Chapter 155

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Technique!)

Boom! A giant eagle appeared — though it wasn't Birdra.

This one was much smaller than Birdra, just large enough to carry a single person. But it had excellent speed and stamina.

Birdra's injuries were already healed, but due to its massive size, it would attract too much attention. It wasn't suitable for stealth missions. Besides, Tenten might need to use Birdra on her end as well.

Natsuki leapt onto the eagle's back and gave it a pat.

The giant eagle let out a sharp cry and soared into the sky, flying northward toward the Land of Fire's border.

The Shinobi World, truthfully, wasn't very large. According to original canon, it only took about three days to travel from Konoha to Sunagakure. The Land of Rice Fields was roughly half that distance from Konoha. Given that Natsuki's eagle was exceptionally fast, he reached the border in less than a day.

But Natsuki didn't rush to enter immediately. Instead, he had the eagle fly along the border twice.

After confirming that only Konoha shinobi were stationed there and finding no trace of Sound Ninja, he finally let out a breath of relief.

As dusk fell, he found a concealed place to rest and eat while thinking over his plans.

The original series did mention Orochimaru's hideouts more than once, but their locations were always vague. Even descriptions of Otogakure itself were scarce, so trying to pull intel from the canon wouldn't help much.

At most, he could recall bits about the Sound Four and Guren with her Crystal Release — both considered significant threats.

As for Orochimaru's bases? He'd have to search for them himself.

The next morning, Natsuki mounted the eagle again and flew a loop around the border before crossing into the Land of Rice Fields.

The country wasn't very large, so Natsuki planned to follow a few set flight paths to sweep it. Sitting on the eagle's back, he used Tōmegane no Jutsu (Telescope Technique) to get a low-budget aerial surveillance effect.

No way he wouldn't find something eventually!

And luck was on his side.

After an hour or so of flight, he spotted a concealed cave entrance — subtle traces of human activity, plus a snake-like carving over the doorway.

It was basically screaming "This is one of Orochimaru's hideouts!"

Natsuki didn't descend immediately. Instead, he had the eagle fly onward to avoid detection. Once they had passed a safe distance, he marked the location on his map and silently leapt down to the forest below.

"Doton: Dochū Senkō no Jutsu." (Earth Release: Underground Submarine Voyage Technique)

Natsuki slipped underground and began moving toward the cave entrance undetected.

Upon reaching it and confirming no one was around, he quickly pulled out a Polaroid-style camera and snapped a photo of the cave entrance. Every bit of intel would be credited as contribution.

After that, he continued sneaking into the cave via his earth technique.

Inside, it was clear people had been moving about recently. Deeper in, he even heard voices, making him all the more cautious.

It wasn't fear — he wasn't afraid of being discovered or of losing a fight — but he had to remember that his mission was reconnaissance. He only needed to gather intel. Everything else would be up to Tsunade to deal with.

If he alerted Orochimaru or forced him to relocate, it would only make things harder later. That would be foolish.

The investigation took an entire day.

The cave had people inside, so Natsuki had to move slowly and wait for chances to snap photos.

This was clearly one of Orochimaru's research labs. There were numerous test subjects imprisoned, some floating in green solution tanks — the kind of thing that made one's skin crawl just to look at.

Natsuki photographed everything he could, added notes and a map, and then summoned a smaller eagle to carry the intel back to Konoha.

With that done, he moved on to continue his mission.

What Natsuki didn't know was that back in Konoha, Tsunade and Shizune were shocked when they received the intel just a few days after his departure.

"Shizune, how long has it been since Natsuki left?" Tsunade asked in disbelief.

"Uh... I think only about three days," Shizune replied, dazed.

"I heard that he and Tenten have a giant mountain eagle as their summoning beast — incredibly fast. He must've flown to the Land of Rice Fields. No wonder he's so quick. Having subordinates like this really puts my mind at ease."

Tsunade sighed in admiration and immediately opened the intel package. But her expression quickly darkened.

Shizune glanced over and gasped, sucking in a breath.

The photos Natsuki had sent were brutal — many of them depicted human experimentation. Even as a doctor, Shizune felt shaken.

"That damn Orochimaru! What does he think human lives are!?"

Tsunade smashed her desk with a single punch. Of course, the only ones hurt were the desk and the finance department — Orochimaru remained untouched.

It took Shizune a while to calm down before she asked,

"Tsunade-sama, what do we do next?"

Tsunade was already composed.

"Let Natsuki continue the investigation. I believe he'll locate all of Orochimaru's bases in the Land of Rice Fields soon enough. Meanwhile, we'll wrap up negotiations with Sunagakure and then gather our forces to wipe Orochimaru out once and for all!"

In the days that followed, Natsuki continued to discover one hideout after another.

He infiltrated them all, gathered intel, and was never detected. Each time, he sent back a fresh batch of information via summoned eagle.

Orochimaru's behavior was truly maddening — in such a small country, he had ten experimental bases. Who knew how many more were still hidden?

Natsuki didn't plan to find them all — that would take too much time. The priority was to locate Orochimaru himself.

Konoha's true goal was to eliminate him. Once he was gone, it didn't matter how many bases he had. The rest could be dealt with later, or even ignored entirely.

Time passed quickly. It had been about a month since Natsuki left the village.

He had already scouted most of the Land of Rice Fields from the sky.

If aerial surveillance hadn't turned up a base, it likely didn't exist in that area.

Then, one day, Natsuki arrived near the daimyo's residence and spotted another hidden facility. But this one was different.

The entrance featured a giant serpent carving — intimidating and extravagant. There was no attempt to hide it.

That could only mean one thing: this was Orochimaru's main base.

Natsuki snapped a photo and was just about to sneak in like usual… when his Telescope Technique picked up several figures approaching.

He immediately ducked into cover.

Those people looked extremely familiar — Kidōmaru, Tayuya, Sakon and Ukon, and Jirōbō.

The Sound Four.

These were the ones who, during the Konoha Crush, set up the barrier that sealed off the Third Hokage with Orochimaru, resulting in the old man's death.

(End of Chapter)

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