Finding Orochimaru

"Orochimaru? He's not exactly easy to deal with. What do you want his information for?"

Granny Cat took another puff of her pipe and asked.

"I have something to discuss with him. Granny Cat, it's just one piece of information. You don't need to ask so many questions, do you? It's not like Orochimaru will come looking for trouble with you."

Uchiha Arashi smiled.

"Of course I'm looking out for you. The Uchiha Clan is gone, but you're still alive. I remember how well-behaved you were the first time you came to see me. I never thought you'd change so much after just a few years."

Granny Cat spoke with a sigh.

"Of course I'd change, especially after going through something like that..."

Uchiha Arashi shook his head, unwilling to say more.

He couldn't exactly tell her he'd deliberately played up his young, innocent looks to get on her good side back then, could he? After all, under normal circumstances, not many people even within the Uchiha Clan knew about the Ninja Cat Clan.

Uchiha Arashi had relied on his memories of his previous life to find this place, taking a huge risk in the process. If he hadn't tried to get on their good side, what if they'd kicked him out?

In short, it was a long story.

Now that he'd grown up and established a relationship with the Ninja Cat Clan that was entirely his own, separate from the Uchiha, there was no need to keep acting cute and playing up his youth.

Granny Cat, however, might have misunderstood him. After hearing his words, she fell noticeably silent for a moment.

"All right, I can give you the information, but you must be careful. You absolutely have to come back alive. You represent the Uchiha's hope. As long as you're alive, the Uchiha can rise again."

Granny Cat's voice was a little subdued. She was clearly in a rather gloomy mood.

Soon, a Ninja Cat brought over a scroll. It recorded every sighting of Orochimaru over the past year.

The Ninja Cat Clan truly had a natural talent for gathering intelligence.

"Thank you, Granny Cat. I won't pay you."

"Hmph—"

Granny Cat snorted, but said nothing.

Uchiha Arashi rose with a smile, left a few bottles of Silvervine soda, and turned to leave.

He paused at the door.

"Actually, I'm not the only Uchiha who survived. The brothers Uchiha Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha are alive too. Itachi was the one who slaughtered his clan, and he had an accomplice who's also suspected to be an Uchiha... Also, I saved a few children that night... The Uchiha haven't been wiped out."

With that, he pushed open the door and walked away without looking back.

Granny Cat remained alone in the room. After a long while, she couldn't help laughing.

"That little rascal really does have a way with things. Well, I hope everything goes smoothly for you from here on."

After leaving the Empty District, Uchiha Arashi immediately picked up the pace and ran toward the Capital of Fire.

The Capital of Fire was the Land of Fire's capital. Its level of prosperity was actually on par with Konoha.

That might make the Capital of Fire sound a little unimpressive, but given that this world belonged to the ninja, it was no small feat for a civilian capital to rival the strongest village at the heart of the Ninja World.

After finding the Land of Fire's Minister of Culture and presenting the Daimyo's letter, Uchiha Arashi used a touch of Kotoamatsukami's power to secure a position as a Reviewer.

The position was under the Ministry of Culture and allowed him to review every publication in the Land of Fire. That wasn't what Uchiha Arashi cared about, of course. What really mattered to him was another perk of the job: he could publish books without prior review and distribute his work throughout the Land of Fire—and even to other countries—through official channels.

This was the only way Uchiha Arashi could think of to rapidly expand his influence.

And with this official identity, he could return to Konoha under the guise of a government official. The Third could rack his brains and still never guess that he was an Uchiha survivor.

Under normal circumstances, no ninja would care about a position in the civilian world, especially one with so little real authority.

Once he'd taken care of that, Uchiha Arashi finally looked through the information he'd gotten from Granny Cat.

"His most recent sighting... the Land of Fields? Looks like Orochimaru has already started preparing Village Hidden in the Sound as a fallback..."

If he remembered correctly, Orochimaru had established Village Hidden in the Sound after leaving Akatsuki. But a ninja village couldn't be built overnight.

Before that, training his subordinates and choosing a site for the village would both take a great deal of time.

Then there were the building materials and money needed to construct the village. Orochimaru must have started preparing even earlier than the intelligence suggested.

With a clear destination, the rest was easy.

Uchiha Arashi used Kamui to cross thousands of kilometers in an instant, appearing on the soil of the Land of Fields.

But the move put enormous strain on him. Almost as soon as he landed, Uchiha Arashi dropped to his knees.

"A long-distance teleport... Good thing I have Natural Energy, or I'd be in serious trouble. Sage Mode... I have to master it as soon as possible..."

He hid and rested for a day. Once his chakra had mostly recovered, Uchiha Arashi set off again. This time, he ran, beginning to cover the Land of Fields on foot as he searched for traces of Orochimaru.

Orochimaru was naturally very hard to find, but Granny Cat had thoughtfully given him some relevant information.

For instance, Orochimaru liked to appear in dark, damp places. That certainly suited a snake.

And Orochimaru usually appeared in uninhabited areas. That made sense, too. He had unsavory things to do, and being seen would only cause trouble. He could easily dispose of witnesses, but doing that too often would be a waste of time.

There was plenty more information besides. Using it as a guide, Uchiha Arashi spent three straight days searching for Orochimaru.

He even went to the location of Orochimaru's last reported sighting, but found absolutely nothing.

"Did I make this trip for nothing?"

Uchiha Arashi felt helpless. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

He put away the information and checked the time. He'd been gone for nearly a week. He should head back, before anything went wrong with Izumi.

Just as he was about to turn back—

"Were you looking for me?"

Orochimaru suddenly appeared right in front of him.

His deathly pale face, glossy black hair, hoarse voice, strange snake-like pupils, and the sinister chill radiating from his entire body all proved that the Orochimaru before Uchiha Arashi was the real thing.

"An Uchiha? What a rare sight. I heard the Uchiha had been wiped out, but I never expected to run into a survivor. I really am lucky."

Orochimaru licked his lips. Killing intent poured from his body as he lunged at Uchiha Arashi.