Meeting (Part One)

As for why Ye Wuji had only practiced these three basic ninjutsu and none of the others, it was because none of them were offensive. In truth, he wanted to start learning attack techniques as soon as possible. The best defense was a good offense, and sooner or later, a purely defensive strategy would fail. With the knowledge he had brought from his previous life, Ye Wuji understood this very well. Besides, he had long been eager to see what ninjutsu could do in battle.

Unfortunately, Minato hadn't brought any chakra-testing paper, so he had no way of knowing Ye Wuji's chakra nature or which techniques would suit him. As a result, Minato hadn't taught him any other ninjutsu.

In the world of Naruto, it seemed that you couldn't just use any ninjutsu you wanted. By that, Ye Wuji meant that if you didn't have a Fire Release chakra nature but tried to use Fire Release anyway, you simply couldn't pull it off. He didn't dare press Minato too hard about what the consequences might be, so he had no idea. From what he'd seen in Naruto, it seemed you just couldn't use the technique, without any other consequences. In other words, if you lacked a Fire Release chakra nature and tried to use Fire Release, you'd only be wasting your effort—like trying to row a boat over land.

Ye Wuji followed the road for four days, but didn't see a single soul along the way. "Are there really so few people in this world? There's a road like this, and yet not a single person in sight?" He looked around. All he could see were the road, mountains, and trees. "Maybe I'm going the wrong way. Maybe the road in the other direction is the right one." He agonized over it for a while, but if he turned back now, wouldn't the past four days have been a waste?

Ye Wuji looked back at the road behind him, then at the road ahead. In the end, he decided to keep going. Turning back now would be a loss.

Near noon, Ye Wuji gazed at his empty pockets. The rations he'd made a few days ago were gone again. It seemed he'd have to head into the woods and find something to eat. He was getting tired of roasted food, but when there was no other choice, he had to fend for himself.

"Lucky me." Ye Wuji looked happily at the wild rabbit roasting over the fire. After the rabbit that had put him through such a miserable ordeal before, he'd started eating any rabbit he came across. This time, he'd learned from his earlier chase and killed it with a Kunai instead.

Watching the rabbit slowly turn golden over the fire, Ye Wuji knew it was almost ready. "I may not be good at much else, but if I went back to Earth and opened a barbecue shop, I bet it'd do great. I'd make money in no time." As he thought, he took out his seasonings and slowly sprinkled them over the rabbit.

Once the rabbit was cooked, Ye Wuji put out the fire and was about to eat when he heard a series of yelps behind him. He hurriedly turned around and grabbed the wooden Kunai beside him. As for the Kunai Minato had given him, he had kept it hidden close to his body. He'd made that decision when he first set out on the road. A child carrying such a fine weapon would attract too much suspicion. He was still very young; he might be able to handle one or two ordinary people, but not a group. He could run away, of course, but if the wrong people took an interest in him, that would be trouble. As far as Ye Wuji knew, plenty of people in Naruto liked kidnapping children. Orochimaru was the worst, but even Madara wasn't above it.

Ye Wuji took a defensive stance, then finally got a clear look at the thing in front of him: a scruffy gray dog, so thin its bones showed, with blood all over its body. It limped toward him, leaving a trail of blood as it went.

Seeing that it was just a dog, Ye Wuji chuckled inwardly. He'd been too nervous. A dog like this wasn't dangerous. He lowered his Kunai and got ready to eat lunch.

Just as Ye Wuji was about to eat the rabbit, he felt something watching him. He glanced to the side. The dog was staring at him with a pitiful look. Looking more closely, Ye Wuji realized it was eyeing the golden-brown roasted rabbit in his hand. It was even drooling as it watched. "Damn dog," Ye Wuji cursed inwardly.

Ye Wuji tried to ignore the dog's pleading gaze. Come on, I haven't even eaten yet. Besides, even if he couldn't finish it, he'd planned to save the leftovers and take them with him.

Ye Wuji brought the rabbit to his mouth and was about to take a bite. Beside him, the dog simply kept watching him with that same look, without making a sound.

"Mm." Ye Wuji let out a long breath, unable to bite down. Damn it, you'd think I was committing some heinous crime. Fine. I'll go get another one. You can have this one. Muttering to himself, he brought the roasted rabbit to the dog's mouth.

"Since I'm doing a good deed, I might as well see it through." Seeing that one of the dog's legs was still bleeding, Ye Wuji tore off a strip of cloth to bandage it. His clothes were already in tatters, so a little more damage wouldn't matter.

When he picked up the dog, he realized it wasn't gray at all. Its body was simply covered in dust, which made it look that way. Ye Wuji didn't bother cleaning it off just yet. Bandaging the dog was more important.

Only when Ye Wuji lifted the dog's hind leg did he notice that the wound had started to get infected. There was pus on its surface. He examined the dog more closely. It was definitely an ordinary dog, nothing particularly special about it. If he had to name anything unusual, it seemed unusually perceptive—almost human in the way it understood him.

But Ye Wuji recognized the wound as one caused by a Shuriken. The dog didn't look anything like a Ninja Dog, yet it had been hit by a Shuriken. More importantly, it had survived. If a trained ninja had wounded it, they wouldn't have missed with a Shuriken unless they'd deliberately aimed for its leg. But what would be the point of that? Why injure an ordinary dog?

There was no point dwelling on it now. He should treat the dog's wound first. Ye Wuji didn't think it could have escaped a ninja who was hunting it. Maybe it had been caught in the crossfire.

Ye Wuji took out the Kunai Minato had given him and carefully cleaned the infected area on the dog's leg. Then he used chakra to treat the area around the wound and wrapped it securely in several layers of cloth.

This dog was pretty remarkable. It hadn't made a sound while Ye Wuji treated its wound. When he'd examined it with chakra, he hadn't sensed any chakra in its body, which meant it wasn't a Ninja Dog.

"Having such a perceptive dog for company might make the rest of the journey a little easier." As he cleaned the dust from the dog, Ye Wuji thought to himself. A moment ago, he hadn't even wanted to save it. Now he was already planning to take it along.

Once he'd cleaned off all the dust, Ye Wuji finally saw that the dog was brownish yellow and quite adorable. Its eyes were especially lovely, bright and watery, with a look of boundless curiosity about the world.

Fortunately, the dog didn't eat much. It left Ye Wuji with about half the roasted rabbit, then stopped eating. Ye Wuji considered throwing away the rabbit it had bitten, but that seemed wasteful, so he started eating from the part the dog hadn't touched. When did I end up sharing food with a dog? he thought. But he was hungry, and that was enough to make him ignore it. It wasn't like his old life on Earth. People in this world ate alongside animals all the time. Kiba, for example—poor Kiba had apparently shared food with dogs from the time he was little. Thinking of that made Ye Wuji feel better.

Ye Wuji didn't pay much attention to the dog as it wandered into the woods after eating. By the time he finished his meal, the dog was gone.

At first, Ye Wuji had planned to eat only the side the dog hadn't bitten and leave the rest. But once he started eating, he realized how hungry he really was. He'd been living on dry rations and fruit for days, with hardly any meat, and before he knew it, he'd eaten the entire rabbit.

Only afterward did Ye Wuji realize what he'd done, and he panicked a little. Dogs carried plenty of viruses; if he caught something, he'd be done for. But he only panicked briefly before remembering that this world was different. He wasn't even sure rabies existed here, and even if it did, chakra could probably get rid of it. Besides, he couldn't remember anyone in Naruto ever getting sick. They mostly suffered injuries. Of course, illnesses had to exist, but something like rabies probably didn't.

After all, plenty of people in the ninja world used dogs as their Summoning Animals. They were cheap, easy to raise, and useful. A dog's nose was extremely sensitive, making it valuable for tracking. Dogs also had a good sense for detecting powerful enemies, and they could fight as well, making them a popular choice for ordinary ninja. Most ninja who had Summoning Animals had ordinary creatures such as dogs or snakes, which were easy to find and train.

Of course, rare Summoning Animals weren't so easy to get. Kakashi's Ninja Dogs were unique, and Kiba's dogs came from a secret technique belonging to his clan, which ordinary people didn't know about. Summoning Animals on the level of the Sannin's were even harder to come by. Ye Wuji would talk about those once he got a Summoning Animal of his own.