A few days ago
The mountains in the southern part of the Land of Fire were shrouded in twilight, and a faint smell of blood filled the air.
Kimimaro amidst the ruins of a village, his pale fingers gently brushing against the collar of a corpse, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper.
"Lord Shinnō, someone is looking for you..."
He read the words aloud in a low voice, a cold glint flashing in his purple eyes. In the past two days, he had visited several villages, and the information he received was all similar— Shinnō had indeed been here, but his whereabouts were elusive, as if he was deliberately hiding something.
(As expected... someone is covering for him.)
Beneath Kimimaro's skin, bone spurs twitched slightly, as if responding to his killing intent.
Just last night, as he was resting with his eyes closed under an ancient tree, several sneaky ninjas attempted to ambush him.
Their movements were very subtle, but to Kimimaro, they were as noticeable as Fire Fly in the dark.
"Who sent you?"
He didn't even open his eyes; he simply raised his hand slightly, and a gleaming white bone spike suddenly shot out from the ground, piercing precisely into the sole of one of the men's feet.
A scream pierced the night sky, and the remaining few scattered and fled. But Kimimaro was faster—his figure flickered like a ghost, and with each pause, a ninja was pierced through the throat by a bone blade.
The last one was bound by his neck with a bone whip and suspended in mid-air.
Where is Shinnō?
"I... I don't know... we were just ordered to stay behind... to spread false information..."
A hint of annoyance flashed in Kimimaro's eyes. Sure enough, Shinnō had long since left, leaving behind only some pawns to mislead his pursuers.
(What a cunning mouse.)
With a flick of his fingers, the bone whip tightened instantly, and the ninja's head rolled to the ground.
Kimimaro coldly stared at the corpse, having already made his decision—since the people in these villages were all under Shinnō's protection, there was no need to keep them alive.
Overnight, several nearby villages were completely massacred.
Kimimaro left only one or two survivors, then deliberately left traces of his Chakra in several key locations, and even created a clone, sending it deeper into the Yamanaka.
(If anyone's chasing me... let them search for me in the mountains.)
His intuition was always accurate—that subtle feeling of being watched convinced him he was being targeted. Moreover, that Chakra... reminded him of a familiar presence.
(Lord Orochimaru's former subordinate? Or someone else?)
He had no interest in wasting time getting entangled with anyone, no matter who it was. Shinnō was his target.
As dawn broke, Kimimaro had already left the southern mountains and sped northward. Behind him, thick smoke billowed from several burning villages, as if mocking anyone who tried to track him.
On the forest path where the morning dew was still wet, Kimimaro's footsteps were as light as a ghost.
His pale fingertips held a rusty Forehead Protector, the metal gleaming dimly in the morning light—it was a deliberately worn-down Sky Ninja emblem, the edges of its winged design still bearing traces of dried blood.
(Sky Ninja...)
Memories flooded back like a tide.
Lord Orochimaru's languid voice seemed to echo in my ears again, "During the Second Shinobi World War, those idiots actually dared to declare war on Konoha..." Under the pale lights of the laboratory, a mocking glint flashed in his snake-like eyes, "However, their flying ninja tools are quite ingenious, especially that—"
"Angkor Fortress." Kimimaro unconsciously uttered the name, his purple eyes narrowing slightly.
A faint grinding sound came from beneath Kimimaro's skin.
In the villages that were massacred two days ago, almost all of them contained similar mechanical wreckage— Chakra transmission devices disguised as farm tools, aircraft parts buried under barns, and even half a piece of energy crystal embedded in the axle of an old woman's spinning wheel.
"Shinnō..." He stroked the man-made wear marks on the gears and suddenly understood everything.
This so-called "miracle doctor" who travels around the world is simply using the guise of practicing medicine to collect Sky Ninja's legacy!
Those seemingly charitable free treatments are likely a way to select suitable test subjects for modification. As for deliberately leaving traces in the southern part of the Land of Fire...
(A diversionary tactic.)
Kimimaro's lips curled into a cold smile.
No wonder the clues all point to the mountains to the south, while the reports from the east are sporadic and suspicious—the real secret is probably hidden in the opposite direction.
These clues made his thinking clearer: if Shinnō was indeed related to the Sky Ninja faction, then the most likely target was—
The ruins of Angkor Fortress...
The wind swept through the treetops, startling a flock of birds into flight.
Kimimaro looked in the direction the flock of birds had flown away, towards the sea where the Land of Fire and the Land of Tea meet. There, islands dot the landscape, and it has been a hiding place for missing-nin and exiled forces since ancient times.
The bone spurs beneath the skin wriggled restlessly, as if excited for the upcoming hunt.
On the other side...
Inside the central control room of Angkor Fortress, a deep blue Chakra energy flowed silently through the pipes.
Shinnō stood before the enormous observation window, gazing down at the tiny Shinobi World beneath the clouds. The images projected on the Heavenly Screen still lingered in his mind—the world-destroying Night Guy, the powerful Sage Mode, and the endless stream of hidden trump cards from the Konoha Ninjas...
"Ha..." He slammed his broad palm heavily on the metal window frame, making the observation instruments hum. "I thought the strength I'd accumulated over the years was enough..."
On the screen of the control panel behind him, clips of the battle captured by the Heavenly Screen were playing on a loop. The crimson steam from when Might Guy opened the Gate of Death seemed to burn his eyes through the screen. This level of Taijutsu had surpassed all his research on the Eight Gates.
(Ryūchi Cave...)
A greedy flame ignited in Shinnō's eyes. He turned and walked toward the laboratory, his muscular body taut with each step beneath his white coat.
Dozens of modified bodies floated inside the incubation chamber; these were all "creations" created in recent years using Medical Ninjutsu combined with Sky Ninja technology.
"Temporarily halt the 'Restoration Plan'." He ordered his subordinates in the shadows, his voice echoing in the empty metal corridor, "Activate all reconnaissance Puppets and focus on monitoring Konoha's movements."
The shock of the Heavenly Screen brought him to his full awakening—even with the Angkor Fortress at his current level, the Sky Ninja would be nothing more than slightly larger targets in front of those monstrous ninjas. But if he could master Senjutsu ...
"Where is Amaru?" He suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"... taking care of the children in the medical room..." a subordinate reported nervously. "Should we increase surveillance?"
Shinnō stroked the scar on his chin. That innocent and carefree adopted daughter was his best disguise, and also his most important "key." But now...
"Don't disturb her." He gave a fatherly smile, but his eyes were cold. "Just say I'm going out to investigate difficult and complicated diseases, and my return date is uncertain."
Three days later, a wandering healer appeared on the border of the Land of Fire. Shinnō carried his medicine chest and walked along the country roads, asking everyone he met about the legend of the "talking snake".
No one knew that his seemingly bulky medicine chest contained the most advanced detection ninja tools he had brought from Angkor Fortress; even fewer noticed that when he cured each patient, he would secretly collect a trace of Chakra — Senjutsu Sensory Formula he had developed based on Orochimaru's research notes.
"Soon..." By the campfire at night, Shinnō stared at the phosphorescent blood sample in the test tube. It had been extracted that day from an old hunter who, it was said, had seen a talking snake in a certain place when he was young.
Suddenly, the detection ninja tool emitted a sharp alarm.
Shinnō suddenly looked up and saw an unnatural Chakra fluctuation flashing across the distant mountain peak—that cold, sticky texture was exactly the characteristic of Natural Energy recorded in ancient books!
He swiftly extinguished the fire, his imposing figure disappearing into the night with incredible agility. Inside the medicine chest, the Eight Gates Formation training scroll and the Body Revitalization Notes rubbed against each other, making a rustling sound.
(Once I master Senjutsu...)
The moonlight shone on Shinnō's receding figure, stretching his shadow long and long until it merged with the shadows of the mountains. Higher up in the clouds, the outline of Angkor Fortress appeared and disappeared, like a lurking steel behemoth.