stonecrandall Page 209
Page 209
Her slender fingers gripped her shrine maiden robes tightly, her knuckles turning white, and her body trembled uncontrollably.
The prophecy... was wrong again?
No, it's not wrong!
Kusuna and the others are indeed dead, but... Naruto is not dead!
The prophecy that he would die to protect her... did not come true for him!
What exactly is going on?
Could it be that... prophecies are not absolute?
A faint, almost forgotten thought, like a spark in the darkness, quietly flickered in the still lake of her heart.
Chapter 233 Finally, someone can ignore the prophecy!
The colossal crater left behind after the devastating ball of lightning dissipated silently testified to the power that had transcended mortal comprehension.
The air still smelled of ozone and the burnt smell of cooled lava.
The stench of blood emanating from Banner's corpse in the distance created a nauseating postwar atmosphere.
A deathly silence enveloped the riverbank, broken only by the faint whistling of the wind as it passed through the smooth edges of the giant pit.
However, on the edge of this scene, which symbolizes absolute destruction.
But a completely different storm, originating from within, is quietly brewing.
Ziyuan stood frozen in place, her purple eyes losing focus.
He stared blankly at the smooth, mirror-like, bottomless giant pit.
It slowly rotated again, finally settling on the blond boy standing by the pit, scratching his head and talking to Sasuke.
Azusa's worried voice rang in her ears, as if through a thick veil of water: "Lady Shion, are you alright? Are you injured?"
Shion did not answer; her lips trembled slightly, and her gaze was fixed on Naruto Uzumaki.
The figure seemed to be coated with an unreal halo in the dim sunlight.
"Foot ear..."
Her voice was as soft as a dream, tinged with disbelief and dazedness: "You...did you see it?"
She turned her head sharply and looked at the loyal captain of the guard beside her.
Those eyes, hollow for too long, like dusty amethyst.
At this moment, however, it shone with an astonishing light, burning with a light that Zusui had never seen before, a mixture of shock, hope, and some intense emotion.
"That person...that person...he changed your future!"
These words exploded in Shiho's ears like a thunderclap!
He suddenly recalled the chilling death prophecy of Ziyuan that morning—
He was crushed by an immense force!
But now, he stands here unharmed!
The prophecy... has been broken?!
Ziyuan's breathing became rapid, and her chest heaved violently.
The long-buried memories, like a flood bursting its banks, raged and shattered the defenses she had built with indifference and arrogance.
She remembered when she was a child, and the first time she unconsciously told her playmate, "You're going to die."
The terrified looks in the other family members' eyes and the neighbors who quickly moved away.
She thought of those loyal guards, each one before their death.
She could clearly "see" their gruesome deaths, yet she was powerless to stop it.
Only after their deaths can the most cutting words be used to mask the inner turmoil.
She thought of her mother, Miroku, the gentle yet powerful priestess.
She could only "see" her mother being swallowed by darkness when she was five years old.
He watched helplessly as his mother turned into specks of light and vanished in order to seal away the demon, unable to even utter a word of farewell.
She hated this ability!
I hate those eyes that can foresee death but cannot change it!
She hates the endless sacrifices that come with her identity as a "shrine maiden"!
This hatred ultimately transformed into the sharp thorns she used to protect herself and others.
Pushing everyone away, severing all ties with indifference and willfulness, keeping those who hate her at bay, and those who are loyal...
At least she can endure less of the pain she feels when she foresees her death.
She is not ungrateful, nor is she heartless.
Instead, each "sight" felt like a dull knife repeatedly cutting into her soul!
That is a desecration of the courage of those who knew the outcome yet still went to their deaths for her!
It is an insult to their sacrifice!
But today... just now!
That young man named Naruto Uzumaki, the one she prophesied would "die with his chest pierced through"!
He not only stood there alive, but also in an almost arrogant and unreasonable manner.
Right in front of her, they forcefully pulled Shiho back from her predetermined path to death!
The prophecy... has been broken!
Fate... is not immutable!
This realization was like a thunderclap tearing through the dark sky, violently splitting open the long-frozen, lifeless lake in her heart!
That heavy emotion, suppressed for too long, accumulated to the point that she herself had almost forgotten—
The desire to live!
Grateful for the protection!
Ecstasy of change!
Our deepest sorrow for the deceased!
Feeling aggrieved about one's own fate...
Like volcanic lava that has accumulated for thousands of years, it has finally found its only outlet!
"That's great...really...that's great..."
Ziyuan murmured, her voice choked with uncontrollable sobs.
Crystalline tears, like pearls from a broken string, rolled down her beautiful purple eyes without warning.
At first, it was a silent slump, but it quickly turned into suppressed sobs, and her shoulders began to tremble uncontrollably.
This is not a cry of sadness.
Rather, it was a massive, subversive catharsis, a mixture of incredible ecstasy and the release of long-suppressed emotions!
Tears streamed down her pale cheeks, as if washing away the heavy shackles on her soul.
This sudden turn of events left the three members of Class 7, who had just been discussing the issue of "collecting the bodies," completely stunned!
Naruto's smug smile froze as he looked at Shion, who was crying her eyes out.
He immediately panicked, like a child who had done something wrong: "Hey! You...you...what's wrong? Don't cry! Does it hurt somewhere? Did Sakura hurt you just now?"
He instinctively wanted to step forward, but was afraid that his clumsiness would make the other person cry even harder, so he anxiously spun around in place.
Sasuke frowned slightly, his crimson Sharingan subconsciously scanning his surroundings to confirm that there were no hidden enemies or traces of genjutsu.
He looked at Naruto, then at the weeping Shion, a rare hint of confusion appearing on his usually icy face: "Uh? None of the three of us... got close to her, right?"
He simply couldn't understand why the witch, who had just punched the rock troll to pieces and walked through the Thunderfire Hell without batting an eye, would suddenly start crying like this.
Although Sakura, being a woman, was also caught off guard by Shion's sudden emotional outburst, she was more sensitive and perceptive.
Hearing Naruto's words, she subconsciously recalled her actions when she evacuated with Shion, and immediately panicked: "Idiot Naruto! How could I possibly hurt her! I was being very careful..."
The more she talked, the less confident she became.
The situation was critical just now; she was moving at high speed with the two of them, and it was inevitable that there would be slight deviations in her control of her strength...
Could it be that this seemingly "delicate" shrine maiden was accidentally injured?
"Could it be... that I really did it by accident..."
Sakura's face paled. If she accidentally injured the important mission target because of her negligence, that would be...
"no!"
Ziyuan's voice, thick with sobs, rang out, interrupting the three's wild guesses.
She forcefully wiped away the tears that kept flowing with the back of her hand, trying to calm herself down.
But her words were broken by sobs: "No...it wasn't your fault...thank you...really...thank you...for saving Ashiho..."
She looked up, her eyes brimming with tears, at the three Konoha ninjas before her, each staring in disbelief with a different expression.
Naruto looked completely bewildered, as if wondering "what on earth happened?"
Sasuke was confused, wondering, "What's wrong with this woman?"
Sakura, on the other hand, was nervous, thinking, "I really didn't mean to."
Seeing them like this, Ziyuan's huge emotional turmoil calmed down a little.
Instead, there was an unprecedented warmth, a mixture of gratitude, ease, and a touch of... absurdity.
She sniffed, trying to conceal her lapse with the demeanor of a priestess, but her red-rimmed eyes and trembling voice betrayed her inner turmoil.
"I...I just..."