After a brief moment of thought, Yechen stopped resting. He quickly dressed, and with a thought, activated the Void Flash Evasion Technique, vanishing from his home.
A few successive flashes took him out of the clan grounds, and he headed toward the source of the noise.
Before long, he reached a forest in eastern Konoha.
Two groups were fighting there.
One side consisted of Konoha's Anbu, along with members of several patrol squads and the Konoha Military Police Force.
Indeed, it was the Konoha Military Police Force controlled by the Uchiha Clan.
At that moment, the Uchiha ninja serving in the Konoha Military Police Force were working with the Anbu and patrol squads to force their way toward an underground entrance.
The people fighting them were another group of Konoha ninja.
However, their auras and fighting styles made it clear that they had undergone some degree of bodily modification.
If his guess was right, these people were Orochimaru's subordinates.
He had no idea whether they had volunteered for the modifications or had been lured into becoming Orochimaru's test subjects.
In any case, thanks to their unusual physical traits and extensive combat experience, they were barely managing to hold off the Anbu and the others.
The sounds of combat and battle cries rang out continuously.
Standing high in the air, Yechen observed them for a while and confirmed that Konoha's forces would have a hard time breaking through those defenses anytime soon.
He activated his Byakugan and looked toward the underground entrance.
His gaze pierced through layer after layer of obstructions. In an instant, he spotted a massive underground laboratory, then saw the grotesque test subjects inside and Orochimaru busily at work.
Orochimaru was crouching on the laboratory floor, drawing a jutsu formula so intricate that a single glance was enough