The Shinobi World's Clunker Keeps Drifting

"Very good, Jiraiya. You're very good!" Fugaku Uchiha's forehead veins bulged, and the corners of his eyes kept twitching.

If the three blood-red Tomoe in his eyes weren't slowly turning, he might have been mistaken for someone using the Byakugan.

Jiraiya said with some difficulty, "Captain Fugaku Uchiha, you've worked hard during this time. The old man says you should take your clan back to rest and recuperate."

"Hmph!" Fugaku Uchiha weighed things up for a long while, then glared through his Sharingan as his eyes swept over the faces of the more than eight hundred elite Sand shinobi Jiraiya had brought over from the front line after their rest.

Fugaku Uchiha snatched the handover scroll, waved his hand, and barked through gritted teeth, "What are you looking at? Pack up and head back to Konoha!"

After exchanging glances, Bing San and Nara Shikaku both breathed a sigh of relief.

The Uchiha clan might not have had many Ninja, but among their more than four hundred members, over seventy were Jonin and the rest were Chunin. They hadn't brought a single Genin.

If a fight broke out right there, it wouldn't be an ordinary conflict.

The next day, Fugaku Uchiha withdrew with all his clan members and some of their affiliated Commoner Ninja.

Before they left, Bing San stood at the camp entrance and watched them go.

From then on, apart from Shisui Uchiha's squad, which belonged to Root, there were no more Uchiha main-branch members here.

As for Obito Uchiha, he could at most be considered the Uchiha clan's disgrace. He had absolutely nothing to do with the main branch.

Minato Namikaze hadn't left since arriving here.

That made sense, too. He and his teacher had originally been together on the Rock Ninja front. With Jiraiya transferred here, it was only natural for Minato Namikaze to follow.

Just then, a Jonin captain from the Sand shinobi front patted Bing San on the shoulder and said, "Hey, Bing San, long time no see. Thanks so much for helping me last time!"

Bing San gave an awkward laugh. "It was nothing. Don't mention it!"

The Jonin laughed. "Once this war's over, I'm going back home to get married! You have to do me the honor of coming, Bing San!"

Bing San's expression suddenly turned odd. He nodded and said, "Of course, of course!"

Inwardly, he had already sentenced this veteran of the Sand shinobi front to death. You shouldn't go saying things like that!

After the Jonin left, Bing San turned around and saw Rin grinning like a delighted aunt. She startled him.

Rin smiled and handed the scroll to Bing San. "Thank you so much for looking out for me."

Bing San took the scroll and said it was no trouble. Obito, wearing the expression of a lovesick puppy, said to Rin, "I told you this conceited guy wouldn't mind."

Rin smiled apologetically. Minato Namikaze watched them with a smile, while Kakashi stood to one side with his usual aloof expression.

That foolish Obito had actually been promoted to Chunin alongside Rin. It was simply unbelievable.

Kakashi still wore his usual poker face, staring straight ahead without a trace of expression.

Minato Namikaze, however, was intrigued by Bing San's Summoning Scroll. Rolled up, it was only about the size of a thumb, but once opened, it became enormous.

He questioned Bing San for a long time, but Bing San couldn't answer, so he had to pass the matter off to Orochimaru.

In the end, Minato Namikaze traded a detailed guide to the basics of Sealing Jutsu for Bing San's scroll, intending to study it thoroughly.

That night, everyone decided to get together. So Bing San's classmates gathered once again at the frontline camp. But many people whose names Bing San couldn't recall had died.

Looking around the packed room, Bing San thought ruefully that he didn't know how many of the future Konoha 12 would still appear. After his meddling, a lot of those rookies might disappear altogether.

The oldest person there was Naruto's father, the twenty-one- or twenty-two-year-old Minato Namikaze. Next came the sixteen- or seventeen-year-old Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

Kiba's mother was there, too. She'd come over from the Rock Ninja front with Shino Aburame's father. She looked about eighteen or nineteen, youthful and beautiful—provided she didn't speak.

Shisui seemed to get along pretty well with Obito Uchiha. The two of them were sitting together, chatting and laughing.

The green-suited Might Guy was pestering Kakashi. Kakashi was only eleven, but beating Might Guy and Obito together seemed like child's play for him. It looked as if Kakashi had nearly finished developing his Lightning Blade.

Rin watched the strange duo of Kakashi and Guy with an amused smile.

Apparently, Gekko Hayate had been held back again. Then again, if he hadn't been held back, Gekko Hayate would have graduated at six.

As for Tenten, Rock Lee, and Sakura Haruno, they were all Commoner Ninja. Tenten's parents were probably the proprietors of a shop affiliated with the Hyuga family.

As the war went on, the images buried in Bing San's memories grew increasingly blurry. The Shinobi World had also been sent veering off in an unknown direction by this butterfly.

If nothing unexpected happened, the Fourth Kazekage would be replaced by Pakura, that red-haired woman.

Because of Bing San's kidney tonic and his efforts to find Tsunade, Jiraiya had left the Rain Ninja front. Bing San had no idea how the Akatsuki trio were doing.

Because of Bing San, Orochimaru and Danzo were growing closer and closer. It seemed they wouldn't be reported by some "concerned citizen."

Tsunade Hime had also returned to the Daimyo's Mansion after receiving a message from one of Bing San's special clones. She was still there now, and he had no idea what she was doing.

Because Bing San had exposed Tachibana Muneshige's whereabouts, the Sand shinobi had been defeated more than a year earlier than in the anime.

The Chiyo Siblings had died as a result. Bing San wondered how Sasori would change.

And because Orochimaru's relationship with Danzo was growing ever closer, the Third Hokage had become wary of him.

Bing San had no idea whether Orochimaru would still go support the Cloud Ninja front, as he had in the anime.

If he didn't go, Buruibi wouldn't die, and then Killer B probably wouldn't become the next Eight-Tails Jinchuriki.

Over in the Land of Earth, the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki's wavering policies had also kept the Rock Ninja from launching a surprise attack on Konoha's defensive forces.

Instead, they were looting between the Land of Fields and the Land of Rain.

With no large-scale war between the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire, the Third Raikage wouldn't launch a surprise attack on the Land of Earth, and the feat of the Third Raikage battling ten thousand Rock Ninja would never happen.

All in all, because Bing San had been messing around recklessly, the Shinobi World's clunker had already drifted who knew where.

But Bing San didn't care about any of that. The ones who should be concerned were Madara Uchiha and Black Zetsu, those two old schemers.

That night, Bing San's intelligence clone, Orochimaru, and Danzo once again came to Orochimaru's laboratory.

Bing San was there because Orochimaru needed his Ice Release to help demonstrate some new research to Danzo and wheedle more investment out of him.

Yes, you read that right. Danzo might have dressed in rags, but the guy was rich.

The money Root made from its private jobs all went into Danzo's pockets. Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't gotten a single coin, which explained why he and the others were always excluding Danzo.

Orochimaru pointed excitedly at a lump of flesh with a little tree growing on it and said, "This is my latest achievement. Not only did this test subject withstand the erosion of Hashirama Cells, it also underwent a special transformation.

"It may look like a puddle of flesh now, but it hasn't died. Its vitality has grown even stronger."

Danzo looked at the writhing mass of flesh and said with some disgust, "Orochimaru, why have you brought me here to look at this lump of rotten meat? Do you think this alone will make me give you funding?"

Orochimaru gave an evil smile. "Of course not. I took some tissue from this test subject and, after combining it with Bing San's cells, obtained my latest result." Then Orochimaru gestured to Bing San.

Bing San nodded and pressed his hand against a large block of ice nearby.

The ice instantly turned into water. A child stood with hands clasped together, protected in the middle of a row of withered logs.

Shimura Danzo's pupils contracted. He said feverishly, "Wood Release?"

Orochimaru replied excitedly, "This is the masterpiece I wanted to show you. I call him: A."

The chapter ended here.