Chapter 359: Five Bamboo Grove

The sun set, and the moon rose, as time slowly slipped by.

The journey was dull and monotonous, each passing moment accumulating into countless steps as Ye Zi and Orochimaru traversed every uninhabited inch of the Land of Lightning.

They avoided Kumogakure's shinobi and settlements, seeking any clues. In the end, however, they found nothing.

If any ruins had once existed, they were either buried under sand or under Kumogakure's control. Outside of inhabited areas, the only remaining possibility was the Cloud Lightning Gorge, heavily guarded by Kumogakure's forces.

Yet, Orochimaru wasn't willing to take the risk for a mere possibility. Having exhausted their search in the Land of Lightning, he left without hesitation, bringing Ye Zi along.

The search had been time-consuming, but fortunately, Ye Zi's current mindset wasn't as impatient as before. Otherwise, he might have found it unbearable.

Night fell, and the sky was obscured by thunderclouds. The world plunged into darkness, illuminated only by fleeting flashes of lightning.

Ye Zi and Orochimaru camped near the Land of Lightning's border in a cave they had found. By morning, they planned to leave and head to their next destination.

The nighttime mountain winds howled fiercely, echoing through the cliffs like ghostly wails.

Inside the cave, a campfire crackled, occasionally spitting tiny sparks into the air. The flickering flames cast shadows of Ye Zi and Orochimaru against the stone walls.

"Where is our next destination?" Ye Zi asked, the firelight reflecting faintly in his dark eyes.

"The Land of the Moon," Orochimaru replied, idly prodding the fire with a stick.

Ye Zi raised a brow. "The Land of the Moon? If I'm not mistaken, it's the buffer zone for the Land of Lightning."

The term "buffer zone" referred to the small nations wedged between the great countries, they were lands that had suffered the brunt of wars.

The Land of the Moon bordered the Land of Lightning and was often a battlefield during conflicts, serving as a buffer against invading forces.

It was a tiny country with favorable geography, but its population remained sparse due to its history of warfare.

"There's a place there called Five Bamboo Grove. That's where we're heading," Orochimaru said calmly.

Ye Zi stared into the fire and responded faintly, "Five Bamboo Grove… I've heard of it. A bamboo forest where only Five-Leaf Bamboo grows."

Five-Leaf Bamboo was named for its distinctive feature, each stalk had exactly five leaves.

Orochimaru nodded slightly and added, "The grove is home to numerous feline creatures. They're skilled at ambushes and ferociously aggressive. If they mastered chakra manipulation, they would make excellent summoning beasts."

In the ninja world, creatures capable of chakra manipulation were rare. The sheer size of a population, however, meant there were always some exceptions.

Few shinobi used summoning techniques, not because they couldn't, but because finding a suitable summoning beast was difficult.

To qualify as a summoning beast, a creature had to master chakra control, and such beasts were never easy to subdue. Establishing a contract required immense effort.

Both Orochimaru and Ye Zi were contracted with Ryūchi Cave, home to some of the most powerful summoning beasts. These mid-to-low-tier beasts in Five Bamboo Grove were beneath their notice—perhaps even weaker than the snow bears of the Land of Iron.

Still, Ye Zi took note of the information.

While a ninja could form contracts with multiple summoning beasts, Ye Zi wasn't interested in these creatures. However, they might serve as useful companions for the young ninjas back at his stronghold.

The creatures of Ryūchi Cave were far beyond the reach of those youths. Even Jin and Yan Ye would expend about a third of their chakra just to summon Manda.

"Do you think there's a ruin in Five Bamboo Grove?" Ye Zi asked.

Orochimaru smiled faintly and replied, "I'm not certain. We'll only know once we get there."

The campfire gradually dimmed and finally went out, plunging the cave into darkness.

Both Orochimaru and Ye Zi rested with their eyes closed, remaining in a light sleep that would snap at the slightest disturbance.

At dawn.

Ye Zi and Orochimaru opened their eyes almost simultaneously.

The morning light streamed through the cave entrance, casting a glow on the cold pile of ashes where the fire had once burned.

Ye Zi retrieved some rations, handing half to Orochimaru before finishing the rest in a few quick bites.

After a brief meal, they left the cave and set off for the Land of the Moon.

The journey to Five Bamboo Grove would take about half a day.

The two traveled in silence, focused solely on covering ground.

Crossing the border of the Land of Lightning, they entered the Land of the Moon, heading straight for their destination without pause.

As the sun began to set, its orange glow stretched across the horizon. From the plains, Ye Zi could make out the distant silhouette of a bamboo forest.

"That must be it," Ye Zi said, the wind rushing past as he moved swiftly across the open land. His voice carried clearly despite the sound of the wind.

"Yes," Orochimaru confirmed.

As the final trace of twilight disappeared beyond the horizon, the two of them arrived at the entrance to Five Bamboo Grove.

Under the shroud of moonlight, the bamboo forest appeared deep and silent.

From the outskirts of the grove, it was clear that the gaps between the bamboo stalks were incredibly narrow, making it difficult for a person to squeeze through. It was hard to imagine that ruins could exist in such a place.

The lower part of the bamboo grove was densely packed, but the upper portions were far more spacious.

"Let's go," Orochimaru said, leaping onto the tops of the bamboo stalks. Moving with the grace of a water skimmer, he glided effortlessly deeper into the forest.

Seeing this, Ye Zi followed closely behind him.

The bamboo grove was deathly quiet, devoid of even the chirping of insects.

The moon hung high in the sky, its silver light cascading down, bathing the tall, slender bamboo stalks in an ethereal glow.

As they ventured deeper into the forest, the gaps between the bamboo stalks grew wider, and the grove no longer seemed as suffocatingly dense.

Both Orochimaru and Ye Zi dropped to the ground, choosing to proceed on foot to ensure they didn't miss any potential ruins.

The moment their feet touched the ground, a large teal-colored leopard, the size of a calf, silently sprang out from the shadows, its sharp claws swiping at Ye Zi's back.

Ye Zi's eyes flicked to the right, and in a swift motion, he turned and kicked straight through the leopard's claws, landing a powerful blow to its head.

With a muffled "Bang!", the leopard's muscular body was sent flying. Its skull burst into a mist of blood midair.

"Not very impressive," Ye Zi muttered, sparing the lifeless corpse a glance before continuing on alongside Orochimaru.

Orochimaru said faintly, "The scent of blood will attract more beasts."

Ye Zi looked at him and replied, "They pose no threat."

Orochimaru's lips curled into a faint smile, and he said no more.

As the two walked side by side, Orochimaru's prediction came true and more and more leopards emerged from the shadows, launching silent ambushes. However, they were all effortlessly dealt with by the pair.

The deeper they went into the grove, the larger the leopards became. Perhaps it was their long hunger for human flesh, but upon seeing Ye Zi and Orochimaru, the beasts threw themselves forward one after another, as if queuing to meet their deaths.

After leaving behind a trail of a dozen leopard corpses, a truly formidable creature appeared.

This leopard was pitch black, its eyes a striking cyan blue, and its size was ten times that of a normal leopard. Chakra flickered visibly along its claws, glowing faintly.

The cyan eyes emanated a sense of human-like intelligence, a mixture of warning and murderous intent.

Staring at the black leopard, Ye Zi wouldn't have been surprised if it started speaking the next moment.

For once, encountering a beast capable of chakra manipulation, Ye Zi chose to hold back. With a single calculated strike, he incapacitated the black leopard without killing it.

Leaving the defeated beast behind, the two pressed on. After walking a short distance, they emerged into a spacious clearing, surrounded by bamboo on all sides.

Scattered across the clearing were crumbling stone pillars and the remains of ancient structures, faintly illuminated by the moonlight.

Ye Zi's gaze flickered with interest. "This must be the place."

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