I just returned to Konoha and found that all my clan members were gone.

A ball of blazing flames struck, destroying a large area of ​​trees in the Death Forest. A fire started in the forest and was about to spread.

Water escape technique, waterfall technique

A rush of water flowed down from top to bottom, and with great effort, it finally put out the fire that was about to cause a disaster.

Tianzang looked at Hongdou who was standing not far away speechlessly.

"I say, even if you want me to practice, you don't have to make such a big fuss. What if the forest catches fire and it increases my workload?"

Hongdou looked at the extinguished flame with an unwilling look.

"Is this a big deal? It's nothing compared to him!"

Tenzang's joke didn't work, and he fell silent after hearing Hongdou's answer. The departure of Uchiha Ye Lan cast a shadow over the entire Konoha.

In the past, all the ninjas who were on good terms with Ye Lan had been interrogated to varying degrees, and Hongdou, who was closer to Ye Lan, was no exception.

"Don't say that. That guy can't be treated as an ordinary person. I didn't stand a chance of fighting back in front of him. And didn't you get promoted to Jonin?"

Because Hongdou is now assigned to the Root, Tenzo, as the captain of the Anbu, will usually hand over his work to Hongdou, otherwise Hongdou would not ask him to practice.

But Yamato's words obviously didn't hit the point. Speaking of Hongdou, who had just been promoted to an official jonin not long ago, she was much older than Ye Lan.

"idiot!"

Hongdou gave Tianzang an unhappy look and left.

Yamato, who remained where he was, rubbed his head awkwardly and muttered.

"Did I say something wrong again?"

Finally, he looked at the large area of ​​forest that had been destroyed and sighed.

Hongdou found an open place and stopped alone. After thinking of something, she punched the tree trunk beside her.

"They are both such self-righteous guys!"

Two people who were on good terms with him left Konoha, one was his master and the other was Ye Lan who had helped him.

Although the other party only made a decision after I rejected them every time, what could I do as a Konoha ninja?

Didn't I just refuse to help? Maybe if the other party had begged a little more, I would have agreed. Why did he have to make it like this? That bastard even used an illusion on me, and I didn't even get to see the last look of our parting.

The more Hongdou thought about this, the angrier she became. For the first time, she felt how weak and powerless she was. It was good that she was promoted to a jonin, but compared to those monsters, she was still far behind.

However, Hongdou is not the kind of person who gives up on herself. It seems that she can no longer make any further progress in the practice of Fire Style on her own. After adding the power of the curse seal, she is considered outstanding among the jonin, but it is not good enough compared to Ye Lan's earth-shattering Fire Style.

Hongdou's fingers stroked the curse seal on her neck, as well as the seal added by Ye Lan. She seemed to have reached a bottleneck again. Did she have to continue studying the techniques left by Orochimaru?

Hongdou began to think again, and after thinking about it, she used the summoning technique left to her by Orochimaru. Most of the techniques Orochimaru taught her used the python in the Ryuchi Cave as an aid.

Since we want to make some progress in this area, we might as well summon the python first to see what new moves we can develop.

Red Bean is still the only person besides Orochimaru who has signed a summoning contract with Ryuchido, but this time the summoning technique is completely different from the previous ones.

As soon as she used the summoning technique, Hongdou realized that the natural energy in her body was quickly gathering towards her arms. It turned out that her summoning technique was mixed with natural energy.

Hongdou didn't know whether this situation was good or bad, but she knew that the guy she summoned this time was definitely not a simple one.

After a puff of smoke, a small object appeared in front of him.

"people?"

It is a completely human face. To be more precise, it looks more like a loli. Her dark blue hair is tied into a pair of buns, and she has magatama-like earrings on her ears. Her fair skin and good-looking face make people unable to help but take a second look.

"Wow, you finally used your psychic powers!"

Before Hongdou could react, the blue-haired loli pounced on her.

Perhaps because the other person looked harmless, and because he was a spiritualist, Hongdou had no guard at all and was hugged by him directly.

It’s just that the other person was really short, just reaching his chest. After hugging him, he seemed to have completed a task, and his head shook back and forth excitedly.

The strange feeling in her chest made Anko blush and she quickly pushed the other person away and said.

"Who are you and what is going on?"

The blue-haired loli reluctantly left Hongdou's chest. Why wasn't her development that good?

"My name is Ichikishima-hime, and I'm from Ryuchi Cave. You should know that you signed a spiritual contract with us, right?"

Hongdou nodded. She knew a little about the origin of her summoned beast, but she had never been to Longdi Cave, so why would it come to her?

"Without any systematic training, you have actually learned to use natural energy. You are truly a genius! The White Snake Immortal specifically told me to bring you back!"

Princess Ichikijima stepped forward and grabbed Hongdou's hand. Although it was very weak, she could sense that it was natural energy. Being able to use natural energy without being corroded showed that Hongdou had potential, not to mention that she had not been taught by others.

"Did you guys make a mistake?"

Hongdou pulled her hand back and pointed at the curse seal on her neck.

"I am able to use this power because of the curse left by Orochimaru, but someone sealed it for me so that I would not be affected."

Ichikishima-hime's pupils turned into those of a snake. She carefully looked at the curse seal on Hongdou's neck. After figuring out the principle, she said with some disappointment.

"So that's how it is. The person who designed the seal was very capable and added the use of natural energy. However, the aura of this natural energy does not belong to the Longdi Cave."

Ichikijima-hime looked into Anko's eyes and said.

"Whoever designed this seal, the use of this natural energy is beyond me."

In the last second, she was still a gentle little loli, but in the next second, Hongdou felt like she was being stared at by a wild beast. Princess Ichikishima with her pupils erect put a lot of pressure on her.

Anko said somewhat stiffly.

"This person is a rebel ninja from Konoha. He also has a very powerful summoning beast. As for how he learned this ability, I don't know."

"A powerful psychic beast? A toad? Or a slug?"

Princess Ichikishima's aura was a little weaker. Only the three holy places can learn to use natural energy, so she asked this question.

"No, it's a giant falcon..."

Hongdou gave an answer that was completely beyond Ichikishimahime's expectations.

"what is that?"

Hongdou fumbled in her coat pocket and finally pulled out a photo. As a Root member, she had information on all these rebel ninjas, but she didn't carry much with her.

The photo shows Ye Lan riding on Pojun. It was taken by a Root member at the last moment before leaving Konoha. Pojun's huge size and strange appearance can be seen clearly.

When seeing the photo, Ichikishima's pupils shrank and she couldn't believe it.

"this is..."

She had only said half of her words when she began to think. After hesitating for a while, it seemed that she was going to unleash the power of spiritualism.

Seeing that the other party wanted to leave, Hongdou struggled with her thoughts and stopped Ichikishima-hime who wanted to leave, and looked directly at her and said.

"Is there any way to become stronger in Longdidong?"