Chapter 0096: Heading to Redstone City

Blue sky, white clouds, clear water, green trees...

After the World Conference ended, the War Fortress rumbled away from the Sound Ninja Village and moved through mountains and rivers, bound for the far side of the ocean and another continent.

Beyond the sea there was indeed another landmass, but it was a world inhabited only by ordinary people.

Before crossing the great sea, the War Fortress stopped on the shore, and Orochimaru walked out from within.

He did not follow the fortress to the other side.

Kabuto remained at Orochimaru’s side, repeatedly seeming about to speak and then stopping. This time, the journey across the ocean would be directed entirely by Kabuto. Orochimaru had left neither a clone nor a shadow clone behind.

At last, Kabuto gathered enough courage and said, “Lord Orochimaru, perhaps you should leave a clone behind. A shadow clone would do as well. Without you here, I feel a little uneasy...”

Orochimaru strolled along the coastline, stepping on the fine yellow sand, and smiled. “Uneasy about what? You have that talent.”

Kabuto still very much wanted Orochimaru to go with him. He was used to acting under Orochimaru’s orders and did not want to make every decision on his own. “Is that country of Loulan really so important?”

“Heh...”

Orochimaru gave a soft laugh, his gaze distant. After a long while, he said, “Very important.”

He had once renamed the Country of a Thousand in the Small World of the Deep Pool as the Country of Loulan. If there truly was a Loulan in the real world, and if it possessed legends of him, then it could be confirmed that everything he had experienced in the Small World of the Deep Pool had been real, and that he had once taken part in history.

Orochimaru also had to consider another question: was time travel arbitrary?

If he now returned to the Small World of the Deep Pool, would he still be able to travel through time? He did not know, and he had to find out.

Orochimaru and Kabuto walked along the shore for a long time and spoke of many things. Only when the sun had begun to sink and the evening light spread across the sea did Kabuto reluctantly return to the War Fortress.

“Lord Orochimaru, farewell.”

Standing high atop the War Fortress, Kabuto waved goodbye to Orochimaru.

The War Fortress entered the sea, and the driver, Hiashi Hyuga, skillfully activated the water-travel mode. A transparent sphere of light appeared around the fortress to keep seawater from entering.

Soon, the entire fortress sank beneath the ocean.

Orochimaru withdrew his gaze and looked toward a stretch of beach, smiling. “Kimimaro, come out.”

The yellow sand on the beach shifted, and Kimimaro’s head emerged from beneath it. “You found me.”

He rose from the sand, used chakra to shake the grains off his body, and then ran joyfully to Orochimaru’s side. “I’m following you. Nothing you say will make me stay in the War Fortress. I’m staying by your side.”

Orochimaru smiled helplessly. “Very well.”

...

There had already been some leads regarding Loulan. The information was in an underground bounty organization called Redstone City.

Orochimaru and Kimimaro came to that city.

This city was one where ninja and civilians mingled, though civilians made up the majority. Still, many people now possessed the power of ninja.

Excited conversations could be heard everywhere, mostly about how far their progress had come.

“I’ve taken the Uchiha family’s medicine twice already. I can feel my body changing. Look at my eyes, aren’t they a little redder?”

“The power of the Senju family is the real kingly path, all right? I can even affect the growth rate of the flowers in my yard. As for your eyes turning red, that’s because you stay up every night!”

“Bullshit. I’ve awakened the Sharingan!”

“...”

As Orochimaru and Kimimaro walked down the street, hearing such conversations always brought a faint smile to their faces.

Kimimaro was filled with admiration and reverence. “Lord Orochimaru, your reform has truly taken root in people’s hearts.”

This transformation of the common people into ninja had gradually been accepted by the masses and become part of daily life.

Orochimaru smiled faintly. Civilian ninja-ization was only the beginning. More would follow.

The two of them entered a public restroom, and inside was a hidden door. They found it and pushed it open. In an instant, the scene changed.

Before their eyes was a somewhat dim hall, very large, with many counters and many differently dressed people waiting inside. They were all bounty hunters here to take on missions.

Kimimaro said, “Lord Orochimaru, please wait here a moment. I’ll go line up.”

The information about Loulan in this bounty organization could be obtained by paying a certain amount at the counter.

Orochimaru nodded and sat down nearby.

The noisy bounty-hunter hall made him feel faintly dazed. It had been a long time since he had come to a place like this.

The hall had enough seats for people to wait and rest, and the seats were all connected, placed very close together.

After Orochimaru sat down, a middle-aged man with a full beard turned his head and struck up a conversation.

“Hello.” The bearded man extended a hand, wanting to shake Orochimaru’s.

Orochimaru glanced at him and ignored him.

The bearded man did not feel awkward. He withdrew his hand as though nothing had happened, then looked around before suddenly lowering his voice. “My name is Centipede. Actually, if you’re buying information from the bounty organization, you’d be better off buying from me. Mine is cheaper and more detailed.”

To lend credibility to his words, Centipede pulled open the front of his shirt and revealed a ninja forehead protector, on which a horizontal slash had been drawn, the mark of a missing-nin.

“See that? You know this forehead protector, right? It’s the Sound Ninja Village forehead protector, the symbol of the strongest power in the ninja world today, the one remaking the world. I’m a missing-nin from the Sound Ninja Village!”

After speaking, he hurriedly pulled his shirt closed again, as though afraid of being discovered.

Orochimaru finally took some interest. “You’re a missing-nin from the Sound Ninja Village?”

“That’s right.”

Centipede believed the title had already impressed the person in front of him, and he said mysteriously, “You know Kabuto, right? You know Kimimaro, right? Back then I was the favorite by Orochimaru’s side. It was only because I was framed by those two that I became a missing-nin.”

“Forget those sad stories. I’m telling you this so you’ll know that all my information comes straight from the Sound Ninja Village. Reliable!”

“What do you want to know?” Centipede asked.

He had posed as a missing-nin from the Sound Ninja Village in order to get money quickly. He had once found the ruins of an ancient kingdom called Loulan, where a powerful force known as the Dragon Vein was sealed.

To break the seal, he needed a certain technique. The technique had already been developed by someone, but obtaining it would cost money.

Centipede could not help asking again, “What information do you need? I once worked by Orochimaru’s side; I was one of the favorites around him. I know a lot. Worth the money, impossible to be cheated.”

Orochimaru said with a strange expression, “Do you know who I am?”

“You?”

Centipede studied him from head to toe and said, “Of course. You’re a ninja who’s killed people!”

He looked quite pleased with himself. “It’s not strange that I can tell. I worked by Orochimaru’s side, and what I relied on was my eye for people. To tell you the truth, I can tell at a glance which people in this hall are ninja and which are civilians.”

He swallowed and continued, “Including you. One look at you and I know you’re a ruthless one, with strength and status. Otherwise, how could I, a missing-nin from the Sound Ninja Village and once one of Orochimaru’s favorites, ever have the right to strike up a conversation with you?”