"Well, there's no way around it for now. I'll just have to take it slow."
Unable to figure out a solution, Sora chose not to stress over it. Instead, he decided to fully master all his existing jutsu and take the chance to collect more cards to improve his strength—even if only a little.
In the blink of an eye, a month had passed since the last incident. During that time, several of Sora's jutsu had reached full proficiency.
Minato's position as Hokage had grown increasingly solid. Even Hiruzen Sarutobi had largely stopped interfering. Minato had finally begun to look like the true leader of Konoha, with control over the majority of its authority.
But Sora knew this stability was only temporary. Given the chance, those small-time schemers would surely crawl back out again.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru had constructed a brand-new laboratory not far from the Hokage's office.
Unlike his previous shady underground setups, this new lab was grand and spacious—comparable to modern research facilities. Far from being oppressive, the atmosphere actually sparked curiosity.
Within it, Orochimaru was eagerly conducting various chemistry and physics experiments, his face lit up with excitement. Every now and then, he would flip through one of the textbooks beside him—titles like "Middle School Physics" and "Basic Chemistry" scribbled across the covers.
Sora had written all of these books by hand. Since his memory wasn't perfect, he wrote down whatever he could recall—some parts were below high school level, others approached college-level material.
"How's it coming along? Any breakthroughs?"
As he put down a game console Orochimaru had crafted, a glint of mischief sparkled in Sora's eyes.
Still absorbed in his work, Orochimaru responded without turning around. "Progressing well. I haven't fully grasped it yet, but my instincts tell me... the secret to immortality lies within this knowledge."
That caught Sora completely off guard.
Wait, what? Since when did science grant eternal life?
Back when he was trying to convince Orochimaru to stay, he had promised to help him achieve immortality—figuring the guy didn't really understand what science was, so a little bluffing wouldn't hurt.
So he handed over a ton of technological knowledge from his past life and told Orochimaru to use it to advance Konoha's future.
What he hadn't expected was for Orochimaru to get so hooked on the concept that he'd be spouting things like this before even finishing the textbooks.
To Sora's knowledge, even the cutting-edge science from his previous life hadn't reached the point of granting eternal life.
But after giving it some thought, he let it go.
That world's science had never reached its full potential. Who's to say what lies at the end of scientific discovery? Maybe immortality really was possible someday.
Not that it would happen any time soon—but there was no need to crush Orochimaru's enthusiasm.
If he kept at it, who knew what inventions might come of it? The progress alone could usher Konoha into a new golden age.
Worth mentioning was that Rin Nohara, now the Three-Tails' Jinchūriki, had also joined the lab as Orochimaru's assistant.
What Sora didn't know was that events across the shinobi world were quietly shifting back into place—correcting the storylines he had disrupted.
In Rin's absence, White Zetsu had transformed into her likeness and successfully tricked Uchiha Obito into awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Not long after, Uchiha Madara stormed Kirigakure with the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and used genjutsu to take control of Yagura, then erased the Mizukage's memory before departing.
Shortly afterward, Madara passed away and left everything to Obito, tasking him with keeping an eye on Nagato.
What Madara hadn't noticed was that a passing civilian had accidentally witnessed everything.
The man had immediately rushed off, intending to report what he'd seen—but partway there, he forgot what he was doing... then forgot where he was going... and eventually wandered home in a daze.
And thus, with Obito now consumed by hatred, he arrived in Kirigakure—and the story once again aligned with the original timeline.
Thanks to the efforts of Black Zetsu and Madara, Rin's existence was erased from the public eye.
But none of this affected Sora, who remained unaware of what was happening beyond Konoha.
Within the village, he and Minato were basking in public admiration. Every commoner in Konoha sang their praises.
Once Minato solidified his rule, Sora proposed adjustments to the village's mission system.
Now, Konoha's shinobi regularly took on agricultural jobs—watering fields and tilling soil. These missions were easy, safe, and paid well.
Weak Chūnin in particular loved this new arrangement.
Watering fields? Just cast a Water Style jutsu. Tilling the soil? Use an Earth Style technique. Hearing the gasps of amazement from the nearby villagers filled their hearts with pride.
The result was a gradual merging of shinobi and civilian lives. The rigid social divide began to soften—a development that made Minato happier than anything.
The only thing left to worry about was Konoha's finances.
But after just one month, Minato began to realize—somewhat incredulously—that they might no longer need the Fire Daimyō's military funding. Konoha could sustain itself!
With things going so well, Sora informed Minato of his intention to leave the village temporarily.
Konoha might look vibrant on the surface, but underneath, it was still riddled with rot.
So he planned to track down Tsunade and Jiraiya. Once those two returned, no one would dare stir up trouble again.
Well—truthfully, that was just an excuse.
Sora's real goal was to find Tsunade, the greatest medical ninja in the world, and see if she had any way of unlocking his body's hidden potential.
If even Orochimaru couldn't figure it out, then Tsunade was his last hope.
As for Jiraiya—he was just a bonus. If Sora saw him often enough, maybe he'd get lucky and pick up Sage Mode.
Since he had no clue where Tsunade might be, Sora set out to visit city after city, searching for the "Big Gambler" wherever he went.
His first stop: the capital of the Land of Fire.
Upon arrival, he didn't rush. He toured the city for a while before hitting the casinos.
Sure enough, Tsunade wasn't there.
After chatting with some local gamblers to gather intel, he hit the road again.
But shortly after leaving the capital, Sora noticed something strange—someone was tailing him.
There had been too many people in the city to pinpoint who it was, so he had boldly exited, knowing his stalker would follow.
If he couldn't find them, he'd make them show themselves.
With that in mind, he headed straight for the most isolated routes he could find.
Roughly ten miles outside the capital, a figure finally stepped into view.
"Kakuzu!" Sora's eyes narrowed with surprise.
Aside from lacking the signature black cloak with red clouds, this man looked identical to the Kakuzu of the future.
"You actually know who I am?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow.