Naruto: The Scourge

Wherever he looked, there was only darkness; wherever he listened, there were only the sounds of wind and rain; and whatever he touched felt nothing but bone-chilling cold.

The initial sense of safety that the human settlement had provided slowly faded amidst the sound of wind and rain in the dark. Darkness, where nothing could be seen, was inherently frightening, casting an eerie atmosphere over the lifeless village.

Ye Zi moved slowly along the wall, and when his hand touched the smooth, cold glass window, he suddenly stopped. The feeling of dust was absent in his palm, but that proved nothing.

With his dirty little hands groping in the dark, Ye Zi's fingertips found a crack and tried to pry it open. To his surprise, the window wasn't locked, though the lack of any human presence here made that understandable.

After opening the window, Ye Zi felt embarrassed when he realized that with his current physical condition, he couldn't climb up, let alone enter the house through the window. Reluctantly, he continued moving along the wall and soon found the door to the house.

The rain grew heavier after night fell, and even the extended eaves that had been built couldn't hold back such a torrent. The pipes meant to channel the rainwater made loud noises as the water surged through them. The place where Ye Zi had sheltered earlier was already damp.

"Boom…"

A huge bolt of lightning suddenly streaked across the night sky, illuminating the world for a brief moment. Though only a few seconds, it was enough for Ye Zi to see the house's appearance—a typical residential home with basic furniture still in place.

With the occasional flashes of lightning, Ye Zi closed the window he had opened earlier and then found a box of matches and some paper. Using a wooden bench and some wooden utensils as fuel, he started a fire.

Although he knew that creating a light in such an eerie and unknown place was irrational, he had no choice; without a fire for warmth, he wouldn't survive the night.

After starting the fire, Ye Zi finally felt a rare sense of warmth, and the accumulated fear dissipated somewhat. Using the light of the fire, he searched the house and found no food, but the kitchen utensils were still there, and there was a pot of boiling water.

Aside from that, he noticed that the indoor furniture hadn't gathered any dust and was very messy, indicating that someone had recently lived here, though they must have left in a hurry for some unknown reason.

"Where is this place?" Ye Zi muttered, staring at the fire with a confused expression.

Why was he here? What kind of place was this? Could he ever go back?

Questions pricked at his head like a thousand needles.

If not for the hardships he had endured since childhood, Ye Zi might not have even been able to stand up from the moment he woke up. This wasn't just due to his own willpower but also because his long-nourished body wasn't as weak as it seemed.

Exhausted in both body and mind, Ye Zi lay down beside the fire and gradually fell asleep. When he woke up, daylight had arrived, but the rain outside showed no sign of stopping.

Ye Zi felt both hungry and weak, and if he didn't find food soon, he would starve.

He found some clothing resembling a raincoat in the house, put it on, and pushed open the door to step into the rain.

There were no people around, so there was no pressure in breaking into a private house. However, after searching several houses without finding any food, despair began to creep in.

"The people here left in such a hurry that they didn't leave behind any food. Why?"

Ye Zi frowned as he walked, and from the corner of his eye, he spotted two iron trash cans at the street corner. He stopped and, without hesitation, walked over to the cans.

"If it's here…"

Ye Zi silently lifted the lid of the trash can and pushed it over. The foul stench immediately wafted out, but he didn't even wrinkle his brow. He crouched down and calmly rummaged through the smelly scraps.

A few hundred meters away, around the corner, two figures paused as they saw him. A man and a woman.

The woman was young and beautiful, with golden hair and brown eyes. A forehead protector with a leaf-shaped symbol was tied around her head.

Such a beautiful young woman was wearing armor on her upper body, adding an air of grim seriousness.

The man wore armor as well but had a green cloak over it. He had long black hair, and his pale face created a striking contrast. What was most striking was his golden, vertically elongated pupils, which, combined with the faint eyeshadow extending from his eyes to his nose, gave him an otherworldly, cold demeanor.

These two were Orochimaru and Tsunade, preparing to return to their village after the war had ended.

"Another war orphan, is it?"

Orochimaru watched Ye Zi's back coldly and drew a black kunai from his ninja tool pouch.

"Living in such pain, it would be better to die."

He muttered coldly, holding the kunai as he took a step forward.

"Orochimaru, that's just a child without chakra."

Tsunade frowned slightly and reached out to place her hand on Orochimaru's shoulder, stopping him.

"Hmph." Orochimaru scoffed, glancing sideways at Tsunade. "And what of it?" He shrugged off her hand.

Seeing that Orochimaru was determined, Tsunade's brow furrowed even deeper, but she didn't try to stop him further.

Having witnessed too much life and death, stained with too much blood, even her heart had quietly hardened. At the end of the day, this wasn't the Land of Fire, nor was it Konohagakure…

Ye Zi didn't know that just a few hundred meters behind him, someone was walking toward him with a kunai, ready to kill. At that moment, he was silently staring at a small, yellow dog in front of him. It was clearly also hungry and not very tame, as evidenced by the low growl it made, asserting its claim over the trash on the ground.

"How long has it been? I was the same back then, fighting for scraps of food that ordinary people would throw away."

Ye Zi picked up a stone from the ground and stared at the little yellow dog with a calm gaze.

The dog, sensing the threat as Ye Zi held the stone, felt a surge of fear but, driven by hunger, refused to back down. Had Ye Zi not pushed over the trash can, the dog wouldn't have had the chance to survive on these scraps. Its growls grew more intense.

"I'm sorry."

This weak, threatening growl didn't affect Ye Zi at all. He hadn't picked up the stone to scare the dog away; compared to the trash, the dog in front of him was more appealing as potential food. Without hesitation, he raised the stone and struck the dog.

The size difference between the two was enough to seal the outcome from the start. Within ten seconds, accompanied by a few pitiful yelps, Ye Zi had killed the dog.

Adjusting his hat that had come loose from the movement, he wiped the rain off his face and bent down to pick up the small, thin dog. He then walked back in the direction of the house. With the fire still going, he didn't want to eat raw.

Orochimaru, who had stopped a short distance away, witnessed the whole scene.

"Heh, interesting…"

He put the kunai back into his ninja tool pouch and watched Ye Zi's figure with interest. He had expected the child to at most chase the dog away or make some space for it, but he hadn't expected the boy to treat the dog as food.

If this child were a ninja… it wouldn't be surprising at all. Orochimaru also noticed a detail: the stone used to kill the dog was still tightly gripped in Ye Zi's hand, indicating that the boy had recognized the danger when he saw the dog, and the stone remained as a weapon after serving its purpose. Before this, he hadn't been carrying any weapons.

It felt as if… there had been an instant realization and awakening to the environment? Or maybe a sudden growth?

Orochimaru suddenly had the idea of taking the child back to the village, but it was quickly dismissed.

The war might be over, but the atmosphere was still tense, making it difficult to bring an outsider into the village, even if the person was just an unarmed child.

However…

Standing in the rain, with cold, snake-like eyes, Orochimaru kept his gaze fixed on Ye Zi. Such a child, if he couldn't be taken in, would have to be eliminated.

"Orochimaru."

Tsunade had seen what had just happened and was slightly startled. She also noticed the subtle killing intent emanating from Orochimaru.

Ye Zi, who was heading toward the house, sensed the malicious gaze from behind and shivered, suddenly turning around to see where it was coming from.

"A person?"

Seeing who it was, Ye Zi let out a slight breath of relief, but it was quickly replaced by deep wariness. This mindset directly affected his actions.

The malicious look from the man immediately placed him on Ye Zi's list of threats.

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