The night was cool as water.
The girl's assertive response didn't elicit the slightest change in Ye Zi's expression. He remained as cold and indifferent as a stone, silent and aloof. The girl, too, fell into silence, stubbornly staring at him. She was convinced that Ye Zi would need her help, if not now, then certainly in the future.
"My name is Nanako Shimura," she said, leaving her name behind before turning to walk away, a faint scent trailing in her wake.
Ye Zi finally shifted his gaze, watching Nanako's departing figure. A trace of sarcasm flashed in his cold eyes. "Root's Nanako Shimura of the Corpse Collection Unit—hah, you want to help me?"
A large cloud drifted across the sky, gradually obscuring the moon. Ye Zi watched as darkness quickly engulfed the landscape, swallowing up Nanako. He let out a low, cold laugh.
He believed he had seen through everything, dismissing any goodwill as mere pretense.
Even if Nanako's intentions were purely good, in his mind, the fact that she bore the Shimura name and was a member of Root made that goodwill nothing but a façade. There were many reasons for this, not least of which was the fact that she had been the one treating him all along. Now, she even knew about the peculiarities of his body—an asset that many would find highly valuable, including, without a doubt, Shimura Danzo.
Ye Zi's thoughts remained cold and detached. He was part of Root, but not one of those who would forever remain hidden in the shadows. That's why he had answered the call to this war. Yet, his attending physician had come along as part of the Corpse Collection Unit.
"Is it just in case? To collect my corpse?"
The clouds moved away, and the silver moonlight once again bathed the earth. At that moment, the moonlight on Ye Zi's face and in his eyes appeared exceptionally cold.
-------
The next day, war was imminent.
Iwagakure (Rock Village) and Konoha stood in formation, like opposing forces glaring at each other from across a battlefield.
Between the two armies lay a wide stretch of barren soil, the boundary between the Ash Ninja and Grass Ninja territories.
In this war, both the Ash Ninjas and the Grass Ninjas had joined as allied forces, though the number of troops they committed was more symbolic than substantial.
Neither Iwagakure nor Konoha expected these allied forces to significantly boost their combat power. What they wanted was simply the right to pass through Ash and Grass Ninja territories. After all, during wartime, nobody wanted troublesome presences right under their noses.
The battle lines stretched long, resembling a black dragon lying across the horizon. This was the visible front, the overt conflict, but both sides were aware that hidden forces were also at play.
In any war, scheming plays a secondary role; the true key to victory lies in the balance of power, because any scheme requires strength to execute.
Iwagakure had a clear numerical advantage in troops, while Konoha, though smaller in number, boasted significantly stronger individual fighters. This time, both sides seemed to have deployed all their forces visibly, hoping to intimidate the other, but secretly, each had also positioned a hidden unit.
On the Iwagakure side, the leader was a cold-faced middle-aged man named Ishikata Kazetsuchi, a figure as formidable in Iwagakure as Orochimaru was in Konoha. He was not only leading the forces to weaken Konoha but also seeking revenge for his son.
During a mission to protect the Daimyo of the Land of Ash, his son had been killed by Ye Zi of Konoha. When Kazetsuchi received the news, he could hardly believe it, especially since his son had been under the protection of the formidable Tsuchiya Sanzō. After reading the battle report in detail, he directed all his fury toward this strange name—Ye Zi.
(Note: This is the same mission where Yoru died, and the person Ye Zi killed was Dai-iwa, who was Kazetsuchi's son. The other casualty, Dick, was also a descendant of the Iwagakure leadership, though not as pitiful as Kazetsuchi, who had lost his only son.)
It was this person who had killed his only son.
A soldier all his life, Kazetsuchi had been blessed with a son in his middle age. His son had shown great promise as a rising star in the new generation, only to die on what he considered a mere training mission.
His grief and anger were overwhelming. The kind of grief and anger that could destroy reason.
So, he had come, standing here and glaring at Konoha's army. He was determined to use all his power to severely cripple Konoha's forces and, at the same time, kill every shining member of Konoha's new generation. For this purpose, he dared to defy the Tsuchikage's orders, for in this moment, he was ready to sacrifice his own life.
Compared to his deep-seated desire for revenge, the Tsuchikage's orders seemed far less significant.
"Orochimaru."
He could barely make out the figure in the distance, yet it was as clear as if it were right before his eyes. Kazetsuchi's expression was as cold as ice, his gaze filled with a murderous, cold-blooded fury.
The Tsuchikage's objective was to use this conflict to weaken Konoha's forces. Even though he had intelligence from spies, he wasn't interested in targeting Konoha's new generation. However, Kazetsuchi had made it his top priority to kill Ye Zi. If possible, he would also take down Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina.
Thus, during the strategic meetings, he had supported the plan to send a unit to cut off Konoha's supply lines. This was his way of sending his assassination squad, under the cover of the camouflage unit, to hunt for Ye Zi and the others.
He was confident that once they located Ye Zi, they would be able to kill him. After all, this assassination squad was no ordinary group of jonin...
Of course, if the target wasn't in the rear, that would be even better. Once Ye Zi revealed his brilliance on the battlefield, Kazetsuchi would stop at nothing, even if it meant using all his power, to kill him. No one would be able to stop him.
On the Konoha side, Orochimaru was unaware that Iwagakure's Ishikata Kazetsuchi had made killing Ye Zi his primary goal. Even if he knew that Dai-iwa was Kazetsuchi's son, it would be hard to imagine that in such a large-scale war, a powerful individual could be driven by such personal motives.
Because he couldn't imagine this, Orochimaru had assigned Ye Zi to the blocking unit, unwittingly playing into Kazetsuchi's hands.
With Kazetsuchi's interference, the strength of Iwagakure's supply-cutting unit had been vastly underestimated by Konoha's strategists. No one expected Kazetsuchi to weaken his own frontline forces to match Konoha's strength just to bolster his hidden unit, ensuring Ye Zi's death.
Whether it was Iwagakure or Konoha, anyone who grasped this fact would likely regard Kazetsuchi with utter contempt, labeling him an incorrigible old bastard.
This large-scale war wasn't going to be decided in a single battle, so the initial skirmishes were mere probes. The true first victory would be determined by the clashes in the shadows.
Konoha had assembled a blocking unit of about a hundred shinobi, including less than twenty jonin, with the rest mostly consisting of chunin. Unfortunately, many of Konoha's brightest new generation were among them, including Ye Zi, Kushina, Minato, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and even some promising young members from the Uchiha and Hyuga clans.
Undoubtedly, with the leadership of some jonin and the presence of these bright young talents, this blocking unit was a formidable force. However, Kazetsuchi's unorthodox actions had placed this unit in the most dangerous position in the entire war, making it a critical test of their abilities.
Check out the patreon and get 36 chapters in advance