Rescued

"Ye Zi, Ye Zi, Ye Zi..."

Deep within his consciousness, a familiar voice seemed to be calling his name incessantly. That voice sounded like Ye Rui's...

Hearing the voice, Ye Zi was instantly overjoyed. He desperately tried to look in the direction of the sound, but his eyelids felt too heavy to open. All he saw was endless darkness.

He wanted to shout, but his lips were sealed shut. He wanted to move, but his limbs felt like they weighed ten thousand pounds. Then, he despaired as he realized the voice was growing weaker and farther away, until he finally sank into the abyss-like darkness.

"Ye Zi, Ye Zi..."

Kushina held Ye Zi's blood-stained hand, tears streaming down her face. If Ye Zi hadn't come to save her, he wouldn't be so severely injured. If only she knew medical ninjutsu.

Minato, who had finished carefully examining Ye Zi's condition, felt his heart sink to the bottom. The initial joy of finding Ye Zi still had a faint pulse vanished in an instant.

"Although the bleeding is slowing down, the injuries are too severe. We need to send him back to the village for treatment as soon as possible..."

Minato's expression turned sorrowful as he spoke. They were already close to the border, and there was no way they could make it back to Konohagakure for treatment in time. If only one of them knew medical ninjutsu.

"No, there has to be a way, right? There has to be!" Kushina's heart tightened as she looked at Minato, muttering in a daze.

Meeting Kushina's dejected gaze, Minato bit his lip. If there was any remaining hope, it lay in the Konoha ninja pursuing them, hoping one of them knew medical ninjutsu. But the possibility was slim, and even with a medical ninja, saving Ye Zi's life wouldn't be easy. In any case, they couldn't afford to miss any opportunity.

His gaze shifted to a large tree, his mind made up.

Most people in Konohagakure didn't know Kushina was the new Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Therefore, when Kushina was abducted, the Third Hokage didn't make a big fuss but dispatched many elites.

A ninja leaping through the night forest twitched his ears, hearing a great commotion coming from the southwest.

The closest to the commotion was a white-haired young man. Upon hearing the sound, he immediately leaped to the treetop. Under the bright moonlight, he saw countless leaves swirling in the sky not far to the southwest, and his eyes narrowed.

Although the flashy commotion seemed more like a notification method resembling smoke signals, he didn't let his guard down. He maintained his vigilance and sped towards the direction without slowing down.

Nearby Konoha ninja also sensed the disturbance and were all heading in that direction.

When the white-haired ninja arrived, he first smelled the strong scent of blood, and then he saw his student.

"Minato," Jiraiya called out to Minato, then looked at Ye Zi, who was leaning against the tree trunk. His expression changed. The sight of him covered in blood was truly tragic.

"Teacher."

Seeing Jiraiya, a flicker of disappointment crossed Minato's eyes. Kushina felt the same. They hadn't expected the first person to arrive to be one of the Sannin, but it wasn't Tsunade.

Jiraiya keenly noticed the fleeting disappointment in their eyes and gave a wry smile. Looking at the weak Ye Zi, he appeared helpless.

What kind of opponent had this child encountered?

With this thought, Jiraiya examined Ye Zi's injuries and frowned upon noticing how little blood was flowing from such large wounds.

This phenomenon made him think of the worst-case scenario: Ye Zi had lost too much blood. He hadn't considered that Ye Zi's body was actively stopping the bleeding.

Stroking his chin, Jiraiya looked at the child before him, whose demeanor strongly resembled Orochimaru's as a child, and sighed regretfully, "Even if Tsunade were here, he probably wouldn't be saved."

This statement struck Kushina and Minato like thunder.

"How could that be..." Kushina's eyes trembled.

Minato turned his head away, clenching his fist tightly. If he had chosen to stay behind then... perhaps he couldn't have caught up to Kushina so quickly, but at least they could have killed the opponent together before pursuing Kushina.

Their sorrow didn't last long before a crisp shout was heard.

"Get lost!"

Then, they watched as Jiraiya was kicked away by a figure, letting out a scream before crashing through a large tree and finally stopping.

"Idiot." Glancing at the flying Jiraiya, Tsunade ignored Minato and Kushina and immediately began treating the severely injured Ye Zi.

She could sense a relatively active life force from Ye Zi. As soon as she heard Jiraiya pronounce him dead, she didn't hesitate to kick him away.

"Kid, don't you dare die so easily."

Tsunade's expression was solemn, her teeth gritted slightly as she focused entirely on treating Ye Zi.

Minato and Kushina were overjoyed by Tsunade's sudden arrival but dared not disturb her, content to watch from the side with renewed hope.

"This familiar feeling..."

Jiraiya, who had been kicked away, shook his dizzy head. As he stood up, he saw Tsunade about to scold him but stopped abruptly because he saw her treating Ye Zi.

"Is that child still salvageable?" Jiraiya asked, rubbing his head as he walked over. He was unaware of Ye Zi's special constitution, but Tsunade was.

A moment later, another person arrived at the location.

"Orochimaru." Jiraiya looked at the newcomer, surprised that the Sannin would gather in such a manner.

Orochimaru leaped down from the tree, nodded at Jiraiya, then looked at the blood-covered Ye Zi. A cold glint flashed in his snake-like eyes.

His gaze suddenly shifted to a corpse lying not far away, and the cold glint in his eyes intensified.

"Cloud ninja Jiu Xiao."

Hearing the name, Jiraiya couldn't help but be startled. His attention had been fully occupied by Ye Zi upon his arrival, so he hadn't paid much attention to the deceased body. Now, he couldn't help but look at the corpse and, upon confirming it was indeed Jiu Xiao, raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"This child actually managed to kill Jiu Xiao." Jiraiya's face showed astonishment.

"Hmph," Orochimaru snorted, also quite surprised. He withdrew his gaze, which had been as sharp as a blade on Jiu Xiao's corpse, and turned it back to Ye Zi, who was being treated by Tsunade.

Jiraiya clearly saw a flash of anger in Orochimaru's eyes. Could that cold-hearted man also get angry for someone?

"Teacher, was Jiu Xiao very powerful?" Minato asked softly from the side.

Jiraiya nodded and said, "Jiu Xiao is a special Jonin from Kumogakure, skilled with a sword. His taijutsu and speed are both formidable, making him extremely tricky. Even a Jonin can be killed by him in a single strike if they aren't careful."

After speaking, Jiraiya looked at Ye Zi, deep in thought. He didn't believe a mere Genin could handle such a difficult opponent, not even a genius. This was because Jiu Xiao's method of using Lightning Release to stimulate his body's activity made his sword movements nearly imperceptible to the naked eye. So, how had Ye Zi managed to defeat such a person?

He looked at Orochimaru, who wore a cold expression.

Upon hearing Jiraiya's explanation, Minato finally understood how terrifying Ye Zi's opponent truly was.

At this moment, Tsunade suddenly let out a sigh of relief. She removed her hand from Ye Zi's wound, and the faint green light slowly faded.

"Lady Tsunade, Ye Zi, he..." Seeing the treatment was over, Kushina looked at Tsunade hopefully.

"He's not in mortal danger, but we still need to get him back to the village for treatment as soon as possible," Tsunade replied casually, a hint of confusion in her eyes as she glanced at the large missing portion of Ye Zi's left arm.

"That's great, that's really great..." Hearing that Ye Zi was out of danger, Kushina's tense body relaxed. She looked at Tsunade's profile, a plan forming in her mind.