Mission

Although a week was an extremely short time, under Orochimaru's targeted instruction, all three of them could feel their strength soaring. Each had also learned several highly practical ninjutsu. Achieving such results in only a week was due not only to their solid foundations, but also to Orochimaru's guidance. This was the greatest value of a team leader: his presence allowed students fresh out of the Ninja Academy to grow as quickly as possible.

Of course, this was also related to each person's talent.

Bei Xingye had an introverted personality, but there was a drive buried in his bones. During this week, the amount of training he endured was no less than Kushina's, yet his progress was far inferior to hers, let alone compared with Ye Zi, whose training load was heavier than both of theirs.

The world had never been fair. For most people, everything had been decided from the moment they were born. Saying that sweat and hard work could make up for talent was nothing more than empty talk in the end. Some people were simply gifted beyond measure. Others could only envy and resent them, forever unable to surpass them.

Watching Ye Zi and Kushina leave him behind, Bei Xingye felt extremely discouraged. This gap had already existed back at the Ninja Academy, but under Orochimaru's instruction, it had become even more pronounced—so pronounced that it filled him with sorrow.

Why did he train so desperately, yet achieve results so far inferior to Ye Zi and Kushina's?

With this question in his heart, Bei Xingye was deeply unwilling to accept it. Fortunately, he did not let it affect his training and completed Orochimaru's assignments properly. Otherwise, before they carried out their first mission, Orochimaru would probably have removed Bei Xingye from the team.

Kushina was a female ninja, yet possessed talent no less extraordinary than that of male ninja. She had a woman's delicacy and extremely strong chakra control, as well as a man's physique and strength. Without a doubt, she was a genius. If nothing unexpected happened, she could clearly become an existence capable of rivaling the Sannin. Orochimaru had seen this very clearly over the past week.

But...

Kushina's performance surprised Orochimaru, while Ye Zi's performance astounded him.

Once Ye Zi displayed stable chakra control, Orochimaru decisively began teaching him ninjutsu. Before that, he tested Ye Zi's chakra nature, which proved to be Lightning, Wind, and Fire.

Possessing three chakra natures was not enough to astound Orochimaru. What truly astonished him was that after watching Orochimaru demonstrate the hand seals just once, Ye Zi could use the ninjutsu on his own. Although his first attempt was extremely clumsy and its power very weak, being able to perform ninjutsu after only one viewing meant that consolidating it afterward would likely not be difficult.

After discovering Ye Zi's aptitude, Orochimaru still appeared cold on the surface, but inwardly he was already satisfied with the decision he had made back then.

On that rainy, overcast day, he had seen only one side of that boy and concluded that the boy would surely grow into a towering tree in the future.

On the final night of their special training,

Ye Zi was still undergoing high-intensity training. Because of his body, the amount he trained every day was absolutely beyond what Kushina and Bei Xingye could imagine. Bei Xingye might have seen Ye Zi's dazzling strength, but he had also overlooked Ye Zi's efforts, which were no less than anyone else's.

It was deep into the night. In the courtyard, where an old tree stood, a boy moved like a robot, repeatedly raising a huge, heavy stone barbell in mechanical motions. Beneath the bright moonlight, only his harsh breathing could be heard. Aside from that, there was nothing but silence.

"Your first mission starts tomorrow. You'd better conserve your strength and adjust your condition." A cold, hoarse voice suddenly came from the corridor connecting the house to the courtyard.

The barbell Ye Zi had raised high stopped abruptly. He drew in his abdomen and exhaled, forcing the air from his lungs before slowly lowering the heavy barbell. Then he turned his head toward the corridor, where a tall, slender man was standing.

"I know the condition of my body very well." Ye Zi had not set down the barbell because he had accepted Orochimaru's advice. He simply felt that putting it down before speaking with Orochimaru was a form of respect.

Orochimaru looked at Ye Zi. Thinking of the special nature of Ye Zi's body, an uncontrollable glint flashed through his eyes as he said coldly, "That's for the best."

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned and walked toward the bedroom.

Watching Orochimaru disappear from sight, Ye Zi turned around and continued his dull, mechanical training.

Ever since learning that the energy obtained from food could quickly dispel his bodily fatigue, Ye Zi had trained his body like a madman, not worrying in the slightest that high-intensity training would cause injury.

No more than ten people in Konoha knew about Ye Zi's constitution. The Akimichi Clan was not among them. Although the energy Ye Zi obtained from food could not be converted into chakra, he could rely on that energy to restore his physical condition. This might give the Akimichi Clan many ideas. There was no question of whether they were good or bad, so the Third Hokage had no intention of letting the Akimichi Clan know about it.

Was the special nature of his body limited to absorbing food to recover?

No.

Ye Zi did not believe it was limited to that. As time passed, he felt that his control over his body's coordination was growing increasingly formidable. Moreover, he had vaguely sensed something. Although he could not obtain a direct answer, he had a premonition that the body he had come to possess in this world had extraordinary advantages.

After completing his monotonous training, Ye Zi washed up, swallowed a considerable amount of food, and then obediently went to bed.

At dawn, Ye Zi opened his eyes and nimbly jumped out of bed. After stretching his limbs, he contentedly rolled his neck.

The high-intensity training every day had not caused his body any harm. Every time he woke from a night's sleep, he was not only full of energy, but his limbs were also brimming with vitality.

"What will the first mission be?"

After getting ready, Ye Zi did not wait for Orochimaru. Since it was not yet time, he went straight out and headed toward the agreed meeting place.

When he arrived at the place where they had first gathered, the thin morning mist had not yet dispersed. Ye Zi did not mind the dew on the wooden post and simply leaned against it, pretending to sleep as he waited for the others to arrive.

"Ye Zi, good morning."

After a long while, the second person to arrive was Bei Xingye. Seeing that Ye Zi had already arrived, he instinctively greeted him.

"Morning."

Ye Zi lifted his eyelids and gave a slight nod in acknowledgment.

Bei Xingye glanced around. Knowing that Lord Orochimaru and Kushina had not arrived yet, he walked over and squatted down beside Ye Zi.

After a while, Kushina hurried over, followed soon after by Orochimaru.

Maintaining his usual no-nonsense style, Orochimaru saw that all three of them had arrived at the training ground and said directly, "The mission we've accepted this time is C-rank. The objective is to exterminate a band of bandits. I'll explain the details on the way. For now, follow me."

After saying this, he did not wait for the three to react and immediately turned toward the village entrance.

Exterminate bandits...

In other words, this mission would involve killing.

Carrying inexplicable thoughts, Ye Zi followed behind Orochimaru and walked out of Konoha's gates under the watchful eyes of the gate guards.

Ye Zi had been in Konoha for more than three years, and this was his first time leaving the village. It might be hard to imagine someone staying in Konoha for three years without taking a single step outside, but this was perfectly normal. The outside world was not safe, and he had known that for a long time.

Leaving Konoha for the first time in many years did not bring Ye Zi much of a sense of novelty. He listened carefully as Orochimaru explained the details of the mission.

The mission to exterminate the bandits had been commissioned by a village nestled against mountains and water.

More than two hundred miles from Konoha, there was a river. A village had been established there, existing along the water. Everyone in the village was an ordinary person. Since the Land of Fire was not a battlefield, enemy ninja who infiltrated the country would not be bored enough to target a village full of ordinary people. Recently, however, a small band of bandits had suddenly appeared. They had made their home in the mountains not far from the village and came every so often to plunder and kill at will, seemingly treating the villagers like livestock to be raised. The bandits had not wiped out the village all at once, but the villagers eventually could not endure it any longer, so they sent a young man to Konoha to post a mission request.

Orochimaru had accepted this mission. The reason was simple: as ninja, killing was an everyday occurrence. But everything needed a beginning. For Ye Zi and the other two, this mission was that beginning—the first blood of their ninja careers.