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Tedious and heavy training is the most boring, but it is also the most reflective of a person's willpower. Jiang Ye Wu didn't believe Ye Zi could complete the training within the limited time; that was an objective judgment. He was far from understanding how strong Ye Zi's willpower was.

"Root doesn't need someone like that," he said to Danzō.

What is Root?

Konoha's dark side.

Roots that draw nutrients from beneath the great tree.

Those nutrients are individual, absolutely loyal killing machines.

Danzō, sitting in his chair, looked at him and said calmly, "I don't want his person."

Jiang Ye Wu's expression was blank, and he said nothing. He was someone who would extract the value from everyone and utilize each person's value to the maximum. That was why Danzō placed him in this position.

Danzō's gaze shifted from his face, unconcerned by his rudeness. He spread out the scroll on the table and said faintly, "From the first time I saw him, I never hoped for his loyalty. I said he is a knife that will tear through obstacles for me. He will only be a knife, not a person."

"Aren't you afraid that will be a double-edged sword?" Jiang Ye Wu suddenly said.

Danzō's eyes narrowed slightly, and he said coldly, "I naturally have my concerns, but since I already know what he wants, I am confident in controlling it."

He paused, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes, and he chuckled coldly. "I just didn't expect him to be so similar to Orochimaru. The conditions that even Orochimaru could compromise on, how could he possibly refuse?"

"This subordinate understands." With that said, Jiang Ye Wu understood Danzō's plan and the weight Ye Zi held in Danzō's heart.

After taking his leave, he did not go to the training room to check Ye Zi's training progress. From beginning to end, he did not believe Ye Zi could complete the triple training volume. However, six hours later, the subordinate responsible for supervision reported that Ye Zi had completed the training volume. The subordinate left immediately after reporting, while Jiang Ye Wu stared into the air in silence.

From that day on, Ye Zi spent almost all his time within "Root," either training or reading scrolls detailing ninjutsu summaries, absorbing knowledge like a sponge. His growth was rapid through this dual approach.

At the same time, Minato and Kushina's presence among their peers grew stronger, arguably the most dazzling rising stars in Konoha at the moment.

Ye Zi grew in the darkness of Root, while Minato and Kushina flourished in the sunlight.

Time passed quickly, and another year had gone by in the blink of an eye.

The localized friction between Stone ninja and Konoha intensified, with the conflict escalating to casualties. The situation was visibly destabilizing, both openly and in secret.

On this day, Ye Zi, who had been on a secret mission in the Land of Earth, returned to Root with numerous injuries. As soon as he handed over the scroll containing classified intelligence, he collapsed from exhaustion and was immediately sent to Root's exclusive medical room for treatment.

Outside the room, Jiang Ye Wu held the scroll, stained with a large patch of blood, his expression somewhat complex. Over the past year, Ye Zi's performance had drastically changed his attitude.

"Lord Danzō, you were right." His gaze shifted from the closed door as he thought about the young man he initially disliked now truly becoming a knife, or a terrifying fang. His mood couldn't help but become complicated.

In one year, he had undertaken nearly a hundred missions, large and small, without a single failure. He had narrowly escaped death multiple times, always seeming on the verge of dying, only to open his eyes again.

This was a terrifying young man.

This was a terrifying junior.

This was a terrifying peer.

Within Root, no one could deny Ye Zi's terrifying nature.

In the medical bay, several medical ninja were intently treating the heavily wounded Ye Zi. Although Ye Zi on the operating table was so weak that he seemed as if he would die at any second, the medical ninja showed no trace of urgency.

The tense emergency treatment appeared so calm and composed that one would feel it would end in success.

Two hours later, the surgery concluded.

Ye Zi's faint breath began to pulse again, stabilizing. Then, under the influence of a large dose of anesthetic, he unreasonably opened his eyes, his brows furrowing deeply, seemingly due to the pain emanating from his body.

He looked at the closest medical ninja. Although the mask covering her face was large, he could tell she was a woman from her delicate features.

"Thank you." The pain in his body reminded him that he was still alive. He looked at the woman and thanked her solemnly.

Hearing Ye Zi's familiar, hoarse thanks, the woman turned to look at the awakened Ye Zi. A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes, and she then turned to her colleague responsible for administering the sedative and anesthetic, saying, "I told you to inject five times the dose."

The other person also seemed surprised, nodding, "It was indeed five times the dose."

The woman's delicate eyebrows curved slightly, and she tilted her head to look at the calm Ye Zi, saying sincerely, "If possible, please don't get so badly injured next time."

Ye Zi looked at her quietly and replied, "I'm afraid I can't."

After speaking, he endured the pain and got off the operating table directly. He moved like an elderly man, stubbornly taking one step at a time towards the door, as if walking into a world unknown to anyone.

No one in the room reached out to help him, because they all knew the young man would coldly refuse any assistance. Nor did they remind him not to move recklessly, because they all knew the young man's healing ability was extraordinary.

After Ye Zi left, the person responsible for administering the anesthetic said worriedly, "Next time, even five times the dose might not work."

"Mhm," the woman replied, lowering her head to start tidying up the instruments.

Naturally, he couldn't undertake missions while injured. However, despite his injuries, Ye Zi spent the entire day in the study, examining the scrolls piled high on the shelves.

His persistence and madness were such that no one knew why he was doing this.

Danzō didn't want to know, and Jiang Ye Wu didn't want to know. They only needed to know what he wanted, and then to maximize his value.

Ye Zi continued reading until close to midnight. The protests from his body finally reached their limit, and only then did he persuade himself to put down the scroll. He rubbed his temples wearily, and the pain that pulled at his brow when he reached out caused him to frown slightly.

He picked up the loose, oversized robe placed nearby and draped it over himself. He slowly got up, blew out the candlelight, and slowly walked towards the door.

Upon exiting, Ye Zi instinctively glanced at the ground to the right of the doorway. A square lunchbox wrapped in an orange cloth lay quietly there. He stood there for a while, thinking, before finally bending down and laboriously picking up the lunchbox. The food inside was made entirely from blood-replenishing ingredients. Due to the limitations of the ingredients, the texture and taste were not ideal, even considered unpleasant. However, for someone who had lost a lot of blood due to injury, it was the best dietary supplement.

Ye Zi carried the lunchbox, like a twilight elder, and slowly left. He knew who had left this lunchbox. He didn't resist the extremely unpalatable food, perhaps because of his childhood experiences of struggling to eat his fill, perhaps because the food was beneficial to his blood-deficient body, or perhaps because it contained someone's feelings.

He would be grateful in his heart to the girl whose name he didn't know, just as he would solemnly thank her upon opening his eyes, but he wouldn't want to know her name.

He didn't want to, and he couldn't.

The night was as dark as ink, and silver light fell upon the earth.

The streets of Konoha were quiet at this hour, paved with silver light. Ye Zi, carrying his lunchbox, bathed in the silvery glow as he slowly made his way towards his house.

After passing a corner, he stopped, because a person was standing there, silently watching that girl, and his mood turned very bad.

He had been deliberately avoiding the girl with the beautiful red hair. Although they were walking in opposite directions, the girl would always inexplicably block his path like this.

In the bright moonlight, Kushina's gaze slowly drifted over the parts of Ye Zi's body wrapped in white bandages. She unconsciously bit her lip, her eyes filled with complex emotions, just like before.