Reflection and Planning

After watching Minato walk away, Ye Wuji turned and set off as well. He had gotten some information from Minato and asked him to draw a simple map. From what he could tell, he was near the border of the Land of Rain. The Land of Rain was where Amegakure stood—and, according to legend, where Akatsuki had first grown. But now it had become a battlefield between three nations.

It was this war, however, that would eventually make Akatsuki famous. If so, Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato should all be in Amegakure right now. Back when he had watched Naruto in his previous life, Ye Wuji had thought Amegakure was just that city-sized place where Pain first appeared. But from what he had learned over the past few days, Amegakure was actually enormous. He hadn't dared ask exactly how big it was, but it had to be at least as large as a province in China—and perhaps even several. If Amegakure was that big, then the territories of the Five Great Nations, Konoha included, had to be even larger.

At first, Ye Wuji's impression of Amegakure had come from Pain's first appearance, when he sat atop a tower and gave Kakuzu an order. Since that was the first time Akatsuki's leader had shown himself, and he'd said only a few words, Ye Wuji had assumed he was incredibly powerful. That was also when Ye Wuji had decided Amegakure was the city with all the steel buildings.

But in the real Naruto World, the Rain Ninja were part of a country called the Land of Rain. It wasn't as large as the Five Great Nations, but thanks to Hanzo, the legendary ninja, the Land of Rain ranked just below them. Unfortunately, because of its location, the country had been caught in nearly every conflict from the First Shinobi World War through the Second Shinobi World War, which was still ongoing. Everyone knew how badly war harmed civilians, so people often fled Amegakure. Only the areas Hanzo controlled were somewhat safer. Still, it was precisely because Hanzo protected it that Amegakure had survived.

Because of the war, the country's Daimyo had become little more than a figurehead. Almost no one treated him like a Daimyo, and after he was killed, no one ever took the title again.

Ye Wuji walked along, studying the map and thinking. He wanted to meet the three of them during this period, but it was too dangerous, so he could only put the idea out of his mind.

From the discussions he'd had with Minato over the past few days, Ye Wuji had decided to head to the Land of Rivers first. The fighting there had died down, and he'd heard that its Daimyo—according to the Fourth Hokage—was a decent man. He'd even set aside a place to take in orphans from the war.

The Land of Rivers bordered Amegakure, making them neighbors. Ye Wuji and Minato had agreed that he would stay in the Land of Rivers for now. It also bordered the Land of Fire, and once the war ended, they could hire someone to escort him to Konoha. Then he'd be able to meet them. Since the Land of Rivers bordered Konoha, Konoha would quickly send forces whenever trouble arose there, so it was fairly safe. As for the Land of Fire using the Land of Rivers as a shield, that was normal for a great nation. Wasn't it better to have a war fought on another country's soil than your own? As for that country's civilians, well, that was up to luck.

Just like what had happened to Ye Wuji's parents, his parents and the other villagers who had been killed had lived near Amegakure's border. When the war came and reached their village, they'd decided to move away and return once the fighting was over. Unfortunately, they'd run into rogue ninja. From what Minato had told him, Ye Wuji's parents and the other villagers had been killed by rogue ninja—perhaps even deserters. After all, more than a hundred people had been killed in such a short time, and there had been no survivors. Ordinary bandits couldn't have done that.

Minato hadn't said whether official ninja were responsible. There were rules against harming civilians even during wartime, but that was just something people said to sound good, no matter which world they lived in. Ye Wuji had heard plenty about that in his previous life. He hadn't seen it himself, but the internet back then had exposed plenty of such cases. And it was easy enough to come up with an excuse. Take what had happened to Ye Wuji and the others: no one could guarantee that Konoha's own ninja hadn't done it. Ye Wuji had some goodwill toward Konoha, but he couldn't be sure about something like that.

Ye Wuji shook his head, trying to clear away those tangled thoughts. He checked the map and continued on. Since he didn't know how far he had to go, the wolf he'd killed had been turned into dried rations by Minato. Minato had kept only a small portion, while most of it was with Ye Wuji. He had to admit that the food in the Naruto World was well prepared, whether it was meat or vegetables. He'd learned a little from Minato, too. Perhaps because people here were often on the road, the rations shrank in size without losing much of their nutritional value. Just one piece could take the edge off his hunger. They would have made excellent military rations in his previous life. The only downside was that they didn't taste good, but when you were out in the field, you couldn't be too picky.

As he walked, Ye Wuji used the chakra training method he'd learned from Minato. Their conversations had helped him understand his strengths. His spiritual energy seemed a little stronger than most people's. Well, he had lived two lives, and his previous life had involved working several jobs at once, so he'd trained his mind to endure. His body, however, seemed a little weak. He could improve it with more exercise and perhaps some strengthening herbs.

Taking all that into account, Ye Wuji's chakra was about average, perhaps slightly above. He might be on par with Itachi and Kakashi, but he'd have a lot less than Naruto, Kisame, or Madara. A ninja's strength wasn't measured by how much chakra he had, of course, but having more was obviously an advantage. A single Shadow Clone could crush plenty of people. Just look at how many powerful opponents Naruto had beaten with that move.

In that respect, Ye Wuji seemed suited to becoming a genjutsu specialist. Or, since his spiritual energy was strong, perhaps he could control chakra better than most and become a medical ninja instead.

So his top priority now was to find a way to increase his chakra. Ye Wuji decided that this had to be his main goal for the time being. He'd try to learn to do two things at once and make training a habit, no matter what he was doing. As for greatly increasing his chakra, was he supposed to become a Jinchuriki? That wasn't realistic. Even if a Tailed Beast were available, who could seal one inside him? And with Akatsuki watching from the sidelines, it wasn't even worth considering. For now, he'd have to make do. He could worry about the rest later.

He also needed to start practicing chakra control early. That meant tree climbing and Water Walking had to go on his schedule. That was why he'd decided to separate from Minato. From what he knew of Naruto, even ordinary Genin couldn't climb trees with their feet or walk on water, and most didn't even know how to train those skills. If he stayed with Minato, he might not get the chance to practice them for quite a while.

Ye Wuji felt that time was running short, and he didn't have the luxury of training at a leisurely pace. He could only practice while refining his chakra.

While he'd been with Minato, Ye Wuji had secretly tried gathering chakra in his feet. He could manage it while standing still, but the moment he started walking, his focus fell apart. He'd either forget to gather chakra or have it in one foot but not the other. If he was already struggling with that during ordinary movement, he'd have no chance in a fight.

And in Naruto, if you wanted to move through a forest, you had to master tree climbing. Managing a few trees was easy enough, but he'd fall if he tried to keep going for long. He'd already tested it. For now, he could only make it across four or five trees before losing his balance.

He'd also been curious about his chakra nature. Unfortunately, Minato had come straight from the battlefield and hadn't brought any chakra paper. Ye Wuji had been eager to find out which nature he had and what ninjutsu he could use, so he was disappointed. Still, there was a small consolation: since he hadn't tested, maybe he had all five chakra natures. It would be great if he did. During those few days, Ye Wuji had often dreamed about it.

What disappointed him most was that, according to Minato's investigation, he seemed to be the child of ordinary civilians, with no connection to some fallen great clan. Ye Wuji had really wanted a Kekkei Genkai, and the news left him deeply disappointed. If he had one, his strength would increase by a lot. Just look at the Uchiha Clan: without the Sharingan, they would only have been an elite clan. They wouldn't have become one of Konoha's great clans, or one of the great clans of the ninja world.

As he walked, Ye Wuji kept recalling scenes from Naruto, thinking about what to do in the future, connecting events and letting his imagination wander. Sometimes he even thought about things from Earth, his previous life.

Ye Wuji had more or less planned out what he would do, but reality didn't necessarily follow anyone's plans. For all he knew, some powerful ninja could show up and kill him at any moment. He was only six years old, after all. There was still plenty of time before the Fourth Shinobi World War.