"If only Ye Liang were still here."
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed. Although Ye Liang wasn't from Konoha, after completing several missions together, Hiruzen had completely put his trust in him.
Truthfully, Hiruzen even hoped Ye Liang would permanently join the Hidden Leaf Village!
"What a shame. Such a powerful expert eventually left Konoha. Did he return to Otogakure?"
Just as he hesitated, an intelligence officer arrived once again.
"Hokage-sama, that Masked Man has returned. This time, he's riding atop the Nine-Tails. The Fourth is already intercepting him!"
"I understand. Go gather more intelligence first—I'll be right there!"
Hiruzen dismissed the officer, then silently removed his long robe.
Hiruzen still possessed considerable strength despite his old age.
He was going into battle.
Standing up.
As the Third prepared to leave, Mitarashi Anko appeared at the doorway.
"Hokage-sama, do you have any news about Ye Liang?" Seeing the current situation, Anko hesitated slightly before asking.
Every month around this time, she would visit the Hokage office to ask Hiruzen, even though he'd already told her clearly that Ye Liang had left Konoha.
"Anko, stop thinking about it. Ye Liang truly won't be coming back. With the current battlefield restrictions, we don't have time for such distractions," Hiruzen explained briefly before leaving the room.
Mitarashi Anko stood motionless, gazing blankly at the sky.
She couldn't understand why she felt so anxious about Ye Liang. When he first disappeared, she'd actually been very angry with him. However, as time passed, she found herself increasingly concerned about his whereabouts.
"Could it be... I like him?"
At this moment, Anko was fifteen years old. After three years of growth, she exuded increasing femininity. Her naturally developed body made her undeniably attractive—her supple frame complemented by porcelain-like fair skin. She looked as if she could shatter like porcelain!
As she tilted her head, staring into the distance, suddenly a pair of strong arms wrapped tightly around her slim waist!
"Who's there?!"
Anko instantly became alarmed!
This was the Hokage office—the most heavily guarded location in all of Konoha. To be ambushed here like this was practically unthinkable.
But just as she started forming hand seals to attack the figure behind her, a familiar voice whispered beside her ear.
"Anko, long time no see!"
That was Ye Liang's voice!
Her face lit up immediately.
Although his voice had changed somewhat, Anko recognized it immediately.
She turned her head in delight and looked straight into a familiar face.
It was indeed Ye Liang!
Compared to her previous memory, he now lacked youthful innocence but possessed a mature aura—altogether more masculine.
"Ye Liang! You bastard, where have you been? I thought I'd never see you again!" Instantly throwing herself into Ye Liang's arms, tears welled up in her eyes.
Ye Liang scratched his head, visibly embarrassed.
In his opinion, Anko—who he'd been messing with all along—should've hated him. So why was she acting like this?
"Could it be... I've finally turned into a stud?"
Ye Liang scratched his head, trying to figure it out.
"Exactly! There's no explanation other than the fact that I'm seriously hot now!" Ye Liang fully believed in this theory.
"Hey, if you keep holding me like this, I'm gonna suffocate," Ye Liang teased.
There was absolutely no need to pamper any woman he'd already won over!
You gotta keep 'em in line!
"Suffocate?" Anko gave Ye Liang a strange look but suddenly realized her hands were tightly wrapped around his neck and her body was pressed right up against his, her upper body nearly flattened by his chest.
"Ahh! Pervert!"
She snapped out of it and slapped him hard across the face!
Ye Liang was startled and quickly dodged aside.
"You're the one who jumped on me like that—now you're calling *me* a freak and even slapping me?!" He felt totally screwed.
Women are impossible to reason with!
At that moment, Ye Liang, who had originally been checking out Anko's figure, froze.
"Her neck is too pale—it feels off! What's with that birthmark?"
There was a black floral mark on Anko's neck, like a small flower blooming there.
"What the heck?! Isn't this the Cursed Seal of Earth!" He recognized it immediately. "But wait? Didn't we already take care of Orochimaru?"
The original Anko did have this cursed seal, but when Ye Liang first arrived, he clearly interrupted Orochimaru's ritual. Plus, Orochimaru had already been captured. With his current strength, there was no way he could escape from Anbu custody!
"Anko, what exactly happened? What is this thing?" Ye Liang asked seriously.
He was completely done joking now. Although the Cursed Seal of Earth granted power, once activated, it could easily damage the mind—possibly even cause mental breakdowns.
"Orochimaru escaped," Anko's expression darkened instantly.
"After you disappeared, someone called Tobi attacked the village. He was extremely powerful—even The Fourth couldn't beat him. Later, The Third led a team of many Jonin and barely managed to drive him away."
"Orochimaru escaped during that time as well."
"Tobi?" Ye Liang showed a trace of confusion.
From his past life memories, he naturally knew that Tobi from Akatsuki was actually Obito Uchiha in disguise. Madara Uchiha wanted to make a comeback, but his body was old, so he plotted against another Uchiha, Obito, making him become his proxy.
But Obito should've been saved by himself, right? Because of that, Obito had decided to study hard and prepare himself to oppose Madara Uchiha.
"What about Obito? Is he okay?" Ye Liang asked.
"Obito? Oh, do you mean Team 7? They're Genin, staying in the village guarding it. As for me, I remained here because of my cursed seal."
"He's still around? That doesn't make sense!"
If Obito was still alive, then who the hell is this Tobi guy now?!
After chatting with Anko for a bit, Ye Liang got a rough idea of what was going on.
When Minato came back, he became the Fourth Hokage thanks to his extraordinary contributions during the Third Great Ninja War. Meanwhile, Team 7, originally led by Ye Liang, was reassigned under Minato's command following Ye Liang's disappearance.
Later, Tobi started a commotion, destroying many buildings in the village. Orochimaru made his escape at that time. Though Tobi was driven off, it wasn't long before he came back—this time bringing the Nine-Tails with him to attack the village again.
"The Nine-Tails has shown up too?"
Ye Liang gradually realized that things were starting to go off track. Yet, a hint of excitement flickered in his eyes!
Because—
[Shippuden] has finally arrived!
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