First Encounter

In a silent clearing, Ye Wuji slowly opened his eyes. Just as he was about to look around and figure out where he was, a wave of pain suddenly swept through his body. He tried to cry out, only to find that even his throat was dry and sore. The pain made him feel dizzy.

Ye Wuji shook his head hard, trying to clear it. He was about to stand when he realized he seemed shorter. Looking at his hands, he saw that they had changed too. They were tiny, like a child's hands, and soft and tender—not like his own dry, cracked, pale hands had been. He was about to think carefully about what had happened when the pain coursing through his body made it impossible to concentrate.

The pain made Ye Wuji forget about the changes to his body. He tried to stand, only to realize something was lying on top of him. From the sensation, it seemed to be a person. What's going on? Am I still trapped underneath someone? Who's on top of me? Uncle Zhang, the man I worked with? If so, does that mean no one's come to rescue us yet? he wondered.

Ye Wuji tried to push the person off him, only to realize that he was being held tightly. He couldn't push them away at first. After taking several deep breaths, Ye Wuji suddenly exerted all his strength and shoved the person off. The effort made his vision go black in waves. Swaying, he slowly got to his feet. It took him more than ten minutes to recover. Once he did, he wanted to see who had been pinning him down—and whether Uncle Zhang had come to help him during the earthquake.

He looked and saw an unfamiliar young man, with a rather pretty young woman lying beside him. From where they were, it seemed the two of them had been holding him in their arms.

Ye Wuji looked around again. Only then did he realize he was standing in the middle of a field of corpses. Nearly a hundred bodies lay scattered around him, people both old and young. A number of wooden vehicles lay strewn nearby.

He looked up and saw that he was in a canyon, with towering, cloud-piercing mountains on either side, all lush and green. Looking ahead and behind him, he realized there was only one road through the canyon, and he was standing right in it.

After taking it all in, Ye Wuji finally had time to look at himself. Judging by how he felt, this body was probably somewhere between six and ten years old. He looked at the wound on his chest, then examined the young man and woman again. The man had a wound in his chest. It looked as though something had pierced the man's body before going on to wound Ye Wuji. Judging by how tightly the two had held him even as they faced death, they must have been this body's parents.

Looking at the couple on the ground, Ye Wuji felt dazed. Although he didn't know them, tears kept streaming from the corners of his eyes. A wave of grief welled up inside him, and he sat beside them, weeping silently.

"Looks like we're too late," a deep voice said beside Ye Wuji. Then came a thud, like a fist striking the ground.

"Yeah, but there's still a kid alive. Lucky little thing. Though I wonder if that's good luck or bad." Another voice rang out. For some reason, when Ye Wuji heard it, his grief suddenly tightened around his heart.

Ye Wuji turned his head and froze. A pale face, long black hair blowing loose, and a distinctive mark—a snake coiled around the man, flicking its tongue. As Ye Wuji turned to look, the snake narrowed its cold eyes at him.

How is this possible? Ye Wuji cried out inwardly, then promptly fainted.

As he passed out, he seemed to see a blond boy of about eleven or twelve walking toward him. Then he lost consciousness.

At the same time, the blond boy reached Ye Wuji's side and checked him over. He seemed relieved, then immediately began treating Ye Wuji with chakra.

Afterward, he set Ye Wuji aside. "Lady Tsunade, his injuries are relatively minor. It looks like he fainted from blood loss. But just to be safe, could I trouble you to take a look?"

As he spoke, a beautiful woman with pale yellow hair and a ninja uniform appeared nearby.

"All right, Minato. Set him aside for now. I'll check on him in a bit. But since you've already examined him, he should be fine." As she spoke, the pale-yellow-haired woman continued checking the bodies on the ground.

Once she finished, she came over and examined Ye Wuji again. She treated him once more, and her medical skills were far beyond the blond boy's. In no time, the wounds on Ye Wuji's body had vanished, leaving not a single scar.

"Not a single survivor apart from this child. Damn those wandering ninja," the pale-haired woman said to the young man nearby after treating Ye Wuji.

"Those bastards! To butcher a group of ordinary people like this—they deserve to die!" the white-haired young man shouted angrily.

"Enough, Jiraiya. This is war. There's no rhyme or reason to it."

"Does war really have to be inevitable? Is peace really so hard to achieve?" said the white-haired young man, Jiraiya. Inwardly, he recalled the Great Toad Sage's words: The one who will bring change to the Shinobi World.

"Perhaps." Perhaps unwilling to argue with Jiraiya, Orochimaru didn't respond further.

But after glancing at Ye Wuji on the ground, Orochimaru licked his lips and asked, "So, Jiraiya, what are you going to do with this child? I think we should kill him. Staying alive might be nothing but suffering for him. And in a chaotic era like this, how long do you think he'll last? Are you planning to waste another three years raising a student? But I should warn you, you don't have that kind of time this time. The Third Hokage has been urgently summoning us again and again. This war is nearing its end. We need to get back and prepare for the final battle. Don't forget who we're up against. If you're not there, Konoha may lose this war." Orochimaru gave a few chuckles.

At Orochimaru's words, Jiraiya's expression stiffened. He looked at Ye Wuji on the ground, uncertainty showing on his face.

Seeing Jiraiya's worry, Orochimaru continued, "Don't think about taking him with us. We wouldn't make it in time. Besides, this child is just an ordinary person. Even if you forced him to come along, do you think he'd hold out that long? He'd probably die on the road.

"And you seem to have forgotten how anxious the Third Hokage is. Didn't you see that he even sent your student Minato to deliver the message this time? Do you still want us to waste time?"

"I think we should kill him. If you can't bring yourself to do it, I can. Don't worry—I'll make sure he dies without pain. It would be a decent choice for both him and us. What do you think, Tsunade?"

"Well..." Tsunade had heard Orochimaru's words, but for a moment she didn't know what to decide.

Seeing that Tsunade hadn't objected outright and Jiraiya wasn't saying anything, Orochimaru walked over to Ye Wuji and looked down at the unconscious boy.

Ye Wuji looked as if he were fast asleep. With his white hair, he seemed very cute. Children were cute, after all.

Orochimaru licked his lips and chuckled twice. Then the snake that had been beside him suddenly turned into a shadow and shot toward the unconscious Ye Wuji. Just as the shadow was about to reach him, there was a bang. Jiraiya was standing beside Ye Wuji, and his punch sent the snake crashing to the ground. It left a crater nearly a meter wide, and the snake's head had burst. It was clearly dead.

Orochimaru watched, licked his lips, and smiled without a word. Another snake head emerged behind him.

"Looks like you've made up your mind. Are you sure you want to do this?" Orochimaru didn't attack again. He watched Jiraiya with an amused expression. In truth, even if Jiraiya hadn't intervened, Orochimaru hadn't intended to kill Ye Wuji. The three of them were in the prime of their friendship, and Orochimaru knew perfectly well what Jiraiya was thinking. He had only been trying to help Jiraiya make up his mind sooner.

"Yeah, I've decided. You go on ahead. I'll find a place for him, then catch up as soon as I can. Don't worry. I'll find a family to take him in. I'll just give them some money." Jiraiya lowered his fist and spoke to Orochimaru and Tsunade.

"Is that so?" Orochimaru licked his lips, took a money pouch from his clothes, and tossed it to Jiraiya. "How much money could you possibly have on you? I'm not using much right now, so you can borrow this for now. Remember, you have to pay me back." With that, Orochimaru walked off to one side.

Tsunade smiled at the sight. She had also intended to take some money out, but when she felt around, she realized she had apparently gambled all hers away a few days earlier. She gave an awkward smile and didn't dare bring it up.

Jiraiya and Orochimaru both laughed at the sight, and even Minato chuckled. Tsunade was left terribly embarrassed. It seemed she hadn't yet developed the thick skin she'd have in the future.

As Tsunade and Orochimaru were saying goodbye to Jiraiya, the blond boy Minato suddenly spoke up. "Teacher, Lady Tsunade, Lord Orochimaru, how about I stay behind to look after him while you head back? The Third Hokage has been urging you for a long time. What do you think?"

"That might work," Jiraiya began, but Minato continued, "Teacher, you have urgent business to attend to when you return. I probably wouldn't be much help there, so I can look after him for a few months. And don't worry, teacher. I'm an elite Chunin now, so nothing should go wrong."

"I think that's a good idea," Orochimaru said. "It'll also be a good chance to train Minato. What do you think, Tsunade?"

"Sounds good." Because she was still embarrassed, Tsunade only said those two words.

Seeing that Orochimaru and Tsunade agreed, Jiraiya considered it. Honestly, he was very pleased with his student Minato. At twelve, Minato was already an elite Chunin and close to becoming a Jonin. He was also a very attentive person, perfectly capable of looking after someone. Jiraiya had originally thought this would be a good chance for Minato to see what the war was like, but since Minato had offered, they could do it that way.

Thinking this over, Jiraiya nodded.

Afterward, they buried everyone who had been on the ground. Ye Wuji had been sitting beside the young couple, so they were buried separately. It was wartime, and having a grave at all was fortunate. No one cared whether the dead were buried together. If not for Ye Wuji, the couple would have been buried with the others.

Then Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade left. Not long after, the three of them fought Hanzo, and the name Sannin began spreading far and wide.

This was also the first time Ye Wuji met the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. Ye Wuji was six that year, and Minato Namikaze was twelve.

That was how the Blade of the Dark Night, one of Konoha's Eight Colors, and the Yellow Flash, whose names would later resound throughout the Shinobi World, first met.