At the Senju home, just outside the experimental forest, Roshi handed Anko a small slug. Another tiny slug rested on his own shoulder.
"We meet again, Lady Katsuyu," Anko greeted.
"Hello, Anko. Please keep your mind relaxed later," Katsuyu replied as she crawled onto Anko's shoulder. "I will assist you in trying to perceive the existence of natural energy."
Anko sat where she was told, closed her eyes, and slowed her breathing to match the instruction.
Katsuyu's body gave off a faint, almost imperceptible glow, a gentle guide that opened Anko's spiritual senses toward the omnipresent flow of natural energy. But as her spirit expanded outward, it brushed against the Cursed Seal on her own body first.
Like a startled serpent, Orochimaru's cold, obscure aura surged from the seal and spread through her. A bone-deep chill and a nauseating sense of repulsion shot through her, and she snapped out of the meditation, eyes wide and a fine, cold sweat beading at her temples.
"If you intend to gain more power, then Orochimaru is a hurdle you must overcome," Roshi said. "Face it directly—try to understand and even utilize the essence of the power it contains."
That was why he had called it an experiment. Anko's application to Anbu showed she hadn't given up on growing stronger, and as her captain, Roshi wouldn't stand in her way or choose a safer, easier route for her.
In the Ninja World, there are only so many ways to grow stronger. If one refuses shortcuts like Cursed Seals or body modifications, breakthroughs have to come from other directions. Given Anko's natural talent and her current circumstances, a sensible path was to make initial contact with natural energy—learn to perceive it—and, later, confront and even try to use the Cursed Seal's traits to steady her foundation and build true inner strength. It was a feasible route with clear long-term prospects.
She kept a hand on the Cursed Seal at her neck; it felt faintly hot, as if it were burning. Her fingers trembled, and her jaw was tight. Roshi stepped forward as he had before and patted her hair gently.
"Orochimaru himself, and this problem he left behind, will not become a reason to hinder your progress," he said. "Even if it exists now, in the future I will find a way to help you resolve this trouble. Whether you want to be an outstanding ninja or achieve something in other areas, none of that matters. Don't just look at me and Itachi; everyone has their own rhythm, their own strengths, and their own path." His voice softened. "Today's attempt will end here. This kind of training requires you to be able to fully concentrate and eliminate distractions."
He turned to the small slug on his shoulder. "Lady Katsuyu, thank you for your help."
"No, Roshi. And Lady Tsunade rarely needs to summon me. I am very happy to be called and to provide assistance," Katsuyu replied gently.
The two tiny slugs on Roshi's and Anko's shoulders dissolved at once into little puffs of white smoke, ending the summons. Roshi reached out and helped Anko—her limbs still a little weak—to her feet.
"Captain... Roshi..." Her voice barely rose above a whisper.
"Mm."
"Orochimaru... I once thought he was the epitome of a wise and incredibly powerful ninja I admired," Anko said softly, her gaze distant, as if looking back in time. "So when he betrayed me, when he left me with something like this, discarding me like something useless... my heart cared so much, and such intense anger and resentment surged forth."
"It's alright," Roshi said simply.
"I, actually, don't crave power that much," she murmured, leaning into the warmth of his arm. "It's just... I feel like I'm falling further and further behind Captain and Itachi. I don't know where I can be useful anymore. I don't know... if one day, because I'm too useless, I'll be abandoned by everyone and become... alone again."
He rubbed her head. "Don't think about these unnecessary things, because it won't happen."
Anko looked up at his expressionless face—oddly comforting—and nodded hard. "Roshi."
"What is it?"
"This kind of training," she said, eyes steadying, "I want to do it again. Next time, I will be prepared."
"Then continue."
She forced a small smile, tugging at the corner of her mouth to sound like her usual self. "No matter what, becoming a little stronger will always be a good thing, right? As for what I truly want to do in the future... it's not too late to slowly search for the answer when that future truly arrives."
—
"The Village Hidden in Sound has started operating?"
Roshi, who had finished Anko's schedule and only returned to work the next day, heard the news.
Kakashi replied in a low voice, "Those operating outside under the name of the Village Hidden in Sound are members of the former Fuma Clan."
As Orochimaru had guessed before, information Danzo had buried after his death was beginning to resurface. Procedures like Ninja Village certification require multiple registrations and paperwork—things are hard to erase completely.
At first Kakashi hadn't tied the Village Hidden in Sound to Orochimaru. He leaned toward the idea that it was one of the secret strongholds Danzo had reserved for himself—more Root than Orochimaru. Since Danzo fell, the village had sat dormant with Konoha's higher-ups tacitly allowing its existence; it made sense to see it as a leftover of Root.
But as the Anbu restarted deep audits and background checks, another name kept reappearing: the Fuma Clan. Putting the collected intelligence together, Kakashi's conclusion matched Roshi's private thought: with Orochimaru's whereabouts unknown, keeping the Village Hidden in Sound visible as a "shell" could be useful—a bait, or at least a window for observation.
"The Fuma Clan..." Roshi recalled the clan from the Land of Rice Fields. In the original timeline he remembered, they only sent people to make contact after the Village had been set up, later coming to serve Orochimaru. Kakashi's report suggested the situation wasn't that simple now.
"I dispatched the Anbu to investigate the situation. We found no trace of Orochimaru. We can only confirm that from the recent recommencement of the Sound's activities to the initial recruitment of external personnel, the ones leading all of this have consistently been members of the Fuma Clan," Kakashi said.
"What about Ninjutsu?" Roshi asked.
Kakashi shook his head. Looking only at the Fuma Clan, they hadn't shown anything particularly noteworthy. Having left the Land of Rice Fields alone so long, there were still fish in the pond—they hadn't come up empty-handed, but what was biting the bait didn't feel right.
Was Orochimaru using the Fuma Clan as a vanguard to test the waters, or was the Village Hidden in Sound serving as a sacrificial pawn or diversion in a deeper plan?
"Keep it running."
"I will assign more personnel skilled in infiltration and tracking to closely monitor the movements of the Village Hidden in Sound and the Fuma Clan," Kakashi said.
Only a handful of people could truly disrupt the Ninja World. Given Orochimaru's knowledge, technology, and potential threat, it was worth Konoha investing resources to maintain this long-term bait. As long as he used the Village Hidden in Sound—whether appearing personally or not—he would leave traces to analyze.
The intelligence on the Village Hidden in Sound was flagged, archived, and placed under continuous observation.
On the diplomatic side, preliminary talks with the Hidden Cloud Village ended yesterday. The overall tone stayed reasonably cordial. Kumogakure's Dodai was cautious and made no substantive commitments, but he showed no clear intent to object or cause trouble.
It would likely be some time before those conversations produced concrete results.
—
Land of Demons—deep inside the Priestess's Palace.
I will die.
Priestess Miroku was certain. Ever since she accepted her duty, she had been prepared for this day. But now the death she foresaw wasn't only the demon's doing.
Once she understood that, everything changed. This had ceased to be just the endless cycle of priestess versus demon, sealing and renewal. If Shion stayed with her, she would not survive what was coming.
She must send her daughter away. She must make the preparations before the end.
Miroku summoned her guards. "Prepare to send Shion to the ninja village we can reach the fastest. Any of the Five Great Ninja Villages will do—send her where we can establish contact quickest."
Anyone from the Five Great Ninja Villages would grasp what the Land of Demons was and what it meant to have the young priestess sent away.
Traveling by a relatively hidden sea route, the Priestess's escort happened upon a merchant fleet guarded by Sunagakure shinobi. After the guards verified the Sand ninjas' identities and followed Miroku's strict orders, they entrusted the urgent commission to Sunagakure.
Sunagakure, strained for funds, was glad for work. After confirming with the guards, the Sand contingent took the party to the Land of Wind.
Chiyo—a little frazzled from a day of teaching children—received the new employers in the Kazekage's hall. Her younger brother, Ebizo, was not pleased.
"If this had happened before," Ebizo grumbled, "the priestess would have meant something to us politically. We might have gained something. Now… this is a mission we must take, but it won't pay well."
Chiyo set the scroll down. "Miroku, the current priestess of the Land of Demons, foresaw her own death and sent out her only successor," she read. "Can she no longer guard that demon?"
"That's probably what it means," Ebizo said. "She wouldn't go this far otherwise."
Chiyo met her brother's eyes. "It just so happens we, Sunagakure, received this commission right now."
Their village was weak. They did not have the manpower to spare for a mission of this scale.
Ebizo's voice went calm and practical. "This isn't something Sunagakure can handle alone. If Moryo breaks the seal, it threatens the peace of the entire Ninja World. We shouldn't—and can't—shoulder that burden by ourselves."
"Are you suggesting—"
"Send the little priestess to those who are truly responsible and capable of dealing with this," he finished.
"Konoha, then…" Chiyo said. "They're busy organizing the joint combat exercise. Handing them this hot potato will probably bother them."
"First," Ebizo replied, "send word to Konoha's Border Garrison that there's an urgent crisis that needs to be communicated, and tell them Sunagakure wishes to send an envoy in person."
Konoha's forces were still posted along the border. If Sunagakure wanted to avoid making things worse, they could not simply cross into the Land of Fire.
'Even if "that little fox" from the Land of Fire accepted the priestess's successor', Chiyo thought, Konoha would likely expect Sunagakure to take primary responsibility. It would be safer to send the girl directly.
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