Chapter 91: Picking Up a Future Mizukage?
Crystal snowflakes, delicate as flower petals, drifted gently down from the overcast sky.
Holding out his palm and watching a single snowflake gradually melt from his body heat, Uchiha Kazuki's eyes flickered with subtle emotion. He murmured quietly to himself: "It's snowing."
The first heavy snowfall of winter—he genuinely hadn't expected to witness it here in the Land of Water.
The entire world lay blanketed in pristine white snow, creating a breathtakingly beautiful sight.
This picturesque scenery—utterly silent and serene—brought an unexpected sense of tranquility and purity to anyone standing within this frozen forest.
A soft, rustling sound emanated from the snow-laden trees nearby.
Lost momentarily in admiring the winter landscape and enjoying this rare peaceful moment, Uchiha Kazuki frowned slightly as a hint of unease stirred in his heart. He focused intently, listening.
The disturbance wasn't far—approximately 150 meters to the northwest direction.
A weak, hoarse voice drifted toward him on the cold wind from within the dense, snow-covered forest.
"Help! Someone help me!"
Someone calling for help?
Uchiha Kazuki raised an eyebrow curiously, pondered the situation for a brief moment, then decided to run toward the source of the sound.
Normally, he would rarely encounter such situations and wouldn't particularly bother intervening in others' affairs.
But perhaps the beautiful snow scene had put him in an unusually good mood today, so he decided to investigate personally.
Thump!
The thick accumulated snow covering branches and leaves was violently shaken off by his rapid footsteps.
After several moments of swift movement, following the gradually fading voice carried on the frigid wind, Uchiha Kazuki finally located the person desperately calling for help.
There—buried within the thick layer of accumulated snow—was a very young child with only half their small body visible above the white surface.
Despite the bitterly cold weather, the child wore only a thin, worn summer jacket covered with numerous patches. Scattered branches lay strewn around their position, clearly indicating they had braved the dangerous blizzard attempting to gather firewood for warmth.
However, the snow accumulation throughout the forest had grown dangerously thick due to the recent storm.
The child, completely unaware of the hunters' concealed traps scattered along these paths, had accidentally stepped directly into one.
Sharp iron teeth had snapped shut with brutal force, clamping tightly onto the child's slender leg. They'd struggled for an unknown duration, their blood staining the surrounding pristine snow a deep crimson red.
"Save me... please... ninja-sama!"
Excessive blood loss combined with the freezing temperature had severely blurred the child's vision. Driven purely by survival instinct, they reached out a thin, dirt-covered hand toward the figure perched silently in the tree above.
Uchiha Kazuki, positioned calmly on a sturdy branch, looked down dispassionately at the child teetering precariously on the edge between life and death.
Though the child's desperate struggle for survival reflected clearly in his pupils, and their pleading voice echoed around him, for some inexplicable reason, his own heart remained completely unmoved.
Like a stagnant pool of water—silent, cold, utterly indifferent.
It felt as if his entire being had been methodically stripped of all thoughts and soul, observing the mortal world from a detached, godlike perspective far removed from human concerns.
He seemed to be growing increasingly cold inside, with human emotions slowly being systematically stripped away from his core essence.
Across his exposed skin, densely packed dragon scales emerged one after another, gleaming with an eerie dim gray luminescence. Countless esoteric symbols and strange mythical patterns spread in overlapping layers across his entire body—those mysterious ancient symbols penetrating deep into his flesh and blood, as if weaving together something that fundamentally did not belong to the material world.
"Please... save me..."
The child's voice grew progressively softer and weaker, their trembling arm slowly falling limp: "I don't... want to die. Grandma is still... waiting for me... at home."
Just at that critical moment, the child's fading voice suddenly rang with perfect clarity in his ears.
Like a thunderclap violently piercing through absolute darkness, it detonated directly in the deepest recesses of Uchiha Kazuki's mind, creating powerful ripples throughout his consciousness.
No. This isn't right!
Suddenly, Uchiha Kazuki's pupils blazed with restored clarity.
The enormous mental shock forcibly dragged him out of that detached, godlike third-person perspective he'd been trapped within.
The lost emotions, fundamental humanity, and everything else that made him human all came flooding back into his body simultaneously.
The ominous dragon scales gradually faded and disappeared entirely, while those mysterious symbols and strange mythical patterns seemed to have never manifested at all.
Uchiha Kazuki clutched his forehead tightly, his fingers digging deep into his hair as he released a long, shuddering breath of profound relief.
If it weren't for this completely unexpected encounter with this dying child today, he might never have realized that his mental state had been gradually veering dangerously off course.
"Those who advance through the Spectator pathway are supposedly unlikely to lose control and can constantly examine their own psychological states," Uchiha Kazuki took another deep, steadying breath, genuine solemnity and lingering fear showing plainly on his face. "But conversely, once a fundamental psychological problem actually arises, it becomes extremely difficult to detect from within."
However, thanks to encountering this child entirely by chance, he'd been able to recognize the critical problem developing within his psyche just in time.
"Is it because I'm a transmigrator?"
He examined his own heart and mind carefully, sighing softly as a complex expression appeared in his eyes.
His unique identity as someone reincarnated from another world allowed him to clearly recognize his own existence as fundamentally separate—thus unconsciously stripping away his personal perspective and observing the dynamics of the ninja world from a detached third-person point of view.
The advantage was that being intimately familiar with the original plot, he naturally played the role of a perfectly qualified 'Spectator' with minimal effort.
The severe downside was that he risked becoming like a completely detached 'Spectator'—observing all living beings with an indifferent, godlike perspective utterly devoid of empathy, inevitably leading to the gradual systematic stripping away of his fundamental humanity.
For someone on the Spectator pathway, losing one's humanity ultimately meant total loss of control and transformation into a mythical creature.
Today's close call served as a crucial lesson he wouldn't forget.
Uchiha Kazuki took one final deep breath to calm his racing thoughts, then looked down at the now-unconscious child buried beneath the snow under the tree. A rare expression of genuine tenderness appeared in his normally calculating eyes: "In a very real sense, you saved me today."
He leaped down gracefully from the tree branch, approached the child's side, and knelt down to carefully pry open the rusty bear trap with controlled strength.
The blood on their slender, grievously wounded leg had frozen solid. The injury was so devastatingly deep that white bone was clearly visible—it seemed the trap could have easily snapped the child's leg completely with just slightly more pressure.
A soft, warm green light began emanating from Uchiha Kazuki's outstretched palm.
Medical Ninjutsu: Mystical Palm Technique!
As a skilled psychologist and medical specialist, knowing various therapeutic techniques was perfectly reasonable and expected.
He pressed his glowing palm gently against the horrific wound, and that soft green light burst forth with powerful regenerative vitality, healing the terrible injury at a visibly rapid pace.
"Ninja-sama..."
The child slowly opened their eyes, revealing striking emerald green irises as they looked up at him with obvious timidity: "Thank you... for saving my life."
"Where do you live?"
Uchiha Kazuki gently stroked the child's matted hair with surprising tenderness: "It's dangerously cold out here. Let me take you home safely."
The child shivered violently from the penetrating cold, biting their lip as their dirty face showed clear fear: "No, no need, ninja-sama! I can... I can make it back by myself."
"It's alright. Don't worry."
Before the child could voice further protests, Uchiha Kazuki bent down and carefully lifted them onto his back: "You've actually done me an enormous favor today, so there's absolutely no need to be afraid. Besides, it's dangerously cold—don't you want to get home quickly to your waiting grandmother?"
Deeply touched by the ninja's unexpected sincerity and warmth, the child softly hummed in grateful agreement, burying their small face into his broad shoulder while pointing shakily in a specific direction: "Over... over there."
Crunch, crunch.
Uchiha Kazuki, carrying the rescued child securely on his back, leaped gracefully across the snow-laden branches.
"I just realized—I forgot to ask your name."
He suddenly recognized he didn't actually know their identity yet. He couldn't keep mentally referring to them as just "the kid."
"My name is Mei Terumi."
The child on his back whispered softly, their small hands gripping his shoulders tightly for security. They asked with innocent curiosity: "What about you? Ninja-nii-san, what's your name?"
Huh?
Uchiha Kazuki stopped his movement abruptly, raising both eyebrows in genuine surprise: "Wait—you said your name is Mei Terumi?"
"Yes! That's the special name my grandma gave me!"
The little girl nodded her head vigorously with obvious pride: "I absolutely love it! Mei Terumi!"
Wait...
I just randomly picked up a future Mizukage?!
[End of Chapter 91]
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