Chapter 934

Her already pale face turned even more deathly white; she quickly shut the lid, and Lin Cheng began searching the room for a place to store it—then, in the next instant, the one thing she least expected and least wanted happened.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was no fool—he was a seasoned veteran with sharp insight and instinct; seeing him enter, Lin Cheng clutched the box tightly in her hand and instantly slipped it into her sleeve, surely hiding something illicit.

Originally, he had no intention of probing further, but one of the bodyguards from Leaf Anbu let out a surprised "Huh?" at just that moment.

Those assigned as personal guards to the Third Hokage were elite members even among Leaf Anbu; in every metric, they were among the most observant in the entire ninja population, and this man happened to be a member of the Hyūga clan.

The Byakugan could not be blocked by masks or inner sleeves; the faint chakra color emanating from the box was unmistakably the very hue unique to the Uchiha clan—the Hyūga's ancient enemies.

Things that startled Leaf Anbu were almost always dire; Hiruzen instinctively reached for his pipe, then remembered he had been trying to quit smoking.

His heart sank slightly, but what truly deepened his dread was Lin Cheng's instinctive step backward and her defensive posture.

Though he understood her action might have seemed like reaching for a tool from her ninja pouch, for Lin Cheng, did the secret in that box make her feel she was betraying her teacher's trust?

Thinking this, he discarded his earlier thought of letting it go, and turned slightly to ask the Anbu beside him, "What did you see?"

"Maybe I misread it," the Anbu replied, his hand tightening nervously as sweat trickled down his cheek—he gave an answer he himself didn't believe.

Another Anbu sensed the sudden shift in atmosphere and stepped forward, placing himself between the Third and Lin Cheng, speaking in a flat tone: "Lin Cheng, my lord, what was it you just held? May we inspect it…?"

It was phrased as a question, but carried the weight of a demand.

Lin Cheng hesitated, her fingers whitening from gripping the box; meeting Hiruzen's stern, anxious gaze, she wrestled within herself—then finally came to a decision.

The tense atmosphere, like a punctured balloon, deflated; Lin Cheng, resigned, placed the box upon the examination table.

Opening the lid, a pair of Sharingan eyes were revealed without surprise before Hiruzen and the two Anbu.

"I should clarify… I only received this today," she weakly tried to explain, but found herself unable to articulate where it had come from.

Every thought of the masked man—and the Sharingan eye beneath his mask capable of shifting space and time—made her want to confess everything, yet recalling Kaguya's words about the Uchiha's ambitions, she clenched her teeth and swallowed both her defense and the truth; she wanted to see how the Uchiha would react upon learning this.

"I alone will bear all consequences… Master Sarutobi!" After closing her eyes briefly, she opened them again—now wearing the demeanor of one who had surrendered.

· ·······Requesting flowers····· ·····

The expected silence—or rather, Young Yuanzi had already known the answer—but even so, Xiao Mei stubbornly refused to speak; and Young Yuanzi, who had always been so confident in her understanding of those around her, suddenly found herself unable to read this girl who had silently walked with her through so many trials.

Along with memories came guilt; one could say the very person responsible for Xiao Mei's current state was Young Yuanzi herself—who had given her little, and had taken something from her.

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After several sparring sessions, it became clear Xiao Mei's strength had stagnated; she herself seemed trapped in a mental prison, her cold shell impervious to all attempts to break it—because the key itself was clutched tightly in the hand of the one locked within.

Young Yuanzi knew exactly where the problem lay—and precisely because of that, she was the one least qualified to counsel her.

Regardless, I hope to see the Xiao Mei I once knew—the one who worked diligently, meticulously, and sometimes relied on others; all she could do was voice her inner hope—what Xiao Mei would choose next, she had no idea.

Pushing all these thoughts aside, she sat in her room, quietly polishing Beifeng.

As her emotions calmed, a storm of thought surged within her.

Reflecting on everything that had happened recently, she realized something seemed to be slipping away from her; yet Young Yuanzi had no intention of reclaiming it—she had no time for such ethereal matters, and far more troubling concerns weighed on her.

In this fractured plot, what still remained? Dead.