Value

It was night.

When Ye Zi regained consciousness, the first thing he saw was a pile of burning campfires, with two people seated beside them.

He was starving, so hungry that his whole body felt weak. And there was not a single part of him that did not ache.

Also... had the rain stopped?

That was good news. He could no longer stand the feeling of his body being soaked in dampness.

The rain had not actually stopped. They had simply left the Land of Water and arrived at the border of the Land of Fire.

"Give me something to eat."

Ye Zi turned his head toward the man who had used snakes to bind him, making his demand without the slightest politeness. The fact that he was still alive meant the other party did not want him dead, which was why he dared ask for food.

Orochimaru had noticed the moment Ye Zi opened his eyes. Hearing him directly demand food now, he smiled faintly and casually tossed several biscuits in front of him.

Ye Zi looked at the biscuits that had landed not far from him. With effort, he stretched out a hand and picked one up, putting it in his mouth without biting down.

His mouth and throat were terribly dry. To digest the biscuit, he could only try to produce a little saliva to soften it before swallowing.

Tsunade glanced at Orochimaru. She knew very well that, in Ye Zi's condition, even producing a little saliva would be difficult. Swallowing a biscuit would undoubtedly be painful.

After a pause, she suddenly rose and walked over to Ye Zi. Under his slightly wary gaze, she crouched down and held one corner of the large leaf in her hand to his mouth.

Ye Zi's eyes trembled faintly. Understanding, he opened his small mouth, and cool water slid from the leaf into it. Like sweet dew, it instantly moistened everything.

After giving Tsunade a grateful look, Ye Zi swallowed the softened biscuit and closed his eyes in satisfaction.

One biscuit, and some water.

They were so precious that calling them the source of life would not be an exaggeration.

"Thank you."

Without the water Tsunade had given him, the biscuit in his mouth might have taken a long time to swallow.

Tsunade nodded slightly and set the leaf aside. There was not much water left inside, but it was enough for Ye Zi to swallow the remaining biscuits.

Enduring the pain, Ye Zi sat up and adjusted himself into a relatively comfortable position. He put the remaining two biscuits into the water on the leaf, waiting until they softened slightly before silently picking them up and eating them.

Crackle.

In the quiet night, only the faint popping of the burning fire could be heard.

They were in a forest, where danger lurked everywhere. Yet to powerful people like Orochimaru and Tsunade, it was nothing much. If they were within another country's borders, they might need to be more vigilant, but within the Land of Fire, it was enough to take the necessary precautions.

"Where are you taking me?" Ye Zi asked after filling his stomach a little.

"Konoha," Orochimaru replied blandly.

"Konoha?" Ye Zi frowned and calmly asked, "Is that where traffickers dispose of their goods?"

"Traffickers?" Tsunade shot Ye Zi a glance, a trace of anger in her eyes, but said nothing. Instead, she felt a slight ache in her heart at how calmly he compared himself to merchandise.

In an age of war... there were countless scenes even more heartbreaking than this.

"Konoha is our village," Orochimaru replied coldly, implicitly denying Ye Zi's guess.

Ye Zi's brow remained furrowed as he pressed on. "Then why take me back to your village? I don't think a child who's about to starve to death has any value to you."

Orochimaru gave him a sidelong look. A faint smile suddenly appeared on his cold, pale face.

"Indeed. If you had no value, you would have long since become a pile of rotten flesh."

Those cold words made Ye Zi's heart tremble. Then he heard Orochimaru say, "So find a way to prove your value. Otherwise, you have no right to keep living. Remember this: without me, you would become a corpse in a few days."

Ye Zi smiled disdainfully. If he had not encountered that Yellow Dog, perhaps he would not have had the confidence to hold on. But with that Yellow Dog, he was confident he could survive.

Yet Ye Zi, thinking so optimistically, had no idea what conditions had been like where he had been before.

In an age of war, there were few safe places...

For powerless civilians, there were even fewer.

Orochimaru was right, but Ye Zi could not understand that, because he knew nothing about this world.

Listening to their conversation, Tsunade could not help rubbing her forehead. Looking at Ye Zi's emaciated body, she estimated that he was no more than six years old. Yet his psychological maturity was unbelievable. He was merely a child from an ordinary family, wasn't he?

And... despite a body that was clearly malnourished, he possessed remarkable toughness. An ordinary person would have died from the journey of the past two days, yet Ye Zi was still doing fine.

Thinking of this, Tsunade glanced at Orochimaru, who was staring into the fire. Had he refused to treat Ye Zi's injuries earlier because he had seen through this?

"Big sister, what's your name?"

Thinking that he knew nothing about either of them, and that Tsunade seemed easier to get along with, Ye Zi moved closer to try to build rapport.

Tsunade snapped back to attention, looked at him, and said, "Before asking someone else's name, it's basic courtesy to give your own first."

"..."

Ye Zi was left speechless. You tied me up without saying a word, and now you're talking about courtesy?

"My name is Ye Zi. You can call me Ye Zi."

"Ye Zi? What a strange name." Tsunade raised her eyelids slightly and asked curiously, "You didn't give yourself that name, did you?"

"Mm."

Tsunade had only said it casually, never expecting to be right.

This child...

Tsunade let out a quiet sigh inwardly and said, "Senju Tsunade. That's my name."

Your name is the strange one...

Ye Zi's eyelids twitched. Then he looked at Orochimaru.

Following his gaze, Tsunade played along. "His name is Orochimaru."

Ye Zi nodded in understanding, then fell silent obediently.

"Doesn't your body hurt anymore?" Orochimaru suddenly asked.

"Huh? It doesn't hurt that much anymore."

Only after Orochimaru said that did Ye Zi realize that the pain coursing through his body had weakened considerably, enough for him to speak with Tsunade normally.

"Hehe..."

Orochimaru looked at Ye Zi, a flicker of light glinting in his eyes.

At this point in time, Orochimaru had not yet considered researching reincarnation techniques. He was simply extremely interested in Ye Zi's physical traits.

From the first time he saw Ye Zi, he had noticed that such a frail body contained remarkably powerful vitality. Though that vitality was only evident in his small heart, it was still far from ordinary.

Still, special as he might be, Orochimaru would eliminate anyone who needed eliminating. Ye Zi's final display, however, had earned him the right to keep living.

"Let me see."

Tsunade was also greatly surprised by Ye Zi's words. Without another word, she pulled open his clothes and pressed one hand against his chest, her palm glowing with a soft green light.

"The activity of his cells..."

Sensing the cells within that thin, frail body suddenly becoming active, Tsunade could not help but freeze.

Perhaps...

She had underestimated Ye Zi's physical traits from the very beginning.