Time slipped away like fine sand in an hourglass, and two years passed unknowingly.
For these two years, the Ninja Continent fell into an eerie calm.
The high-level missions usually brought about by friction between small countries suddenly decreased significantly.
Yet, strangely enough, because the economy was gradually becoming unbalanced, the Four Great Ninja Villages—whose main business now relied on sucking the blood of small countries and then finding opportunities to recruit lackeys or expand territory—rarely created conflicts for them. It was as if they were still licking the wounds left by the First Great Ninja War, recuperating and building up strength.
As the victors of the First Great Ninja War, Konoha and the Land of Fire had already sensed something was wrong. They secretly mobilized spies planted in various countries, instructing them to constantly watch for any major moves from the Great Ninja Villages.
Little did they know that the conspiratorial hands of the Four Great Ninja Villages had quietly shifted from the Ninja Continent to overseas.
By the time they realized it, they would have lost a powerful ally.
...
Konoha Year 33, March 27th.
A place with waterfalls, some distance away from Konoha.
At the edge of a pool, a white-haired child about 1.6 meters tall, but with a very tender face, was gripping his right wrist with his left hand. His icy blue eyes were fixed intently on his right palm.
Hovering above his right palm was a blue energy sphere the size of a billiard ball.
This energy sphere was white on the inside and blue on the outside. The white inside was a high-speed rotating Chakra cyclone, which was also the core of the energy sphere.
The entire energy sphere was very stable, clearly a completed Ninjutsu.
However, the white-haired child was still not satisfied. His expression was serious, as if he wanted to add something more into it.
Although his body wasn't moving, he gave off a feeling of exerting great effort.
Under his effort, one of the cyclones within the white core composed of countless Chakra cyclones suddenly turned black.
This touch of black was inconspicuous within the whole; if one didn't look carefully, it might not even be noticed.
However, the appearance of this blackness disrupted the balance of the energy sphere. Like boiling water inside a balloon, it became extremely unstable and was on the verge of bursting.
Without any hesitation, the white-haired child immediately thrust the energy sphere in his hand against the nearby cliff wall.
With a loud boom, rocks shattered and dust flew.
When the wind blew away the dust and mist, a huge crater covered with spiral patterns appeared on the cliff wall.
Just from the pattern of this crater, one could imagine that if that energy sphere landed on a person, they would surely be sent flying, spinning at high speed.
If the Chakra could penetrate the body like the Gentle Fist of the Hyuga Clan, perhaps even the internal organs would be shredded.
Undoubtedly, this was a highly lethal high-level Ninjutsu, and a rare hand-seal-less Ninjutsu in the Ninja World at that.
However, the white-haired child who mastered this high-level Ninjutsu—Gojo Yoru, who was nine years old this year—showed no joy on his face. Instead, he muttered somewhat dejectedly, "Failed again. Is it really this difficult?"
"Your Chakra control and shape transformation are sufficient. Perhaps you could put more effort into nature transformation."
"Who?!"
The sudden voice made Gojo Yoru's expression change again.
This area was a waterfall site surrounded by forest, carefully selected by him.
He had also set up a large number of wires and bells in the surrounding forest. Touching just one would trigger a chain reaction, detonating hidden explosive tags to create a loud noise and alert Gojo Yoru.
Even if a wild beast accidentally triggered the alarm, Gojo Yoru would end his training for the day.
For someone to appear here silently under such arrangements, they were definitely not an ordinary person.
Gojo Yoru prepared to mobilize the Space-Time Chakra in his body while turning his head toward the direction of the voice.
When he saw clearly who the speaker was, his pupils constricted slightly.
Immediately, Gojo Yoru adopted a respectful demeanor, bowing slightly in the direction of the voice. "Orochimaru-sama."
At the edge of the pool, a young man wearing a green flak jacket had appeared at some point.
Long black hair, pale skin, golden vertical pupils, and purple eye shadow were his signature features.
This young man was one of the three personal disciples of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen—Orochimaru, who would be known as one of the "Legendary Sannin of Konoha" in the future.
The current Orochimaru did not yet have the sinister and cunning aura of the future. Instead, he gave off a feeling similar to Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke—handsome and aloof.
Gojo Yoru did not fear Orochimaru in this period.
He hadn't started associating with Shimura Danzo yet, nor had he turned dark. He was the best candidate for the Fourth Hokage in Sarutobi Hiruzen's mind, a Konoha ninja who inherited the Will of Fire, and a reliable partner to whom Tsunade was willing to entrust her younger brother.
"What is your name, and how old are you this year?" Orochimaru examined Gojo Yoru opposite him, becoming more amazed the more he looked.
From a distance just now, he thought it was some Genin who had run here to practice Ninjutsu.
Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a prematurely developed child.
That face looked even more tender than Nawaki's. Could he be not even in the fifth grade?
Naturally, Gojo Yoru didn't know Orochimaru's thoughts and answered truthfully, "My name is Gojo Yoru, and I am nine years old."
"Gojo?"
Orochimaru raised his eyebrows and asked, "What is your relationship to Gojo Hayate and Gojo Mio?"
"They are my father and mother."
Orochimaru thought to himself, As expected, but outwardly he praised softly, "Your parents were both heroes, and you are also a genius. That Ninjutsu just now was beautiful and very powerful."
"You flatter me, Orochimaru-sama." Gojo Yoru looked modest, but inwardly he breathed a sigh of relief.
Jonin parents were indeed invisible connections.
"Why aren't you training in the village, but instead came all the way here?"
Learning that Gojo Yoru was the descendant of acquaintances made Orochimaru even more curious about him.
The reason he found this place was that he accidentally discovered a large number of wires and some explosive tags on his way back. Unable to resist, he used an Earth Release Body Flicker to investigate and unexpectedly saw Gojo Yoru practicing the Rasengan.
A prematurely developed body meant physical and spiritual energies different from ordinary people.
The Chakra control and shape transformation contained in that Ninjutsu made its training difficulty at least B-rank, and very likely A-rank, because Orochimaru suspected that Gojo Yoru was trying to inject nature transformation into it just now.
The combination of top-level shape transformation and nature transformation would be an S-rank Secret Technique.
Mastering a Ninjutsu of such difficulty at the age of nine meant Gojo Yoru was fully qualified to graduate early. Even many Chunin, and perhaps Tokubetsu Jonin, didn't possess such a trump card.
Possessing such talent but not revealing it, and instead coming here specifically to train—was he trying to hide it?