Chapter 71: Youth Is Good

Early morning, WenquanGuan.

Senju Hashirama carefully tucked the sleeping Lihua into his arms, and the bamboo backpack was packed with fish cakes that the Tea House Owner had forced in.

These are the food left for Lihua to eat on the road.

Lian Ye changed back into a black combat uniform and attached Wuku to his waist.

The two of them left Tangyin Village side by side.

"Xiao Lian Ye, where shall we go next?" Senju Hashirama said, "I've heard the Cloud Waterfall in Thunder Country is spectacular, or perhaps the sea mirage of Wind Country?"

Lihua poked his head out from the collar of his clothes, looking at Lian Ye with a curious expression.

Lian Ye thought for a moment, "Uncle Hashirama, how about we go to Water Country to take a look?"

Water Country is the only island nation among the Five Great Nations, and its geography resembles that of an island nation from a previous life.

Because Water Country is an island nation, its local seafood is exceptionally fresh.

He wants to try the taste of the seafood in Water Country first; it won't be too late to visit the other nations later.

"Haha, as you say." Senju Hashirama laughed, "The First Water Shadow's Water Release is peerless; perhaps you could further refine your Water Release Ninjutsu there."

Lian Ye gave no reply; he isn't good at Water Release and isn't very interested in it.

As a Uchiha, he still prefers Fire Release.

He pulled a map from his Ninja Tool Bag, ran his finger slowly along the coastline, and tapped the spot of Kirigakure Village.

"Uncle Hashirama, let's set off now and aim to arrive today,"

On the map, Kirigakure Village was located at the lower right of Country of Hot Springs.

They needed to go to the border of Country of Hot Springs, where they would board a vessel to Water Country.

Saying that, he took the map and began leading the way.

Senju Hashirama suddenly recalled Lian Ye's earlier guiding experience and hurriedly said, "Xiao Lian Ye, let me lead the way."

Without waiting for a word, he snatched the map from Lian Ye's hand and walked at the front.

Lian Ye was speechless, sighing helplessly.

Prejudices in the human heart are a towering mountain…

He only deviated a little from the route before; does Uncle Hashirama have to react like this?

The two's pace was not fast; they walked and stopped repeatedly along the way.

It wasn't until evening that they reached the border of Country of Hot Springs.

By then, there were no vessels on the sea, so they could only spend the night here, waiting for the boatmen to start work the next day.

Water Country is a major exporter of seafood.

Fishermen from neighboring nations go to Water Country's coast every early morning, buy high‑end seafood there, then resell it to inland shops, earning a margin.

……

Night fell, and the campfire crackled.

Senju Hashirama added firewood to the campfire, and the Lihua in his arms had at some point curled into a fur ball again, its missing tail gently resting on his wrist.

He watched Lian Ye bend down to rummage through his Ninja Tool Bag, seeing the youth's fingertips brush past a sharp Kunai before finally resting on a row of small bottles of varying shapes.

"Xiao Lian Ye, what is this?" he squinted and leaned in, and Lihua also stuck his head out.

Under the two curious gazes, Lian Ye straightened up, placed several small bottles on the ground, and a confident smile curved his lips.

"Uncle Hashirama, these are the poisons I've been developing over the years." He picked up a bottle, "This one is called 'ShiXin Poison Poison Poison Poison'; it's colorless and odorless, and if even a drop touches a wound, it essentially condemns the victim to death."

Lihua sniffed the bottle on the ground curiously, and upon hearing Lian Ye's words, was startled and darted back into Hashirama's arms.

"Then what types of poison are these bottles?" Hashirama asked, pointing at the few bottles on the ground.

"You're talking about these… they're all 'ShiXin Poison Poison Poison Poison.'" Lian Ye said.

Hashirama's mouth twitched; the bottles were multicolored.

He had assumed they had different effects, but they were actually all the same.

Seeing Hashirama's expression, Lian Ye also felt a bit helpless.

He also wanted to create more and stronger poisons, but his strength didn't allow it.

Creating a highly toxic poison isn't something that can be done overnight.

He's already refined 'ShiXin Poison Poison Poison Poison' hundreds of times; where is the time to develop new kinds?

Moreover, developing poisons is very costly; almost every experiment costs a lot of money.

The money Lian Ye has earned over the years has almost all gone into poison research.

He is still quite satisfied with the poisons he's developed.

Back when he fought Jiaodu, merely cutting a small piece of Jiaodu's skin could poison the opponent with a deadly toxin.

But he still thought the toxin spread too slowly.

If it were any faster, Jiaodu would have no chance of surviving.

Thinking of that, Lian Ye sighed helplessly, "Alas, it seems the toxin is still not strong enough…"

Senju Hashirama's face turned odd as he stared at Lian Ye, thinking to himself, "The toxin still isn't strong enough?"

He suddenly recalled that Feijian had once said something similar.

"Big brother, I think this ninjutsu's power is still too weak."

After that, Feijian went farther and farther down the path of developing Forbidden Techniques…

No matter how he tried to persuade him, Feijian remained stubborn.

And Lian Ye continued on the road of poison research.

Neither of the two is a source of peace…

Hashirama sighed, feeling deeply remorseful.

If I had known, I wouldn't have let Feijian adopt Xiao Lian Ye.

What a wonderful child, yet he was corrupted by Feijian.

He still remembers that Lian Ye's eyes were full of a yearning to become stronger…

Thinking of that, Hashirama subconsciously looked at Lian Ye.

The campfire flickered, casting Lian Ye's face in shifting light; he lowered his gaze, staring at the small vial in his hand, his eyes ablaze with an obsession for Poison.

Hashirama: "……"

That fiery gaze was just like Feijian's when researching Forbidden Technique.

No wonder he's the child Feijian raised.

Now he doesn't know whether to cry or laugh.

He always feels that Xiao Lian Ye is a miniature version of Feijian…

At this moment, Lian Ye is vividly imagining the scene of using Poison to bring down Six Paths Ban, paying no attention at all to Hashirama's expression.

He believes that as long as he continues his research, he will surely be able to concoct an even more powerful Poison.

Ideally, a Poison that he can control, so that when he wants someone to die from Poison, they simply die from Poison.

By then, he would only need to poison the water, and whoever he wishes to die would die.

Of course, it's just his fantasy.

At Lian Ye's current level, even ten lifetimes wouldn't allow him to produce a Poison of that caliber.

"Xiao Lian Ye?" Hashirama couldn't help but call out.

Lian Ye heard that and woke from his fantasy.

He looked at Hashirama with a hint of melancholy, having just been roused from his fantasy of being the World's Strongest Poison Master.

Noticing Lian Ye's gaze, Hashirama was a little baffled.

He didn't understand why Xiao Lian Ye was looking at him like that.

"Alas." Lian Ye sighed, put away the Poison, and lay on the ground.

He fell asleep; in his dreams, anything can appear…

"Good night, Uncle Hashirama."

Having said that, he closed his eyes and quickly slipped into dreamland.

Hashirama was clearly amazed by Lian Ye's speed of falling asleep, "Youth is great—just drop and sleep."

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would have thought Lian Ye had been knocked out by Monghan Drug.

Because only Monghan Drug can produce that effect…

ps: Everyone, I've had a cold these past two days; tomorrow I'll definitely be up at the third watch!