Angkor Fortress

Watching the town ahead, Ye Wuji finally arrived at Zhu Town, one step closer to Angkor Fortress. It was a relatively prosperous town, so Ye Wuji first took a stroll around before finding a noodle shop to order a bowl of ramen.

Ye Wuji planned to eat his fill before slowly scouting for the information he needed, but before the ramen even arrived, he overheard a conversation between three men at the next table who appeared to be civilians.

"Are you sure you're alright, physically?" one man in his thirties asked another of similar age, whose face looked deathly pale.

"Yeah, it looks like you injured yourself during the last pearl harvest. I told you not to push yourself so hard, but you wouldn't listen, insisting on staying underwater for so long. Look at you now. Just stay home and recover properly before you go back to diving. If something happens to you in these times, what will become of your wife and child? Sigh, it's all this era's fault. You're only like this because of the village; after all, you're the best pearl diver we have," another man, who looked to be in his fifties, said with a sigh.

"That's right, Dayuan. In these times, your health is what matters most. I heard there's a miracle doctor named Shennong in Yong Village who has cured many people. Why don't you go there and let him take a look? You might recover faster," the first man suggested.

"I've heard of him too. You should go, Dayuan. I heard that doctor doesn't charge the poor for treatment," the older man added.

"Uncle Sen, I've heard of him as well. When I wasn't feeling well, I went to Yong Village to find him, but the doctor wasn't there. They say he travels to other countries every year to treat the poor, and his return schedule is irregular—sometimes he's back in a few months, other times it takes years. But it doesn't matter; I'll be fine after resting for a while," the man called Dayuan replied.

"I see. Well, that's all we can do then. But if you feel anything wrong, you must speak up. If we hadn't noticed you were struggling this time, you might have already sunk to the bottom of the sea," the older man said.

"I know. I think it's just from being soaked in seawater too long; it shouldn't be anything serious. If the doctor were here, a few doses of his medicine would have fixed me right up," Dayuan said with a smile.

"Sigh, our lives were fine before that gang showed up demanding 'protection money.' We wouldn't have to risk our lives diving like this. The people sent to the Daimyo Mansion to request soldiers still haven't sent word back. I really don't know what the Daimyo's soldiers are doing. If it comes to it, we might have to hire ninjas," the older man said in a low voice, glancing around.

"Uncle Sen, I think we should just go straight to Konoha to hire ninjas. The Daimyo's soldiers aren't necessarily reliable. Besides, looking at the recent influx of people carrying weapons, I wonder if another war is about to break out."

"Let's wait and see how the Daimyo responds. If it doesn't work out after a while, we'll hire ninjas. We can't let those bandits get away with this," the older man whispered, then looked around again. "Don't say anything else for now. Let's finish our meal, sell those pearls, and head back."

After listening carefully to the three men, Ye Wuji thought things were going quite smoothly. It seemed Shennong frequently operated out of that place called Yong Village, making it highly suspicious. However, the subsequent conversation revealed that their village had been occupied by bandits who were forcing the locals to dive for pearls to extort money. In this Naruto World, ordinary bandits were usually just commoners, perhaps a bit sturdier, but the leaders would at least know some ninjutsu, or at the very least, be far stronger than the average person.

After finishing his ramen, Ye Wuji carefully scouted the villages surrounding the town. To his surprise, there were quite a few—at least a dozen. Through careful maneuvering, Ye Wuji managed to obtain a map of Yong Village, which was still some distance away.

Ye Wuji also took maps of the other villages just in case he didn't find what he was looking for in Yong Village.

As he prepared to leave the town, Ye Wuji paid closer attention due to the earlier conversation. Sure enough, many people in town were carrying weapons. Because most of them dressed similarly to him, he hadn't noticed it before.

As he headed toward Yong Village, Ye Wuji thought, Could the Third Shinobi World War be breaking out this soon? That shouldn't be right. Let me calculate. He did the math. It's been at most two years since the end of the Second War. It's a pity I didn't pay attention to when the Third War started when I watched the show, but it looks like even if it hasn't started yet, it's close.

The thought that the Third Shinobi World War might be imminent made Ye Wuji anxious. From what he recalled, the Third War was brutal but didn't last very long. First, because the nations had just emerged from the Second War and their strength hadn't recovered, they couldn't afford to fight for decades like before. Second, the war was triggered by the disappearance of the Third Kazekage of the Sand, forcing nations into a hasty conflict.

With this in mind, Ye Wuji picked up his pace and hurried toward Yong Village.

"Is this Yong Village?" Ye Wuji stood on a mountaintop, looking down at the village in the distance. It consisted of scattered houses, maybe thirty in total—hardly more than a hundred people.

To remain hidden, Ye Wuji didn't show himself in the village but began searching the surrounding area. There were three mountains, a lake surrounded by hills, a waterfall, and several small forests. Ye Wuji tried his best to recall the moment he saw Angkor Fortress emerge from the ground in his past life while searching meticulously.

Three days later, Ye Wuji stood by the lake, watching the waterfall cascade down. He had searched the entire area over the last three days without finding anything suspicious. While Angkor Fortress was buried underground, Shennong couldn't possibly be digging his way out every time. Besides, Shennong didn't look like the type who knew Earth Style. The most likely location was the cliff face behind the waterfall.

Three more days passed before Ye Wuji finally discovered a stone on the cliff wall that seemed out of place. He walked along the cliff, circling the stone several times. After nearly two years of training, his tree-climbing and water-walking skills were well-honed. With a great deal of effort, he finally managed to pry open a hole large enough for a person to enter, and he slipped inside.

"Ah!" It was a slope. Ye Wuji hadn't been prepared, but after sliding for a distance, he used chakra to stabilize his footing. Looking into the dark incline, he pulled out a flashlight he had prepared beforehand and descended. After walking about a thousand meters, he saw a massive staircase ahead. He followed it down, unsure of the depth, until the path finally leveled out and he saw a giant door standing before him.

Once Ye Wuji entered the massive gate, the space suddenly flooded with light. Only then did he realize where he was: standing at the entrance of a colossal hall. The ceiling was at least ten meters high. He stepped back out through the gate to get a better look at the scene.

Before him stood a massive castle, over ten meters tall. As for its width, since parts of it were still buried in the earth, he couldn't quite tell.

After some exploration, Ye Wuji finally grasped the scale of Angkor Fortress. The main structure was nearly fifty meters wide, and with the smaller surrounding structures, it spanned nearly a hundred meters. With a five-story design, it could easily house thousands of people.

The castle was divided into residential, training, and logistics areas, along with various other sections. Despite being underground, there was no sense of darkness; the entire castle, including the sub-structures, was bathed in light. Ye Wuji finally understood why the entrance was hidden behind the waterfall—beyond the convenience of travel, the castle harnessed the water for hydroelectric power. While it couldn't make the fortress fly, it was more than enough for daily needs. Since he was the only one here, he realized Shennong truly didn't trust anyone; such a massive fortress was completely empty.

Even though he was alone, Ye Wuji turned on all the lights. Being alone in the dark underground, he preferred the brightness; it felt better, and the lights didn't consume much power anyway. He couldn't help but admire the creativity of the Sky Ninja—or perhaps the people of the Naruto World in general. A single stream of water could generate that much electricity.

Sure enough, Ye Wuji found what he was looking for. One room in the fortress was filled with books, likely the secret archives of the Sky Ninja village. In other areas, he discovered massive weapon caches containing thousands of ninja tools, including Explosive Tags. Another room held a vast supply of medicinal herbs. He checked a few; most were for physical strengthening, along with various antidotes and poisons.

Judging by the massive resources stored here, the Sky Ninja village had intended to make a comeback. Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes; these things now belonged to Ye Wuji. With these resources, he could even establish his own ninja village in the future. While he couldn't build a major hidden village, he could certainly establish something like Orochimaru's Otogakure if his strength was sufficient.

"Haha!" Ye Wuji laughed happily after inspecting the fortress. With these resources and the Sky Ninja's ninjutsu archives, he could take his strength to the next level. Although he hadn't found information regarding the Zero-Tails, he knew he had only checked the obvious areas. The location of the Zero-Tails would be highly classified, likely protected by seals or other security measures.

Besides, Ye Wuji wasn't prepared to touch the Zero-Tails just yet. Who knew what state that thing was in? Even if the research hadn't been completed, it would be troublesome if something went wrong. It was better to wait until he was stronger and had mastered the knowledge here before taking further action.