Confirming His Suspicions, Heading to the Death Forest

The next day, Yei got up early and headed to Hyuga Yue's home.

When it came to Medical Ninjutsu, he still had many things he needed to ask Hyuga Yue about and discuss with her.

With Yei's current beginner-level proficiency, Hyuga Yue as she was now was more than capable of teaching him...

Although Hyuga Yue was only a genin, she had benefited from being part of the Hyuga Clan, and her attainments in Medical Ninjutsu were still quite impressive.

Even many medical jonin fell short of Hyuga Yue in certain aspects.

Being able to accurately determine the exact location and severity of an injury through the Byakugan, as well as whether the internal organs had been damaged, was something ordinary people could never match in their lifetimes!

The two sat on a set of steps at the training ground.

Yei circulated Chakra into his hands, and pale green clusters of Chakra spread from his palms.

Hyuga Yue looked at the pale green Chakra in Yei's hands, activated her Byakugan, and observed it carefully. Then, her tone turned somewhat surprised. "You managed to reach this level on your first day?"

Yei looked at his own hands as well and nodded. "Yeah, more or less. It wasn't that difficult, though it's not as delicate or gentle as when you use it."

Hyuga Yue pursed her lips and looked at Yei, as though she had been dealt a blow. "You reached this level in one night. It took me three days..."

"Uh, wasn't it pretty easy?" Yei genuinely did not think it was difficult. He had previously watched Hyuga Yue use Medical Ninjutsu through the Byakugan and Observation Haki, so he had already gotten a rough grasp of it.

He had merely looked at the Medical Ninjutsu scroll, recalled the medical Chakra Hyuga Yue had displayed, and copied it by following the same pattern. To him, it had not been especially difficult...

"Forget it. I'm not comparing myself to a genius like you. I can't compete!" Hyuga Yue snapped in exasperation.

Not difficult?

At the ninja hospital, many people could not reach Yei's level even after one or two months of practice, yet Yei had done it in a single night!

He was simply a freak!

Her talent for Medical Ninjutsu was extremely strong, and many medical jonin had praised her for it. The only thing limiting her was the amount of Chakra she possessed...

Back then, even she had spent three days reaching Yei's current level, while he had managed it after tinkering around for just one night...

If Yei had not been her fiancé, she would have been so discouraged that she lost all confidence!

"Hehe..." Yei chuckled and spread his hands, indicating that he was innocent!

Seeing Yei's cheeky grin, Hyuga Yue shot him a glare and gave a soft snort. "Then let's continue. I'm still qualified to teach you for now!"

"Yes, Teacher!"

"Smart mouth..."

The day passed quickly. Under Hyuga Yue's guidance, Yei spent the entire day practicing Medical Ninjutsu and could barely be said to have made some progress.

Still, progress could not come that quickly. Any ninjutsu required time to master.

The next morning, Yei got up early again. After preparing himself a simple breakfast and hastily finishing it, he headed into the Death Forest.

He wanted to confirm a suspicion he had formed earlier...

Those venomous snakes lurking around his underground laboratory...

If Yei's guess was correct, the appearance of those snakes should have something to do with someone!

Orochimaru...

That was right. Yei suspected that the venomous snakes appearing around his laboratory were very likely connected to Orochimaru... Orochimaru might have set his sights on him!

Although he did not know what Orochimaru intended, Yei had to investigate it thoroughly.

Yei's gaze was deep as he slowly walked toward the Death Forest, though his mind was already turning over possibilities. But when exactly did it begin? During the war, I only returned a few times. Could it have been then? No, Orochimaru should have been on the battlefield at that time...

If it wasn't during the war, then it could only have been the last time. I might have overlooked something...

As one of the Sannin, Orochimaru had participated in the Third Shinobi World War.

Tsunade had left the village before the outbreak of the Third Shinobi World War due to her hemophobia, so she had not taken part in it!

Jiraiya had devoted himself to searching for the "Child of Prophecy" in his heart and wandered the shinobi world year-round, so he had not directly participated in the Third Shinobi World War. He only occasionally returned to Konoha, where the Third Hokage would drag him into service...

Of the Sannin, Orochimaru had contributed the most during the Third Shinobi World War!

At that time, he wanted to compete for the position of Fourth Hokage, so he frequently appeared on the battlefield to rack up achievements and prepare himself to become the Fourth Hokage!

It was precisely because of this that Yei knew with absolute certainty that Orochimaru had not been in Konoha during the period when he returned to the village!

In other words, if Orochimaru had truly set his sights on him, it could only have happened after the Third Shinobi World War ended, during the time Yei went to the Death Forest and discovered Orochimaru's secret laboratory...

After the war ended and Yei returned to the village, he had only gone to his laboratory in the Death Forest once. But after discovering that he had a "neighbor" nearby, he had never gone there again and instead chose another location.

If he had truly been noticed, it could only have been at that time...

Could it have been some kind of warning barrier seal? Something that could not only block the Byakugan's detection, but also give an early warning... Yei seemed to think of something, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

In order to investigate the situation back then, Yei had gotten extremely close. He had stood not far from that laboratory, and he might very well have triggered some kind of warning within it...

This sort of warning ninjutsu... or rather, sealing technique, was not actually uncommon. The barrier squad in Konoha used similar sealing techniques. Any ninja who intruded rashly would be detected!

Therefore, Yei deduced that if Orochimaru had truly noticed him, it could only have happened then!

And this trip to the Death Forest was also meant to confirm that deduction!

To be honest, Yei did not really want to provoke Orochimaru...

In terms of personality, Orochimaru was a mad scientist—paranoid, cruel, self-centered, a man willing to resort to every extreme measure to achieve his goals!

In terms of strength, he was undoubtedly Kage-level. Combined with his self-created snake-based ninjutsu and all kinds of forbidden techniques that made him incredibly hard to kill, everything proved just how powerful he was!

In short, he was an extremely troublesome opponent...

But if Orochimaru had truly set his sights on him, then... Yei had to eliminate this threat as soon as possible...

Being secretly watched by someone like that made Yei's heart pound with unease. He had no idea when Orochimaru might strike at him or his family. It was like a blade hanging over his head, ready to fall at any moment, leaving Yei unable to eat or sleep in peace.

Rather than remain so passive, it was better to be direct and turn passivity into initiative!

That was why Yei had chosen to head to the Death Forest once again!