Naruto: Echoes of a Distant Home

Wherever there is darkness, there is also the relentless sound of wind and rain, and everything is bone-chillingly cold. The initial sense of safety provided by this human settlement gradually fades away in the dark, as the oppressive silence of the village takes on an eerie atmosphere.

Ye Zi moved slowly along the wall, his hand coming to a stop when it touched the smooth, icy glass of a window. The lack of dust didn't prove anything. His small, dirty hands continued to explore in the darkness, feeling a gap in the window and trying to pry it open. To his surprise, the window wasn't locked, but given the absence of human presence, it made sense.

After opening the window, he found that with his current physical condition, he couldn't climb up or enter the house through the window. Resigned, he continued along the wall and soon found the door.

As night fell, the rain grew heavier. Even the extended eaves of the buildings couldn't keep out such a torrential downpour, and the drainage pipes made a constant, gurgling noise as they carried away the water. The place where he had sought shelter earlier had become thoroughly soaked.

Suddenly, a massive bolt of lightning illuminated the sky, briefly lighting up the world. In those fleeting seconds, he saw the house clearly—it was a typical, modest dwelling with basic furniture inside.

Using the occasional flashes of lightning to guide him, he closed the previously opened window and found a box of matches and some paper. He used a wooden stool and some wooden utensils as fuel to start a fire.

Though he knew it was imprudent to light a fire in such a strange and unknown place, he had no choice. Without warmth, he wouldn't survive the night.

Once the fire was going, Ye Zi finally felt some much-needed warmth, and the accumulated fear began to dissipate slightly. Using the firelight, he conducted a thorough search of the house but found no food. However, the kitchenware was intact, and there was a pot of boiling water.

Additionally, he noticed that the indoor furniture was not covered in dust but was very disordered, suggesting that the house had been recently occupied. The occupants had left in a hurry, though the reason for their abrupt departure remained unknown.

"Where exactly is this place?" he wondered, staring into the firelight with a bewildered expression.

Why was he here? What was this place? Could he go back?

A multitude of questions pricked at his mind like a thousand needles.

If not for the suffering he had endured since childhood, he might not have been able to stand up from the moment he woke. It wasn't just his willpower; the long-term malnutrition of his current body had made him more resilient than expected.

Exhausted both physically and mentally, Ye Zi rested on the ground near the fire and slowly fell asleep. When he awoke, it was already daylight, but the rain showed no sign of stopping.

Feeling both hungry and weak, he knew he needed to find food quickly, or he would starve to death.

He found clothing resembling a raincoat in the house and put it on before stepping back out into the rain.

There were no people around, so he felt no pressure in entering abandoned homes. However, after searching several houses without finding food, despair began to set in.

"The people here left in such a hurry that they didn't leave any food behind. What could have caused this?"

As he walked, deep in thought, his peripheral vision caught sight of two metal trash cans at a street corner. He stopped and, without hesitation, walked over to them.

"What's in this place…"

He silently lifted the lid of one trash can and tipped it over. A foul stench immediately assaulted his senses, but he didn't flinch. He squatted down and calmly sorted through the rotting refuse.

A few hundred meters away, two figures had stopped, watching him. They were a man and a woman.

The woman was young and beautiful, with golden hair and brown eyes. She wore a forehead protector with a leaf-shaped emblem in the center. Her beauty was enhanced by the armor she wore, which gave her a somewhat stern appearance.

The man, similarly armored but with an added green cloak, had long black hair and a strikingly pale face. His golden, slit-like pupils and the faint eyeshadow extending from his eyes to his nose gave him a cold and eerie demeanor.

"Another survivor of the war?" Orochimaru observed Ye Zi's back coldly, pulling out a black kunai from his tool pouch.

"Living in such pain, death would be better." He spoke coldly to himself, gripping the kunai and taking a step forward.

"Orochimaru, that's just a child without chakra." Tsunade said, frowning and placing a hand on Orochimaru's shoulder to stop him.

"Hmph." Orochimaru sneered, glancing at Tsunade. "So what?" He shrugged off her hand and continued forward.

Seeing that Orochimaru was determined, Tsunade's frown deepened, but she didn't stop him any further.

Having seen too many lives lost and hands stained with blood, her heart had hardened. After all, this was not the Land of Fire or Konoha Village…

Unaware that someone with a kunai was approaching him, Ye Zi was focused on a small, yellowish-brown dog in front of him. The dog, clearly hungry, growled at him, showing its territorial claim over the trash.

"How long has it been? I was once like that too, just trying to survive on scraps of food."

He picked up a stone and stared calmly at the dog.

Sensing the threat from the stone, the dog's growl intensified. However, its hunger made it unwilling to retreat. Since he had already tipped over the trash can, it needed to get what it could from it. Thus, the dog's growling grew more desperate.

"Sorry."

The weak growls of the dog did not intimidate him. He didn't intend to drive the dog away but rather saw it as a potential source of meat. Without hesitation, he raised the stone and struck the dog.

The outcome was inevitable given the size difference, and within ten seconds, the dog was killed by his strikes.

Covering his head, which had lost its hat due to his vigorous movements, and wiping the rain from his face, he bent down to pick up the now lifeless dog and headed back toward the house. He didn't want to eat it raw if he could help it.

Orochimaru, who had stopped a short distance away, observed the scene with interest.

"Heh, interesting…"

He put away the kunai and watched Ye Zi with a glint of curiosity in his eyes. He had expected the child to either drive the dog away or give it a portion of the food, but instead, the child had directly used the dog as food.

If this child were a ninja, such behavior would be expected. Orochimaru also noted a detail: the stone used to kill the dog was still clutched in his hand. This indicated that the child had become aware of the danger posed by the dog and had used the stone as a weapon, suggesting a sudden realization or growth.

Orochimaru briefly considered taking the child back to the village but quickly dismissed the idea. Despite the end of the war, the atmosphere remained tense, and bringing an outsider, even a seemingly helpless child, into the village was difficult.

However…

Standing in the rain, Orochimaru's cold, serpentine eyes remained fixed on Ye Zi. If he couldn't take the child, he would have to kill him.

"Orochimaru."

Tsunade also witnessed the scene and was slightly taken aback. She sensed Orochimaru's underlying killing intent.

Ye Zi, sensitive to the malicious gaze from behind him, suddenly shivered and turned around sharply.

"People?"

Seeing the figures, he felt a slight relief, but he quickly became deeply wary. His instinctive caution was evident in his demeanor.

The malicious intent from the man immediately categorized him as a potential threat.