Naruto: Echoes of a Distant Home

In a small town near the border of the Land of Fire, Jiraiya and Tsunade sat by a window in a modestly sized tavern. A communication toad had traveled a great distance to deliver Minato's letter to Jiraiya.

After reading the letter, Jiraiya's expression turned slightly grim. Ever since Orochimaru defected from the village, Jiraiya had been searching for his whereabouts.

It might seem foolish, but Jiraiya had never given up on persuading and redeeming Orochimaru. For years, he had tried to find him, but Orochimaru seemed to have vanished without a trace.

Now, at last, there was news of Orochimaru, but it was bad news.

Orochimaru was with Ye Zi.

Tsunade wanted to avenge herself on Ye Zi. She had originally thought that if she and Jiraiya worked together, they would have a good chance of defeating him. However, with Orochimaru now added to the equation, things became more complicated.

"A message from Minato?" Tsunade asked, noticing Jiraiya's heavy expression.

Jiraiya looked up at her and said in a serious tone, "Yes. Ten days ago, Shibi Aburame encountered Ye Zi and Orochimaru in Aoki Forest in the Land of Waterfalls."

Tsunade frowned. "Orochimaru and Ye Zi are together?"

"Yes," Jiraiya nodded, his voice grave. "I've been searching for Orochimaru for years with no results. Now he suddenly appears, and I have no idea what he's planning."

Ye Zi could use Wood Release, and the first time he demonstrated this ability was before the Third Shinobi War, back when Orochimaru had not yet defected.

Although the timeline was unclear, Jiraiya strongly believed that Ye Zi and his followers' ability to use Wood Release was connected to Orochimaru.

Perhaps Orochimaru had been hiding somewhere all these years, conducting secret experiments.

Thinking about this, Jiraiya felt a heavy weight in his heart and some guilt as well.

"I don't care what Orochimaru's goals are. What I want is to find Ye Zi," Tsunade said coldly.

If she found Ye Zi, she wouldn't act immediately. She wanted to know why Ye Zi had killed Dan, and only then would she take his head.

Hearing the killing intent in Tsunade's tone, Jiraiya sighed inwardly. After a brief silence, he picked up his cup and drained it in one go.

He knew it was pointless to try to stop her. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been accompanying her now.

If a confrontation was inevitable, he would stand by Tsunade's side to ensure her safety.

Whenever he thought about the Great Toad Sage's prophecy, Jiraiya felt a sense of unease. No matter what, he had to protect Tsunade.

Tsunade bit her thumb lightly, her brows furrowed as she stared at the table, lost in thought.

"It's been ten days. Where could the two of them be now?"

"There's no way to know if they're still in the Land of Waterfalls," Jiraiya said. "Let's start by searching the surrounding areas."

Tsunade nodded heavily.

Unbeknownst to them, Ye Zi and Orochimaru were unaware that Tsunade and Jiraiya were searching for them.

Ten days earlier, after leaving the Land of Waterfalls, the two had headed to the Land of Fire, moving in the opposite direction and creating significant distance between them.

In the Land of Fire, there was a place called the Crimson Maple Forest, located in the northwest near the border with the Land of Rain.

Regardless of the season, the maple trees there remained a vibrant red year-round.

Orochimaru and Ye Zi spent some time in the Crimson Maple Forest, where they discovered ancient ruins buried underground. Inside, they found some information about the Five-Tails, including murals depicting the beast.

Additionally, there was a highly abstract mural, though part of it was damaged.

The mural was already simplistic in design, and one of the depicted figures had been partially destroyed, leaving only half of the body visible.

From the single Rinnegan and a staff visible on the figure's face, they deduced that it was likely a mural of the Sage of Six Paths.

After searching for so long, they had finally uncovered something of slight value.

Following their time in the Crimson Maple Forest, Orochimaru and Ye Zi traveled to the Land of Water.

Traveling by sea proved more difficult than by land.

The Land of Water was relatively small, made up of numerous scattered islands.

Using a boat created by Ye Zi with Wood Release, the two navigated through islands with diverse cultures and customs, ultimately aiming for the main island of the Land of Water.

They explored two notable locations.

The first was a giant lake on a small island. In the center of the lake was a massive rocky mountain, surrounded by forests and hills.

Half of the area was covered in mountains, and the other half in forest.

On the rocky mountain in the center of the lake, they found no useful information. However, Ye Zi sensed a faint energy fluctuation inside the mountain.

After leaving the lake, they went to a stalactite cave on the main island of the Land of Water, where they again sensed an energy fluctuation.

Although there was no concrete evidence to confirm that these places had once been used to seal tailed beasts, both Orochimaru and Ye Zi felt certain of it.

These two locations were once the homes of the Three-Tails and the Six-Tails.

Without sufficient information, Orochimaru and Ye Zi naturally couldn't deduce this.

After silently noting the locations, the two decided not to linger any longer and prepared to leave the stalactite cave.

As they approached the cave's exit, Ye Zi suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"There's an ambush outside, about fifty people," Ye Zi said calmly.

Hearing this, Orochimaru replied with equal composure, "It must be shinobi from the Hidden Mist Village."

Over the past few weeks, they had traveled across nearly every island in the Land of Water. It was no surprise that their movements had been exposed.

"It couldn't be anyone else," Ye Zi said. "Should we force our way through? The entrance here is the only one, but even if we don't use it, I can escape through another route with Wood Release."

"A frontal assault would be meaningless," Orochimaru responded evenly.

Before entering the stalactite cave, both he and Ye Zi had memorized the surrounding terrain.

Ye Zi could use Wood Release, while Orochimaru could rely on Earth Release.

Even though more than fifty enemies were lying in wait outside, Orochimaru and Ye Zi were confident they could handle them. However, there was no point in knowingly walking into an ambush if it could be avoided.

"Let's go, then," Ye Zi said as he turned and headed deeper into the stalactite cave.

Orochimaru followed close behind.

Outside the stalactite cave, the ambush indeed consisted of shinobi from the Hidden Mist Village.

Among them was a sensor-type ninja, who noticed that Orochimaru and Ye Zi had paused for a moment before turning back into the cave. The sensor ninja furrowed his brow.

"They've likely detected us and are retreating deeper into the cave," the sensor ninja reported to the squad captain.

The Mist Village captain's expression turned cold. Trusting the sensor ninja's assessment, he decisively gave the order to bombard the mountain with ninjutsu.

He had considered collapsing the mountain from the start, but doing so would have required significant chakra from the team and might not necessarily harm Orochimaru and Ye Zi.

Instead, he had chosen to ambush them at the only exit, aiming to deliver a heavy blow.

Unfortunately, their ambush had been discovered, and the targets had retreated deeper into the cave. The Mist captain hesitated to pursue them, as entering the cave would pose significant risks.

Since entering was not an option, the only choice was to use ninjutsu to collapse the mountain and hope to injure or even kill Orochimaru and Ye Zi.

This hope, however, was destined for disappointment.

Following the captain's command, a barrage of powerful ninjutsu struck the mountain, causing it to tremble violently. Explosions and rumbling echoed continuously as dust and debris scattered everywhere.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru and Ye Zi, having retreated deeper into the cave, moved out of the sensor ninja's detection range. Using their respective techniques, Wood Release and Earth Release, they quietly left the stalactite cave.

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Currently on Chapter 424 - Shisui's Plan