Remaining Demonic Statue Fragments and the Appointment with Orochimaru

That brief respite had felt like a beautiful dream.

Once he came to, Uchiha Yuan quickly swallowed a Soldier Pill to restore his stamina.

Chakra absorption, reduced ninjutsu damage, self-healing without hand seals, unstable high-speed learning, increased chakra reserves, and even...

As he took stock of his changes, Uchiha Yuan casually beckoned to the remaining Demonic Statue Fragments in the corner.

Making the gene solution did not require much raw material, so there were still quite a few Demonic Statue Fragments left over from what White Zetsu had obtained for him.

A Demonic Statue Fragment as thick as an adult's thumb flew straight into Uchiha Yuan's hand.

This was clearly beyond his expectations.

After using the Demonic Statue Gene Reagent, Uchiha Yuan had discovered that he had developed an extraordinarily subtle connection with the Demonic Statue Fragments.

It was as though the fragments were a part of his flesh and blood, merely outside his body.

For instance, the Demonic Statue Fragment climbing over his fingers was continuously sending chakra outward according to his will, while it visibly withered away.

Uchiha Yuan could completely control this Demonic Statue Fragment. Not only that, he could even actively sever the chaotic summons coming from somewhere unimaginably far away.

That was where the true body of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path lay.

Before Obito had fully mastered the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Uchiha Yuan decisively cut off that connection.

Once Obito could completely control the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, he would likewise be able to sense and track Uchiha Yuan in return.

Combined with the terrifying range of Kamui, Uchiha Yuan understood that he did not have much time left to grow.

He swiftly crushed the damaged laboratory equipment and destroyed the entire underground cavern before calmly appearing in the primeval forest.

Sunlight filtering through the gaps between the leaves made him squint.

Uchiha Yuan greedily took two breaths of the forest's fresh air, then vanished from where he stood.

He had used the excuse of a medicinal herb-gathering mission to leave this time. By his calculations, Teacher Orochimaru should be summoning him soon.

Winds rose and clouds churned as the stars vanished from sight.

At an unnamed valley along the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass, a young ninja carrying a massive wooden fish marked with the character "Seal" on his back darted through the darkness and slipped into a cave.

The warm firelight and the rich fragrance of steaming soup instantly swept away his exhaustion.

"Kazuma, as instructed, I took this thing to the Land of Grass. I removed the seal five times during the trip, not once less."

"That means I've completed the mission, right?"

Inside the cave, a young man dressed in a dark blue kasaya nodded. His name was Kazuma, and he would later become one of the Guardian Ninja Twelve alongside Hidden Leaf Village ninja Asuma Sarutobi.

"Of course! Tenro, you've worked hard! This way, the Hidden Leaf Village won't suspect that our Fire Temple stole a portion of the Nine-Tails' Power. You've rendered great service!"

"So there really is Nine-Tails' Power inside? Hahaha, Kazuma, you're the real hero. With this thing, our Fire Temple's strength will definitely catch up to the Konoha Hidden Village!"

Kazuma nodded faintly and handed over the bowl of thick soup in his hand. His kindly, benevolent appearance made the young monk Tenro feel favored and honored.

"That's why I need to thank you for your efforts, Tenro."

The bowl fell from his hands. Tenro had never imagined that his leader, Kazuma, would strike against him here.

Yet the corpse twitching on the ground silently testified to the betrayal.

"Good. The only outsider who knew has been eliminated. Now all we need to do is take this thing back to Fire Temple."

"Move out!"

With a wave of Kazuma's hand, five ninjas carrying identical Sealed Wooden Fish sprang from the shadows at the edge of the firelight and rushed out of the cave.

For a time, apart from the flickering flames, the entire cave fell silent.

Kazuma grabbed the Sealed Wooden Fish from the corpse's back and slung it over his shoulder. Behind him, a brown viper raised itself upright.

"Kazuma, this is the information scroll Lord Orochimaru asked me to deliver to you. He hopes you will not botch what he entrusted to you. I will appear by your side at any time to inspect your work."

"Hmph. Do as you please."

Before his words had even faded, Kazuma, who had snatched the scroll, had already disappeared from the empty cave.

It was midnight beside a campfire in the wilderness when a brown viper silently approached from the edge of the firelight.

Uchiha Yuan, who had been resting with his eyes closed, tossed over the roasted rabbit leg in his hand.

This was Scale Pill, Orochimaru's dedicated messenger summoning beast. Its function was similar to that of the contact toads summoned by Jiraiya.

"Yuan, Lord Orochimaru wants you to personally deliver the herbs at Lin Yue Pavilion near Fire Temple tomorrow at noon. While you're there, he'll also assess your ninjutsu training from this period."

"I understand, Rinmaru-sama."

As the firelight flickered, Rinmaru had already silently disappeared into the shadows at its edge.

In the Konoha Hidden Village, ninjas were not permitted to leave the village casually unless they were carrying out missions or had applied for permission in advance.

This time, he had taken the risk of intercepting Uchiha Madara's inheritance during a gap in the herb-gathering mission assigned by his teacher, Orochimaru.

But Uchiha Yuan knew that Orochimaru had been engrossed in research over the past year, and many missions issued personally by him had been relayed through Rinmaru.

Why would he have time to meet him in person now?

Could it be that he had already completed the development of ninjutsu such as Living Corpse Reincarnation and the Curse Mark?

In truth, Uchiha Yuan still felt somewhat wary of meeting Orochimaru.

In his view, whether it was his status as a member of the Uchiha Clan or the secrets he needed to conceal,

it was best to maintain an appropriate distance from Teacher Orochimaru. He only needed to serve as the political bargaining chip the clan head had invested in him.

Uchiha Yuan believed that Orochimaru had likely held the same view before.

After all, an Uchiha without awakened eyes had no research value, much less any value worth cultivating.

Yet Orochimaru wanted him to personally deliver the herbs at Lin Yue Pavilion near Fire Temple...

Wait, Fire Temple!

A bolt of lightning flashed through Uchiha Yuan's mind.

On Nine-Tails Night, those seemingly honest and dutiful warrior monks of Fire Temple had deliberately collected the scattered tailed beast chakra around the Konoha Hidden Village.

A few years later, they had even successfully cultivated Fire Temple's own inferior Fake Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Orochimaru had arranged to meet him near Fire Temple. Could Teacher have been involved in the Fire Temple warrior monks' creation of that inferior Fake Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?

Uchiha Yuan felt that this fit Orochimaru's style of conduct quite well, but what was Teacher's purpose in doing so?

Fire Temple would later even plan to use the Fake Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to destroy the Konoha Hidden Village. At this point, Orochimaru should not yet have been hostile enough toward the Third Hokage and the Hidden Leaf Village to go that far.

So what exactly was Teacher Orochimaru plotting?

Could he have already had ideas about becoming a Jinchuriki?

Still, regardless of what Orochimaru was planning, Uchiha Yuan had to attend this appointment personally.

Before their teacher-student relationship had truly fallen apart, Uchiha Yuan had no intention of taking any rash risks.

He quickly filled his stomach and extinguished the campfire.

Fire Temple was a full day's journey from here. He had to leave immediately if he wanted to avoid being late.