Time flowed away like fine sand through an hourglass, and two years passed before anyone noticed.
Over the past two years, the Ninja Continent had fallen into an eerie calm.
The high-level commissions once brought about by conflicts among small countries had suddenly become far fewer.
Yet because of the growing economic imbalance, the Four Great Hidden Villages—whose main business now relied on exploiting small countries, then seeking opportunities to recruit subordinates or expand their territory—had unusually refrained from creating conflicts for them. It was as though they were still licking the wounds left by the First Shinobi World War and recuperating.
As the victors of the First Shinobi World War, Konoha and the Land of Fire had already caught the scent of something being wrong. They secretly mobilized the spies stationed throughout the various countries, ordering them to keep watch for any major movements from those great ninja villages.
Little did they know that the Four Great Hidden Villages had already quietly shifted their conspiratorial hands from the Ninja Continent to overseas.
By the time they realized it, they would lose a powerful ally.
March 27, Year 33 of Konoha.
Waterfall Place, some distance from Konoha.
On the bank of a pool stood a white-haired child about five feet three inches tall, though his face was remarkably youthful. His left hand gripped his right wrist, and his icy blue eyes stared intently at his right palm.
A blue energy sphere the size of a ping-pong ball spun above his right hand.
The energy sphere was white within and blue without. The white inside was a rapidly rotating Chakra vortex, the core of the energy sphere.
The entire sphere was extremely stable, clearly a completed ninjutsu.
Yet the white-haired child was still unsatisfied. His expression was stern, as though he wanted to add something more to it.
Though his body did not move, he gave off the impression of exerting tremendous force.
Under his efforts, one strand of vortex within the white core, which consisted of countless Chakra vortices, suddenly turned black.
That trace of black was utterly inconspicuous amid the whole. Without close inspection, it might not even be noticed.
However, the appearance of that black trace disrupted the energy sphere's balance. It was like boiling the water inside a balloon, making it scorching hot and on the verge of bursting.
Without the slightest hesitation, the white-haired child immediately held the energy sphere in his hand and pressed it against a nearby mountain wall.
With a thunderous boom, shattered rocks flew everywhere and dust filled the air.
When the wind dispersed the dust cloud, a massive crater covered in Spiral Patterns appeared in the mountain wall.
Just from the patterns within that crater, one could imagine that if the energy sphere struck a person, they would be sent flying through the air, spinning at high speed as they were hurled backward.
If the Chakra could enter the body like the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist, it might even shred the target's internal organs.
There was no doubt that this was a high-level ninjutsu with tremendous destructive power, and a rare ninjutsu without hand seals in the Ninja World.
Yet the white-haired child who had mastered this high-level ninjutsu—Gojo Yoru, now nine years old—showed no joy whatsoever. Instead, he muttered dejectedly, "Failed again. Is it really that difficult?"
"Your Chakra control and Shape Transformation are already sufficient. Perhaps you should work on Nature Transformation."
"Who is that?!"
The sudden voice caused Gojo Yoru's expression to change once more.
This area was Waterfall Place, surrounded by forest, which he had carefully selected.
He had also set up large amounts of wire and bells throughout the surrounding forest. Touching even one would trigger a chain reaction, setting off deeply hidden Explosive Tags and creating a huge noise to alert Gojo Yoru.
Even if a wild beast accidentally touched an alarm bell, Gojo Yoru would end his training for the day.
For someone to appear here silently despite such an arrangement, they could not possibly be an ordinary person.
As Gojo Yoru prepared to mobilize the Space-Time Chakra within his body, he turned toward the direction the voice had come from.
When he saw the speaker clearly, his pupils immediately contracted slightly.
Then Gojo Yoru adopted a respectful manner and gave a slight bow toward the source of the voice. "Lord Orochimaru."
At some point, a young man wearing a green vest had appeared by the pool.
Long black hair, pale skin, golden vertical pupils, and purple eye shadow were his defining features.
This young man was Orochimaru, one of the three personal disciples of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and someone who would later be given the title of one of the Konoha Sannin.
At this time, Orochimaru had yet to develop his future sinister and cunning aura. Instead, he felt handsome and aloof, much like Uchiha Itachi and Second Pillar.
Gojo Yoru was not afraid of Orochimaru at this point in time.
Orochimaru had not yet become involved with Shimura Danzō, nor had he fallen into darkness. In Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes, he was the ideal candidate for Fourth Hokage, a Konoha ninja who inherited the Will of Fire, and a dependable partner Tsunade was willing to entrust her younger brother to.
"What is your name, and how old are you?" Orochimaru studied Gojo Yoru across from him, becoming more astonished the longer he looked.
From a distance earlier, he had thought some Genin had come here to practice ninjutsu.
He had not expected it to be a child who had matured ahead of time.
That face looked even younger than Nawaki's. Could he possibly not even be in fifth grade yet?
Naturally, Gojo Yoru had no idea what Orochimaru was thinking. He answered honestly, "My name is Gojo Yoru. I'm nine years old this year."
"Gojo?"
Orochimaru could not help raising an eyebrow. "What are Gojo Sa and Gojo Mio to you?"
"They are my father and mother."
As expected, Orochimaru thought. Outwardly, he praised him softly, "Your parents are both heroes, and you are a genius as well. That ninjutsu just now was beautiful—and powerful."
"You flatter me, Lord Orochimaru." Gojo Yoru looked modest, though he could not help feeling relieved inside.
Having Jonin parents truly was an invisible network of connections.
"Why aren't you training in the village? Why did you specifically come all the way here?"
Now that he knew Gojo Yoru was the descendant of acquaintances, Orochimaru grew even more curious about him.
He had come here because, on his way back, he had accidentally discovered a large amount of wire and several Explosive Tags. Unable to resist, he had used an Earth Style Body Flicker to come investigate, only to unexpectedly witness Gojo Yoru practicing the Rasengan.
A body that had developed ahead of time meant Physical Energy and Mental Energy beyond the norm.
The Chakra control and Shape Transformation contained in that ninjutsu made its training difficulty at least B-Rank, and very likely A-Rank. Orochimaru suspected that Gojo Yoru had just been trying to inject Nature Transformation into it.
The combination of top-tier Shape Transformation and Nature Transformation was an S-Rank ultimate technique.
For a nine-year-old to master a ninjutsu with such training difficulty, Gojo Yoru was fully qualified to graduate early. Even many Chunin, or even Special Jonin, did not possess a trump card like his.
With such talent, yet refusing to display it and even specifically coming here to train... was he trying to hide his edge?
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