Escape from Konoha

When the Sound Four found Sasuke, Chen was watching from the sidelines. He knew it was time to leave.

Second Pillar went home, packed his bag, and headed for Konoha's gates. Then came Sakura Haruno's confession, and finally Sasuke knocked her out—Chen saw it all. After Sasuke left, Chen stepped out from the shadows.

"Free front-row seat to a good show, but the ending wasn't as sweet as I'd hoped. Since Sasuke's already defected to Orochimaru, I've got nothing left to hold me here. Time to say goodbye to Konoha!"

Chen strolled boldly toward the village gates. "Konoha's security is a joke. It's one thing for Itachi and Kisame to sneak in—they're Kage-level, after all. But even trash like the Sound Four can come and go without anyone noticing? And now, not a single guard at the gates. Unbelievable!"

Chen passed by Sakura Haruno, a look of disgust on his face. "Idiot. What a pain." But he didn't bother with her further and kept walking out of the village.

Once outside, he glanced around, his heart racing with excitement. He was finally leaving this cage he'd lived in for thirteen years. Though he'd spent over a decade in Konoha, after the Night of the Massacre, Chen had holed up at home. He felt no sense of belonging there. His only bond was with his blood brother, Sasuke Uchiha. In his past life, Chen hadn't liked Sasuke—in fact, he'd hated him. But in this life, by mistake, he'd become Sasuke's real brother, Uchiha Chen. Over the years, Sasuke had looked after him, always acting dismissive, but Chen could feel his brother's concern. Now that Sasuke had left Konoha for Orochimaru, there was nothing left for him here.

Chen picked a direction at random, took a few steps, then turned back for one last look at Konoha. "Konoha... goodbye." With that, he turned and walked away, no regrets.

Chen locked onto a direction and sprinted forward. He ran and ran, for a long, long time. He didn't know where this path led, and he didn't need to. All he knew was that he was free—no more hiding, no more cowering. In the quiet night, Chen darted alone through the forest, shouting as he ran, "I want more chapters! I want more chapters!"

After running for ages, he finally broke through the woods and reached a main road. Since it was late at night, he didn't run into anyone.

"Ran all night—this should be far enough from Konoha. I'll rest here. This is a main road, so there'll be merchant caravans passing by tomorrow. I'll hitch a ride then." With that, Chen found a tree by the roadside, jumped up, settled into a comfortable spot, and made do for the night.

The next morning, the unconscious Sakura was woken up and reported Sasuke's escape to the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade. Tsunade ordered Shikamaru to form a pursuit team and lead it to chase Sasuke. But none of that concerned Chen. He wasn't worried about Sasuke being caught—he'd seen the anime in his past life and knew how it ended. In this life, even with him as an extra character, he hadn't changed the plot yet.

Chen was woken by a gnawing hunger. He opened his eyes to find it was already noon. Groggy, he looked around, instinctively thinking he was still at home. It took him a moment to snap out of it. Then came the wild joy. "I'm not at home. I'm not in Konoha. I've left the village. This isn't a dream, haha! I'm free!" Chen shouted excitedly.

But his stomach's growling pulled him back to reality. "Guess I need to find something to eat. Haven't had anything since yesterday—no wonder my stomach's complaining." Chen summoned a small Pomeranian and sent it to hunt. He found a spot to start a fire and waited. Every Pomeranian was a natural hunter. Soon, the one he'd summoned brought back an unknown animal that looked like a rabbit. Chen didn't overthink it; he skinned it, put it on a spit over the fire, and roasted it. Once it was done, he dug in. No seasoning, but it tasted pretty good.

As he ate the roasted rabbit, Chen mulled over his next move. "I'm broke right now. First priority is to get some cash, and I can't slack on training. That gives me an idea. The Underground Exchange is a solid choice—I can use the bounty targets for practice. I'll get a big payout, boost my strength, and more importantly, earn Points. I'll go with that for now. I haven't decided where to head yet, so I'll just pick a place."

Chen finished his food quickly and walked alone on the main road. Before long, a group of people came up behind him, pulling several carts of goods. It looked like a merchant caravan. There were about seven or eight people, all sturdy big men. Two of them rode horses, each with a Tachi at their waist—probably the caravan's guards. Four horses pulled four carts: three loaded with goods, and one a covered passenger wagon. The group spotted Chen and found it odd that he was walking alone on the main road. There was no village or inn nearby, and the next station was still a long way off. Was this kid planning to walk the whole way?

Just then, an old man stepped out of the covered wagon and approached Chen. "Young man, where are you headed? Are you all by yourself?"

Chen had been about to approach the caravan and ask for a ride. Before he could speak, the old man asked him first.

Chen replied politely, "Hello, sir. I'm trying to get to the next town. Could you give me a lift?"

"Is that so? The next station is still far from here. If you don't mind, you can travel with us. There's nothing around here, and it could be dangerous alone. You can leave when we reach the next station." The old man agreed after hearing Chen's words. Chen didn't look like a bad guy, and he was young, so the old man figured bringing one more kid along wouldn't hurt. He'd let Chen go on his own at the next station.

"Sir..." The two samurai in the caravan wanted to say something, but the old man waved them off, signaling they didn't need to argue. He turned back to Chen. "How about it?"

Chen was more than happy to accept. Without a second thought, he nodded.

"Then ride on Zongtian's cart. Zongtian, take this young man with you," the old man said to one of the cart drivers.

"Yes, sir," the big man named Zongtian replied.

"Go on, young man. We need to get moving. We have to reach that station before dark, or it'll be dangerous at night." The old man spoke to Chen, then headed back to the covered wagon.

"Thank you, sir," Chen said, then walked over to Zongtian's cart and sat down beside the big man.

"Alright, let's move!" The two samurai shouted to the group once the old man was back in the wagon. They rode ahead on their horses to lead the way, and the rest of the caravan followed close behind.