Chakra

Seeing Kushina being chased by Genin, Ye Zi's expression was blank. He hadn't intended to intervene. His first intervention was merely a reaction to past memories, a spontaneous impulse. After that, he ignored the classmates bullying Kushina. In fact, the male classmates who went to bother Kushina always ended up embarrassed. So this time, they even brought in a helper who had already become a Genin.

But none of this had anything to do with him... Ultimately, one could only rely on oneself to protect oneself.

After glancing in the direction of those people, Ye Zi continued walking forward, in the opposite direction of Kushina's escape.

Minato, hidden in a tree, watched Ye Zi leave, his eyes filled with contemplation. In the past six months, he seemed to have gained some understanding of Ye Zi, even though they had only exchanged a few words.

"What kind of person are you..."

Minato withdrew his gaze, exerted force with his feet, and leaped onto the trunk of another tree. In this manner, he leaped and bounded towards the direction Kushina was fleeing. When he arrived, he saw Matsushita grabbing Kushina's hair, while Kushina, enduring the pain, walked forward frantically, completely disregarding how her bright red hair was being stretched and torn in Matsuda's hands.

"I... I hate this hair too, but it's still a part of my body!"

Kushina turned around, gritting her teeth, and glared at Matsushita. The latter looked slightly stunned at the broken hair in his hand.

Minato, hidden in the tree, silently watched this scene. This was the strength of this girl, different from Ye Zi's strength...

Then... where does my strength come from?

After returning to the house, there was still no sign of Orochimaru. Seven or eight months had passed since he arrived in the village, yet he had seen Orochimaru fewer than twenty times. Every time he wanted to ask Orochimaru about chakra, he was always deterred by the fatigue on Orochimaru's face.

With greater ability comes greater responsibility, and one must bear more. As a disciple of the Hokage and one of the Sannin, Orochimaru seemed to have been constantly on missions during the period after the Second Shinobi War ended.

This man's gaze was fixed on the position of Hokage, and he was working towards it.

The large house, precisely because it was too large, felt empty and desolate. Yet, it was also the only place where Orochimaru could truly rest. In such a state of exhaustion, how could Ye Zi bring himself to speak?

Upon returning to the house, Ye Zi first changed into casual clothes, then proceeded to cook a simple meal and ate by himself.

Although the meal was simple, the portions were very generous.

Before long, Ye Zi quickly cleared his plate. After tidying up, he picked up his ninja tools and went to the courtyard. The old tree was still there, now serving as a target.

Puff!

With a casual throw, he hit the bullseye.

One, two, three...

He practiced for over an hour, and not a single throw missed the bullseye. This was the result of half a year of relentless practice. His stability was excellent. The only thing lacking was the force, which wasn't as strong as an adult's, leading to a drawback in speed. However, this wasn't a major issue. As his body grew, his strength would naturally increase.

After practicing shuriken throwing, Ye Zi began his routine physical training.

Push-ups, sit-ups, lifting stone dumbbells...

He forced himself to perform any exercise that could help enhance his physical fitness. And after each workout, he needed to eat another meal to help his tired body recover. However, mental fatigue could not be recovered through food.

After finishing his routine physical training, Ye Zi took a shower to wash away the sweat, then went into the kitchen to prepare food. Every day was the same, an endless cycle, with no idea when things would change.

Half a year is neither long nor short...

But in just this half a year, Ye Zi constantly thought about the other world. He also constantly forced himself to deliberately forget the effect of time, reminding himself that if half a year passed here, only a few minutes would have passed there.

He knew very well that haste makes waste.

After preparing a table full of food, Ye Zi raised his sore and weak arms and ate heartily. After eating more than half, the soreness in his body slowly subsided.

Ye Zi couldn't understand the peculiarity of his body, but it didn't stop him from utilizing it. It was precisely this characteristic that allowed him to persevere step by step.

At best... the energy brought by the food was not enough to completely eliminate the soreness, but it did reduce it by sixty to seventy percent, allowing Ye Zi to sleep peacefully later.

Snap...

Just as Ye Zi was eating, a faint sound suddenly came from the entrance.

"Hmm?"

Ye Zi stopped his hand reaching for the food, looked up slightly, and muttered, "Is Orochimaru back?"

He put down his chopsticks, got up, and walked towards the entrance. Upon arriving, he saw Orochimaru changing his shoes.

"You're back," Ye Zi said, looking at Orochimaru, whose back was to him.

Orochimaru nodded. After changing his shoes, he tilted his head up, as if smelling the aroma from the dining room, and suddenly asked, "Is there still food?"

"There's a little left. If it's not enough, I can make you some more," Ye Zi replied.

Orochimaru glanced at him and said faintly, "No need."

After speaking, he walked directly towards the dining room.

Ye Zi didn't follow Orochimaru to the dining room. Instead, he went to the kitchen to get a pair of bowls and chopsticks for Orochimaru. When he arrived at the dining room, Orochimaru hadn't changed his clothes and was sitting quietly at the table.

Ye Zi took a bowl, filled it with rice, and handed it to Orochimaru. The latter naturally took the bowl and chopsticks and began to eat at a leisurely pace.

Since there wasn't much food left, Ye Zi finished the rice in his own bowl and didn't pick up his chopsticks again.

Orochimaru subtly glanced at Ye Zi and continued eating silently.

A few minutes later, there wasn't even a scrap left on the table; it was all eaten clean. Clearly, Orochimaru's stomach was not as calm as it appeared.

He had never imagined what it would be like to have another person in this large, quiet home. Now, it seemed, it was quite alright.

Orochimaru put down his bowl and chopsticks and looked at Ye Zi. As Orochimaru ate the last grain of rice, Ye Zi had already turned his gaze to him.

"Orochimaru, teach me how to condense chakra."

Tonight, Ye Zi could no longer hold back and took the initiative to ask Orochimaru to teach him how to condense chakra.

"The academy will teach you," Orochimaru said in a flat tone, his voice as hoarse as ever.

"I want to learn now," Ye Zi stated firmly.

A flicker of surprise crossed Orochimaru's eyes. He knew very well about Ye Zi's performance at the Ninja Academy and his arduous training every day. He could also sense Ye Zi's strong desire to control chakra, but Ye Zi had always held back. This sudden request must have a reason.

As for what that reason was, he didn't want to know.

"You've already condensed chakra within your body," Orochimaru said calmly, looking at Ye Zi.