No, Shisui, I just saw that your lights were still on, so I wanted to talk to you about Ryuchi Cave."

"Ryuchi Cave?" Shisui was taken aback when he heard what Fugaku said, and then led him into the living room. Since Shisui's bedroom was on the second floor, it wouldn't have any impact.

Fugaku sat on the sofa in the living room and told Shisui his purpose.

Perhaps because Shisui had interacted with the hermit of Ryuchi Cave, Fugaku wanted to see if he could get any information about the green figure from Shisui, but unfortunately Shisui did not intend to tell anyone about his sister.

After chatting with Shisui for a while, Fugaku left, and Shisui sensed something unusual in Fugaku's words.

So Konoha is still quite wary of the power that Shisue possesses?

The next morning, Zhixue stretched in her warm and comfortable bed, changed out of her pajamas, and then pulled up her two white stockings that went past her knees to her snow-white thighs.

"My bed at home is so comfortable..."

Zhi Xue walked out of the room, looked at the note on the table, and sighed.

"Going to work so early? Looks like you'll be very busy lately because of Orochimaru."

Three days later…

In Amegakure, Konan took a jar from Hydrangea's hand and flew to the top of the tower to hand it to Pain.

"What is this?" Payne asked, tapping the jar with some confusion.

"I heard it's the result of Xiaoxue and Ziyanghua's trip to Konoha. As for what it is, only Xiaoxue probably knows before it's opened."

Pain heard what Konan said and placed it on the lid of the jar. He only opened it a crack, and the bloody chakra that wafted out made everything around him reflect a bright red.

"This is the Nine-Tails' chakra!?" Pain put the lid back on and said in surprise.

She was tasked with extracting information about the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, but how did she manage to extract the Nine-Tails' chakra?

……

During the several days that Shisui stayed in Konoha, she was not idle. She trained in the virtual training ground during the day and practiced swordsmanship with Shisui at night. After all, compared with other abilities, swordsmanship was Shisui's weakness. However, the more important thing was to restore the brother-sister relationship with Shisui.

In the familiar grove at night, a hidden barrier had been set up by Zhixue, and Zhishui was touching the Kusanagi sword, which gleamed coldly in the moonlight, and seemed quite fond of it.

Kusanagi Sword (Wind): Unlike the power of the original Naruto world, this sword seems to prefer the sharpness of the wind. Characteristics: Sharp, hard, and can be imbued with wind-style chakra simply by inputting chakra, greatly enhancing its lethality.

Lying down next to the big tree, Zhixue crossed her legs and ate a tricolor dumpling, starting to think about her future plans.

If Pain is going to start his tailed beast capture plan next year, isn't that a bit too early? Naruto and Sasuke are still just kids and haven't grown up yet. With the plot being so drastically changed, it seems like many things are becoming unpredictable.

"The Eye of the Moon Project? Sigh, what a vague and unrealistic plan. Does this dreamlike, illusory world really have any meaning?" Zhi Xue sighed as she stuck a string of bamboo skewers into a tree, watching Zhi Shui gradually getting used to the longsword in the distance.

Ding! A critical decision has been detected for the host. Route selection task initiated.

Option 1: Be a spectator, watching the world's conflicts with amusement, and ignore everything you care about as long as the Eye of the Moon Project doesn't harm you.

Option 2: You actually have a burning Will of Fire within you, so you intend to shatter Obito's dream completely and force him to face reality.

Option 3: Faced with the myriad aspects of life in the world, you have grown weary of this unpleasant ninja world. Therefore, you decide to help Black Zetsu realize the Eye of the Moon Plan. Afterward, he will be very grateful and reward you with a sweet Infinite Tsukuyomi dream.

Option 4: You won't understand the pain of war without experiencing suffering. Only a powerful external threat or enemy can bring peace between the great ninja nations. So you are prepared to become the behind-the-scenes planner and instigate the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Chapter 231, Aftermath of Sunagakure

As night fell, Zhishui, who had been busy all day, returned home after finishing his work, but after walking around for a while, he still couldn't find Zhixue.

"Did he go out to play again?" Zhi Shui looked around the house and finally found a note on the living room table.

Go do something to bring peace to the ninja world, don't worry.

—Your lovely sister.

Looking at the crooked handwriting, Zhi Shui's forehead creased with a frown, but after thinking about it carefully, he still sighed.

Well, maybe Zhixue really has something important to do. I've spent a week with him here, which isn't a short time. As long as he remembers to come back in the future, that's fine.

Shisui took down a long sword hanging on his back, placed the scabbard aside, sat on the chair, gently wiped the silver-white blade for a while, and then put it back in.

Zhi Xue gave him a fine sword; it seems he's going to shift his focus to swordsmanship as well.

Inside Ryuchi Cave, the White Snake Sage was sleeping on a chair, but he opened his eyes when he sensed a strange chakra.

"Is that little human coming?"

At this moment, Zhixue, who had arrived at Ryuchi-dong, used the wind to disperse the thick fog around her. Then, looking at the three large characters "Ryuchi-dong" carved on the stone tablet above her head, she pushed open the gate and walked straight in.

Because Zhixue is a contractor of Ryuchi Cave, the snakes, including Tianxin Shenji, who were there to test the newcomers, did not make things difficult for her.

After walking and stopping frequently, and taking several detours, Zhixue finally arrived at the temple where the White Snake Immortal lived.

After a while, the White Snake Immortal looked at the light that appeared in front of the door and said to Zhixue, "Little one, you've rarely come to see me since you learned immortal arts not long ago. Tell me, what's the matter this time?"

Hearing the White Snake Immortal's words, Zhi Xue scratched her head awkwardly.

"It seems that the White Snake Immortal already knows some things. I did come here today to ask about something called a talisman."

Even though she chose the fourth option—to be an enemy of the entire ninja world—she still had to care for the people she cared about, didn't she?

Upon hearing what Zhi Xue said, the White Snake Immortal was also taken aback.

She knew about magic talismans, but she didn't usually use them because that was a trick only toads used.

"What do you want the magic talisman for? Making it would be quite troublesome."

Hearing what the White Snake Immortal said, Zhi Xue was also a little surprised. She had only been hoping for a lucky break, but she didn't expect that she could actually do it herself. This was much better than buying it from the system shop.

After obtaining the steps for making immortal talismans from the White Snake Immortal, Zhixue scratched her head in distress.

Although the celestial talisman is powerful enough to bring the dying back to life, it requires a large amount of pure celestial energy and cannot be mixed with any impurities. It seems that it will take quite a while to save Gaara.

After leaving the White Snake Immortal's temple, Zhi Xue sat in a nearby ancient-style corridor, then ran into the surrounding stone caves used for cultivation. She bought a blank talisman from the system shop and then tried to refine her immortal energy little by little by pouring it into the talisman.

Next spring is when Pain's plan will begin. The first person he'll probably target is Gaara. Shukaku can't be saved, so we'll have to look for other ways to rescue Gaara. After all, Gaara is both her apprentice and her tutor for six years.

……

Half a month later in the Land of Wind, the Sand Ninja, who had been released by Konoha for a fee, struggled to make their way back to their village amidst a sandstorm. Meanwhile, Gaara, walking against the wind and sand behind the army, suddenly saw a hand handing over a semi-transparent veil from his side.

"Thank you." After glancing at Temari, Gaara put his veil over his face.

"No need to thank me. Although we haven't seen each other for many years, we are still siblings, aren't we? After Father's death, I will take care of you!" Temari said, patting Gaara on the shoulder.

“Siblings…” Gaara was somewhat stunned as he looked at Temari, who had a forthright personality and an indescribable sense of confidence.

Because of Rasa's demands, he couldn't play with his brothers and sisters like other children from a young age. He could only practice ninjutsu and control his power every day. It seemed that there was nothing else to do. This was the first time he had ever felt this way.

Watching Temari hand Gaara a windproof veil from behind the two of them was also somewhat displeasing.

I'm your younger brother, and we've been playing together since we were little. Why didn't you prepare a windproof veil for me?

"It's so frustrating to compare yourself to others..." Kankuro muttered to himself before returning to Sunagakure with a melancholy mood.

After returning to the village, Jonin Maki went back to the Kazekage Building and held a meeting with many high-ranking officials to discuss how to stabilize the situation in Sunagakure after Rasa's death. Gaara, looking at this unfamiliar village, was also somewhat lost and didn't know where to go.

Gaara wanted to project the composure he exuded when he was in charge of the Western Desert Academy, but without the familiar setting and circumstances, he couldn't muster that confidence.

"It's still better at the academy..."

Just as Gaara was looking for a place to be alone for a while, a familiar figure appeared before his eyes.

"Lord Gaara, welcome back."

Gaara turned around in disbelief and saw Yashamaru standing behind him, wearing a Shinin vest and with his arms outstretched.

"Yoru, Yashamaru? What are you doing here?"

Yashamaru reached out and hugged Gaara, then smiled and said, "The academy is temporarily being managed separately by the teachers there, and I came to check on things because I was worried after hearing about the defeat of Sunagakure."

"Is that so..." Gaara was relieved to hear what Yashamaru said.

The Western Desert Academy is something left behind by his master, so naturally he must take it seriously. This is also one of the reasons why he lives in this world.

After chatting with Yashamaru on the rooftop of Sunagakure for a while, Gaara felt a lump in his throat when he heard that Shisei had returned.

Has Master finally returned after disappearing for six years? I'm sure she'll be very happy to see this academy gradually prospering!

Chapter 232, A Fei

Half a month later…

Yashamaru returned to the academy to resume his administrative duties, while Gaara, known as the orphan of the Kazekage, was temporarily left in Sunagakure. However, compared to the village that had not given him a happy childhood, he still preferred the atmosphere of the academy.

As night fell and the weather gradually turned cold, Temari, with her three-star fan tied to her lap, chatted with Gaara in the room about interesting things about Sunagakure, trying to make Gaara stop resenting his stern and impartial father.

Although Gaara understood her feelings, the wounds in his heart were still indelible scars. If Yashamaru had died in the academy under Rasa's arrangement, he really couldn't imagine what kind of mental state he would have been in afterward.

He has to thank his master for this; if it weren't for his master's intervention, he might have already fallen into the abyss of darkness.

Gaara waved goodbye to Temari, who was saying goodbye to him, in a daze.