(Extra Long Chapter To make up for last chapter)
Amidst the vast white rain curtain, I don't know when a person was standing. Through the hazy rain curtain, a faint touch of deep red could be seen.
Even if it rained heavily, Ye Zi could still feel the gaze directed at him.
"Ah…"
He sneered lowly, and was instantly drowned in the sound of rolling rain.
Strong winds, thunder, heavy rain, this violent storm that has been brewing for a day is not accidental, nor is it hasty. When that person was here, and what he was thinking about at this moment, he didn't want to know.
Raindrops pressed against his body in clusters. Ye Zi strode out and within a few breaths, he could clearly see the person standing in the rain curtain watching him.
Without stopping or looking at the girl, he passed her by in the heavy rain and thunder.
Ignoring the rain running down from her hairline and sliding across her eyes, Kushina tried her best to stare at Ye Zi's dark eyes, but until the figure strode past her, she could only see the deep darkness and the indifference.
The moment they passed by, she clearly felt that the usually vague and repulsive aura was infinitely stronger in the cold rain at this moment. The coldness of her body trembled and penetrated to the edge of her heart.
He seemed to be telling her in this way: Stop.
She bit her lip and lowered her eyelids slightly to hide the sadness that had just emerged.
The doubts that arose after that night would always pop up in my mind from time to time.
what happened? Why did he become so indifferent? It has become so baffling, and now in the rain, I am even more confused.
After getting along with each other for more than a year, I thought I knew him well enough, but in the end I discovered that he might not be what I thought he may be.
Suddenly, Kushina turned around and looked through the rain curtain. She opened her mouth slightly, but suddenly there was a thorn in her throat. She wanted to say something, but she couldn't. She could only watch the figure disappear in the rain curtain silently.
The eyes he opened finally couldn't resist the raging rain, and his vision became blurry.
It seems that the person who always knocks on the door with Ren is fake and as fragile as a bubble.
"Rather than like this, why did you come to save me?" The deep voice was swallowed up by the sound of wind and rain.
The sight of him sitting on the tree trunk with his head hanging down and his body covered in blood has long been deeply engraved in Kushina's mind, and may never be erased from her mind.
She stood alone in the rain with her hands around her shoulders. Even if the heavy rain helped cover it up, she tried hard not to let her tears fall.
She just didn't understand, didn't understand how Ye Zi could become like this.
When I first came to Konoha, everything was strange.
Strange people, strange environment.
Not only that, but there is also unprovoked malice.
So she began to deliberately ignore everything around her, and gradually resisted it all.
Until, I started to have people I paid attention to.
However, this very precious existence to her seemed to be lost inexplicably, and she didn't know the reason.
Rumble…
There was a loud sound of wind and rain.
The sound of rain filled my ears.
The raindrops that kept falling on her head suddenly stopped, and an umbrella that was still strong in the rain covered her from the heavy rain.
Kushina looked up blankly, only seeing the umbrella. Her heart suddenly felt hot, and she suddenly turned her head to look at the person holding the umbrella. What came into her eyes was the gentle face that she once hated so much.
not him.
Minato held up the umbrella silently, just watching Kushina with concern.
"No one told you that you are so gentle and like a woman?" Kushina whispered. The big umbrella that blocked the rain finally stopped the coldness that was slowly eating away at her heart.
Amidst the heavy rain, Minato actually heard all the low sounds in his ears. He could only smile tenderly and say nothing.
At this time, he was looking at Kushina and thinking about Ye Zi.
He was equally puzzled, as was Kushina and Ren.
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After the Second Ninja World War, small-scale disputes showed no signs of ending. There were countless small countries and blood families in the five major countries. They were weak and unable to shake the big countries, but they could turn their attention to equally weak existences.
Cannibalism, plunder, or pure desire.
No matter what the reason is, the disputes between small countries have never stopped. They seem to be transformed into creatures in nature, and the fittest still survive.
The big countries and Ninja Villages that have begun to focus on cultivation and health are sitting back and watching the collision between small countries. They do not interfere on the surface, but secretly let the Ninja Villages take over tasks to gain profits. Konoha is naturally no exception, and it is more difficult. Most of the tasks are taken over from small countries, including the task of assassinating the leader of a country.
Hokage's office.
The Third Hokage slowly tapped a piece of paper on the table with his index finger. He looked up at the team in front of him while he was thinking. The team was led by his proud disciple Orochimaru. Although Orochimaru's team has performed extremely well during this period, he wanted to execute Missions that were almost S-level in difficulty still carried great risks. He was not worried about Orochimaru, but he was worried about his juniors who had grown up a lot.
When everything is in ruins, new blood is crucial.
There are many beautiful people in this generation, headed by Ye Zi, Minato, and Kushina. These are Konoha's precious talents. Although Konoha urgently needs to take on tasks to make profits, it must also focus on the preservation of talents.
After thinking for a long time, the Third Hokage decided not to let Orochimaru's team accept this task. After all, there were two geniuses in this team, one of whom was the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki.
"Orochimaru, this mission is not suitable for your team." The Third Hokage said slowly.
A trace of ridicule flashed deep in Orochimaru's eyes, and he said coldly: "Ye Zi is good at assassination, Kushina has excellent perception ability, Ren's ears can catch wind and shadows, and I am leading the team, what is wrong with it?"
The Third Hokage was suddenly speechless, looking at Orochimaru with a cold expression, rubbing his forehead with a look of helplessness.
Orochimaru knew that the Third Hokage's focus was on talents. Compared with the profit of a mission, the preservation of talents was the most important. But in the eyes of Orochimaru, who had grown up in the flames of war, if he could not even complete a mission that was not fatal, Execution, then can such a being be called a talent?
To die is to fail.
Life is value.
"Sarutobi Sensei, I'm afraid you still underestimate them." Orochimaru smiled coldly.
The Third Hokage glanced at Ye Zi and the others, then looked at Orochimaru, and said seriously: "Orochimaru, are you serious?"
"Of course." Orochimaru said immediately.
"Well…"
The Third Hokage groaned, and suddenly stopped tapping his index finger. His eyes slowly became stern. He stared at Orochimaru and said in a deep voice: "I agree with you to accept this mission."
He didn't say the next words because he knew Orochimaru would understand.
Orochimaru curled his lips slightly, and after receiving the relevant mission instructions, he led Ye Zi and the others out of the office.
The Third Hokage watched Orochimaru and the others leave and sighed quietly.
Will the man who has had no students survive since he led the team be serious this time?
Risks always come with rewards. If a ninja wants to grow rapidly, war is the fastest shortcut, and the risk of death is also the highest.
"Don't let me down..."
The Third Hokage murmured in a low voice. During this time, he had also noticed that the difficulty of the tasks received by Orochimaru's team had gradually increased. In some way, he seemed to have noticed that the cold-tempered Orochimaru seemed to have some expectations in his heart, and that expectation ...Probably the child who looked very similar to Orochimaru when he was a child.
"Will he be the second Orochimaru?"
The Third Hokage shook his head slightly and thought of another genius, Namikaze Minato...
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Ye Zi and the others had no objection to Orochimaru taking on an extremely difficult mission, because Orochimaru had already been angry with them before.
Perhaps out of trust in Orochimaru's strength, even Ren did not have the slightest fear about this mission.
In fact, despite the many missions he went on, Ren himself did not realize that he was no longer the same person as before.
"The mission is to assassinate the leader of the Kingdom of Gray. We'll discuss the relevant matters on the way. Now get ready to go."
Orochimaru looked at the three of them and said coldly.
Upon hearing this, Ye Zi immediately turned around and walked towards the house. On the other hand, the same was true for Kushina and Ren. They knew in advance that they would receive a more difficult mission, but they did not know that it was an assassination mission to another country.
As a qualified ninja, geographical knowledge is one of the conditions that must be mastered.
The Kingdom of Ash is located in the gap between the Kingdom of Fire and the Kingdom of Earth. It is said to be a gap, but actually it is relative to the tiles of the map. The area is not very small, and there are many small countries in such an area.
This time, the mission was issued by the Kingdom of Grass, which was opposed to the Kingdom of Gray. Since the Kingdom of Grass had been suppressed by the Kingdom of Gray, its disadvantage became more and more obvious in many battles. Only when it was in a critical situation did the Kingdom of Grass use all its resources. The remaining funds went to Konoha Village to issue a mission, hoping to win the war by assassinating the leader of the Kingdom of Gray.
Generally speaking, assassinating the country's leader does not guarantee victory in the war. However, for the current Gray Country, if the country's leader is successfully assassinated, it is indeed very likely that the Grass Country will win, because the Gray Country's The king is an outstanding person.
After getting ready for their journey, Orochimaru's team walked out of the gate of Konoha Village.
Along the way, Orochimaru described in detail the simple information provided by the publisher. The more useful information was that there were many ninjas under the command of the Gray Country, and the leader of the Gray Country himself had considerable strength.
This information alone can indicate the difficulty of this mission.
The Kingdom of Grass is located between the Kingdom of Fire and the Kingdom of Earth. It is a territory that is not included in the five major kingdoms. Adjacent to it is the Kingdom of Ash. The two countries are adjacent to each other, and there has been no struggle since the founding of the country. After a break, due to the impact of the Second Ninja War, the national power of both countries was greatly weakened.
It feels uncomfortable to be caught between big countries. If you want to break through this shackles, you can only annex and grow, and strive to one day have the power to compete with the five big countries.
The Second Ninja War brought disaster but also opportunity.
When big countries have no spare power, it is the best time for small countries to annex and grow.
After a tedious long-distance run, Orochimaru's team arrived at the Grass Country warning area surrounded by many plants in the evening.
A ninja wearing a forehead protector appeared from the afterglow of dusk and shouted to Orochimaru and others who stopped: "Stop!"
Orochimaru looked at the ninja and said coldly: "We are ninjas from Konoha. We are here to accept your country's commission. This is a token."
After saying that, Orochimaru took out a scroll and did not throw it at the ninja rashly. Instead, he threw it on the ground not far in front of the ninja. The latter's body tensed up instantly, and he swept the fallen scroll very quickly and hit it. He made a strange gesture, then waved out the spiked rattan in his hand, and quickly rolled the scroll back into his hand.
Holding the scroll, the ninja slowly took two or three steps back, then opened the scroll. After a moment, he confirmed that it was correct, and then put away the scroll. The hostility and vigilance in his eyes immediately weakened a bit.
After gesturing to his companions in the darkness, the ninja forced a smile and said politely: "Please come with me."
Orochimaru nodded slightly and followed the ninja. Seeing this, Ye Zi and the others relaxed a little and followed Orochimaru honestly.
The afterglow of dusk quickly dissipated between the sky and the earth, and the night slowly fell.
Orochimaru walked in the forest, his eyes passing through the darkness from time to time. He could easily detect the ninja hiding in the darkness.
"There are quite a few... Has the ninja system of the Country of Grass been perfected to this extent? But even so, it is still suppressed by the Country of Gray. It seems that the ninja system of the small country is growing rapidly." Orochimaru's eyes flashed with thought. light.
It wasn't until the silver moon hung in the sky that Orochimaru's team came to the country of grass. They were welcomed by the country of grass, which was neither warm nor cold. However, despite the war, the country of grass still properly arranged food and accommodation for Ye Zi and the others. .
"Huh, for the first time, I feel like lying on the bed is a happy thing." After a full meal, Ren lay carelessly on the bed at night, with a satisfied look on his face.
Kushina sat on the bed near the corner, complaining that Hidden Grass arranged the group of them in the same room, but as a ninja, this was not difficult to accept.
"Go to rest early. Maybe we will go to the Land of Gray early tomorrow morning." Kushina patted the dust on the pillow.
"Yes." Ren got up from the bed, looked at Ye Zi, who was standing silently in front of the window, and said, "Ye Zi, what are you looking at?"
Hearing this, Ye Zi turned his head slightly and glanced at Bei Xingye, and said calmly: "It's nothing."
Listening to Ye Zi's cold tone, Ren sighed inwardly, but still said with a smile: "Then go to bed early. This mission is the most difficult one in our team's history. We have to recuperate first."
Kushina's movement of patting the pillow stopped abruptly. She stared at the pillow in silence, but she was paying attention to Ye Zi from the corner of her eye.
Ye Zi turned his head and looked at the large unknown plants in the night outside the window, and said calmly: "I'm not tired. You can rest first. I'll go for a walk."
After saying that, he walked directly to the door.
Ren watched Ye Zi open the door and walk out, then looked at Kushina with a depressed expression.
"Let's rest." Kushina continued to pat the pillow as if nothing had happened, as if she wanted to pat away all the dust on the pillow.
Ren sighed and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling in a daze.
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The country of grass coexists with plants, and insects chirp at night, and you can smell the strong fragrance as soon as you step out.
Since the Kingdom of Grass did not explain that they could not walk freely at night when they came in, Ye Zi was not polite and started shopping before Orochimaru came back.
Suddenly, a sound cracking through the air sounded from my ears.
Ye Zi's expression remained unchanged. He turned his head to the side and saw a black shadow passing by his neck and falling towards the sand. Looking through the light, he saw that it was a green spike, which seemed to be moving in an unknown way. The hidden weapon made from the plant looks like a thousand books.
Ye Zi was not angry at the inexplicable sneak attack. He turned around and looked at the roof of a house entangled with vines.
"Who are you? How come I've never seen you before." On the roof, an exceptionally good-looking young woman stared at Ye Zi below with a confused and wary tone. However, in the darkness, there was something in her eyes. There was a flash of secret cunning.
Ye Zi didn't see the cunning in the woman's eyes and just thought the other party had misunderstood, so he politely explained: "I am a Konoha ninja."
He thought that this explanation was enough. However, the woman took out another green Qianben and said in a serious tone: "How do I know whether you are true or false?"
At this moment, Ye Zi finally understood that the other party seemed to be deliberately looking for trouble.
His eyes slowly cooled down, and Ye Zi looked at the opponent's posture with a strong desire to attack. He did not draw the knife, but looked coldly at the woman on the roof.
"I can understand that the first sneak attack was a misunderstanding. If you attack again, even if this is your territory, I won't be polite!"
"whee."
Under the bright moonlight, facing Ye Zi's cold and stern voice, the girl remained unmoved. As she laughed, her eyes were full of fighting intent, and her attacking posture became more obvious.
This move was noticed by Ye Zi. His right palm was already reaching for the short sword hanging on his waist, ready to counterattack at any time. If this was not the country of grass, he would not be able to counterattack when the opponent chooses to attack, but Take the initiative directly.
Ye Zi raised his head and stared at the girl with a trace of murderous intent brewing in his dark eyes. Once someone threatened him, he would not pay attention to other factors and all he had to do was to eradicate the danger.
"I've long wanted to see how powerful the ninjas of the great powers are."
The girl took out a few dark green Senbon sticks from the special ninja bag, and they shone a little in the moonlight.
"Don't blame me for not warning you, Konoha ninja, this thorn is poisonous!"
As soon as the clear and sweet voice fell, the girl standing on the roof suddenly turned into many flying fireflies, slowly floating in the air.
"And I'm...toxic too."
Shocked that the girl suddenly turned into a swarm of fireflies, a low cold whisper rang in his ears. The girl quietly appeared behind him at some point. Ye Zi's expression changed slightly, and the hand on the handle of the knife moved in an instant. After a moment of pause, a small green-white hand gently pressed on his palm, but it was like a huge force, preventing his hand from making an inch forward.
"This girl..."
Surprise appeared in Ye Zi's eyes, and his left hand quickly formed a seal.
"You lose, Konoha ninja."
With crisp laughter and proud words, the girl seemed to be nestling on Ye Zi's shoulder, holding down his knife-drawing hand with one hand, and holding a green Qianben against his neck with her other hand, her pink lips gently Touched the side of his ear lightly.
Ye Zi's face was expressionless, and just when the seal was about to be formed, an angry scolding came.
"Merida, stop it!"
A middle-aged man with the same hair color as Yan Ye strode over with an angry look on his face.
At this time, Ye Zi suddenly stopped making seals and looked at the visitor silently.
"Thank this person for saving you." He thought silently, even though the soft jade behind him, even though the girl had no murderous intention towards him, once he regained the initiative, he would not be soft-hearted.
"oh."
Merida curled her lips, let go of her hands obediently, and took a few steps back.
The middle-aged man glared at her, then glanced apologetically at the expressionless Ye Zi, and said, "I'm sorry, my little girl is more naughty. Please believe that this was not an action taken under instruction."
Ye Zi nodded and said coldly: "Can I leave?"
"Of course, this is your freedom." The middle-aged man smiled slightly.
Ye Zi heard this and walked away. At this time, the girl behind him asked: "Hey, Konoha ninja, what's your name?"
Ye Zi stopped, paused for a while, and said coldly: "Ye Zi." He didn't stop after saying that.
Yanye looked at Ye Zi's back and said with a smile: "My name is Merida. Remember, this is the name that defeated you. I will also remember you. You are the first ninja from a great country that I have defeated!" "
"Is there any word on the street..."
Ye Zi ignored Merida's seemingly childish shouting. In fact, this person's strength may not be weaker than Kushina.
After Ye Zi walked away, the middle-aged man slapped Merida on the head without any warning. The latter ducked and dodged the palm.
When the middle-aged man saw that his palm failed, he retracted his palm in embarrassment and shouted: "Do you want to die?"
Yan Ye rolled his eyes, curled his lips and said, "Have you ever spoken to your biological daughter like this?"
The middle-aged man was immediately speechless and had absolutely nothing to do with Merida.
Merida chuckled, stretched, and after yawning, he said lazily: "Dad, the ninjas of Konoha don't seem to be anything special, right? I have said hello in advance, but that kid is still attracted by me. I stopped him with one move, if I had wanted to, I could have easily killed him just now."
The middle-aged man patted his forehead and said as if you were older than him. He looked at the direction Ye Zi was leaving and said in a deep voice: "Don't underestimate the world. That person just now, if I don't come forward to stop you, If so, I don't know what kind of ninjutsu the seal he made is."
"Seal?"
Yan Ye was startled, then rolled his eyes at his father and said, "I restrained his hand, how could he form a seal? Dad, you are scaring me again."
The middle-aged man was silent, and after a moment he said seriously: "Perhaps I am short-sighted in making seals with one hand, at least among the people I have dealt with, no one has ever made seals with one hand."
Seeing that his father was serious, the smile on Merida's face slowly faded, he tilted his head slightly, thinking about the possibility of forming a seal with one hand, but after thinking about it for a while, he suddenly shouted as if he had come to his senses. : "Didn't that just not count?"
"What doesn't count?" The middle-aged man didn't realize what Merida was talking about.
"The fight just now." Merida's cheeks bulged, like an angry puffer fish, "No, I have to go find him again."
When the middle-aged man heard this, he decisively slapped Merida on the head.
Merida leaned back and easily dodged the palm, causing the latter to retract his hand in embarrassment.
Glancing at Her father with contempt, Merida said lazily: "Dad, don't be so childish next time."
"..."
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At the same time, after delivering the information, Orochimaru returned to the residence arranged by the Country of Grass.
On the way back, he did not choose the shortest road, but deliberately and unintentionally chose a road that was not too far or too close.
Along the way, he had been observing the many strange plants planted in the Land of Grass.
Some of these plants have obvious traces of human management, and some are left to grow. Obviously, these plants that have been artificially managed must have their own functions, such as poison...
Compared with biological poisons, some plant poisons may not be worse than biological poisons, and Orochimaru himself is better at using snake venom, but with a poison master like Tsunade in the team, he did not put too much energy on it. However, this does not prevent him from being interested in poison, or in other words, he is more interested in the functions of these plants.
"if it is possible…"
A strong interest flashed across Orochimaru's eyes. At this moment, he began to take an interest in these small countries that he had never paid much attention to. There must be something extraordinary about being able to survive in the cracks between big countries.