The Kumo Ninja Incident Resurfaces

Meeting Rin and Obito had been an accident for Yemo, and he had expected their fight even less. Still, it hadn't been without its gains: at least he had gotten to know Obito Uchiha, though they could hardly be called friends yet.

The days that followed were uneventful. Yemo spent each day learning at Orochimaru's side, and Orochimaru held nothing back. In just a few days, he taught Yemo more than Yemo had learned in all the time he had spent in the Hokage world.

This made Yemo even more convinced that taking Orochimaru as his teacher had been an excellent choice. Having a teacher's guidance made all the difference. The road ahead was like a sea of mist, and a teacher was the guide through it. The better the teacher, the farther he could lead you.

Two or three days passed like this. At the training ground, Yemo was the only person in the vast field. Orochimaru had applied to have it reserved for their exclusive use. Given Orochimaru's achievements and importance, how could the higher-ups refuse such a small request? They had agreed without a second thought.

Yemo was going through his usual training, his hands rapidly forming Hand Seals. When he completed the final seal, his hands came to a halt.

A storm of Chakra erupted around Yemo. Azure arcs of electricity slithered over his body like blue snakes, crackling as they went. This was the Nature Transformation of Lightning Release Chakra, which Yemo had mastered with considerable proficiency after days of practice.

But the most important part came next: Shape Transformation. Only by combining Nature Transformation and Shape Transformation could he use Lightning Release Ninjutsu.

Yemo took a deep breath and shouted, "Lightning Release: Senbon Explosion!"

Lightning flashed around Yemo, blazing brightly as countless azure arcs coursed over his body. In the next instant, thin, long needles formed from lightning Chakra flew out from him.

As far as the eye could see, countless needles filled the sky, too densely packed to count. They poured forth without end like a raging storm.

Boom... boom...

The slender needles possessed fearsome power. After all, they were made from Lightning Release Chakra, which had tremendous offensive power. The force released when they exploded was not to be underestimated. Explosion after explosion rang out, countless blasts joining together as though they would destroy heaven and earth.

Yemo could clearly feel the ground trembling beneath his feet. He clenched his fist slightly, excitement appearing on his face. "I finally succeeded. I've finally mastered the Shape Transformation of Lightning Release Chakra."

These past few days, everything Orochimaru had taught Yemo had concerned Lightning Release Chakra. With his talent, Yemo had mastered Nature Transformation from the start, but Shape Transformation was much harder. Only after these days of practice could he barely manage to use it.

A gentle breeze blew through, swiftly sweeping the thick smoke raised by the explosions away into the air. The level grass field had been reduced to a mess, with deep craters of varying sizes everywhere. The ground was charred black, as though scorched by flames. Besides its powerful attacks and ability to paralyze opponents, lightning could also produce heat like fire.

Looking at the grass field, where dozens of square meters had been destroyed, Yemo couldn't help exclaiming, "As expected of an A-rank Ninjutsu. Its power really is incredible."

Lightning Release: Senbon Explosion was the second Ninjutsu Orochimaru had taught Yemo, and it was also an A-rank Ninjutsu. It was tremendously powerful, transforming Lightning Release Chakra into densely packed Senbon, all of which could be detonated. Although the explosion of a single Senbon was not very powerful, when countless Senbon were brought together, even explosive tags could hardly match their power.

Clap, clap, clap...

Just then, Yemo heard applause behind him. He turned to look and saw Orochimaru, who had left earlier and returned at some unknown time.

A smile covered Orochimaru's face as he praised him. "Yemo, your talent surprises me more and more. In just a few days, you've mastered both Chakra Nature Transformation and Shape Transformation, and learned the A-rank Ninjutsu Lightning Release: Senbon Explosion as well."

Yemo scratched his head and said modestly, "Not at all. I only learned it so quickly thanks to the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique."

Now that Yemo had learned the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, how could he forget this training booster that was practically a bug in Hokage? Even with Naruto's talent, he had been able to master Chakra Nature Transformation in a short time.

Yemo had also been using Multi Shadow Clones to train these past few days. He was already highly talented, and with the equivalent of hundreds of Yemos practicing at once, his progress naturally advanced by leaps and bounds.

But every time he recalled the clones, it was torture. After all, the memories and experiences of hundreds of people flooded into his head at once. It was as though countless things had suddenly been crammed into his brain, leaving his head aching terribly.

Every evening, Yemo returned home dizzy and went straight to bed without even eating. Seeing him like that worried his older sister greatly, and she thought something was wrong with his body. If he hadn't been back to full health with nothing wrong every morning, and if he hadn't explained himself, Kushina would have nearly taken him to the hospital for a checkup.

"No need to be modest. Although the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique played a major role in this, your talent cannot be discounted either," Orochimaru said calmly.

After a pause, Orochimaru suddenly said, "Oh, right. You don't need to train anymore today. We'll stop here."

"Why is that, Teacher Orochimaru?" Yemo asked, puzzled. It was still early, so why didn't he need to keep training?

Instead of answering Yemo's question immediately, Orochimaru asked, "Do you know what I just went to do?"

"I don't!" Yemo shook his head at once. How could he know about the affairs of the higher-ups?

"Do you remember what happened on the day we first met?"

How could Yemo forget what had happened that day? Something suddenly occurred to him, and he looked up in surprise. "Could it be that those Kumo Ninja have made another move?"

Orochimaru nodded. "Last night, that group of Kumo Ninja tried to approach Konoha again. But after what happened that day, Konoha was already on guard. So last night, the Anbu fought a fierce battle with them not far from the village. Both sides suffered losses. The Third Hokage summoned me just now because of what happened last night."

Yemo was both shocked and puzzled. He was shocked that the Kumo Ninja had actually dared to trespass into Konoha. Although they had nine jonin and an Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, that didn't mean they had the strength to force their way into the village.

What puzzled him was what those Kumo Ninja were after, that they were so determined to enter Konoha that they would even risk their lives. And what were the Kumo Ninja higher-ups thinking, sending out even the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki?

"But what does that have to do with me?" Yemo was even more puzzled. Something this serious should have had nothing to do with a minor character like him. Although he had been caught up in the last battle, that had only been a coincidence.

"It has nothing to do with you, but it has nothing to do with me. After what happened yesterday, the higher-ups are worried that something might happen in the border war." Orochimaru suddenly stopped there, prompting Yemo to curse inwardly. Wasn't stopping at the crucial moment just keeping him in suspense?

Yemo failed to notice Orochimaru give him a long, searching look before continuing, "So the Third Hokage wants me to head to the battlefield. I was originally planning to go alone, but after giving it some thought, I decided..."