"Still can't do it?"
Under the waterfall, the feather in Uchiha Yujin's hand had developed cracks after being infused with too much chakra, and its hardness had noticeably weakened.
"A swarm of bloodthirsty ants, drawn to rotting flesh~"
Killer Bee's chant interrupted Yujin's experiment. He sighed and stood up. "Bee, can you keep it down a bit?"
"Oh yeah! Genius rhyme, unmatched!"
Facing Killer Bee lost in his own world, Yujin had no choice.
He rose, swinging his feather, and soared into the sky.
It had been more than half a month since the last encounter with Kakuzu.
Yujin still felt uneasy about Kakashi's situation.
Even though he had fused Kakuzu's Wind Release: Earth Grudge Stitching into his body, meaning Kakuzu would prioritize going after him, he couldn't be sure Kakuzu wouldn't foolishly pursue Kakashi instead.
Yujin calculated that the best scenario was for Kakuzu to chase him.
Then, Kakuzu would run straight into the Cloud Village forces led by Killer Bee, and this lingering threat would be eliminated.
Of course, that was the ideal plan. But half a month had passed, and Kakuzu seemed to have vanished without a trace, which made Yujin consider taking a walk on his own.
If the timing was right, he even considered returning to Konoha first.
After all, staying out here was extremely dangerous.
Whether the Akatsuki's financial officer had him in their sights, or whether the Cloud Village could keep him safe—those weren't even his main concerns.
His priority was whether the Cloud Village would dig out his eyes for research, just to see how this guy had grown tails and feathers.
Relying on Killer Bee? He couldn't gamble on that.
For an Uchiha who had awakened his Sharingan, before the night of his clan's annihilation, Konoha was always the safest place.
After all, there was still someone outside, wearing a mask, harvesting Sharingan—Obito.
Yujin flew for a while. The towering mountains gradually thinned, replaced by vast stretches of lush forests.
Identifying the borders of the Five Great Nations was simple.
Mountains meant the Cloud Village, deserts were the Sand Village, water and mist indicated the Mist Village, and endless flat land with sparse houses and small hills marked the Rock Village.
Forests, of course, indicated the border of the Fire Nation.
Yujin landed on the ground. The high-intensity flight had drained his stamina quickly, so to conserve energy, he decided to travel on foot.
After walking for a long time, the sky grew dark, and visibility decreased. Yujin began looking for a place to rest for the night, planning to continue his journey at dawn.
In a daze, he saw a faint light in the distance.
It looked like a cluster of buildings.
A real bed was definitely better than sleeping in a tree.
Curious, he walked toward it.
For him, a distance of a kilometer was only a matter of seconds.
Soon, he arrived not far from the buildings.
As soon as he saw the symbols on the outer walls, he turned and ran.
Every building had the same musical note symbol.
A musical note meant the Hidden Sound Village.
This was Orochimaru's village as the Kage.
Seeing the symbols at night in the deserted forest was no different from seeing someone play a suona at a wedding in the middle of nowhere.
He had only taken a few steps when a figure appeared at the corner in front of him.
A man with two red dots on his forehead, white hair, and a sickly, half-dead appearance.
Seeing him, Uchiha Yujin immediately started forming hand seals, treating him as a deadly enemy.
The leader of the Five Sound Shinobi—Kimimaro.
"You actually came on your own."
Kimimaro's first words made Uchiha Yujin relax a little.
He hurriedly stopped forming the seals.
"Hmph, I wonder what Lord Orochimaru sees in you. Cough, cough, cough."
Uchiha Yujin thought to himself, Actually, Orochimaru values you too, but every time you pull out a bone without disinfecting it and stick it back, you're full of diseases. No one would want your body.
Kimimaro, coughing like he had tuberculosis, steadied himself and pointed toward a hidden underground passage.
"Please, go ahead."
Uchiha Yujin didn't move.
He was calculating his chances if he fought Kimimaro.
But then he realized—even if he could barely defeat Kimimaro, Orochimaru would arrive the moment the fight started.
Even if he took off with Kagune wings, flying through a forest with towering trees for cover, there was still a high chance Orochimaru would catch up.
Thinking of the Cursed Seal and Kagune's powers, Uchiha Yujin gritted his teeth and stepped into the seemingly bottomless passage.
Orochimaru's base was cleaner and brighter than Uchiha Yujin had imagined.
It didn't feel like the dark, eerie place in the anime.
Because the underground was prone to dampness, many ventilation ducts and central heating systems had been installed.
After guiding Uchiha Yujin into the passage, Kimimaro handed over the welcoming duties to another member of the Five Sound Shinobi—the only female in the group, Tayuya.
Tayuya looked Uchiha Yujin over, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "You were resisting at first, weren't you? Finally couldn't resist Lord Orochimaru's charm?"
Uchiha Yujin forced a laugh. "Um… what are these things here?" He pointed at a device that was making a constant beep beep beep sound.
Tayuya looked at him as if he were a complete fool. "A computer! People from Konoha haven't even seen a computer?"
Uchiha Yujin twitched at the corner of his eye.
He wasn't wrong. Those were indeed computers, laptops even.
While Konoha was still using primitive abacuses to calculate data, Orochimaru had long since started using computers.
Luckily, the people in Konoha weren't addicted to the internet.
Otherwise, everyone would have defected to Orochimaru's side.
Rows of precise instruments, jars of strange limbs soaking in formalin.
Looking at it now, if Minato hadn't become the Fourth Hokage and Orochimaru had taken the position instead, Konoha might have already used high-tech to crush the other four great ninja villages under their feet.
Before meeting Orochimaru, Uchiha Yujin inexplicably felt a slight respect for the scientist, though he didn't know why.
This might also be one reason why the people of the Sound Village were so loyal to Orochimaru.
Tayuya stopped in front of an unremarkable room and knocked lightly twice.
A weak, hoarse voice came from inside. "Come in."
Tayuya gave Uchiha Yujin a look, and he pushed the door open.
The dimly lit room had only a faint yellow desk lamp, just enough to make out the edge of the bed and the figure lying on it.
Even if Uchiha Yujin could see the person's face clearly, he wouldn't recognize Orochimaru.
"Cough… cough." Orochimaru, having just swapped bodies, looked very weak. He leaned against the headboard, his cold snake eyes studying the young boy in front of him.
"Yujin-kun, I didn't expect to see you so soon."
Uchiha Yujin's brow twitched, a bit uneasy in his chest. "Lord… Orochimaru, there's something I want to tell you."
****
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