Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 141 The Numb Red-Haired Woman

"Never mind, I'll just bring the moonstone with me."

After some thought, the Third Hokage decided to bring Sarutobi Moonstone with him; he had been too optimistic before.

If the Five Kage can work together, then there's no need to bring Sarutobi Moonstone; they can guarantee that they can kill Li Yao.

But how can we get the five hidden villages, which are currently at war with each other, to work together?

This is not asking the impossible, is it?

Therefore, in order to ensure that Li Yao could be killed, the Third Hokage had no choice but to bring Sarutobi Gekisai with him.

……

Snake Island.

late at night.

On the wooden cabin's terrace, Li Yao sat in a chair eating a roast duck he had taken from the Blackwater Space.

After crossing the Arctic, he headed towards Snake Island, where he could determine his location.

After finishing his meal, Li Yao created a shadow clone and returned to the wooden cabin to sleep, intending to spend the night there before continuing his journey the next day.

Lying on the wooden bed, Li Yao consciously focused on the ink-wash eagles that had flown by. He observed them through his consciousness connection, but none of the eagles had discovered the Konoha ninjas.

"Could it be that the people from Konoha really didn't chase after us?"

Upon arriving here, Li Yao couldn't help but wonder if he was being too sensitive; the people from Konoha hadn't come.

But if the people from Konoha didn't come, then who discovered him?

Both Iwagakure and Kumogakure sent only one person, clearly to confirm whether he was really on that cold island.

At this point, Li Yao realized that someone had informed the people of Iwagakure and Kumogakure about his presence on that island, which is why they sent someone to verify the information, rather than directly dispatching a team of ninjas to assassinate him.

He had previously thought that Konoha had found him, but now... he wasn't sure anymore.

"Who is it?"

"Why did I expose my whereabouts?"

After thinking for a long time, Li Yao still had no clue. In order to avoid being discovered, he had gone into seclusion near the Arctic Circle, a place isolated from the world, and had not come out. Yet, he was still discovered without anyone noticing. The key point is that he didn't even know he had been discovered.

What kind of special ability is this method?

"Sigh! It seems I should resolve the chakra level issue as soon as possible."

Knowing that the enemy might have unknown means to find him without him noticing, Li Yao knew he had no choice but to become stronger so that he could be fearless of any threat.

The next morning.

After waking up, Li Yao ate breakfast, washed up, and then rode the Black Iron Giant Eagle toward the Land of Fire.

He was going to find the descendants of the Whirlpool Clan.

At this time, the Uzumaki clan should have just been wiped out.

There are many survivors of the Uzumaki clan in other small countries in the ninja world who live in seclusion.

These survivors must know a lot about sealing techniques. Find them and learn the basics of sealing techniques from them.

Having learned the basics of sealing techniques, Li Yao should be able to quickly inscribe a devouring sealing array on himself, temporarily resolving the issue of chakra levels.

After spending three years accumulating chakra comparable to that of a tailed beast, he would capture the Third Hokage, inquire about the Spirit Transformation Technique, and then decipher the mysteries of the soul from the Spirit Transformation Technique to develop the Perfect Transformation Technique.

That will be the beginning of his revenge and destruction of Konoha.

From this point on, the plan to destroy Konoha was fully completed and had clear steps.

The first step is to find someone from the Uzumaki clan to learn sealing techniques.

……

The Land of Grass.

On the border, the ninjas of Kusagakure are engaged in fierce battle with the ninjas of Takigakure in the Land of Waterfall.

Both sides suffered heavy casualties, with ninjas dying in droves and countless others wounded.

Despite such heavy casualties, the war between the two countries continued.

Unlike large countries, small countries have very few top-tier fighters; they rarely have even Jonin-level ninjas, let alone Kage-level ones.

Their war was also more brutal, a contest of numbers and attrition.

That's why the casualties were so high.

At this time, at the rear headquarters of Kusagakure, batches of wounded ninjas from the front lines were being sent back here for treatment.

Inside the huge tent, there were no beds or stretchers; the wounded lay or sat directly on the ground to receive treatment from medical staff.

"No, let me take a bite, I can still fight! I really..."

A fifteen-year-old Kusagakure ninja lay on the ground, his pale face filled with desperate pleading for the Kusagakure medical captain in front of him to let him bite the red-haired woman beside him.

The head of the medical team in Kusakabe was a middle-aged man with a perpetually unapproachable expression on his face, and his words were equally cold and ruthless.

"Right leg fractured, no emergency treatment needed."

The middle-aged man glanced at the fifteen-year-old boy's right thigh, where the knee was no longer visible, and shook his head slightly. He then pulled the red-haired woman toward the next wounded soldier.

"I...I..."

The next wounded soldier was quite old, with completely white hair, at least seventy or eighty years old, and he was opening his mouth as if he wanted to say something.

He had a huge wound on his chest that almost cut off half of his body diagonally. Even though it was wrapped in white bandages, the overflowing blood still stained his entire body red.

With such injuries and so much blood loss, plus the old man's age, even if he were saved, he probably wouldn't live for more than a few days.

Logically speaking, the old man, like the boy with the broken leg, shouldn't need emergency treatment.

However, the middle-aged man grabbed the red-haired woman and pulled her in front of the old man, coldly saying, "Let's begin, woman."

The red-haired woman squatted down with a numb expression, rolled up her sleeves, and stretched out a section of her fair arm, which was covered with unhealed teeth marks.

The red-haired woman stretched her arm, covered in teeth marks, towards the old man's mouth, instinctively closing her eyes and waiting for the familiar stinging sensation to strike.

However, after waiting for a while, the stinging pain did not come. She opened her eyes and saw the old man who could heal his injuries in seconds with just one bite, but he shook his head at her.

The dying old man looked at the red-haired woman with nothing but pity in his eyes.

Upon seeing this, the red-haired woman's numb expression flickered slightly, but this flicker was quickly silenced by the cold voice of the middle-aged man behind her.

"Do you intend to betray the village?"

Upon hearing this, the old man paused, then the pity in his eyes gradually faded, leaving only helplessness. In the end, he still bit the red-haired woman's arm.

In an instant, the vibrant chakra flowed into his mouth and into his body through the blood from the wound he had bitten the woman.

Soon, the stinging pain from the huge wound subsided, and his strength returned.

His injuries have fully healed, but his hair has turned even grayer.

"Feel sorry."

The old man released his mouth, lowered his head and whispered something. His voice was so soft that only the red-haired woman heard it, but she had no reaction at this point. She numbly got up and followed behind the middle-aged man, "treating" the wounded one by one.

The emergency treatment standard for middle-aged men is very simple: if they can continue to fight, they should be saved no matter how serious their injuries are.

Those who are missing limbs can't even be cannon fodder; they can only rely on themselves.

As for others like the old man who are still able to fight, even if they are cured and only have a few days left to live, we should still save them. Let them fight for as many days as they can, as long as they can play a role on the battlefield.

Even if it means dying on the battlefield, that's the war between small countries—a hundred times more brutal than that between the five great powers.

night.

After a round of "treatment," the red-haired woman was pale and looked like a dried corpse.

The middle-aged man led the woman to a small wooden cabin and opened the door.

"Mother……"

A little red-haired girl, about twelve years old, was hiding in a corner of the wooden house where the moonlight couldn't reach. When she saw the red-haired woman's figure when the door opened, she wanted to run and hug her mother, but she looked at the middle-aged man behind her mother with fear and didn't dare to go over. She could only hide in the dark corner and softly call out for her mother.

"Go in."

The middle-aged man, expressionless, pushed the woman inside, ignoring her as she collapsed to the ground. He casually tossed down two rice balls, closed the door, and left.

The red-haired woman was already exhausted and was only holding on by her willpower. The moment she heard her daughter's voice upon returning to the cabin, her willpower collapsed.

At that moment, he was pushed by the middle-aged man and fell to the ground, motionless.

"Mommy..." As soon as the door closed, the little girl quickly crawled over on all fours.

At this moment, the moonlight outside shone through the window onto the girl's thin, bony body.

"Mother……"

The little girl struggled to lift her mother's right arm and place it on her neck, then burrowed her head under her mother's armpit. She then used her knees to push against her mother's chest, and with great effort, she managed to turn her mother over so that she lay flat on the ground.

At this moment, because the little girl's scalp was pressed against the hard ground, the slightly red scar on her forehead was rubbed away again, and a trickle of blood seeped out.

Ignoring her own injuries, the little girl quickly picked up the two rice balls from the ground, gently blew away the dirt and dust, put them away, and then quietly waited for her mother to wake up.

Clearly, this is not the first time such a scene has occurred.

Glug... Glug...

While waiting, the little girl's stomach kept rumbling with hunger, but she seemed oblivious. She just kept looking at her mother with expectant eyes, silently repeating, "Mother, wake up! Mother, you're alright! Mother, wake up..."

(End of this chapter)