Encounter

All he could see was darkness, all he could hear was wind and rain, and all he could touch was bone-chilling cold.

The sense of security this human settlement had initially brought slowly faded amid the sounds of wind and rain in the darkness. Darkness that concealed everything had always been frightening, shrouding the silent village in an eerie atmosphere.

Ye Zi slowly moved along the wall. His hand pressed against it suddenly stopped when it touched the smooth, icy glass of a window. There was no dust beneath his palm, but that proved nothing.

His grimy little hand fumbled through the darkness. After his fingertips found a gap, he tried prying it open. To his surprise, the window was unlocked, though the thought that this place was completely deserted made it seem only natural.

After opening the window, Ye Zi awkwardly realized that in his current condition, he could not climb through it, much less enter the house that way. Helpless, he could only continue along the wall. Before long, he found the door into the house.

The rain grew heavier after nightfall. Even the deliberately extended eaves could not block such a downpour. The drainage pipes rattled under the force of the water, and the spot where Ye Zi had previously sheltered from the rain had already become soaked through.

"Rumble..."

A massive arc of lightning suddenly tore across the night sky, illuminating heaven and earth for an instant. Though it lasted only a few seconds, it was enough for Ye Zi to make out the house before him. It was an ordinary residence, with all the basic furnishings still inside.

Using the occasional flashes of lightning, Ye Zi shut the window he had opened earlier. He then found a box of matches and some paper, using a wooden stool and several wooden utensils as fuel for a fire.

Although he knew that making light in such a strange and unknown place was unwise, he had no other choice. If he did not make a fire to keep warm, he would not survive the night.

After lighting the fire, Ye Zi finally felt warmth he had not known for a long time. Some of the fear that had built up inside him dissipated as well. By the firelight, he roughly searched the house. He found no food at all, though the kitchenware was all there, and he managed to boil a pot of water.

Besides that, he discovered that the furniture indoors was not covered in dust, and it was in complete disarray. That meant people had been living here not long ago, but for some unknown reason, they had left in a hurry.

"Where exactly is this?" Ye Zi stared at the flames, his expression blank.

Why was he here? What kind of place was this? Could he go back?

Countless questions stabbed at his mind like a thousand needles.

If not for the hardships he had endured since childhood, perhaps he would not even have been able to stand from the moment he woke up. It was not merely due to his own willpower; this long-malnourished body was also not as frail as he had imagined.

Leaning against the fire, Ye Zi, exhausted in both mind and body, lay on the ground and slowly fell asleep. When he woke, it was already daylight, but the rain outside showed no sign of stopping.

Ye Zi felt hungry and weak. If he did not find food soon, he would starve to death sooner or later.

He found something resembling a raincoat in the house and put it on, then pushed open the door and stepped into the curtain of rain.

There was no one here, so he felt no pressure breaking into private homes. Yet after searching several houses without finding any food, he began to despair.

"The people here left in such a hurry, yet they did not leave behind a scrap of food. What happened?"

Ye Zi frowned as he walked. Then, from the corner of his eye, he spotted two iron trash bins at the street corner. He stopped, then headed toward them without hesitation.

"Maybe here..."

Ye Zi silently lifted the lid of one trash bin, then tipped it over. A foul stench immediately rushed out, but he did not even frown. He merely crouched down and calmly rummaged through the reeking scraps.

At a corner several hundred meters away, two people stopped because of him. One was a man, and the other a woman.

The woman was young and beautiful, with blonde hair and lovely brown eyes. A forehead protector was tied around her brow, its metal plate bearing a leaf-shaped symbol.

Despite being such a beautiful young woman, she wore armor over her upper body, lending her a hint of grim martial air.

The man beside her also wore armor over his upper body, though unlike the woman, he had a green cloak over it. His long black hair formed a stark contrast with his exceedingly pale face. More strikingly, he possessed golden vertical pupils, and the faint markings running from his eyes to the sides of his nose gave him an unnaturally cold, eerie air.

These two were Orochimaru and Tsunade, who were preparing to return to the village after the war had ended.

"Another orphan left behind by war?"

Orochimaru coldly watched Ye Zi's back and took a black Kunai from the ninja tool pouch at his waist.

"Living in such pain, he would be better off dead."

He muttered indifferently, gripping the Kunai as he took a step forward.

"Orochimaru, he's only a child without Chakra."

Tsunade frowned slightly and reached out to press a hand against Orochimaru's shoulder, stopping him.

"Heh." Orochimaru gave a cold laugh, glancing sideways at Tsunade. "So what?" With that, he shook his shoulder and broke free of her hand.

Seeing that Orochimaru was determined to have his way, Tsunade's frown deepened, but she did not try to stop him further.

She had seen too much life and death, and her hands had been stained with too much blood. Even her heart had quietly hardened. In the end, this was not the Land of Fire, nor was it Konoha...

Ye Zi had no idea that several hundred meters behind him, someone was slowly approaching with a Kunai, intending to kill him. At that moment, he was silently watching a small yellow dog before him. Evidently, this uninvited guest was hungry as well, making it far from docile. The low growls issuing from its mouth seemed to declare its ownership over the garbage on the ground.

"I don't know how long it's been. Back then, I was just like this too, fighting over scraps of food that ordinary people would casually throw away."

Ye Zi picked up a stone from the ground and silently stared at Yellow Dog, his eyes calm.

When it saw the stone in Ye Zi's hand, Yellow Dog suddenly sensed danger. But its empty stomach kept it from giving up. After all, if Ye Zi had not overturned the trash bin, it would not have been able to find the means to survive within it. Its low growl gradually intensified into fierce barking.

"Sorry."

Such a feeble, threatening bark had no effect on Ye Zi. He had not picked up the stone to drive Yellow Dog away. Compared with the contents of the trash bin, he preferred the ready-made meat in front of him. Thus, he raised the stone without hesitation and smashed it down at Yellow Dog.

The difference in their sizes had doomed the outcome from the start. In just over ten seconds, amid several miserable yelps, Yellow Dog was beaten to death by Ye Zi.

He pulled his hat back over his head after it had slipped off during the struggle, wiped away the rainwater streaming down his face, then bent down and picked up the equally scrawny Yellow Dog. Afterward, he headed back toward the house. With a fire available, he had no intention of eating it raw.

Not far away, Orochimaru, who had stopped walking, took in the entire scene.

"Hehehe, interesting..."

He put the Kunai back into his ninja tool pouch and watched Ye Zi's figure, interest gleaming in his eyes. He had thought the child would at most drive Yellow Dog away, or perhaps share a portion of the garbage with it. He had not expected him to directly treat Yellow Dog as food.

If this child had been a ninja... then such behavior would not have surprised him. Moreover, he had noticed a detail: the stone used to kill Yellow Dog was still clenched in the child's hand. That meant Yellow Dog's appearance had made him aware of danger, so even after the stone had served as a weapon, he continued holding it tightly. Before that, after all, he had not carried any weapon at all.

It felt like... a sudden awareness and understanding of his surroundings? Or perhaps a moment of instant growth?

He suddenly had the thought of taking this child back to the village, but he dismissed it in the next instant.

Though the war had ended, the atmosphere remained tense even now. Whatever the reason, it would be difficult to bring someone from another village into theirs, even if the other party was merely a child too weak to harm a chicken.

But...

Standing beneath the curtain of rain, his cold serpent eyes remained fixed on Ye Zi. A child like this—if he could not take him away, then he could only kill him.

"Orochimaru."

Tsunade had seen what had just happened as well. She was somewhat surprised, and she also sensed the faint killing intent emanating from Orochimaru.

As Ye Zi headed toward the house, he keenly noticed the malicious gaze coming from behind him. He suddenly shuddered, then sharply turned around and looked toward where the gaze had come from.

"People?"

After seeing who they were, Ye Zi relaxed slightly. But that was immediately followed by deep vigilance, and that mindset showed plainly on his face.

That man's hostile gaze made Ye Zi immediately place him on the list of people with ill intentions.