The girl in front of them gave off a strong odor, her tattered clothes hanging loosely from her thin frame.
She stood nervously with her hands behind her back, squinting at the woman who had just spoken up for her. Her eyesight didn't seem very good.
What had once been blonde hair had turned ashen from neglect and dirt.
Uchiha Tatsumi narrowed his eyes. This can't be that long-lost sister of Minato's or something, right?
If it were, that would be an awful joke. Minato would kill him on the spot.
He scrutinized the girl's features, trying to find anything that resembled Minato.
Thankfully, aside from the hair color, there was no resemblance.
Still, Uchiha Tatsumi had to admit — this little girl had guts. Pulling off petty theft right under a ninja's nose was no small feat.
But there was also danger in that. If she'd run into a short-tempered shinobi, no one would have batted an eye if she was killed on the spot.
In this world, the life of a poor orphan meant little.
Looking at her malnourished, sunken cheeks, Uchiha Tatsumi could tell — she was starving.
In fact, due to the effects of prolonged malnutrition, her actual age might be older than she appeared.
Civilians in this era struggled to survive. Oppressed by nobles, taxed heavily, and living in fear that a passing ninja might kill them on a whim — life was cruel.
Still, none of them had any intention of harming the girl. And the woman had spoken up for her.
Orochimaru's golden, slit-pupiled eyes turned toward the woman. "You're not planning to hand her over... are you?"
"I am," the woman said calmly.
"You came from there. You know how cruel it is. Haven't you always wanted to escape it? Now you want to send her back?" Orochimaru's raspy voice carried a mocking edge.
"It's still better than starving to death in the streets," the woman replied with a sigh. "If she wants to live, there's no other way."
Uchiha Tatsumi and the others exchanged puzzled glances. They didn't understand the full story behind this "here" and "there."
Tch, just say what you mean, Tatsumi thought. All this mysterious whispering like we can't hear you.
He began to suspect that this woman had a much more complex background than she let on.
"Get lost," Orochimaru said coldly to the girl.
"Wait." Mikoto stepped forward, stopping the girl in her tracks.
She placed a few coins and folded clothes into the girl's hands.
The girl stared silently at them, her expression unreadable.
"Take it," Uchiha Tatsumi said casually. "If you're going to steal, at least have the skills to back it up."
Hmm… makes sense, the girl seemed to think. She turned and climbed out the window again, disappearing without a word.
For Uchiha Tatsumi and the others, it was just a brief incident — unlikely they'd ever cross paths with the girl again.
After resting through the night, Orochimaru's team resumed their journey.
From Uchiha Tatsumi's calculations, it would take them only two more days to reach their destination at their current pace.
But he wasn't wasting time.
He started asking Orochimaru about wind-style chakra nature transformation.
He had already mastered the basics of fire and lightning transformations, but wind was proving more difficult.
His Ninjutsu stat might have been at level 9, but without enough ninja points, he couldn't upgrade further. For now, he was stuck.
Thankfully, he had an all-purpose teacher — Orochimaru.
It was like carrying a living, breathing encyclopedia around with him.
"Where did you learn this?" Orochimaru asked.
Since leaving the inn, he'd been in a dour mood, radiating don't talk to me energy.
"I've just been feeling it out," Tatsumi said, showing a partially sliced leaf in his palm. "Still at the starting line."
"No need to bother with leaves. Leaves are too poor at conducting chakra," Orochimaru replied. His voice was low and rough.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of white chakra paper.
A surge of chakra passed through Orochimaru's hand. In an instant, the paper was sliced in half with razor precision.
Then it crumbled into several pieces.
"Damn," Tatsumi muttered, impressed. "That's strong."
"You try. This paper transmits chakra much better than leaves."
"Uh, where do I get that kind of paper?"
"Didn't Nawaki stash some pervy manga in his bag? Use that. Tsunade will find it soon anyway and sell it off. Better to make use of it now." Orochimaru chuckled wickedly.
Tatsumi nodded and glanced at the still-sleeping Nawaki.
I've read this one like five or six times already anyway… He won't miss a page or two.
He quietly pulled the manga out.
Oh? This is one of the good ones... Damn shame to tear this.
But Mikoto was watching with a freezing smile.
Reluctantly, Uchiha Tatsumi tore a page and tested his chakra as instructed.
As expected, it was easier to cut than the leaf. Much better feedback.
For the next two days, their journey continued peacefully.
Tatsumi passed the time talking with Mikoto or quietly practicing his chakra control and wind nature transformation.
Two days slipped by like water through his fingers.
Finally, they arrived at their mission site.
"It's bigger than I expected," Tatsumi said, pulling aside the carriage curtain as Orochimaru went to handle entry procedures.
A high wall surrounded the town. Armed shinobi stood on patrol. It had a similar setup to Konoha's outer defenses.
This, clearly, was a forward supply base.
The Land of Fire was vast. Once war began, moving supplies would become slow and inefficient.
So instead, many of them were stockpiled here in advance. From this bridgehead, they could be sent to the frontlines the moment war broke out — saving time, and lives.
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