bdsm-fiction Page 423
Page 423
This... is absolutely impossible in the "root".
A wave of emotion surged within Xin's heart.
The only rules of the root are mission and sacrifice; everything can be sacrificed to protect the mission.
Sai's actions at this moment clearly demonstrate that he prioritizes the safety of his comrades.
“Sai…you…”
Xin's heart was filled with confusion, and a hint of something indescribable... anticipation.
Just then, Shin unleashed a barrage of kunai shuriken, the dense attack covering the entire area!
Sai pushed away Duan Wu, who was forming hand seals and unable to dodge in time.
He was grazed on the shoulder by several kunai, which sent him flying and crashing heavily into a charred tree trunk.
A slightly worn picture book with frayed edges slipped out of the gap in his ninja tool bag and fell to the ground.
Upon seeing the picture book, a very subtle change finally appeared in Sai's usually indifferent eyes.
It was a complex emotion... a mixture of tension, concern, and even... a hint of panic.
He instinctively wanted to rush over and pick it up, but Scorpion clearly wouldn't give him that chance.
The spear had already pierced the air and was coming, forcing him to roll over and dodge. The picture book lay there all alone in the war-torn open ground.
Xin's gaze was also drawn to the picture book.
He noticed Sai's fleeting unusual expression.
The battle continued, and Sai, distracted, became slightly slow in his movements, making his situation increasingly dangerous.
Shin watched as Sai narrowly dodged attacks time and time again, his gaze occasionally drifting towards the picture book.
A certain emotion suppressed within me by the reincarnation in the Impure World is quietly reviving.
It can't go on like this!
Just as Xin was struggling internally, and Scorpion was preparing to launch a more ferocious attack, attempting to annihilate these annoying flies in one fell swoop—
"Boom—!!!"
A thick, dragon-like, dazzling azure lightning bolt tore through the sky without warning.
With a deafening roar, it struck the location where Scorpion and Nobunaga were!
A terrifying burst of Lightning Release chakra erupted instantly, forming a massive spherical lightning field that engulfed everything in its blinding white light!
The violent shockwave from the explosion sent Kankuro, Omoi, and the others who were closest to it flying away.
Even Xin's body was shattered by this blow, and he temporarily lost control.
When the lightning subsided, a charred crater remained on the ground.
The scorpion's filthy body was slowly coalescing at the bottom of the pit.
"Damn it... Lightning Release..."
Sasori's voice was filled with anger; he hated lightning-style ninjas the most.
However, before he could fully recover, a gigantic hand made entirely of solidified, violent purple chakra appeared.
It suddenly emerged from the still-lingering smoke and dust!
With lightning speed, he grabbed the scorpion, which had just formed half a body, and firmly grasped it in his palm!
That is... the hand of Susanoo's initial form!
"what?!"
Scorpion was terrified and tried to struggle, but under the absolute power, his puppet body was as fragile as a toy.
"Crack... Pfft!"
The purple chakra hand suddenly clenched together and squeezed hard!
Sasori's not-yet-fully-recovered body, along with its core regeneration core, was instantly crushed into countless flying fragments and pieces of paper!
"Kankuro!"
A clear, familiar voice came from behind the smoke and dust.
Kankuro understood instantly!
He endured the pain in his internal organs caused by the shockwave and quickly formed hand seals!
The puppet crow, which had been waiting in the wings, suddenly spread its seemingly clumsy body.
It revealed a unique structure that was hollow inside and covered with sharp barbs and sealing runes!
Almost at the same moment the crow opened its mouth, the purple chakra hand moved as if discarding trash.
The scorpion's still-wriggling, fragmented pieces, which couldn't be completely reassembled, were precisely thrown into the crow's open "abdomen"!
Kankuro shouted, and the crow's body instantly closed up completely!
The internal mechanisms immediately activated, and several poisoned, sharp blades sprang out from all directions.
It pierced through the fragments of filthy earth that were trying to coalesce, pinning them firmly to the inner wall!
Thus, even though Sasori possesses the immortality attribute of the Impure World Reincarnation, he is still unable to achieve his goal.
With their bodies completely dismembered, imprisoned, and sealed, they have also completely lost their ability to move and pose no threat.
He was completely imprisoned in Kankuro's puppet "Crow," becoming a special "prisoner."
As the smoke and dust slowly dissipated, Sasuke Uchiha's figure came into view.
He stood within the small, initial form of Susanoo, with lingering arcs of lightning still dancing around him.
The Mangekyou Sharingan coldly swept across the battlefield, eventually landing on the other side.
The impact of Sasuke's appearance just now also flipped several pages of the picture book on the ground.
At that moment, the picture book was spread out on the ground, revealing several pages of its contents.
Xin's gaze was involuntarily drawn to it.
What was drawn on it was not the mission record or ruthless killing techniques he had imagined.
Instead, they were a series of... slightly clumsy, yet earnest pencil sketches.
The painting depicts their time at "Root," where they were undergoing tedious ninjutsu training together under dim lighting.
They ate the bland-tasting soldier's rations in silence.
They sweated together on the training field, correcting each other's postures;
On one occasion, Shin even secretly shared his rare dessert with the injured Sai...
These images, like a dusty photo album, instantly touched the softest spot in Xin's heart.
So... Sai remembered everything.
The central page of the picture book depicts the two of them.
In the scene, he and Sai are standing face to face, each extending a hand as if they want to hold each other's.
However, both of their faces were blank, devoid of any expression.
There were no smiles, no warmth, only a chilling emptiness.
“Sai, what’s wrong with you…” Shin’s voice trembled, as if he had understood something.
As Sai looked at the painting, a clear emotion, one of "struggle," finally appeared on his usually indifferent face.
He answered in a low, hoarse voice: "Originally... I wanted to draw a picture of the two of us... shaking hands."
"But... I can't draw it... I've forgotten... I've forgotten how to draw... a smile."
This sentence, like the final key, completely unlocked the shackles on faith.
The constraints of the Impure World Reincarnation technique seemed to loosen somewhat at this moment.
Shin looked at Sai.
Seeing how he risked his life to protect his companions.
Seeing the pain he was showing because he couldn't draw a smile.
A genuine, gentle smile, one that reflected "faith," a smile of relief and contentment, slowly appeared on his face.
"But Sai... now, don't you already know... what feelings are?"
Xin's voice became incredibly gentle: "You will act for your comrades, you will fight to protect their lives... All of this is not an order, but your own subjective will, isn't it?"
He reached out to Sai, the hand that had once hovered in the air in the painting, as if crossing the boundary between life and death:
“Think back, Sai! Think back to that time... our real smiles.”
The letter's words, like a magical incantation, struck directly at the area deep within Sai's soul that was frozen by the dark dogma of "Root".
The seal began to loosen and collapse violently!
Images that had been deliberately forgotten flooded into Sai's mind like a burst dam—
It wasn't the fatigue from training, but the secret joy they felt when Xin quietly handed them a piece of candy and they exchanged a knowing smile.
Instead of a report on the mission's success, in a secluded corner, Shin clumsily told a not-so-funny joke, yet it made both of them burst out laughing.
It wasn't a cold handshake, but a genuine, warm, and resolute smile on their faces as they stood back to back under the setting sun, promising to live together...
At that time, they would laugh!
Tears streamed down Sai's perpetually empty eyes without warning.
He reached out his hand tremblingly, but instead of grasping the illusory hand of the letter, he abruptly picked up the sketchbook and paintbrush from the ground.
He turned to the blank face, and the paintbrush seemed to come alive in his hand.
He no longer needs to recall techniques, no longer needs to imitate expressions.
That surging, warm feeling of something lost and then regained naturally guided his pen.
With just a few strokes, the artist sketched out gentle, upturned corners of the mouth on those two blank faces, and depicted curved, bright eyes.
In the painting, Shin and Sai are no longer cold, lifeless tools.