Neglect

That night, Ye Zi tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He finally threw on a robe and went beneath the old tree in the courtyard. Bathed in the bright moonlight, he raised his head and gazed silently at the full moon in the night sky.

He could not tell how this full moon differed from the one seen on Earth. He only felt that the two were quite similar. They clearly looked like the same moon, yet the worlds they hung over were as different as heaven and earth.

He had never been someone who gave up easily. He always looked ahead, never stopping or turning back. Even when he could not see the end of the road, he would grit his teeth and keep trudging forward with all his might. If his legs broke, he would crawl with his hands; if both his hands and legs broke, he would drag himself forward. That was how he had survived the lightless Slums with his younger sister as a child, and even managed to leave the Slums behind.

And yet... this time, with all four limbs intact, he had stopped on this seemingly endless road. Question after question sprouted like bamboo shoots after the rain, worrying him so much that he felt as if his head might ache at any moment.

He had not closed his eyes by the time the thin morning mist began to spread. One night was not long enough for him to figure anything out. He did not know how likely it was that he could return to Earth, nor could he imagine what method he would use to get back. Perhaps only by reaching a certain height could he see an opportunity.

Unable to find an answer, Ye Zi set himself a goal at that moment—to obtain power like Orochimaru's, then surpass him. By then, perhaps he would be able to touch upon something...

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

The same time, the same place, the same people.

Orochimaru looked at his three students, brimming with youthful vitality, and said indifferently, "The village is short-handed, and many missions have piled up. However, there aren't many missions suitable for you, so I'll only give you ten days. During these ten days, I'll personally train you."

Konoha was currently in the midst of rebuilding after ruin. Nearly every ninja the village could mobilize had to carry out missions every day, while missions suitable for Genin consisted mostly of menial labor. Orochimaru looked down on such missions, so he had applied to the Hokage for a ten-day suspension of missions. He wanted to use that time to make the three of them stronger before having them take on more difficult missions.

As for whether anyone would be injured or killed during the missions, he did not consider it especially important. In his view, missions were accepted only after one's strength had been assessed. If someone unfortunately died, they could only blame themselves for being too weak.

With values like these, ever since Orochimaru had begun leading teams, his students' death rate had reached a terrifying one hundred percent. If he had not taken charge of so few students, there probably would not have been a single adult in the village willing to let their child become Orochimaru's student.

The three of them had no idea what Orochimaru was planning. They only became incredibly excited when they heard that they would receive his personal instruction.

Ye Zi thought about how his greatest shortcoming was knowing too few ninjutsu and immediately said, "I want to learn ninjutsu!"

His eyes shone as he directly and bluntly expressed what he wanted.

Kushina and Bei Xingye were startled by Ye Zi's sudden outburst. They cautiously glanced at the coldly composed Orochimaru and fell silent, but what they were thinking was exactly the same as Ye Zi.

Orochimaru cast him a cold glance. Their three years together had not earned them any preferential treatment. His tone was icy as he said, "I make the decisions."

Ye Zi knew Orochimaru well enough to wisely shut his mouth. His rash outburst just now was actually because he knew too few ninjutsu—only the basic Three Body Techniques. He believed that his Chakra control and reserves had already reached a decent level. If these ten days were still spent training those fundamentals, he would be so frustrated he could cry.

"Follow me."

Orochimaru turned and walked toward the woods. Ten days was not a long time, and he had not made any detailed plans. He only intended to proceed according to the usual steps. The first step was tree climbing, followed by mastering the technique of standing on water.

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

Orochimaru chose a spot with three large trees standing side by side. After carefully explaining the theory to the three of them, he had them begin training on their own.

Ye Zi's face darkened when he learned that they would be training by climbing trees. He wanted Orochimaru to teach him ninjutsu directly, but remembering Orochimaru's cold words from earlier, he held his tongue and obediently began climbing.

Ye Zi was very confident in his control over Chakra. After gathering a tiny amount of Chakra beneath his feet, he lifted one foot and pressed it against the trunk. He walked up the tree as easily as if he were on level ground, reaching the highest point effortlessly in no time. He was twice as fast as Kushina, while Bei Xingye fell miserably halfway up. His Chakra had gone out of control and peeled away the bark beneath his foot.

Orochimaru took in all three of their performances. At present, Ye Zi seemed to have the best grasp of Chakra control, but that was not actually the case.

Kushina had never trained by climbing trees before, so she was somewhat unfamiliar with it during her first attempt, which made her too slow. However, after becoming familiar with it a few times, her climbing speed immediately surpassed Ye Zi's.

Seeing how easily the other two managed it, Bei Xingye secretly gritted his teeth and silently continued practicing.

When Ye Zi saw Kushina's climbing speed overtake his own, he immediately felt dissatisfied and sped up.

Smack!

A crisp sound rang out. Ye Zi's foot slipped off empty air, and he froze for a moment before pitching toward the ground and landing flat on his back with all four limbs in the air.

The abrupt incident drew Kushina and Bei Xingye's gazes.

Ye Zi ignored their looks and stared blankly at the small crater his foot had crushed into the bark, saying nothing.

Only then did he realize that his Chakra control was not actually that strong.

Physical skills, Chakra reserves, Chakra control, and ninjutsu were all divided into stages. No matter which one it was, one could only keep refining and strengthening it. No one could guarantee that they would reach the ultimate level.

After realizing the problem, Ye Zi's desire to learn ninjutsu immediately faded considerably. He turned back toward Orochimaru, who still wore the same indifferent expression.

"I was a little too impatient." Ye Zi gritted his teeth. He had thought climbing trees would be simple, but once he increased his speed, the Chakra control he had been so pleased with turned out to be worth nothing.

Over the past three years, he had only thought of using his body to make objects adhere to him. He had never considered using tree climbing to train his Chakra control.

Yet because of that, he had built a solid and reliable foundation.

At that moment, he completely abandoned the idea of learning ninjutsu and focused on training his tree climbing.

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