Naruto hadn't let out a peep of sounds. From the moment she stopped talking, they braved the wilderness in a complete silent.

Lin Ruoxi's face turned gloomy, despite her attempt on explain her intention, she couldn't help but thinking Naruto got offended.

Step by step, only a snapping sounds of fallen branches breached their ears.

The talk of crickets in the nearby bushes, the dance of the leaves from the lushes trees.

They wandered in the jungle, with nothing but each other presence that comforting.

"Naruto..." after the time that seemed move for eternity, she couldn't bear the cold shoulder attitude he showed, after all, both couple just crossed the matter between man and woman, and it's a terrible outcome if they are at each other throat instead of being jolly.

Naruto still kept his voice to himself.

"Naruto... talk to me, I am... I am sorry... I didn't mean to insult you, I... I... I just want to think the best for you..." she tightened her grip on his neck, but not enough to choke him.

Yet he remained silent.

"Naruto... just... forget what I said earlier, it was stupid for me to say that, don't worry, you... can stay as what you are, I don't care about your status so long you never abandon me... I..." her voice filled with the urge of desperation, as if a child disowned by her parent.

"Ruoxi..." finally, the jerk blonde greeted the young lady with hesitation tone. Her eyes immediately lit with joy, but his next words definitely staggered her if she's on the ground.

"I think we lost..."

Lost? What do you mean lost?

"The path was just straight ahead, and you still manage to get us to nowhere?!" she pat Naruto's head and made him stared at his front.

"I know! But the tree, bushes, grass, and plants seems... different," Naruto broke free from her hand and glanced to his left and right.

"What? D-don't scare me like that, jerk!" she curled her body and pasted close to his back.

"I am not scaring you, look, that tree suppose to be a mango but now it's a cherry..." Naruto pointed his finger toward his northeast, several feet away from his location, there was five meters high tree planted among the bushes.

"A-are you sure? Maybe you're mistaken?" she puckered her forehead.

"No way, I am confident with my ability to identify anything that I had seen before, pretty sure that was a mango..."

"But... why is it different?" the dread replaced by curiosity.

"Wait," Naruto closed his eyes, but not even a minute later, he opened them again and they glowed in blue iridescent. He looked around, paused time to time, then he frowned before closing his eyes once more, he opened his eyes exactly a minute after, his pupil changed their shape into horizontal strip.

...

Lin Ruoxi didn't know what he does, her sight was blocked by his head thus she unable to witness the change on his eyes.

Naruto observed his surrounding and his countenance remained fixed.

Strange...

The movement of energy in this area didn't seemed natural at all, as if... something or someone had disturbed it recently.

Naruto moved his eyes and stared down the cherry's tree.

I know it, that tree wasn't suppose to be there. Either it got there on its own, or it was moved.

Naruto swept the plants in the vicinity's area, and most of them wasn't originally born around here.

He enlarged his sensory ability, trying to detect any kind of power that caused this phenomenon.

Any power except cultivator, whoever had the special ability certainly could accomplish this task, for example: a Mage who proficient in botany, a Specialist with extraordinary ability to communicate with plants, Fullbringer with wooden sword as their weapon.

But... it was a rare case for any of them to be able to completely one with the nature, unless they had an extremely high comprehension with the said ability, and it also mean they are super powerful.

And up until now, he just realized there was no animal around, not the smallest hare, or even the biggest bear, not a single snake or a pack of deer.

That means whoever moved the plants, must be also commanded the wild life to dissappear from this area.

Botanokinesis and animalia manipulation.

Also covered his or her presence with the surrounding nature.

A powerful mage? A hybrid specialist?

Naruto thought deeply and went silent for quite a long time. Lin Ruoxi became agitated, she put her chin on his shoulder and drew near her cheek toward him.

Naruto noticed her gesture and knew the young lady felt insecured, thus he smiled while patted her bottom.

"Don't worry, I solve this in no time," then Naruto closed his eyes again, slowly the building flame of aura that coating his figure changed from blue color to orange, and only a couple minutes later, it shifted to green.

The aura spread toward the surrounding area and tackled the disturbance of energy in the environment. It was beating and attacking, but not in the intention of wrecking the nature, instead it held the purpose of fixing it.

The lack of order within the nature was restored but Naruto didn't just stop at there and the green aura invaded the line toward the origin of the cause.

Somewhere beside a high and tall mountain, far away from Naruto and Lin Ruoxi's location, a man sat crosslegged atop a giant boulder, the person's garment made of animal's skin and several leaves.

Soon the green aura arrived at his location without the man's knowing, the moment the aura struck his skinny figure, the man's body shivered then he spewed a mouthful of blood, the tanned skin on his face devoid from any redness.

His eyes turned grim and coldly gaze toward Naruto's direction, but before he could do anything, a howling of wolves, a roaring oftigers, and many commotion from the wilds pierced through and shattered the solitaire of the jungle.

The man became panic, he closed his eyes and tried to control them but it's a futile effort, akin to a rigid steel, these animals wouldn't bent their consciousness into his will.

Soon he decided to abandon his location, with many beast tailing him from behind, the man ran far, and fast.

Back at where Naruto's location, in the midst of Lin Ruoxi's confusion, he chuckled then strolled toward their portal.

(***)

It still a night time in Zhong Hai's city, but the environment is incomparably lighter, not only because of many lamps from various place, the sky also younger.

"Back to the city..." Naruto smiled as he appeared under the bridge, sadly the response he heard from the young lady on his back was a snooring. He curled his lips while shaking his head.

Naruto tapped his feet on the ground, the green pale energy covered his figure then he leapt away and disappeared from his spot.

Along the way, his phone had been rang for several times but since his both hands were under her thighs and Lin Ruoxi also slept, he couldn't pick it up.

Naruto stopped by a park within a city, the place built by a milestone and there was a statue of the founder of the city at the heart of the park.

Several people passed by the place, either in a whole pack of family, a couple or a complete loner.

Naruto looked for a white bench and he rested carefully Lin Ruoxi on the top of it. He fished out his phone and noticed the I.d of the caller, by the quantity of its incoming call, it's enough to make him wrinkle his eyebrows.

"Jingjing, is something happen?" he called it back and the moment it was picked up, he said immediately.

"Little brother Naruto, I am sorry for bothering you at this hour..." the voice that came from the other side wasn't a cheerful young and crisp female's tone, instead a weak familiar old man.

"Oh, Old Lee, no, no, I should be the one who said sorry for not picking up earlier, what happen?" the only one who had phone in Mr. Lee's family was Jingjing, it was even the result of her part time jobs for a whole year and little bit share of his stall's profit.

It wasn't that strange if Old Lee also used the phone, but for him to call this many...

"Little brother Naruto, Jingjing... has been hospitalized," the old man said with a wavering tone.

Naruto's eyebrows jumped, his jaw dropped slightly.

"W-what happen? Is she fine?" his tone had a hint of urgency.

"Jingjing got a fight with the ruffians in the market, she got her nose injured..." Old Lee said in a bitter tone.

"How worse the injury?" Naruto leaned against a pillar with rounded bulb as big as a watermelon on the top of it.

"There is an inflammation around her nose so the doctor couldn't really sure, but base on the symptoms, there is a chance of breaking, we wouldn't really know until three days later..."

"Alright, which hospitals, I'll go there."

"It's at the Public Hospital, not far from the market."

"I know the location, and I am sorry for unfortunate event befell Jingjing."

"Thank you, Naruto."

Naruto put down his phone, he stayed on his spot, looking at the ground with somber expression.

Then he sat beside the sleeping beauty, he touched her face and stirred the lamb awake.

"Hm? Have we arrive at home yet?" she rubbed her eyes and raised her upper body.

"No, I have to make a call thus we stop by the park," Naruto whisked several strands of hair from her face.

"Did something happen?" she knew it must be important if he had to stop.

"Yeah, my friend's daughter had an incident, and I plan to go to the hospital after I send you home," Naruto faintly smiled.

"Naruto, you don't have to, I come with you," she said.

"The reason I send you back because I may or may not be home so soon," Naruto said with relaxed expression.

Lin Ruoxi startled, she stared at his face, deeply felt the meaning inside his eyes.

Naruto stood up, offering his hand toward the young woman, she sighed then accepted it, she climbed his back after he turned.

Lin Ruoxi stared at his back with sad eyes, she hugged his neck so close to her face and pressed all her front against him.

"Be careful..." despite her unwillingness, but nothing came from her mouth beside the simple gesture of care.

(***)

Naruto arrived in the plain looking hospital, the size wasn't much, about 1/3 from Yu Lei's building.

He strolled inside, and a surge of negative emotion assaulted his sense.

Along with the stucked up feeling inside his chest because the lack of room to breath.

Left wall decorated with the population of sick and non-sick people who sat on the bunch ofbarely called seats.

Right wall filled with people who hadn't got the chance to get the piece of it, thus forcing them to sucker sitting on the floor.

Naruto stopped, his face didn't show any change in expression but his eyesflickered red.

Naruto shook his head, and his iris once again cerulean.

He traversed two halls before arrived in the section where Lee's family are, the moment he stepped inside, his eyes once again... flickered red.

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