The ground trembled as a massive brown summoning snake slithered through forests and streams like a monstrous force of nature. Any living creature that saw it instinctively fled.
The temperature in the air dropped sharply. Orochimaru sensed a familiar, sinister chakra presence.
He turned to look at Uchiha Yu beside him.
Seeing those dreaded Mangekyō Sharingan eyes again made his heart skip.
"Yu-kun?" Orochimaru asked.
He didn't believe Yu would activate his Mangekyō for no reason—certainly not just to admire the scenery.
"Someone was using the Clairvoyance Technique on me," Yu deactivated his Mangekyō, his eyes returning to their deep, pitch-black hue.
"Clairvoyance… That old toad, perhaps?" Orochimaru raised an eyebrow.
Yu looked toward the distant mountains and replied thoughtfully, "To use the Clairvoyance Technique, the caster must be familiar with the chakra type of the one they wish to observe.
My current chakra composition is no longer the same as what's recorded in the shinobi archives, so it couldn't have been Hiruzen Sarutobi."
Orochimaru fell into thought.
Yu had a vague idea who might have used the jutsu. Not many in the ninja world could perform Clairvoyance. As far as he knew, only Sarutobi Hiruzen and the Great Toad Sage possessed that skill.
But how would the latter know the current nature of his chakra?
That thought stirred countless calculations in Yu's mind.
As for disrupting the Clairvoyance Technique—it was fairly straightforward. The jutsu used a crystal to link to someone through their chakra nature.
Yu had tried refining his internal chakra to a uniform Yin Release-type.
The feeling of being watched vanished.
With that, Yu found that disrupting Clairvoyance wasn't all that difficult. The real challenge for most was detecting that they'd been targeted by the technique in the first place.
But Yu had his Mangekyo; his brain could constantly monitor his mental state and chakra flow in real time.
The moment a genjutsu or external jutsu acted on him, he could detect it immediately.
While contemplating this, Yu pulled out a green vial and drank the potion, replenishing his chakra and enhancing his physical strength.
The money and scrolls looted from Grass Ninja Village had long since been sorted.
Most of the currency was issued by the Land of Grass.
When converted into the more valuable Fire Country currency, the total only came to around 200 million ryō—less than what the Uchiha clan earned in Konoha in a year. By that standard, the Grass Village was pathetically poor.
As for the jutsu scrolls, the highest-ranking ones were only B-Rank—largely useless for someone like Yu.
He stored the entire haul in a 300-cubic-meter storage space, to be used later for building a new hidden village.
Across the ninja world—excluding Sunagakure—the only truly wealthy villages were the remaining four great shinobi nations.
Yu glanced around at the surrounding landscape. Judging by the map, they were about to reach the Land of Rice Fields.
After that, he and Orochimaru would part ways.
Yu would lead the Uchiha unit to follow Terumi Mei into the Land of Water's Hidden Mist Village, to complete the main mission—and possibly collect tailed beasts.
Orochimaru, meanwhile, was to locate Shinnō and arrange for the settlement of the Uzumaki and Tsuchigumo clans. Until Yu's return, Orochimaru could do whatever he pleased—Yu didn't care.
Orochimaru's golden vertical pupils were fixed on the vial in Yu's hand.
He was clearly curious about it but didn't get the chance to ask.
As their separation approached, Yu glanced sideways at Orochimaru and asked directly:
"How's your progress on the Edo Tensei?"
"…" Orochimaru's pupils narrowed, a brief flicker of surprise flashing across his face before he returned to a calm smile.
He couldn't understand how Yu knew he had been studying the forbidden jutsu.
"How many corpses have you gathered?"
"Just a few unimportant shinobi so far. I'm planning to head to Konoha soon to collect the corpses of the past Hokage."
Orochimaru nodded, then after some hesitation, finally asked:
"Yu-kun… how did you know I was researching that forbidden jutsu?"
Yu looked him in the eye and said flatly, "With your personality and preferences, there's no way you'd pass up a forbidden jutsu that defies ethics but is immensely practical."
"Hehe… You really see through people, don't you?"
Orochimaru smiled faintly.
Uchiha Yu thought for a moment:
"The First and Fourth Hokage corpses are the most valuable. If possible, prioritize reanimating the Fourth Hokage. Control him and keep him intact until I return."
"We'll consider it me owing you a favor."
"You're too polite, Yu-kun. When you head to Kirigakure, help bring back a secret technique scroll for me—that can serve as payment for the Fourth Hokage."
Still smiling, Orochimaru replied, "I want to study the secret technique passed down by the Hozuki Clan—Hydrification Technique."
Yu nodded. Just as he was about to respond, a task notification popped up in his mind:
[Side Quest]: Aid an Ally
[Option 1]: Help Orochimaru collect the Hydrification Technique.
[Reward]: Green Elixir.
"Finally! A Green Elixir task again!"
Yu's expression shifted slightly, but quickly returned to normal. "Deal."
"Pleasure doing business with you," Orochimaru said with a grin.
Yu nodded and looked off into the distance once more. At the moment, he only had two Green Elixirs—he drank one daily to enhance his physique and Wood Release. The other he kept in reserve for emergencies.
If he had a third, his physical enhancements would progress even faster.
Chakra was a fusion of physical and mental energy.
Yu had already mastered how to enhance his physical strength. Now he only lacked a method to enhance his mental energy.
He opened the task list.
[Option 1]: Stop Uchiha Mikoto from committing suicide.
[Reward]: Pink Elixir
Yu glanced at Uchiha Mikoto, lying in Nonoyu's arms, and quietly wondered whether this Pink Elixir had something to do with enhancing mental energy.
It was time to complete this mission—and study the reward.
Konoha – Hokage Tower
In the corridors, messengers responsible for relaying orders moved hurriedly between departments, their faces full of anxiety.
"Who will lead the charge… to face Iwagakure?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned against the Hokage seat, his aged eyes sweeping across the oval table lined with the heads of the great clans. His voice was hoarse and heavy.
Just two days prior, Iwa had declared war on Konoha.
The Fire Country's border had fallen. Kikyo Castle was on the brink of collapse. A flood of grim reports left him sleepless—he had visibly aged by over a decade.
The clan leaders wore solemn expressions. Everyone present understood Konoha's current state.
The war had come too fast—catching even Hiruzen off guard. He slowly closed his eyes, reflecting on the chain of events following the Uchiha Clan's extermination, and all the countermeasures he had put in place.
First, Hiruzen had locked down the Uchiha district and tightened border control to ensure no information leaked too quickly.
Then, he had deployed various border defense units early to prevent outside invasion.
Even the forces used to deal with the rogue Uchiha faction were handpicked—drawn from allied support and guided by public opinion.
Hiruzen couldn't figure out where his plan had gone wrong—how one misstep had triggered a cascade of failures.
In his original vision, by the time the news of the Uchiha massacre spread through the shinobi world, Konoha would already be fully prepared for external threats.
Now, the council room was suffocatingly silent.
Suddenly, a shadow flickered into view. An ANBU landed beside Hiruzen and knelt to report:
"Lord Third, Itachi has returned."
A/N: Checkout the newly released fanfic
Hungry for more chaps? Then check out our pătreon!
Link: Påtreon.com/BaphometFiction
I post 20 advanced chapters of this fanfic there.
If you do subscribe, please do so in the web , not the ios app.