Seeking Orochimaru

"Orochimaru? That's not a man you want to get tangled up with. Why do you need intelligence on him?"

Granny Cat took another drag of her pipe and asked.

"I have some business with him, Granny Cat. It's just a bit of intel; no need to pry so deeply, right? Besides, Orochimaru isn't going to come looking for trouble with you lot."

Uchiha Arashi smiled.

"I'm looking out for your own good, of course. The Uchiha clan is gone, but you're still alive. I still remember how well-behaved you were when you first found me all those years ago. I never expected you to change so much in just a few years."

Granny Cat said with a sigh.

"People change, of course, especially after going through things like that..."

Uchiha Arashi shook his head, unwilling to elaborate.

He couldn't exactly tell her that he had intentionally played up his youth and innocent face back then just to get on her good side, could he? After all, under normal circumstances, even within the Uchiha clan, very few people knew about the Ninja Cat Clan.

Relying on his memories from his past life, Uchiha Arashi had taken a massive risk to find this place. If he hadn't found a way to cozy up to her, what would he have done if he'd been chased off?

In short, it was all water under the bridge now.

Now that he was grown and had established a relationship with the Ninja Cat Clan that was entirely his own—independent of the Uchiha—he naturally didn't need to keep acting cute and helpless.

However, Granny Cat likely misunderstood his meaning; she fell noticeably silent after hearing his words.

"Fine. I can give you the intelligence, but you must be careful. You absolutely must come back alive. You represent the hope of the Uchiha. As long as you are alive, the Uchiha can still be reborn."

Granny Cat's voice was low, her mood clearly dampened.

Soon, a ninja cat delivered a scroll containing every recorded sighting of Orochimaru from the past year.

One had to admit, the Ninja Cat Clan truly possessed a unique, innate talent when it came to gathering intelligence.

"Thank you, Granny Cat. I won't be paying you."

"Hmph—"

Granny Cat let out a cold snort but said nothing more.

Uchiha Arashi smiled as he stood up, set down a few bottles of Silvervine drink, and turned to leave.

He paused when he reached the door.

"Actually, I'm not the only Uchiha left alive. Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke, those two brothers, are also alive. Itachi is the murderer who slaughtered the clan, and he had an accomplice who is also suspected to be an Uchiha... Besides, I saved a few children that night... The Uchiha have not yet perished."

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

Left alone in the room, Granny Cat sat in silence for a long time before she couldn't help but chuckle.

"That little brat, he really has his ways. Well, I hope everything goes smoothly for you."

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

The Capital of Fire was the capital of the Land of Fire, and in terms of prosperity, it was actually on par with Konoha.

Saying it that way might make the Capital of Fire sound unimpressive, but considering this world was dominated by ninjas, it was quite an achievement for a civilian capital to rival the strongest village in the Ninja World.

After finding the Minister of Culture of the Land of Fire and presenting the Daimyo's documents, Uchiha Arashi used a tiny bit of Kotoamatsukami to successfully secure the position of an inspector.

This post was under the Department of Culture and allowed him to review all publications in the Land of Fire. Of course, this function wasn't what Uchiha Arashi cared about; what he really valued was another perk of the office: the ability to publish books directly without review, and the power to distribute his works through official channels across the entire Land of Fire, and even to other countries.

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

Moreover, with this cover, if he returned to Konoha as an official, the Third would never in a million years guess that he was a survivor of the Uchiha.

After all, under normal circumstances, no ninja would care about a civilian government post, especially one with so little real power.

Once these matters were settled, Uchiha Arashi finally looked over the intelligence he had obtained from Granny Cat.

"Recent sightings... the Land of Fields? It seems Orochimaru has already started planning his fallback position for the Village Hidden in the Sound..."

If he remembered correctly, Orochimaru only established the Village Hidden in the Sound after defecting from the Akatsuki, but building a ninja village wasn't something that could be done overnight.

Before that, a great deal of time would be required for training subordinates and selecting a site for the village.

Including the various building materials and funds needed for construction, Orochimaru's actual preparation time would have started even earlier than the intelligence suggested.

With a clear location, the rest was easy.

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

However, the maneuver placed immense strain on him, and almost the moment he landed, Uchiha Arashi collapsed to his knees.

"Long-distance teleportation... thank goodness for natural energy, or I'd be in real trouble. Sage Mode... I must master it as soon as possible..."

He hid away to rest for a day, and once his chakra had mostly recovered, Uchiha Arashi set off again. This time, he traveled on foot, using his own legs to measure the land of the Land of Fields as he searched for traces of Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's tracks were, of course, difficult to find, but Granny Cat had thoughtfully provided some relevant intelligence.

For instance, Orochimaru always liked to appear in dark, damp places—well, that fit the habits of a snake.

Furthermore, Orochimaru usually appeared in desolate, uninhabited areas. This was also understandable; he had to do things that couldn't see the light of day, and being seen was always a hassle. He could easily dispose of witnesses, but if that happened too often, he would just be wasting his time.

Beyond that, there was a mountain of other intelligence. Based on these leads, Uchiha Arashi spent three days searching for Orochimaru.

He even went to the last place the intelligence claimed the man had been seen, but he came up completely empty-handed.

"Could it be that this trip was all for nothing?"

Uchiha Arashi felt a sense of helplessness; searching for a needle in a haystack would be no different than this.

He tucked away the intelligence, calculating the time. He had been out for nearly a week and it was time to return; otherwise, it would be bad if something unexpected happened to Izumi.

Just as he was preparing to head back home:

"Are you looking for me?"

Orochimaru appeared before him just as abruptly.

That pale face, the hair so black it looked greasy, the raspy voice, the eerie snake-like pupils, and the uncontrollable aura of Yin coldness radiating from his entire body—all of it proved that the one Uchiha Arashi was seeing was the real Orochimaru.

"An Uchiha? What a rare guest. I heard the Uchiha clan had already been wiped out; I didn't expect to encounter a living one. My luck is truly good."

Orochimaru licked his lips, his killing intent surging forth as he lunged toward Uchiha Arashi.