In the end, Ye Zi finished his ramen conquest with a final count of twenty-six bowls.
"Thank you for the meal," he said, placing the empty bowl down, feeling quite satisfied. Sometimes, it wasn't bad to take advantage of a generous friend.
Minato, unaware that his spontaneous decision to treat Ye Zi to a meal made him the victim, would probably have mixed feelings if he knew Ye Zi thought of him that way.
After paying the bill and leaving under the admiring gaze of Teuchi, they walked together for a while. There weren't many people on the street at this time, but those who saw Minato walking with Ye Zi couldn't help but cast surprised and puzzled looks their way.
Why is Minato walking with that monster?
There was no need to decode the meaning behind their gazes. It was obvious.
Anyone who walked alongside Ye Zi often experienced various emotions—pain, sorrow, or helplessness. Minato, however, only felt a sense of powerlessness and curiosity.
Why can you remain so composed, facing all these hostile looks? Why are you always so calm?
"This doesn't make sense," Minato muttered softly.
Ye Zi raised an eyebrow. It seemed like anyone who walked beside him had something to say.
It truly didn't make sense. Why should someone who had contributed so much to Konoha bear such rumors and hostility? Many people knew this, but no one dared to change it, which made it even more unreasonable.
If Minato knew that Ye Zi also had the identity of "Raiga" in Root, and had completed numerous S-rank missions, he would feel Konoha had treated Ye Zi even more unfairly.
"It doesn't matter," Ye Zi replied, staring straight ahead, his eyes too indifferent to hold such trivial emotions.
Minato remained silent. What kind of person are you? he wondered. The man Kushina loves is this strong and unyielding.
"I'm heading back," Ye Zi suddenly said, stopping at a crossroads. Although he and Minato didn't interact much, they had been friends for many years.
"Alright," Minato responded, watching Ye Zi.
Ye Zi gave a slight nod and walked in the direction of his home.
The other direction led to Minato's destination. As Ye Zi walked away, Minato turned and continued his own path. The crossroads symbolized how their lives were diverging onto two different roads.
Back at his home, Ye Zi went into the yard for a half-hearted physical training session, even though it had little effect. As night fell, he heard faint footsteps on the wooden corridor.
He stopped his workout and looked toward the source of the sound, where Orochimaru appeared.
"How did it go?" Ye Zi asked, staring at Orochimaru.
"She's dead," Orochimaru replied succinctly.
Ye Zi was stunned. Dead? Just like that? How could it happen so suddenly? He had only asked Orochimaru for help recently, and now she was gone? Was this all part of Danzo's surveillance? Had Nanako been executed the moment Yezuki sought Orochimaru's help?
"She was still a member of the Shimura clan," Ye Zi said, his eyes growing cold as he clenched his fists.
Orochimaru glanced at the fiery clouds in the sky and said, "To Danzo, a surname and blood ties don't mean much."
"Heh."
Ye Zi suddenly chuckled darkly. Family and blood ties were the bonds that could never be severed. In this world—or rather, on Earth—amid the vast sea of people, the uncertain tomorrows, and the difficult roads ahead, the only ones who would stay by your side were your family.
"What a heartless person," Ye Zi thought to himself, silently cursing Danzo's coldness, which far surpassed his own.
Konoha, the place Ye Zi had spent so many years, could never truly give him a sense of belonging.
He didn't care about the rumors because he never saw Konoha as home. To put it bluntly, Konoha was merely a temporary stop, a stepping stone for him.
This had been his long-held belief, and Nanako's death deepened his resentment toward the village.
"One day, I'll leave," he thought. The idea surfaced clearly in his mind.
Orochimaru looked at Ye Zi, who was silently lowering his head, his expression and eyes calm. Orochimaru didn't tell Ye Zi that he had orchestrated Nanako's death. He believed she wasn't worth saving, just another woman. If her death deepened Ye Zi's resentment toward Konoha, that wasn't the outcome Orochimaru desired.
However, Orochimaru didn't realize Ye Zi had long harbored resentment toward Konoha. That feeling had faded over time, but with the rumors seemingly being controlled, Ye Zi's anger had rekindled, now stronger than before.
Ye Zi could ignore the rumors, but he couldn't overlook the village's deliberate efforts to tarnish his reputation.
Why?
Why should a man who had risked his life countless times and contributed so much to Konoha be treated like this?
Some might be forgiving, but not Ye Zi. Anyone else might have defected or taken their own life by now.
"In the next few days, I'll fix your body's issue," Orochimaru suddenly said.
Ye Zi looked up at him in surprise.
"Nanako found a way for you. According to the research, as long as we have Hashirama's cells, we can slow your aging process."
"Is that so?" Ye Zi's eyelids lowered as memories of Nanako's smiling face flashed through his mind. He thought back to the night before the war, when under the moonlight and the night breeze, she had firmly promised to help him.
But... she was dead now. She had died for him, and he hadn't even had the chance to offer a heartfelt thank you.
Once again, Danzo came to mind, a man ruthless enough to kill his own kin. One day, when the opportunity arose, Ye Zi swore he would kill Danzo himself, avenging Nanako.
"The cultivation of the cells will take time. We don't have enough yet, but I'll speed up the process. In about a week, I'll implant the cells into your body," Orochimaru explained.
"Alright," Ye Zi nodded.
"Get some rest," Orochimaru added before heading to his room.
Orochimaru had left Nanako a slim chance at survival. If she could grasp it, she might escape Konoha. However, what happened afterward wasn't his concern. After all, his initial plan had been to eliminate her outright, so why would he leave her an escape route?
Once Orochimaru left, Ye Zi resumed his training, but his heart felt heavy, as though a stone were weighing it down.
He had once vowed never to form any bonds in this world, yet somehow, without realizing it, those bonds had already been formed.
The more he thought about it, the more images of Nanako flooded his mind.
From her appearance every time he opened his eyes on the operating table to her presence in the research lab, these memories, like shattered glass, slowly dissolved into fragments.
Ye Zi stopped lifting weights and stared up at the moon, feeling the urge to roar, to release all the frustration and suffocating emotions inside.
But he held it in, suppressing the feelings, though he had lost the motivation to continue training.
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Currently on Chapter 177 - Whispers of War