Snake Aunt murmured a few words toward the spot where Sasuke had vanished.
Then he turned and strolled toward the laboratory.
"If he has ten days, he can spend at least three with me."
A smile curved Snake Aunt's lips at the thought.
"I spent two years losing sleep and worrying over training your little girlfriend. Three days with me is hardly a bad bargain."
His intensive research into longevity had left Snake Aunt's body almost unchanged from two years ago.
Time passed.
Four days went by in a flash.
At the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Fields.
The Konoha Crush had been almost entirely Orochimaru's doing.
Although the Third Hokage had survived the surprise attack, Konoha had still suffered devastating losses.
Even now, shinobi outposts remained stationed along the border.
Last time, Snake Aunt had not only schemed against Konoha but also left Sunagakure in a terrible state.
Yet despite offending two Great Powers at once, Snake Aunt remained safe and sound.
It was not that the two Great Powers had let the matter slide. Rather, Snake Aunt's forbidden technique, Impure World Reincarnation, truly made Konoha wary.
On top of that, both Konoha and the Sand shinobi had suffered a gap between generations in recent years.
Aside from a handful of outstanding shinobi, their younger generations had little to show for themselves.
They could only send out a few tracking teams as a token effort to hunt down Snake Aunt.
Naruto had no intention of attacking.
He simply swept past the outposts and headed straight for Otogakure.
The Land of Fields was far larger than the Land of Waves.
Although it had its own maritime resources, its waters were wedged between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth.
When the Great Powers