Jiraiya

At Konoha's border, Orochimaru took Yemo to see several battlefields. Yemo had vomited at first, but gradually came to accept what he saw. Though he still couldn't view it as calmly as Orochimaru, he could at least keep his composure.

Afterward, Yemo followed Orochimaru to the Konoha Ninja base. It lay in the middle of a basin, flanked by sheer cliffs that rose at ninety-degree angles for dozens of meters. A single road led in and out.

Of course, the base couldn't rely on the terrain alone for defense. A massive barrier had long since been set up around it, and hidden ninja guarded the base as its last line of defense.

White tents dotted the basin, with a few yellow thatched cottages scattered among their long rows. This had clearly once been a small village, but its inhabitants had fled after the war broke out, and Konoha had temporarily requisitioned it as a base.

Ninja moved about everywhere he looked. Some were medical-nin wearing white masks; some had returned to report after completing missions; others had brought injured teammates back for treatment...

The whole base ran like a giant machine. Everyone held to their post, busy with their own duties and contributing their strength to the war.

"Lord Orochimaru! Lord Orochimaru!"

From the moment Orochimaru entered the base, people kept greeting him. He didn't answer each one aloud, merely nodding in response. If he spoke to them all, wouldn't he die of exhaustion?

Yemo followed obediently behind Orochimaru, keeping his mouth shut while discreetly scanning his surroundings. Along the way, he didn't see a single Genin. All the ninja were Chunin or higher. Chunin made up the majority, but there were plenty of Jonin too. The ratio was roughly two to one, meaning that for every three ninja, two were Chunin and one was a Jonin.

Naturally, Yemo, a Genin, stood out from the crowd. As he sized up the ninja around him, they were sizing him up in turn. Everyone was curious about the kid following Lord Orochimaru.

"Hey, who exactly is that kid following Lord Orochimaru? He looks like he's only a Genin. How did he end up coming here with Lord Orochimaru?"

"You're asking me? How would I know? But a Genin who can come here with Lord Orochimaru must be someone special. Still, I don't think I've seen that kid among the younger members of Konoha's major clans. Have any of you seen him before?"

"I haven't. Maybe he's some relative of Lord Orochimaru's. But that can't be right either. Everyone knows Lord Orochimaru lost both his parents when he was little. What relatives could he have?"

For all their discussion, none of the ninja could even identify Yemo, much less say what his relationship with Orochimaru was. Although Yemo was a member of the Uzumaki Clan, he hadn't spent long in Konoha and had no friends to speak of. He usually trained alone and hadn't done anything to draw attention, so naturally, few people knew him.

Then one ninja suddenly said, "Hey, do you think that kid could be a student Lord Orochimaru took on?"

The discussion in the crowd abruptly stopped, and everyone fell silent. But the silence didn't last long before a ninja objected. "How could that be? It's not like you don't know about Lord Orochimaru. He hasn't taken on a single student to this day. The Third once asked him to serve as a Genin instructor for a while, and he refused. Why would he take on a student?"

Most people nodded in agreement, but some ninja in the crowd disagreed. "I think that kid really could be Lord Orochimaru's student. Think about it. Lord Orochimaru may never have taken on a student, but he's never said he wouldn't, either."

"And everyone knows what Lord Orochimaru is like. That kid definitely can't be from one of the clans, so why would Lord Orochimaru bring him along? Let's suppose the kid really is Lord Orochimaru's student. That would explain everything."

The crowd fell silent at that, and many frowned in thought. If it were true, it would be astonishing.

Yemo, who had left with Orochimaru, naturally had no idea that those ninja were discussing his identity and speculating about his relationship with Lord Orochimaru.

He followed Orochimaru into a building. Unlike the white tents nearby, it was a huge structure built of solid wood. Ninja carrying documents passed in and out of the entrance. This was clearly the command center.

Yemo glanced around, then saw that Teacher Orochimaru had already gone inside and hurried after him. The building was spacious, though there weren't many people inside.

Most were ninja who had come to pick up missions, along with a few clerks who assigned them. Everyone else had gathered around a sand table, discussing something.

Everyone greeted Orochimaru as he entered, while Yemo followed at his heels like a little tagalong, leaving many ninja looking puzzled.

Orochimaru walked straight over to the sand table and patted a tall man on the shoulder. "Jiraiya, how are things?"

Hearing Orochimaru say Jiraiya's name, Yemo, who had been looking around curiously, quickly raised his head and looked at the man Orochimaru had patted.

Jiraiya was one of the Sannin, and also the most unusual of the three. Though extremely lecherous, he was the best teacher in Naruto. His student Minato Namikaze was the Fourth Hokage, and his student's student, Kakashi, would become the Sixth Hokage. He also taught Naruto, who grew up to become the Seventh Hokage.

He taught many students during his life, and every one of them went on to become a powerful ninja renowned throughout the Shinobi World. Sadly, he ultimately died at the hands of his own student, and his death brought countless Naruto fans to tears.

Long silver-white hair reached his waist, and he wore a Konoha Forehead Protector on his forehead. Two red marks ran down his face beneath his eyes, and a trace of exhaustion showed on his cheeks. This was Jiraiya as he was now.

"Orochimaru, you finally made it!" Jiraiya's face lit up at the sight of him, and at the same time, the weight hanging over his heart finally lifted.

Jiraiya had had his back to Orochimaru before, but now that he turned around, Orochimaru noticed that his right arm was wrapped in white gauze. Jiraiya's expression changed slightly as he asked, "Jiraiya, what happened to your arm?"

Jiraiya glanced at his arm and laughed it off. "It's just a minor injury. During a battle a few days ago, I accidentally got hit with a Kumo Ninja's poison. It was extremely potent, and even the medical-nin here had trouble neutralizing it. They could only gather the poison in one spot and cut it out to get rid of it."

"If only Tsunade were still here. There's no poison in this world she can't neutralize," Jiraiya added out of nowhere, a faint longing for Tsunade in his voice.

The two had known each other for so long that Orochimaru could hardly be unaware of Jiraiya's feelings for Tsunade. He reached out and patted Jiraiya on the shoulder. "All right, let's not talk about her. You know what she's going through. After that incident, she became deeply trapped in her own demons. Otherwise, she wouldn't have left."

After calming himself, Jiraiya finally noticed Yemo standing behind Orochimaru. The moment he saw him, Jiraiya froze, then cried out, "Isn't that Yemo? What are you doing here?"

Jiraiya's voice was loud, and everyone in the room heard his shout clearly. They all stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Yemo, their eyes full of curiosity.

Everyone wondered who Yemo was. Not only was he following Lord Orochimaru, but even Lord Jiraiya looked shocked to see him.

It wasn't just them. Yemo himself was completely baffled when he heard Jiraiya shout. How did Jiraiya know him?