By the time Zongyan reached the rendezvous he had arranged with his father and Uchiha Itachi, the setting sun had coated the entire mountain forest in dark gold.
His father, Uchiha Fugaku, sat on a branch, toying with a gold coin collected from this world. There was no telling what was on his mind.
Uchiha Itachi stood a short distance from their father, arms folded as he watched smoke slowly rise in the distance.
"You were the only one missing."
Hearing movement, Fugaku looked up at his second son.
"Things were a bit troublesome in the direction I went. People were the most valuable commodity there. Getting them to keep smelting steadily took quite a bit of effort."
Zongyan strode over, found an open spot to rest, and vented a little.
He could hardly be blamed for returning last. He had chosen to head toward Africa, after all.
The places there were all colonies, and everything they mined was being shipped to Europe. On top of that, the many factions meant there were quite a few administrators, which had put him through no end of trouble.
Hearing this, Uchiha Itachi also recounted what he had encountered along the way.
Soon, the three began sharing what they had seen and heard.
Only after confirming that they had a grasp of this world's basic situation did they rise, ready to head home.
"Since everything's settled, let's go home! Your mother must be getting anxious waiting for us!"
Fugaku tucked the silver coin into his robes and jumped down from the branch.
"By the way, how do we get back?"
Uchiha Itachi asked the question he had wanted to ask all along. Ever since they arrived in this world, the door that had brought them across had vanished.
Zongyan smiled at that and