You Dare Lay a Hand on Him?

"Hmph! Orochimaru, you left the organization years ago. What are you doing back now?"

At the sound of the voice, Orochimaru shuddered violently!

The two instinctively turned around and saw someone dressed just like them.

He had black hair and a pair of red eyes, like two blood moons hanging in the sky.

It was none other than Itachi Uchiha, a member of the Akatsuki!

"Itachi! What are you doing here?"

Orochimaru couldn't help taking a few steps back. The truth was, he was a little afraid of this guy—and he felt guilty, too.

After all, he'd been planning to go after the other man's little brother.

Deidara, standing nearby, had also widened his eyes and looked rather uneasy.

Neither of them was stupid. The man standing before them had wiped out the entire Uchiha Clan overnight. He was not someone to mess with!

Within the organization, he ranked among the very strongest fighters!

"Tell me, were you just plotting against the Uchiha Clan?"

Itachi's voice was cold as he stared straight at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru shook his head repeatedly.

"Heh, no. We were just discussing how to deal with Konoha, and Uchiha Sora isn't even related to you by blood, is he?"

Orochimaru still felt a little guilty. Years ago, he'd left the Akatsuki because he'd gone too far in his obsession with studying the Sharingan and had provoked Itachi.

Later, on top of that, other factors had led Orochimaru to leave the organization.

He'd gone off on his own, hiding in the wilderness and pursuing his scientific research.

Now, the reason Orochimaru had returned was that he couldn't take on Konoha by himself.

Itachi stared straight at Orochimaru without saying a word, but his chakra began to seep out little by little.

Just as it looked like they were about to come to blows, Deidara hurried forward to smooth things over.

"Hey, hey, hey! We're all on the same side. Besides, the boss's mission is for us to help Orochimaru attack Konoha!"

"We'll all be there when the time comes. If Orochimaru dares go after Sasuke, you can just kill him on the spot, right?"

At that, Orochimaru's eyelid twitched.

What do you mean, kill me on the spot?

Do you really think I'm that easy to kill?

Then Itachi's cold voice came from nearby.

"With me here, you dare lay a hand on him?"

Itachi said nothing more, but those threatening words hung over Orochimaru like a blade poised above his head.

Orochimaru couldn't help feeling uneasy.

"All right, all right! Let's go meet up with the people from Sunagakure. They've brought out their ultimate weapon this time—even the Tailed Beast!"

Deidara laughed cheerfully, having worked himself ragged trying to keep the team together.

Orochimaru snorted. The three of them said no more and climbed onto the white Clay bird Deidara had molded. Before long, they arrived at the gates of Sunagakure.

A bald, burly man was waiting to greet them.

"You're here... Come on. By my calculations, the plan is about to begin right on schedule!"

Morning sunlight bathed the streets of Konoha.

Right in the heart of Konoha's busiest commercial district stood a rather peculiar shop: an Electromagnetic Therapy massage parlor. But now it was changing its sign, as if it had gone out of business.

Everyone who passed by felt pleased to see it. Some had been hoping it would close down as soon as possible.

"Look at that wretched massage parlor. It was preying on the women of Konoha. At least it's finally closing today. Serves them right!"

"Wait, look—the shop seems to have changed its name. Uchiha General Store? Good grief, the Uchiha Clan owns this place!"

The passersby stopped to stare.

Meanwhile, inside the shop, Uchiha Sora was busy remodeling the place.

"Whatever else you say, it's Uchiha property. If I were back in my old world, this would be a storefront right in the city center. Even if I'm not going to run the old business, I might as well put the place to use, right?"

Uchiha Sora held a hammer and nailed the sign firmly into place.

It read: Uchiha General Store!

Uchiha Sora was going to open a general store here.

Hinata and Rock Lee were helping him out in the shop.

"Best friend... Your massage parlor was doing just fine. Why are you suddenly closing it?"

Rock Lee was completely baffled.

In his eyes, Uchiha Sora's shop had been doing good business. The electricity alone had brought in plenty of supplies every year.

Why was he taking it apart now?

Hinata didn't ask any questions. She simply helped sort through the clutter.

At the same time, though, she let her imagination run wild.

What was Uchiha Sora up to?

He'd suddenly torn down the shop... Could it be that he wanted to settle down and run a little store?

Then I'll be the owner's wife! Uchiha Sora will be the owner!

Hinata's face grew even redder.

Uchiha Sora, naturally, had no idea what she was thinking. He said casually,

"It's nothing! The old business didn't seem to be doing that well, and it wasn't helping us. A general store is different. Once we rank up, we'll need to buy things like Kunai. We can just get them here!"

Rock Lee suddenly understood, then gave an admiring look.

"Just as I'd expect from my best friend! That's what you call adapting in time!"

Uchiha Sora chuckled. What he didn't say was that he'd opened a general store because, later on, he'd need all sorts of odds and ends for his work.

He'd need far more than just things like charcoal.

If he wanted to advance science, he had to start from the ground up.

But as an Uchiha, if he stopped training and went around buying supplies every day, people would definitely get suspicious.

A general store was different. No matter how strange the goods were, buying them was perfectly normal!

The three of them were busy working. In a hidden corner, three Anbu Ninja exchanged a few words.

"That kid's acting strange. His old shop was great—he could massage kunoichi every day!"

Another Anbu Ninja shot him a look of disdain.

"Cut the crap! Get serious. He's opening a general store, but I can't shake the feeling that it's not really about the store."

"Exactly. We'd better report this to the Hokage!"

There were many people in the Hokage's office. Kakashi, Iruka, and Kurenai were there—nearly all of Konoha's senior leadership.

There was also one of Konoha's biggest celebrities, of course.

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled as he spoke to Jiraiya.

"Looks like you've finally come back. I'm counting on you to look after Naruto this time!"

Jiraiya laughed.

"What are you saying, Sensei? It's no trouble at all. Besides, I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving the Nine-Tails in anyone else's hands."

"The Chunin Ninja Exams are coming up soon, so before then, I can train Naruto and help him get better control of the Nine-Tailed Fox."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded in agreement.

He was just about to end the meeting when a message from the Anbu came through.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow furrowed at once.

Jiraiya noticed that something was off with the Hokage and looked puzzled.

"What's wrong, Sensei? What could possibly be bothering the Hokage?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled wryly and shook his head.

"It's not exactly a cause for concern. It's just that a remarkable character has turned up in the village lately!"