Shisui and Jiraiya

Having obtained the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, he was one big step closer to acquiring the Yin Nine-Tails.

Uchiha Yuan bade Orochimaru farewell and returned to his room.

Sitting atop the wooden barrel coffin, he focused on studying the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.

With the aid of his rapid learning ability, the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, an S-Rank Jutsu on the same level as the Spiritualisation Technique, could be mastered in an extremely short time.

Yet unexpectedly, it took a full quarter of an hour before he received feedback that he could summon the Death God and seal souls through Hand Seals.

It was not because the formula and contents of the Dead Demon Consuming Seal far exceeded those of the Spiritualisation Technique.

During the learning process, Uchiha Yuan could clearly sense an unfamiliar stiffness.

Perhaps it was because this jutsu was related to the so-called Death God.

Fortunately, with a little more effort, he could still master it smoothly. Uchiha Yuan now reviewed every detail of mastering the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.

Unexpectedly, this tranquil study session was quickly interrupted.

Mitarashi Anko burst through the door in a fury.

"Uchiha Yuan! I knew you weren't dead! Why didn't you notify us immediately? Aren't you afraid of scaring fellow village ninja by running all over the ship?"

His junior sister looked fierce, as if she intended to hold Uchiha Yuan accountable.

Uchiha Yuan had never indulged her.

"I don't seem to have any reason to notify you! Your mission was to protect my body. Whether I was dead or alive, didn't you know?"

Sure enough, Mitarashi Anko was thoroughly choked by that.

During the retreat, she, Kurama Shion, and Hyuga Ryo had taken turns carrying Uchiha Yuan's body while injured.

After several dozen kilometers, the old wounds of the three female ninja, which had yet to fully heal, worsened. Blood soaked through their bandages.

Though it was a mission, Mitarashi Anko had carried it out very seriously.

Faced with Anko, who looked ready to explode, Uchiha Yuan simply responded with silence.

Fortunately, Anko did not make a fuss for long before Kurama Shion and Hyuga Ryo entered.

The two female ninja had arrived together with Mitarashi Anko. It was only after Hyuga Ryo's kind reminder that Kurama Shion had not entered immediately.

Otherwise, even as their substitute teacher, she would have had a headache dealing with the noisy Anko.

"I never expected to see Yuan-kun again in such a way. It feels as though life and death had separated us."

Hyuga Ryo's eyes shone brightly.

Uchiha Yuan had always felt that no matter what emotion the owner of the Byakugan was feeling, being watched by those eyes made one instinctively uncomfortable.

But now, Ryo's Byakugan glowed with a gentle warmth, like a pair of fine jade stones.

"Still, Yuan-kun, you really are full of surprises. You never showed yourself to be this capable when I was around."

Kurama Shion said reproachfully.

During this time, it had been this substitute teacher who reported Uchiha Yuan's training progress to Orochimaru.

Back then, he had only barely met the requirement of three minutes. Today, he had lasted a full three hours.

"Hmph, when Teacher Shion carried you back, she cried, you know. I don't think it was from exhaustion."

Hyuga Ryo mercilessly exposed her substitute teacher's secret.

Kurama Shion's face reddened slightly. She shot a glare at the little schemer, then gritted her teeth and simply started pinching and wrestling with her.

Uchiha Yuan was left completely dumbfounded.

Weren't you here to visit me, someone who came back from the dead? How did you suddenly start fighting?

Hey, play around if you want, but Teacher Shion, don't take out an Exploding Tag!

If you want to die together with Ryo, please go outside the cabin.

Anko was equally baffled. Since when had these two girls become so much like her? Weren't they usually quiet and ladylike?

Only after they calmed down did the four people in the room look at one another.

Although Orochimaru Squad's main mission site during the Third Shinobi World War had been the laboratory.

They still had their own special bond.

After disembarking, Konoha's ninja forces swiftly withdrew.

Although the Hidden Mist Village had no time to pursue them, Danzo had demanded that they travel at full speed.

What should have been a normal five-day journey was forcibly compressed into three days.

Thus, on the morning of the third day, Uchiha Yuan saw the familiar gates of Konoha Hidden Village.

The feeling of coming home was quite nice. The moment they entered, many curious villagers turned to look at them.

"That's Lord Danzo, right? I heard they fought the Hidden Mist Village these past few days and protected all of Konoha!"

"Hehe, those rotten Hidden Mist bastards won't dare set their sights on Konoha for a long time. It's all thanks to Lord Danzo!"

Walking amid the group behind Orochimaru, Uchiha Yuan followed the voices and saw several ordinarily dressed Konoha villagers talking loudly.

This mission had been highly confidential, yet news had returned to the village at an unbelievably fast speed. After all, the ninja had only just returned.

Several more villagers joined the conversation.

"During this time, the Third Hokage also brokered peace negotiations with Iwagakure."

"For a while, we probably won't be fighting Iwagakure again."

"It's good not to fight. Whenever there's war, ordinary people like us suffer too."

Uchiha Yuan secretly shook his head at the sight.

The position of Hokage depended both on the decision of the jonin council and the appointment of the Land of Fire's daimyo. The opinions of ordinary villagers carried little weight.

Yet now, the villagers were already discussing the achievements of the Third Hokage and Danzo.

One could only imagine how much more lively things were among the jonin and at the Daimyo's Residence of the Land of Fire.

Uchiha Yuan was not particularly interested in any of that.

The days ahead would be relatively peaceful, so he needed to seize the time to improve his strength.

"Uchiha Yuan! Over here!"

Amid the crowd, a young ninja in a Police Force uniform, with a round nose, called out enthusiastically.

Uchiha Shisui.

Uchiha Yuan had graduated from the Ninja Academy several years before Shisui and had once been his introductory teacher in shuriken techniques.

He immediately waved back with equal enthusiasm.

It could not have been easy for Shisui to come specifically to greet him and call out so loudly in front of so many people.

"That's someone from the Uchiha Clan! And from the Police Force too. When we were half-dead that night, where were you people?"

A villager beside Shisui muttered under his breath, but someone quickly stopped him.

"Don't say it!"

"Hmph, that monster with nine tails, those two huge Sharingan, the Uchiha Clan..."

Only after his mouth was covered did the villager beside Shisui stop talking.

Shisui heard and saw the entire thing.

Yet he did not argue with them.

Instead, after signaling to Uchiha Yuan that they would meet later, he hurried away.

But before Shisui left, several villagers around him had already moved far away and spat to ward off bad luck.

The sight left Uchiha Yuan clicking his tongue.

The hostility between the Uchiha Clan and the villagers was far worse than he had imagined.

The Police Force had never enjoyed a particularly good reputation, but they had always protected these villagers.

After decades of service, even if they had no great merit, they had at least worked hard.

As a ninja, Uchiha Yuan did not particularly care about the opinions of ordinary people.

But the Uchiha Clan being loathed by the villagers like this meant they were taking the blame for Obito's personal actions.

This was also the beginning of the Night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre.

Uchiha Yuan had no choice but to reassess the impact Nine-Tails Night had had on the Uchiha Clan.

Just then, a middle-aged ninja with long, white, spiky hair swaggered into the group.

Jiraiya walked alongside Orochimaru, and the two appeared to be on quite good terms.

"Yo, isn't this Orochimaru? Didn't expect it, did you? This time, I finished my mission before you did!"

The female ninja of Orochimaru Squad knew that the newcomer was Jiraiya, one of Konoha's Sannin and as famous as their teacher Orochimaru.

Seeing how enthusiastic this white-haired uncle was, Ryo and Shion were quite curious. If he threw an arm around their teacher's shoulders, how exactly would Orochimaru react?

Anko's eyes burned with eagerness. Jiraiya was very strong, and she had long wanted to challenge him.

Uchiha Yuan simply walked along obediently.

Unexpectedly, after Jiraiya exchanged a few casual words with Orochimaru, he turned and gave the three female ninja of Orochimaru Squad a cursory glance before his gaze stopped on Uchiha Yuan.

"A ninja from the Uchiha family? Why are you the only boy in your squad?"

Seeing that Uchiha Yuan had no interest in responding, Jiraiya deliberately slowed down and walked beside him.

"Your romantic history must be pretty rich, right? How about giving me a proper interview? In return, you'll have a chance to become the male lead of my new novel!"

Icha Icha Paradise? A dirty book, huh!

The corner of Uchiha Yuan's eye twitched as he smiled.

"No, Lord Jiraiya. I don't have any romantic history, and I don't want to be a male lead. Please find someone else."