"Damn, that guy just walked out of the exchange with seventy million ryo, easy."
"Didn't you see? He was flaunting his wealth on purpose. He's fishing."
"A real pro, but I've never seen him before."
"Yeah, a new face..."
The chatter in the money exchange caught the attention of a tall man who had just arrived. He didn't join the gossip, though, instead heading straight past the exchange's outer area and into the more secluded basement. He was a regular – a very regular customer.
The basement was a morgue, and the exchange manager was currently taking inventory of the corpses.
The newcomer casually navigated the space and dropped the body he'd been carrying on his shoulder at the manager's feet.
The manager glanced at the corpse's face and immediately stated, "Kakuzu-san, a small fry this time. Only eight million ryo."
Identifying a bounty head with a single look? The manager was definitely experienced. And the newcomer, of course, was Kakuzu, the rogue ninja from Takigakure (Hidden Waterfall), renowned assassin, and self-proclaimed "Ageless Ninja." Or, Old Ninja who's mastered all five elements.
Kakuzu knew this catch was a small one, but what could he do? His luck was terrible. The bounty market had been unusually prosperous in the years since the end of the Shinobi World War – a real growth industry – but this particular outing had been anything but.
However, what he lacked in luck, he made up for in effort. Despite being a believer in fate, Kakuzu was always willing to put in extra work when it came to money.
"I heard someone just walked out with seventy million ryo?" Kakuzu asked as the manager retrieved his bounty.
"Yes, he nearly cleaned us out of cash... I know what you're thinking, Kakuzu-san. He went in the direction of Amegakure (Hidden Rain)."
The manager sold out Habara without a second thought. After all, you couldn't expect things like confidentiality or professional ethics from a black market like this, right? Did the manager not resent Habara for taking so much money? Of course he did. He was practically salivating at the thought of someone taking Habara down.
Even if they couldn't recover the money if Habara was killed, they'd be happy just knowing he was dead.
"Amegakure... A rogue from Amegakure, then? Amegakure is still in the middle of a civil war, and Hanzo, the so-called 'Salamander,' is getting old... 'Salamander.' What a joke. How long ago did that man leave?"
Compared to the "True God" Kakuzu had once encountered, the "Salamander" was nothing more than a joke.
He took his eight million ryo, counting the bills one by one.
This habit made the manager's eye twitch uncontrollably. Suddenly, he realized that either Kakuzu killing that man or that man killing Kakuzu would be a good outcome.
"He left about half a day ago."
"Half a day... I can catch him."
After meticulously counting the bills, confirming the amount, and checking for counterfeits, Kakuzu left without a word, carrying his money box. He immediately set off in pursuit of Habara.
It went without saying that Kakuzu was targeting Habara's seventy million ryo. For Kakuzu, if he said he'd chase, he'd chase. That was just how confident he was. He'd lived for so long; what was there to fear? What hadn't he seen? Who couldn't he beat?
And you know what? In the current ninja world, aside from a few famous ninja, most people really couldn't handle this old fossil, Kakuzu. And Kakuzu, with his love of money, was particularly skilled at tracking. He believed catching someone who had a half-day head start wouldn't be difficult. But after a full day of pursuit...
Where was he?
...
Habara hadn't gone to Amegakure at all. That wasn't his destination. He'd traveled in the direction of Amegakure for a while, then suddenly veered south towards the southern border of Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire). He then angled northwest, traveled a distance, and leveled out, heading directly west. He crossed Kawa no Kuni (Land of Rivers) and entered the deserts of Kaze no Kuni (Land of Wind).
It's not that Habara was worried about being tracked. His movements weren't sneaky; he was actually on this journey partly to clear his head. It was a "spur-of-the-moment trip"... He himself didn't know where he was going, so how could anyone possibly track him? If you manage to find me, I will... insert evil laughter.
But once he entered the deserts of the Land of Wind, Habara's relaxed mood vanished.
Another day passed, and Habara reached the northern border of the Land of Wind. Through the swirling sand, he saw a cluster of earth-toned tower spires.
This was a nation within a nation, located in the Land of Wind: Rouran.
"Through yellow sands, a hundred battles, piercing golden armor... Eh, that's not very auspicious. I'm not here to cause trouble."
Rouran was a small nation populated by civilians, but it was built upon a source of chakra energy known as the "Ryūmyaku" (Dragon Vein), giving it immense power. Years ago, the Fourth Hokage had come here on a mission and sealed the Ryūmyaku.
Some research suggested that the Ryūmyaku might be the location where the Shinju (God Tree) grew in ancient times, and the ancient kingdom of Rouran might be descendants of the "Rabbit Goddess's" nation.
Since it was just a civilian nation, Habara had no trouble infiltrating it. He easily reached the center of the town and stood atop the tallest, spire-shaped building, activating his sensory mode.
"The residents here... There are only about five hundred. That's far too few."
The Hokage, the military commander-in-chief of the Land of Fire, was nominally a village head, but in reality, he was more like a town or county mayor. The Queen of Rouran, although called a queen, was actually a true village head. The population size here was severely disproportionate to the scale of the buildings. Judging by the buildings alone, it could easily house tens of thousands of people, but in reality, only five hundred lived here.
But it wasn't hard to understand. It was clear that the population of this nation had been rapidly shrinking... Leaving aside the impact of the Shinobi World Wars, how could tens of thousands of people survive in this desert? They simply didn't have enough resources to sustain them.
But it was precisely because this so-called "nation" had such negligible power that they had managed to survive until now. Otherwise, Sunagakure would have wiped them out long ago.
Even aside from Sunagakure, before Akatsuki's Pain defeated him, Sasori of the Red Sand had roamed the Land of Wind, eliminating small towns like Rouran. He seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.
It could only be said that Rouran, possessing the Ryūmyaku yet lacking any real power, surviving until now was a miracle.
Descending from the highest tower, Habara went deep into the underground space... According to the Fourth Hokage's mission records, the central node of the Ryūmyaku was located beneath this tower.
As he descended, a question suddenly popped into Habara's mind: Since he was here now, had Naruto Uzumaki ever come to this timeline?
Probably not. Time travel was even more mysterious than world-crossing, and since Habara was here, Naruto likely hadn't had the opportunity.
Fifteen minutes later, Habara reached the bottom, but he saw neither the Ryūmyaku nor the seal left by the Fourth Hokage.
What was going on? Habara tapped the ground with his foot. The sound suggested it was hollow beneath. He pulled out his sword and easily cut a triangular opening in the floor.
It was pitch black inside, confirming it was empty.
Habara tied a silver wire to the edge of the opening and began to "airdrop" down, holding the wire.
Below was a circular pit, seemingly bottomless. In the center of the pit was a round platform. Habara swung the wire, released it, tucked into a ball, and landed steadily on the platform.
The platform was empty, making the Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God) kunai left by the Fourth Hokage stand out even more... Habara had found the right place.
Because of the seal, Habara couldn't sense the chakra below, but the Hiraishin kunai confirmed he was in the correct location. He began pulling various scrolls out of his ninja tool pouch.
So, how to undo the Fourth Hokage's seal? Well, Habara couldn't undo the seal. He hadn't managed to obtain the Fourth Hokage's sealing formula from Konoha... He could only break the seal.
"Ready to start?"
"Let's start."
"Start or not?"
"Of course, start."
"We're at least seventy percent sure. What's there to worry about?"
"Then let's start!"
The next part was extremely troublesome because one wrong move could lead to him losing his human form. So, Habara, like an overweight person determined to lose weight, kept giving himself a "pep talk."
"Are we really starting?"
For crying out loud, this "inner battle" was endless! Habara gritted his teeth and began to form hand seals:
"Ninpo: Gika Hakurin Orochi (Pseudo White-Scaled Orochi Transformation)!"
Habara's form began to change. Once the seals were complete, his body went limp with a "thud," and he fainted, falling to the ground. Simultaneously, his consciousness began to shift... A white snake gradually "grew" from his chest, growing longer and longer.
However, this snake couldn't really be called an "Orochi (Great Serpent)" because it was only about as thick as a thigh, practically miniature compared to the Orochimaru he knew. Moreover, the snake wasn't completely detached from Habara's body; its tail remained connected to his chest.
"So this is what a chakra creature is like? It feels... strange. Like I've reached the pinnacle of existence..."
It took Habara a while to regain his senses after entering a dazed state. Then, he began to "crawl" towards the seal left by the Fourth Hokage...
The snake-form was fast, but his body was dragged along like a piece of trash, bumping several times... Friction, friction, these are the devil's footsteps.
Then, Habara, transformed into a snake, bit down on the Fourth Hokage's seal.
How do you turn a temporary chakra increase into a permanent one? The answer is to first transform yourself into a similar energy form, then devour that chakra in that form, and finally, reverse-transform back into your own body.
So, Habara had transformed himself into a special spiritual energy body. This was the first step of the plan. The so-called "Pseudo White-Scaled Orochi Transformation" was actually...
Just a "Snake Game" jutsu.
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