Talent

It had taken only a week to go from grievously wounded and nearly dead to fully recovered. That terrifying recovery ability had finally come to everyone's attention, astonishing the medical ninja at the ninja hospital. As for the higher-ups, their thoughts were more complicated—or rather, they were considering what kind of value Ye Zi's existence might represent.

On the first night after leaving the hospital, Ye Zi accepted a short sword from Orochimaru.

"What is this..." Ye Zi examined the short sword. Its hilt was as black as ink jade, while its blade was roughly two feet long, gleaming coldly with a faint luster flowing across it. He could sense the blade's sharpness just by looking at it. How could he forget that this was the sword that had pierced deep into his chest? It was also Jiu Xiao's weapon.

Orochimaru looked at him and said coolly, "This is your spoils of war."

Ye Zi silently accepted the short sword and nodded. "I happened to want a sword."

During his battle with Jiu Xiao, he had deeply felt the disadvantage of lacking a suitable weapon. This short sword was perfectly suited for ninja use: light, sharp, and easy to carry. It would not be an exaggeration to call it a ninja's specialized blade. What was more, it could be infused with Chakra, making it practically a killing weapon.

Neither of them spoke for a while, and silence descended over the room.

After a long time, Orochimaru's uniquely hoarse voice rang out first.

"Tell me exactly what happened that night."

Many people wanted to know how Ye Zi had killed Jiu Xiao, a man of considerable renown in Kumogakure. Orochimaru was one of them, because the matter itself was unreasonable.

If his opponent had not been so skilled in taijutsu and swordsmanship, many people could have accepted it. But his opponent had been Jiu Xiao of the Cloud ninja, whose physical and sword skills were already formidable. On top of that, he could use Lightning Release to activate his body.

Faced with such an enemy, how had Ye Zi—who had only been a Genin for a little over a year, despite his excellent results—managed to kill him?

Orochimaru was very curious. He knew Ye Zi's strength.

Under Orochimaru's probing gaze, Ye Zi was silent for a moment. Then, lightning suddenly flickered across his body. He extended his palm and looked at the lightning coiling and leaping over it. Calmly, he said, "At the time, I thought we could only die together. I didn't expect to survive. When all is said and done, I have this body to thank."

Orochimaru stared at the lightning as his expression slowly changed. He seemed to have already guessed the answer, but he said nothing, waiting for Ye Zi to continue.

Ye Zi shifted his gaze from his palm to Orochimaru's face and continued, "I used Chakra nature transformation to turn it into lightning that stimulated my body, activating it and making my movements faster and more agile. At first, I didn't know this could be done. I only saw that person use it, so I tried it myself. It worked. That was also why I had the means to die together with him."

Ye Zi did not say anything more, because Orochimaru understood his body—including the fact that his heart was on the right side.

Orochimaru's expression trembled slightly. He knew that Ye Zi learned everything quickly. Even when he saw Orochimaru perform hand seals, he needed only one viewing to memorize them. If the Sharingan had not failed to appear in Ye Zi's eyes, Orochimaru would have suspected that Ye Zi possessed the Sharingan, allowing him to see Orochimaru's hand-seal speed clearly and remember the sequence.

Even so, he had never expected Ye Zi's talent to reach such a terrifying level.

The unknown was one of the roots of humanity's stagnation, like a thick fog. To advance further, one could only grope forward slowly.

Yet, despite being faced with the unknown, Ye Zi was like a blazing sun, violently tearing the fog apart. Without any theoretical or practical foundation, he had merely watched Jiu Xiao use Lightning Release to increase his speed, learned it on the spot, and put it into practice. In that moment, even the usually conceited Orochimaru felt a trace of envy.

Jiu Xiao had not lost unjustly...

This talent was one reason for his victory. Another was that Ye Zi's body differed from an ordinary person's. Normally, when a blade pierced the heart, the body still had a brief moment in which to do something else, such as launch a dying counterattack. But if lightning was wrapped around that blade, things were different.

Jiu Xiao, however, did not know that Ye Zi's heart was on the right side. The moment he drove the blade into Ye Zi's chest, Jiu Xiao had already lost. Even so, before dying, Jiu Xiao had foolishly believed that Ye Zi would die as well. He had no idea that Ye Zi's cellular vitality was comparable to that of the Senju clan.

Orochimaru studied Ye Zi seriously, and suddenly realized that the importance he had previously attached to him was far from enough.

"Can you carry out missions tomorrow?"

"Yes." Ye Zi replied slowly.

Orochimaru nodded. "Get some rest."

With that, he rose and walked toward the corridor. He had already decided to increase the difficulty of Ye Zi's missions. Only then could Ye Zi grow faster.

Ye Zi watched Orochimaru leave the room, then slowly reined in his Chakra. He took out the short sword and stared at it in silence, his eyes completely black. No one knew what he was thinking.