Chapter 43 Mysterious Man

Late at night, the Neckar River reflects the starry sky, and under the moonlight, the river meanders and flows, eventually flowing into the sea. However, the tranquil scenery is broken by the shocking blood upstream.

A man in black stood at the edge of the canyon, scanning the river with his one sharp eye.

Next to him, a spiral humanoid creature made of wood and chakra was squatting.

"I saw him fall with my own eyes, brother. At that height, the water is as hard as stone. He must have died."

"We have to confirm," the man said firmly, his eyes searching the water for any unusual movements, "We can't leave any hidden dangers."

Spiral Man nodded and used his perception to explore the river surface, even though he knew his help was unnecessary.

"White Zetsu said this is just the beginning and the old man will need several more hours to finish."

The man in black nodded slightly but did not answer.

Silence enveloped the two of them like a net. Time passed by minute by minute, and the river remained calm.

Suddenly, there was movement on the river.

A huge black shadow floated from a distance, it was definitely not an ordinary piece of driftwood.

The man immediately recognized the outline of a human figure, with one arm hanging limply and blood all around. Such a large amount of blood could not be caused by a stopped heart.

The man jumped off the cliff without hesitation, his body flipped gracefully in the air, and landed lightly on the vertical cliff. Then he exerted force again and landed steadily on the water.

He leaned over and hooked his arm around the young man floating in the water, bringing him to shore.

The Spiral Man immediately came over, but the man ignored him and walked straight to the shore, where he laid the boy on the gravel beach and began to check his injuries.

The boy's eye sockets were empty, with dark blood flowing. His left arm was broken at the shoulder, with uneven wounds, probably caused by being torn by trees on the cliff, and there were several pieces of wood embedded in the broken arm.

"The eye is missing, the situation is not good. Could someone find him before us?" Bai Zetsu walked around the man's side to get a better look at the injury. The man in black carefully examined the boy's left eye and shook his head.

"No, judging by the wounds, at least one of his eyes was gouged out by himself. He is still alive."

Bai Jue was stunned for a moment:

"You said he was still alive? He jumped into the water from a 200-meter-high cliff. There's no difference between water and cement."

"The cedars on the cliff slowed his fall," the man said, pointing to the boy's broken left arm. "Besides, dead men don't breathe."

As he said, the boy's chest rose and fell slightly, and his breathing was short and weak, which showed that he had only recently lost consciousness and had at least avoided the river water from pouring into his lungs to a certain extent.

What’s even more surprising is that he showed no signs of hemorrhagic shock, which shows how strong a will to survive this is for a child who fell off a cliff.

"Perhaps, ending his suffering now is the best option." Bai Zetsu said in a cold tone.

The man in black didn't say anything and didn't move.

Silence fell again, Bai Zetsu narrowed his eyes in confusion:

"brother?"

The man finally moved, pulling out a kunai from thin air and cutting the boy's blood-stained black shirt.

"Bring me my creeper seedlings," he ordered, throwing the cloth into the river, "at once."

Bai Zetsu executed the order without hesitation. He opened his palm and a sealing scroll appeared in his palm.

As the scroll opened, his hands closed again, forming a seal of focused chakra.

After a puff of smoke, a tiny seed appeared in the center of the seal. It was a teardrop-shaped seedling with five or six slender crimson vines.

The man in black used gentle chakra to remove the wood chip from the boy's wound. The wood chip seemed to be pulled and easily separated from the flesh.

Bai Zetsu picked up the ivy seedling and handed it to his master.

The man pinched the seedling between two fingers, and even with such a slight contact, the vine began to come alive, trying to climb and grow.

"Shh," the man whispered, calming the restless seedling with his chakra.

The vines quieted, but still wrapped around his fingertips. He pressed the seedling into the boy's bloody wound, concentrating, guiding the seed to grow.

For him, Wood Release never requires hand seals.

The seedlings began to work, and the vines searched for major nerves and blood vessels. Some of them sealed the wounds, while others connected to the blood vessels, quickly covering the boy's wounds and forming a thick layer of skin tissue to prevent infection.

"Are you sure this is wise, brother?" White Zetsu asked, staring at the boy closely, with a hint of worry in his tone, "A missing Uchiha is still a threat to us. If Danzo finds out..."

"He won't find out. There have been enough dead tonight. If he survives, it's his lot."

White Zetsu nodded in obedience.

"Follow your instructions."

The man in black looked at him suspiciously:

"Gulu, if you disagree with my decision, you can just say it."

"I have absolutely no objection, I'm just worried about your safety."

The man snorted.

"I'm not that easy to kill."

"Of course I believe in your strength," Bai Zetsu lowered his head and said respectfully.

"Go."

White Zetsu disappeared instantly, leaving only the man in black and the unconscious Uchiha boy.

The man sighed, his mind full of thoughts. He was weighing various possibilities and making full preparations for an inevitable choice, even though this choice was not what he wanted.

The boy's breathing became rapid and intermittent. He knew that for the boy, coma was a relief. The pain of losing a limb was unimaginable.

He bent down, gently picked up the boy, and held him in his arms.

There were bursts of thunder in the distance, indicating that a heavy rain was about to come.

All the filth and sin will be washed away by this rain.

The man in black held the injured boy and walked steadily along the river bank.

He used Taijutsu to move through the dense forests of the Fire Nation, keeping his steps steady and light so as not to aggravate the boy's injuries.

He knew that although the boy's life was not in immediate danger, excessive blood loss could lead to shock at any time, which could be as deadly as a fatal injury.

An adult ninja might be able to suppress the injury with chakra, but this child, who was at most fifteen years old, obviously couldn't do it.

A drizzle of rain began to fall, and the boy woke up.

He blinked his empty eyes and grabbed the man's arm in horror.

The man in black could sense the boy's panic and uneasiness, his body tense, ready to fight or flee at any moment.

But soon, the boy's ninja instinct overcame his fear. He tried to calm himself down and used his remaining senses to perceive the surrounding environment. Finally, he confirmed that the man had no ill intentions.

The man held him in a protective manner, not a confinement. If he wanted, he could break free at any time.

"Where am I?" the boy's voice was hoarse and painful. "Why can't I see?"