Naruto: Echoes of a Distant Home

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Talent is the most direct reflection of a person's value, and it is evident that, in Danzo's eyes, Ye Zi had already demonstrated his worth. At this moment, he began to feel satisfied with Ye Zi and the decision to force him to join Root. He watched Ye Zi's figure with his cold, ruthless eyes, which, after being weathered by years and battles, now held a hint of anticipation.

In the room, Ye Zi's expression was slightly tense. If he could, he would have preferred not to undertake this dangerous test. But just as with the situation he faced a few nights ago, he had no choice.

Long ago, he had discovered that he possessed many extraordinary abilities, such as eliminating physical fatigue after eating, keenly sensing his surroundings, and easily reading and memorizing the hand seals used in jutsu. At this moment, as he surveyed the large number of shurikens suspended in the mechanism, countless lines seemed to interweave in his vision, like a dense spider's web covering the entire room, with gaps so small that even a head could not fit through.

He was not confident he could completely avoid the shurikens surrounding him from all directions. Because of this lack of confidence and clarity, he thought carefully before raising his hand. He put away the kunai he was holding and slowly drew the Raiga from his waist.

Since he wasn't confident in dodging so many shurikens, he decided to shoot them all down.

Seeing Ye Zi discard the kunai in favor of drawing his sword, the tester, Jōya, glanced at Danzo. After a brief silence, Danzo gave a slight nod, so Jōya allowed Ye Zi to proceed.

Sizzle...

A streak of lightning suddenly leapt from Ye Zi's body, followed by more lightning arcs, emitting a crackling sound like birds chirping.

With the Lightning Release enveloping him, he slowly raised his right hand.

Without prior warning, Jōya quickly pressed the activation switch.

Boom...

A multitude of barely audible sounds erupted in the darkness. Bright light bathed Ye Zi's face, body, and eyes.

His dark eyes were filled with light, and then a large shadow descended, like flocks of geese flying south in a meticulous formation, replacing the divine light with a rain of shurikens. The shurikens fell like a violent spring rain, leaving no room for evasion.

His eyes were indeed as Danzo had said, very effective, but not as effective as the Sharingan. Thus, he could not avoid everything perfectly like an elite Uchiha. However, he could deflect some shurikens, creating space to dodge.

Perfection and evasion were not the main concerns; the important thing was not getting injured, which was enough.

Lightning glowed in his eyes as the Raiga (the name of the sword) tore through the air with a buzzing sound, drawing an arc in mid-air. Shurikens caught in the arc were deflected and tumbled back faster.

Ye Zi's eyes were intensely focused, like in a state of meditation. After deflecting a portion of the incoming shurikens with a single strike, he leaped into the air, spun, and struck again with a crescent-shaped arc, knocking away shurikens aimed at his back. Finally, he twisted his torso and delivered another arc strike upwards.

Clang, clang, clang...

A large number of shurikens were rendered ineffective by these three sweeping arcs and fell helplessly to the ground. Ye Zi used this moment to slip past the remaining shurikens like a slippery fish.

The three rapid strikes had neutralized most of the shurikens from all directions—simple and crude.

Upon landing, Ye Zi quickly sheathed his Raiga.

In the observation room, Jōya watched Ye Zi's figure and the scattered shurikens on the floor. After a moment of silence, he looked at Danzo and said, "It was like the Dance of the Crescent Moon."

The Dance of the Crescent Moon is a Konoha-style sword technique, one of the few that can be used in conjunction with ninjutsu. It involves creating three misleading clones with hand seals during an advance on the enemy, each striking in a different direction with arc-shaped slashes, while the real body prepares a fatal attack.

Although Ye Zi's rapid strikes in three directions were not actually the Dance of the Crescent Moon, Jōya referred to it because Ye Zi's speed reminded him of this technique. However, the initial three strikes of the Dance of the Crescent Moon are meant to confuse and do not have offensive power, while Ye Zi's three strikes...

The three arcs that had been created lingered in Jōya's mind. He first looked at Danzo in silence and then turned to observe Ye Zi in the training room, remaining silent.

Danzo, who had a fleeting glint of sharpness in his eyes that had not been seen in years, instructed, "Let him continue with the remaining two tests."

Jōya took a deep breath, considering that the ability to act freely in training was no longer exclusive to the Uchiha clan. He then pressed the button and said to Ye Zi, "Well done. I'll be waiting outside the room. Proceed to the second test."

Under the lights, Ye Zi let out a soft breath, the tremors in his chest still lingering.

Afterward, it took Ye Zi a considerable amount of time to complete the remaining two tests. His strength assessment was officially recorded in Root's classified archives, and he formally became a member of Root under the codename Lightning Fang.

That night.

Orochimaru, rarely proactive, approached Ye Zi.

"Joining Root may be a good thing for you." Orochimaru said calmly, sitting on the corridor leading to the garden, gazing at the flowers and plants bathed in a faint silver glow.

Ye Zi was silent for a moment before nodding and saying, "I think so too."

Orochimaru looked at him in surprise and said, "I thought you would resist this."

"I did resist at first, but I suddenly felt that the environment there is exactly what I need." Ye Zi slowly looked up at the moon in the night sky, thinking about today's tests, as if seeing a heavenly staircase descending from the moon's surface.

Different worlds, the same moon.

Only by looking at the moon did he feel that the path he was exploring was not so distant and unattainable. He wanted to become strong, strong enough to step onto that staircase.

"I want to become strong, very strong, stronger than you."

Orochimaru did not speak further. He thought back to the first time he met Ye Zi, reflecting on the things Ye Zi had said since then. Notably, Ye Zi had never mentioned anything about family or shown any unconscious dependence on family.

On that rainy day, the child in his eyes lifted a rock and threw it unhesitatingly at a small dog. Before the rock hit the dog, Orochimaru felt a fleeting pang of anxiety and understood Ye Zi's nature—like him, a predator.

Sometimes, he pondered a seemingly trivial yet somewhat significant question: Ye Zi's family.

Orochimaru did not believe that Ye Zi's family was still alive, but he had never seen him show any nostalgia for deceased family members. This led him to sometimes think that he might not have had any family, as if emerging from a rock with no ties.

So, why did he want to become stronger?

In the current Konoha, which is a place sought after by all war orphans, Ye Zi already had it. So why the urgent desire?

Many questions emerged during careful thought, only to be dispelled by a report from the interrogation department. But at this moment...

"Those who seek strength always have their fundamental reasons. So, what is your reason for wanting to become stronger?"

Ye Zi was momentarily stunned. The reason he wanted to become stronger was, of course, to return to his world. However, faced with Orochimaru's question, he couldn't provide an answer and could only remain silent.

Orochimaru was indifferent to Ye Zi's silence on the question. He also looked up at the moon's silvery glow and suddenly recalled the faint anxiety he felt the first time he saw Ye Zi. A cold smile appeared on his face.

He was a cold-blooded snake, who should not fear anything. In the future, others would fear him.

Yet, he could never have imagined that on that rainy day, Tsunade, watching him approach Ye Zi, also felt a brief, inexplicable unease. Nor could he have foreseen the impact that the child he brought back to Konoha from the rain would have on the world in the future.

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