Orochimaru's appearance gradually made Uchiha Shunichi wary, especially the matter of Yakushi Kabuto's supposed betrayal...
Honestly, Uchiha Shunichi did not want to believe it. In his impression, Yakushi Kabuto had an almost pathological worship of Orochimaru, making betrayal nearly impossible.
The children Orochimaru had taken in were all basically loyal to him. Even Hozuki Suigetsu, who had been used as an experiment, was the same way. His first reaction upon seeing Orochimaru was fear, followed by obedience to orders.
Given this, Uchiha Shunichi had no choice but to consider the possibility that Orochimaru and Akatsuki had joined forces.
"Shunichi, what's wrong?" Seeing Uchiha Shunichi return with a gloomy expression, Hyuga Hiashi asked with some concern.
"I ran into Orochimaru just now." Uchiha Shunichi did not hide anything and directly told Hyuga Hiashi about it.
After interacting with him for the past few days, Uchiha Shunichi had discovered that although Hyuga Hiashi had seemed insignificant in the original story, even somewhat meek, he was actually highly experienced in handling matters and had a unique perspective on problems.
So, Uchiha Shunichi wanted to hear what he thought.
"Orochimaru... he's an extremely dangerous person." After a long silence, Hyuga Hiashi gave his assessment.
Hearing that, Uchiha Shunichi immediately lost interest in asking further. Orochimaru was dangerous—there was no question about that, and it hardly needed saying.
After staying in the capital of the Land of Fire for another day, Hyuga Hiashi and Uchiha Shunichi set out on the road back to Konoha.
This time, Uchiha Shunichi did not need to squeeze into that cramped, sedan-chair-like contraption. Instead, he traveled swiftly like a shinobi. Though Hyuga Hiashi's speed slowed them down somewhat, it was still far better than sitting inside that thing.
On the way back to Konoha, Uchiha Shunichi and the others