Neglect

That night, Ye Zi tossed and turned, unable to sleep, so he threw on a robe and went to the old tree in the yard, bathing in the pale moonlight as he gazed up at the full moon in the night sky, silent and wordless.

He couldn't tell what difference there was between that bright moon and the moon seen from Earth; he only felt they were very similar, looking clearly like the same moon, yet the world he was in and Earth were as different as heaven and earth.

He had never been one to give up easily, always looking only ahead, never stopping or turning back, even if the road before him had no end in sight, he would grit his teeth and press on with his head down, crawling with his hands if his legs broke, dragging himself forward if both arms and legs were broken. That was how, in that sunless Slums, as a young child carrying his little sister, he not only survived but even walked out of the Slums.

Yet this time... his arms and legs were intact, but he stood still on this endless long road, countless questions sprouting like bamboo shoots after rain, worrying him so much that he could feel his skull aching at all times.

Until the early morning mist spread thin, he never closed his eyes. One night wasn't long, so it couldn't help him figure anything out. He didn't know the odds of returning to Earth, nor could he imagine what method he'd use to get back. Perhaps only by standing at a certain height could he see the opportunity.

Unable to make sense of it, Ye Zi set a goal at that moment—to possess power like Orochimaru's, then surpass him. By then, maybe he could touch something...

Unless he died... he would never give up.

Same time, same place, same people.

Orochimaru looked at his three youthful, energetic students and said flatly, "The village is short-handed, and many tasks have piled up, but there aren't many suitable for you. So I'm giving you ten days. These ten days, I will personally teach you."

Konoha was in a state of rebuilding, with nearly every ninja who could be mobilized needed for missions daily, and the tasks suitable for Genin were just odd jobs. Orochimaru looked down on such tasks, so he applied to the Hokage for a ten-day mission suspension, wanting to use that time to make Ye Zi and the other two stronger, then take on higher-difficulty missions.

As for whether casualties might occur during missions, he didn't place much weight on it. In his value system, missions were taken based on one's strength; if someone unfortunately died, it could only be blamed on their own weakness.

With that kind of value system, ever since Orochimaru started leading teams, his student death rate had been a terrifying one hundred percent. If not for the fact that he had taken on very few students, probably no adult in the village would want their child to become Orochimaru's student.

The three didn't know Orochimaru's intentions; they were just thrilled at the prospect of being personally taught by him.

Ye Zi, thinking about how what he lacked was too few learned jutsu, immediately said, "I want to learn ninjutsu!"

His eyes were bright, directly and bluntly expressing what he wanted.

Kushina and Bei Xingye were startled by Ye Zi's sudden outburst, cautiously glanced at Orochimaru's indifferent expression, and stayed silent, though what they were thinking was no different from Ye Zi.

Orochimaru gave him a cold glance, showing no favoritism despite three years of association, and said in a detached tone, "I decide."

Ye Zi, who had some understanding of Orochimaru, wisely shut his mouth. His hasty outburst was actually because the jutsu he had mastered were too few—only the basic Three Body Techniques—and he felt his Chakra control and Chakra reserves had reached a decent level. If these ten days were still spent training those, he'd be utterly devastated.

"Follow me."

Orochimaru turned and walked toward the forest. Ten days wasn't long; he hadn't made a clear plan, just thinking to follow the usual steps. First was tree climbing, then mastering the skill of standing on water.

To master ninjutsu, one first needed the ability to control Chakra.

Orochimaru picked a spot with three trees lined up side by side, then carefully explained the theory to Ye Zi and the others before having them start training on their own.

When Ye Zi learned they were training tree climbing, his face darkened. He wanted to ask Orochimaru to teach him ninjutsu directly, but remembering that cold remark from earlier, he held back and obediently started climbing.

Ye Zi was confident in his Chakra control. Gathering a small amount of Chakra at the soles of his feet, he lifted his foot and pressed it against the trunk, walking up the tree as if on flat ground. It didn't take long for him to easily reach the top, twice as fast as Kushina, while Bei Xingye, halfway up, had a miserable fall because his Chakra went out of control, kicking off the bark.

Orochimaru took in all three performances. At first glance, Ye Zi seemed to have the best Chakra control, but that wasn't really the case.

Kushina had never done tree climbing training before; her first attempt was clumsy, making her slow, but after a few tries, her climbing speed quickly surpassed Ye Zi's.

Bei Xingye, seeing how easily the other two did it, gritted his teeth and silently kept practicing.

Ye Zi, seeing Kushina's climbing speed overtake his, felt a surge of defiance and sped up.

Snap!

A crisp sound rang out as Ye Zi's foot slipped. Caught off guard, he tumbled straight down, landing flat on his back.

The sudden fall drew Kushina and Bei Xingye's attention.

Ye Zi ignored their stares, staring blankly at the bark where a small crater had been blasted out by his foot, saying nothing.

In that moment, he realized his Chakra control wasn't as strong as he thought.

Taijutsu, Chakra reserves, Chakra control, ninjutsu—these all came in stages. No matter which one, you could only keep refining and strengthening it; no one could guarantee they'd reach the peak.

Aware of the problem, Ye Zi's eagerness to learn ninjutsu faded significantly. He turned to look at Orochimaru, who still wore that indifferent expression.

"I was too impatient." Ye Zi gritted his teeth. He had thought tree climbing would be simple, but when he sped up, his once self-satisfied Chakra control amounted to nothing.

In these three years, he had only thought about using his body to stick objects to himself, never considering using tree climbing to train Chakra control.

But because of that, he had built a solid foundation.

At this moment, he completely set aside his desire to learn ninjutsu and focused entirely on training tree climbing.

Unlike Bei Xingye, whose goal was to steadily reach the top, Ye Zi's goal was to walk quickly along the trunk without letting his Chakra fluctuate.