Naruto: Echoes of a Distant Home

Still hungry, Ye Zi went out on his own, hunted a deer in the forest, and cooked it to finally feel full before returning to the base.

After sealing the Four-Tails, there had been no further movements from Nagato's side. With intel provided by White Zetsu, finding the right opportunity to capture the next Tailed Beast host shouldn't be difficult. The lack of action puzzled Ye Zi.

Back at the base with nothing to do, Ye Zi decided to visit the training area.

This was the largest room Ye Zi had specifically built when he created the base. Now used as a training arena, smaller training rooms surrounded it on all sides.

Ye Zi and Orochimaru had completed the construction and setup of the training ground together, mirroring the training systems of Konoha's Root.

The spacious training arena was brightly lit, resembling daylight.

Dozens of boys and girls around eleven or twelve years old were paired up, sparring in taijutsu without kunai. Their fists and feet connected with heavy, muffled sounds—each punch landed solidly.

Ye Zi quietly entered, leaning against the wall near the doorway with his arms crossed, silently watching the lively scene inside the training arena.

In the center of the arena stood Shin, his face stern like a strict instructor. There wasn't a hint of youthfulness in his expression. As he observed the children with his Sharingan, his gaze moved from one sparring pair to another.

Whenever he noticed a mistake in any group, he pointed it out bluntly and severely.

Taijutsu wasn't his strength, and he lacked battle experience, but under Ye Zi's guidance, Shin's theoretical knowledge, along with his Sharingan, was enough to teach these children.

What he lacked now was the experience of life-and-death battles; only through constant combat would he truly evolve.

The children quickly corrected any mistakes pointed out, displaying a strong training discipline.

After Ye Zi had been standing by the doorway for about a minute, some of the children inside noticed him.

The previously serious atmosphere instantly broke. Following someone's lead, the kids excitedly crowded around him.

Shin watched but said nothing, simply because it was Ye Zi.

Surrounded by the children, a faint smile appeared on Ye Zi's face, a rare contrast to his usual cold expression.

"Lord Ye Zi! My chakra nature is lightning! Can you teach me Lightning Release?" a short-haired girl with a shy expression and wide, hopeful eyes asked softly. She had made her way to the front first, showing her good physical abilities.

The children gathered in a semi-circle around Ye Zi. Besides the short-haired girl, a few others also managed to make it to the front. Those further back tried to push their way in, making the scene quite chaotic.

Next to the short-haired girl was a sturdier boy with a buzz cut and darker skin. Grinning excitedly, he called out, "I want to learn Lightning Release too!"

"But I think swordsmanship is the coolest!" A young boy held his hands as if gripping a sword, trying to mimic a striking pose before getting jostled and losing his stance. Embarrassed, he looked up and seriously said, "Lord Ye Zi, please teach me swordsmanship!"

"Your vision is too narrow," scoffed a taller boy. "I want to learn both Lightning Release and swordsmanship. That's the only way to fully utilize the value of sword techniques."

Ye Zi glanced at him, finding some truth in his words.

All around, voices overlapped in excited chaos.

"Next time," Ye Zi said to the crowd, and the noise stopped instantly.

After a brief silence, the kids' faces fell with disappointment.

Ye Zi nodded at Shin, who stood on the edge of the group watching, then used the Body Flicker Technique to leave the area.

The children, who had been crowding around him, stumbled forward and fell against the wall.

"He got away again!" The short-haired girl's sweet demeanor dropped as she pounded the wall, her face showing frustration.

The boy interested in swordsmanship shot her a look that said, "You're so fake."

Understanding the meaning behind his look, she threw a punch at him.

"Enough, back to training." At that moment, Shin's cold voice cut in.

The kids obediently returned to the center of the training area and resumed sparring, with some pairs switching partners.

The short-haired girl glared at the boy across from her, cracking her knuckles ominously.

The boy's eyelids twitched, casting a resentful look at the buzz-cut boy nearby, whose sturdy build was wasted on his lack of bravery.

The dozens of children resumed their taijutsu practice. In the smaller rooms surrounding the arena, other children engaged in various training exercises, like dodging projectiles from all directions.

Leaving the training area, Ye Zi walked down a dimly lit hallway.

He had come to observe the training area for a moment. This group of children had all been trained by him initially. While not every one of them possessed outstanding talent, even the less talented ones trained diligently.

Under Ye Zi's influence, they all held a firm set of values, and none wanted to be left behind.

They were children displaced by war, children who had lost their families because of it. Now, understanding the power they had gained, they knew that only by holding onto it could they control their fate.

Given enough time, these children would become a formidable force.

The only regret was that Orochimaru's experiments with the Cursed Seal and Hashirama cells were still not perfected. Although the success rate had improved, it remained far too low.

At the very least, the acceptance rate needed to exceed fifty percent.

Now that it was nearly impossible to find more war orphans, every loss couldn't be replaced.

With only around a hundred children, each one was valuable and couldn't afford to be subjected to such a low success rate.

Walking down the hallway, Ye Zi looked contemplative. While waiting for Nagato's next mission to capture a Tailed Beast, he planned to involve Uchiha Jin in more combat encounters, finding situations that would push him into real-life battles, not just regular missions.

Fittingly, just as the thought crossed his mind, a message came through from Nagato.

"Meeting in ten minutes," Nagato's brief message reached each of the core members wearing rings.

Both Shin, who was supervising the children's training, and Kotoe, who was working hard in the kitchen, received the notification.

"Just like that, huh?" Ye Zi raised an eyebrow. After waiting so long, the next mission was finally here. He was more eager to gather the Tailed Beasts than to run other missions, though if it was a Tailed Beast capture, it wouldn't provide Jin with real combat experience.

Ten minutes later, they gathered in the familiar dimly lit room with the lamps.

Ten hazy figures appeared one after another. At the center stood Nagato, his Rinnegan eyes visible.

Once everyone was present, Nagato spoke calmly, "Our next targets are the One-Tail and Three-Tail Jinchuriki."

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Currently on Chapter 315 - Fighting in Two Places At the Same Time