The Land of Fire occupied the richest lands in the Shinobi World and was known as its wealthiest nation.
As for its capital, the City of Fire, one look at its outer walls was enough to tell how prosperous it was.
Yukimichi Uchiha slowly approached the city entrance. A soldier beside it immediately reached out to stop him. "Who are you, and what business do you have in the city?"
As the capital of the Land of Fire and the seat of its daimyo, the City of Fire naturally required inspections of anyone wishing to enter.
Yukimichi Uchiha merely raised his head and glanced at the soldier without speaking. The soldier took one look, then bowed and apologized without hesitation.
"Sorry! My lord, I'm terribly sorry! I was blind and failed to recognize a lord of the Uchiha! I'm so sorry-"
Yukimichi Uchiha nodded, deactivated his Sharingan, and slowly walked into the city.
Watching his retreating figure, the soldier trembled all over, even his calves shaking. Deep down, he was sincerely grateful to have escaped with his life.
The Uchiha's Sharingan was highly recognizable. If he couldn't even recognize that, he might as well find somewhere to die. Otherwise, who knew when he might get himself killed by offending someone?
Having entered the city, Yukimichi Uchiha knew nothing of the soldier's thoughts. At that moment, he was feeling immensely proud that his clan was renowned for its strength.
The pride his clan stirred deep within him left him a little lightheaded, but he soon collected himself.
He thought over the task Uchiha Takashi had given him: search for information about Kai Fujiwara in the City of Fire.
Yukimichi Uchiha immediately got to work, first finding well-informed merchant caravans to ask around.
Then he went near the Fujiwara residence, hoping to learn something from the conversations around it.
Both attempts failed, however. Almost everyone was talking about matters concerning the Fujiwara Family, but no one mentioned Kai Fujiwara at all.
Sitting by the roadside, Yukimichi Uchiha felt somewhat discouraged. In this enormous City of Fire, he couldn't find any news of Kai Fujiwara, who was, after all, the richest man in the Land of Fire.
How could there be no news of a fully grown, living man in the City of Fire? That was far too absurd.
"Why can't I find anything? That's impossible! How can there be no news at all?" Yukimichi Uchiha sat by the roadside, beginning to question his life.
Just then, a sleazy-looking man sidled up and addressed Yukimichi Uchiha cautiously. "My lord, I heard you're looking for information about Kai Fujiwara. I have some news about him. Would you like to hear it?"
Yukimichi Uchiha slowly turned his head. Seeing that he had caught Yukimichi Uchiha's attention, the sleazy man held up five fingers. "Hehe, my lord, this much isn't too much to ask, is it?"
Yukimichi Uchiha tilted his head and gave two cold chuckles. "It certainly isn't, but I'm not sure your information is actually worth that much."
"My lord, that's how buying information works. You have to buy it before you can know whether it's worth the price," the sleazy man said with an odd laugh.
Yukimichi Uchiha, however, said, "I don't agree. I'll verify the value of this information myself."
Before the sleazy man could react to those words, he saw a pair of Three-Tomoe Sharingan and froze on the spot.
Looking at the sleazy man before him, who was already caught in genjutsu, Yukimichi Uchiha said coldly, "Tell me everything you know about the Fujiwara Family."
The sleazy man immediately spilled everything he knew like beans pouring out of a sack.
Yukimichi Uchiha listened for a long while, but in the end, he picked out only two points: Kai Fujiwara was already dead, and Suke Fujiwara had killed him.
As for why no news had gotten out, it had long since been suppressed. The sleazy man only knew because he was acquainted with the person who had disposed of the body.
Listening to the sleazy man's account, Yukimichi Uchiha was immediately shocked. The third elder actually guessed right. Kai Fujiwara really is dead. The third elder truly is extraordinary!
After a dazed spell, the sleazy man abruptly opened his eyes. He shuddered at the sight of Yukimichi Uchiha before him and asked through trembling lips, "What just happened?"
Yukimichi Uchiha slowly took five hundred ryo from his waist and tossed it to the sleazy man. "Your information really is worth that price. I'll keep my word. Here's five hundred ryo. Get lost."
Before the sleazy man could figure out what had happened, he saw that Yukimichi Uchiha had already vanished. Badly startled, he immediately stuffed the five hundred ryo into his pocket, then left pretending he knew nothing.
Having obtained definite information, Yukimichi Uchiha immediately returned to the inn, preparing to leave the City of Fire and take the news back.
However, just as he was about to leave, he noticed that the sleazy man from earlier was being escorted down the street by a group of samurai.
Yukimichi Uchiha concealed himself among the passersby on either side, wanting to see what had happened.
The sign behind the sleazy man bore phrases such as "a life for a life" and "malicious rumor-mongering."
Yukimichi Uchiha's simple mind told him that this was no simple matter. To avoid further complications, he immediately headed for the city gate.
Only when he reached the gate did he notice that it had been sealed at some point. No one was permitted to enter or leave.
Yukimichi Uchiha had intended to force his way out using Sharingan Genjutsu, but he keenly sensed that something was wrong and immediately hid in the shadows without drawing attention.
He slowly peered out, using his Three-Tomoe Sharingan to observe the situation.
Among those standing at the city gate were several people giving off an aura that was incredibly familiar to him.
It was the aura of extraordinarily strong vitality and chakra unique to the Senju Clan and the Uzumaki Clan, and it wasn't weak at all! One of them even had a stronger chakra aura than his.
Yukimichi Uchiha frowned, unable to understand why the Senju were here.
The City of Fire was so far from the battlefield between the Uchiha and the Senju. Why would anyone else be here apart from people like him, who had come to gather information?
Realizing that matters were growing increasingly complicated, Yukimichi Uchiha immediately returned to his inn and summoned his crow. After recording everything that had happened here using genjutsu, he released it.
At the city gate, a Senju Clan unit captain kept surveying his surroundings. He had just sensed an extremely familiar trace of yin chakra, but it was so faint that it disappeared before he could get a clear sense of it.
He couldn't help wondering whether he had imagined it. Seeing his grave expression, a clansman beside him approached and asked, "Captain, has something happened?"
The captain considered it, then shook his head. How could that be possible? The City of Fire was so far from the battlefield between the Uchiha and the Senju. Why would any Uchiha come here?
After all, there wasn't even anyone here specifically assigned to oversee missions. He was probably overthinking it.
"It's nothing. I just sensed something a little off, but I probably imagined it. I haven't been resting well these past two days."
The clansman rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, then, Captain, would you like to go back and rest? You can leave things here to me."
The captain shook his head. Although he thought he had imagined it, he still decided to stand guard here just in case. What if there really was an Uchiha here?
Yet overhead, where none of them noticed, a crow slowly flew out, heading toward the distant Uchiha Village.