Team Seven, led by Kakashi, completed their escort mission. Although the mission's difficulty escalated due to an encounter with one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Momochi Zabuza, no one was casualties, and both Naruto and Sasuke showed growth.
On the way back, they saw Beichen Xing lying on the road. Kakashi approached, examined him, and found that he had merely fainted from hunger.
Kakashi then woke Beichen Xing and gave him some water.
"Who are you?" Beichen Xing's first words upon waking were to ask Kakashi and the others their identities, not even offering a word of thanks.
"We are Leaf ninjas. How did you end up collapsed on the road, covered in blood? And what's your name?" Naruto poked his head out, asking with a puzzled expression.
"My name is... Li Xing." As Li Xing spoke the name, it occurred to him, and he said it without thinking.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and my dream is to become Hokage!" Only Naruto, with his carefree nature, would act this way towards a stranger. Kakashi and Sasuke were wary of Li Xing, while Sakura, seeing Li Xing's disheveled state, felt a bit of pity.
"Found them! Kill them all!"
Suddenly, over a dozen ninjas burst from the woods. Their leader was an elite Jonin. Upon seeing Li Xing, they immediately attacked, throwing over a dozen shuriken simultaneously.
Kakashi and the others reacted quickly, deflecting the shuriken with their kunai. Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke surrounded Li Xing and Sakura, ensuring no harm came to them.
"You! Could it be the Leaf's Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi! This situation is bad, retreat!" The leading Jonin recognized Kakashi and immediately ordered a retreat. They began to flee.
Kakashi was puzzled. The identity of these ninjas was unknown, and if they were infiltrators from an enemy village into the Land of Fire, it would be troublesome. He quickly pursued them, instructing Naruto and Sasuke to protect Sakura.
As Kakashi chased after them, Sasuke followed him. It was rather problematic to ask Sasuke to protect someone.
With only Naruto left behind, he immediately began to complain about the two leaving him, thinking they were underestimating him.
"Only two brats left, we've got them!"
Suddenly, two figures leaped from the nearby woods. Naruto immediately summoned five shadow clones and charged at them. Seeing that the spiky-haired kid was troublesome, the two began to retreat. However, Naruto was annoyed; they were running before the fight even began, so Naruto chased after them.
Seeing that everyone else had gone to pursue the ninjas, leaving only Li Xing and Sakura alone, Sakura felt a bit shy to speak. But the next second, Li Xing's stomach growled.
"Are you hungry? I have some rice balls, do you want them? My name is Haruno Sakura, you can just call me Sakura." Saying this, Sakura handed Li Xing two rice balls.
Hearing Sakura's name, Li Xing was stunned. He looked at Sakura, lost in thought, staring at her intensely, making Sakura a bit embarrassed.
Suddenly, Li Xing's gaze turned fierce. He quickly tackled Sakura to the ground. Sakura was startled; the development was too fast! But the next second, Sakura understood what was happening. Another dozen ninjas appeared, including a Jonin.
"You're quick! White Death God, the Daimyo has declared you a traitor, you must die. Although I didn't expect to run into Leaf ninjas, now that everyone has been lured away, you can't escape!"
Then, the Jonin attacked Li Xing with his sword. Li Xing immediately grabbed Sakura and fled. Two Chunin appeared ahead to block Li Xing, but Li Xing snatched a sword from one of them and killed the other with a backhand slash.
Sakura had never witnessed such a bloody scene and was so terrified that she couldn't move, letting Li Xing hold her as he fled.
Seeing that he couldn't catch Li Xing, the Jonin threw two kunai wrapped with explosive tags. Li Xing didn't know what they were and tried to cut them with his sword. However, the moment he hit the kunai, the explosive tags detonated. Li Xing fell from the tree, but he used his body to shield Sakura from the damage.
"Run! Keep running!" The Jonin approached Li Xing and stepped on his head, sneering.
Li Xing picked up his sword and swung it at the Jonin's foot, but he dodged it. Li Xing quickly got up, kicked the Jonin away, then leaped and cut the Jonin in half. But the next second, the Jonin, who should have been a corpse, turned into two pieces of wood.
Li Xing suddenly turned around and saw the Jonin about to stab Sakura. Li Xing quickly threw his sword, which embedded itself in the Jonin's head. However, this Jonin also turned into wood.
Li Xing didn't know where the Jonin had gone and quickly returned to Sakura's side, scanning their surroundings with his sword.
But the next second, Sakura suddenly transformed into the Jonin and stabbed Li Xing in the abdomen. Li Xing looked back and saw that Sakura had been tied to a tree.
Then, the Jonin cut Li Xing's leg to prevent him from escaping further.
"Mission complete, target captured alive. Kill the little girl, she saw our true faces." The Jonin immediately ordered his subordinates to kill Sakura.
Li Xing suddenly mustered all his strength and used a body flicker to get in front of Sakura, taking the blow for her. Then, Li Xing slit the Chunin's throat with his sword.
"Still got some fight left, attack together!"
The remaining individuals swarmed forward. Li Xing was at the end of his strength, fighting purely on instinct, but he managed to protect Sakura behind him.
Seeing Li Xing's resilience, the Jonin threw two round spheres. Li Xing immediately cut them open with his sword, and purple poisonous gas suddenly dispersed from within. Li Xing's eyes were directly affected. Knowing it was poison gas, Li Xing quickly jumped backward, covering Sakura with his body and enduring the gas himself.
When the gas dissipated, Li Xing's skin had turned purple, and his eyes were bleeding. The attackers slowly approached. But the next second, Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke arrived. Because Li Xing had exhausted the attackers' strength and stamina, Kakashi easily dealt with everyone.
Kakashi examined Li Xing and found that he was poisoned. He quickly gave Li Xing an antidote pill, but it only temporarily alleviated the spread of the poison.
Kakashi then carried Li Xing back to the Leaf Village, with Sakura, who had been following behind, crying profusely. If it weren't for protecting her, Li Xing wouldn't have been injured and poisoned. She felt too weak, always being a liability.
...
Upon returning to the Leaf Village, Kakashi took Li Xing to the Leaf Hospital and then went to report the mission details to the Third Hokage.
After Li Xing's poison was neutralized, he still hadn't woken up. The Third Hokage and Inoichi Yamanaka came to the patient's room. Inoichi used a secret jutsu to examine Li Xing's memories, seeing only scenes of Li Xing's killings, until he killed his adoptive family and defected, then encountered Kakashi.
Looking at the child before him, the Third Hokage sighed with emotion, "Alas, a pitiable child."
"Let's keep this child in the Leaf Village. Inquire if anyone is willing to adopt him." With that, the Third Hokage left the Leaf Hospital.
In the following days, Sakura visited Li Xing every day after completing her missions. As long as Li Xing didn't wake up, Sakura wouldn't feel at ease.
However, one day when Sakura came to visit, she found that Li Xing was gone. She asked the nurse, but no one knew where he had gone.