Traces

In Konoha Ninja Village, at Ichiraku Ramen, Jiraiya, Yamato, Kakashi, and Naruto sat in chairs, waiting for their ramen.

Kakashi said, "Lord Jiraiya, what brings you back to the village this time...?"

"Could it be that you want to take me out to train?" Naruto immediately interjected. "Pervy Sage, you said you would continue to teach me, but you've always been busy and haven't had time to teach me."

Jiraiya and said, "That's right, this time I'm taking you out for training." As he spoke, Jiraiya recalled his conversation with Tsunade when they first returned to the village.

That was when Jiraiya had just returned to the village. Jiraiya arrived, he went to the Hokage's office to report information about the Akatsuki to his brother.

After everything was understood, Tsunade suddenly said, "Jiraiya, I want you to continue taking Naruto out for training."

"Why? Is it because of Akatsuki?" Jiraiya hadn't expected Tsunade to make this request, and his expression turned serious as he spoke in a deep voice.

Tsunade nodded Naruto said in a deep voice, "Jiraiya, Naruto needs to go out and train to improve faster. But the Akatsuki is keeping an eye on him. I can only feel at ease if Naruto stays by your side."

Jiraiya had also considered this, and said, "Alright, this time when I leave, I'll take Naruto with me on our training trip."

"Your ramen..." A single sentence interrupted Jiraiya's reverie. Ichiraku placed the ramen in front of the group, and the aroma of the ramen filled the air, causing everyone to swallow hard.

Jiraiya snapped out of his daze and continued, "Naruto, let's go out for training together tomorrow." He then took a deep sip of his ramen, a look of enjoyment on his face.

Naruto had already started eating heartily, looked up from his ramen upon hearing this and excitedly exclaimed, "Really? Pervy Sage, I've been waiting for this day for so long!"

The next day, Jiraiya took Naruto with him and they set off.

At Orochimaru's base, Kabuto Yakushi arrived at a stone chamber, gently opened the stone door, and went inside. Inside sat a young boy, intently looking at a camellia flower in his hand.

Kabuto Yakushi looked at the bewildered child before him and said, "Yukimaru, we're leaving."

Seeing Kabuto Yakushi enter, Yukimaru looked up with a simple smile, "Do you prefer red or white camellia blossoms?"

Kabuto Yakushi adjusted his glasses and said, "We're leaving." He stepped forward, took Yukimaru, and left the stone chamber and the base.

Just as Kabuto Yakushi was leaving the base with Yukimaru, he was unaware that Sasuke was standing on a giant tree behind him, watching him leave.

"It seems the time is almost up. I should make my move," Sasuke muttered, his eyes filled with icy coldness, before turning and heading back to the base.

At this moment, Uzumaki Hane arrived at a small town on the border of the Land of Fire. The reason why Uzumaki Hane came here was because a few days ago, Uzumaki Hane received a letter from Shion. The letter said that Gozu had remembered where his base was when he became an experimental subject and told Uzumaki Hane to come here and meet up with Gozu.

Uzumaki Hane arrived in the morning, Gozu also came to the town in the afternoon. Upon seeing Uzumaki Hane, Gozu respectfully knelt on one knee and said, "Lord Uzumaki, it's been a long time."

Uzumaki Hane smiled slightly and said, "Gozu, it really has been a long time. How is Shion doing?"

Gozu respectfully replied, "Lord Uzumaki, Lady Shion is well."

"Has anything happened in that Land of Demons?"

"Lord Uzumaki, everything in the Land of Demons is peaceful."

"Gozu, Shion mentioned in her letter that you remembered the experimental base where you used to be?"

"Lord Uzumaki, I've remembered the exact location. This time, I can lead you to that base."

"Then let's set off. Hopefully, we can find the base successfully and thus locate Guren or Orochimaru."

"Yes, Lord Uzumaki, I will do everything in my power to find the location of the base."

So the two set off from the town, led by Gozu, to find the base.

Meanwhile, in Konoha Ninja Village, in the Hokage's office, Tsunade was handling official business with a serious expression.

Suddenly, an Anbu rushed in, knelt on one knee, and respectfully said, "Lord Hokage, our Anbu who was sent to search for Orochimaru's base has lost contact."

"What?!" Tsunade on the desk, making a loud thud. "When did you go missing?"

The Anbu said, "Lord Hokage, we've lost contact with them since yesterday."

"Did he send any important messages before he went missing?" Tsunade had begun to calm down, asked.

The Anbu replied, "Lady Tsunade, we have deciphered the last code they sent." With that, the Anbu took a document from his robes and handed it to Tsunade.

Tsunade strode forward, took the document, and after reading it, her expression immediately turned grim. She said in a low voice, "He actually found Orochimaru's base. If he's out of contact now, it seems he's been killed."

After a moment's thought, Tsunade continued, "When he went missing, where was he roughly located?" Shizune immediately pulled out a map.

"Lord Hokage, the last time he sent a message, it was from this location." The Anbu immediately stepped forward and pointed out the location on the map.

"So that's where it was." Tsunade said in a deep voice, "Shizune, go and find Kakashi immediately, and also Kiba, Shino, and Hinata."

Shizune said, "It's Lady Tsunade." Then she quickly left, and the Anbu followed her.

After a while, Kakashi, Kiba, Shino, and Hinata arrived at the office.

Tsunade looked at the four of them and said, "I have an urgent task for you now."

"Lord Hokage, what kind of mission is it?" Kakashi asked lazily.

Tsunade said, "The Anbu I sent to search for Orochimaru's base has gone missing. Before he disappeared, he sent a message saying he had found Orochimaru, so I need you to go and find him."

"Orochimaru?" Kakashi's eyes were no longer lazy as he spoke in a deep voice.

Kiba, Shino, and Hinata exclaimed in surprise, "Have you found Orochimaru?"

Tsunade said, "That's right. Most of the village's ninjas are out on missions now, so this mission can only be entrusted to you."

"Yes, Lord Hokage," Kakashi, Kiba, Shino, and Hinata replied in unison, accepting the mission.

Three days later, Uzumaki Hane and Gozu arrived at a hidden stone wall. Uzumaki Hane looked at the stone wall and said, "Is this the base where you were used as a test subject?"

"That's right, Lord Uzumaki, this is it." At this moment, Gozu's face showed a painful expression, clearly recalling the miserable days when he was used as a test subject.