After returning to camp and handling everything, Uchiha Yoru waited for Konoha's decision. During a long stretch of meditation, he gradually realized something was wrong with himself—and that was when he remembered Xiao Ke, the thing he had stuffed into his mental world.
The moment his consciousness sank inward, he was stunned.
Xiao Ke had changed.
Inside his mental world, it had taken on a new form—a strange, land-walking octopus. Each of its eight tentacles carried an eye, while its large head was completely hollow, riddled with holes of all sizes. Those holes even connected with one another, making the entire thing look like a loosely woven net.
Without the barrier of mental defenses, Xiao Ke's whispers became far more intense.
The instant Yoru entered, his mind blurred and a wave of dizziness hit him.
He had only just arrived and was already like this. The three heart-aspects that had been confronting Xiao Ke for much longer were naturally in an even worse state.
Aside from the Lung Beast Feifei, which was still holding together, the Heart Ape Golden Monkey and the Spleen Boar Dang Kang had both swollen, their conditions clearly abnormal.
The Heart Ape showed a level of laziness it had never displayed before. The oversized monkey looked almost like a sloth, every movement unbearably slow.
The Spleen Boar, on the other hand, had been completely overtaken by greed. Its belly had swollen larger than its body, leaving it unable to move as it gnawed contentedly at its own foreleg.
Seeing this twisted, almost grotesque scene, Uchiha Yoru couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath.
Stuffing Xiao Ke into his mental world really had been a reckless decision.
The existence of a mental aberration had not only disrupted the balance of the three heart-aspects, but had also brought with it a disturbing level of distortion and contamination. Whether the calming bell within him could fully clear this influence was still uncertain.
Faced with the mess before him, Yoru could only mobilize natural energy. His dantian vibrated, releasing a deep, bell-like resonance that spread outward, steadily cleansing the turmoil within his mind.
Under the suppression of that bell-like vibration, the three heart-aspects gradually returned to normal. Their distorted forms receded, becoming soft and harmless once again, while clumps of strange fur and flesh fell away.
As always, the mental world absorbed everything that was shed.
Almost immediately, Yoru felt a surge of something within himself.
The newly generated spiritual power seemed to carry something extra—whether it was an impurity or something even more fundamental, he couldn't immediately tell. What he did know was that it disrupted his mental state, stirring up instinctive impulses that were difficult to suppress.
As a cultivator, what he pursued was the elevation of life itself. Before reaching the other shore, the body remained the foundation for overcoming all trials. Any uncontrolled change in the body was a danger he could not afford to ignore.
He carefully observed his condition, tracing the source of those impulses.
It didn't take long to rule out issues like hormones, internal fluctuations, natural energy, or chakra abnormalities.
The source… was Xiao Ke.
The madness and distortion it emitted were absorbed and transformed by the heart-aspects, then purified within the mental world into seemingly pure spiritual power. But purification only removed what was harmful—it could not erase the most fundamental instinct of life itself.
The desire to survive.
That instinct had been preserved.
And now, it had merged into his own mind.
Strictly speaking, this brought more benefit than harm. That pure drive for survival greatly stimulated his life force.
As for the so-called impulses…
They were simply a byproduct—something that naturally arose once survival was no longer in question.
They could be controlled.
If necessary, they could be redirected.
The simplest method would be extreme training—pushing his body to exhaustion, forcing it into an energy-deficient state. Under such conditions, those impulses would naturally fade.
Yoru shook his head.
That might work in Konoha or during leave. But here, on the frontlines of the Land of Hot Water, threats from Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and even Konoha itself could erupt into battle at any moment.
He could not afford to be in a weakened state.
That would be no different from courting death.
So… redirect it some other way?
Or endure it head-on?
Yoru let out a quiet breath.
"Preserve heavenly principles, extinguish human desires"… that kind of approach had never led to anything good.
Then, suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.
Some cultivation paths emphasized strict discipline and abstinence. How did they deal with these instinctive impulses over endless years?
Refining essence into qi.
Ah.
That phrase marked the very first step of cultivation—restraining the loss of bodily essence and transforming it into something higher. Once one stepped onto that path, control over one's desires followed naturally.
Unfortunately…
That was part of orthodox Daoist cultivation methods.
And he didn't know them.
But the principle remained the same.
If he didn't know it, he could learn.
If he couldn't learn it, he could create it.
As long as the direction was correct, success was only a matter of time.
What Yoru followed wasn't some rigid immortal technique, but the Dao itself.
Seek the Dao, and methods would follow. Once methods formed, techniques would emerge naturally.
And how did one seek the Dao?
Live well. Observe carefully. When changes appeared, notice them, study them—then understanding would come on its own.
It sounded a lot like scientific research.
In truth, it was no different.
Clinging to scriptures, bound by rigid rules, afraid to step beyond them… such cultivators were no different from those who treated current scientific knowledge as absolute truth, rejecting anything that didn't fit.
In the end, both would achieve nothing.
So Yoru didn't dwell on Xiao Ke's abnormalities.
He continued his routine—training, observing, and interacting with Miwa Masayo.
The biggest change was that he stopped his daily physical training. Instead, he used that time to study Xiao Ke's influence on his mental world and the heart-aspects.
At night, he turned his attention inward, studying the body itself, searching for a point of leverage to begin refining essence into qi.
No one noticed anything unusual about him.
But Miwa Masayo, who was with him day and night, naturally did.
And she quite liked this slightly absent-minded version of her human.
From time to time, she would remind him of things he forgot, and each time, she felt an inexplicable sense of accomplishment—as if her intelligence had taken a leap forward.
Even though she knew it was just an illusion…
It still felt good.
That day, Yoru finally received the village's decision.
The Third Hokage had, through perfectly reasonable application of rules, quietly erased the leave, mission records, and mission rewards Yoru had been expecting.
Naturally, Yoru didn't bother being polite anymore.
He stood up and said to Miwa Masayo, "Let's go. If the Third Hokage won't give me leave, I'll just take a mission that feels like one."
"A mission like that actually exists, nya? Won't someone else grab it first?"
"Some missions look like hell to others, but to me, they're practically a vacation. That's the difference in strength."
"In the shinobi world, as long as you're strong enough, you can do whatever you want."
The Konoha frontline camp was nothing like the military bases of his previous life.
Within a relatively small area, four to five thousand shinobi were gathered. Compared to the village, there were even more people moving around here. Groups came and went, chatting loudly, the atmosphere lively and unrestrained.
Yoru moved through the crowd.
As one of the recent figures of attention, many shinobi—whether they knew him or not—recognized him. Some nodded, others greeted him.
He responded to all of them with equal courtesy.
It was a habit ingrained in him from his previous life. Besides, there was no need to make enemies over trivial matters.
Of course, not everyone was friendly.
Some shinobi revealed fleeting hostility when they saw him.
Though they concealed it quickly, Yoru saw clearly—and just as quickly recalled each of their names.
[Sarutobi… Shimura… no surprise.]
He didn't dwell on it.
Entering the mission center, he quickly found the mission he had already set his sights on and took the plaque.
The administrative shinobi recognized him and glanced at his chunin vest.
"Uchiha Yoru, this mission requires a jonin. You're not—"
Yoru cut him off immediately.
"You recognize me, right? Then you should know I was personally commended by the Third Hokage. There's no issue with my strength."
"That's not the point…"
Yoru activated his Sharingan and pointed at it.
"Look—three tomoe. That's an elite jonin-level trait. You can just treat me as one."
"But the regulations…"
Yoru deactivated his Sharingan and pulled out his commendation.
"This is personally issued by the Third Hokage. He even said I'd be promoted to jonin soon."
"So technically, I'm at least a quasi-jonin. Maybe even half a level above special jonin."
"..."
"Just make an exception."
His mind might not have been at its sharpest recently, but years of dealing with stubborn elders had left his tongue perfectly intact.
One excuse after another.
Before long, the administrative shinobi was completely overwhelmed.
Caught in the logic trap, he lost track of the conversation entirely and, without realizing it, approved the mission and handed over the document.
Yoru immediately grabbed both of his hands and shook them vigorously.
"Senior! Thank you for trusting me with this responsibility!"
"I won't disappoint you, the Hokage, or the expectations of Konoha's two hundred thousand villagers! I will definitely complete this mission!"
Then he turned—
—and vanished.
Even after he disappeared, his voice still echoed faintly:
"Just wait for my good news… good news…"
The administrative shinobi stood there, stunned.
Only after a burst of laughter erupted around him did he come back to his senses, his face flushing red.
The noise drew the attention of the newly appointed commander.
Orochimaru.
He approached calmly.
A cold, unsettling aura accompanied him. No one dared act carefree in his presence. The moment he entered the mission center, the laughter vanished completely.
Silence.
Orochimaru slowly ran his tongue across his lips, sweeping his gaze across the room before settling on a middle-aged shinobi.
"What happened here?"
After hearing the explanation, he nodded slightly.
"Uchiha Yoru… the youngest three-tomoe of the Uchiha clan."
"Let me see the mission he took."
"Yes."
He skimmed through it in a glance, returned the document, and said nothing further before leaving.
The mission center gradually returned to normal.
But the atmosphere remained subdued.
Voices unconsciously lowered, as if everyone were whispering.
Away from the crowd, a faint smile appeared on Orochimaru's face.
He looked toward the southwest.
Toward Konoha.
…
Perched on Yoru's shoulder, Miwa Masayo flipped the mission document back and forth several times, still unable to see how this could possibly count as a "vacation."
Yoru pointed at the detailed clauses.
"This is where the real vacation is."
"The patrol area is the eastern sea of the Yushan Peninsula in the Land of Hot Water."
"Monitor Kirigakure activity."
"Eliminate targets when possible. Signal if encountering large forces."
"That's a huge area, nya! The coastline alone is over four hundred kilometers!"
"If you had to run back and forth every day, you'd die from exhaustion. No wonder jonin don't want this mission. Where's the time to rest?"
Yoru formed a hand seal.
Chakra split sharply—
With a puff of smoke, another him appeared.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Miwa Masayo's eyes lit up.
"You finally mastered it, nya."
Yoru exhaled.
"Who would've thought my chakra condition would make this technique so troublesome…"
"Before getting the scroll, I didn't realize it replicates your entire chakra system as a template."
"For others, the problem is insufficient chakra."
"For me, it's the opposite—I don't have a standard chakra flow at all, so I have to manually construct it."
"But now that I've got it… this mission is simple."
"My clones handle the patrol."
"I find a quiet island and rest."
"Grill, spices, tea, and wine—I've prepared everything."
"So—let's go."
"Perfect, nya."
With mission in hand and bags already packed, the two left immediately, heading southeast at full speed.
By afternoon, they reached the Yushan Peninsula.
Without even bothering to find a boat, they ran directly across the sea, arriving at an uninhabited island marked on the map.
Night had already fallen.
Yoru found a sandy cove, gathered firewood, and lit a fire. He cracked open coconuts and tossed them into the flames.
Only then did he finally sit down.
And relax.
Only now did he feel truly free from Konoha's constraints.
No need to carefully suppress natural energy.
No need to fake chakra flow.
In the camp, under the constant surveillance of Byakugan users, any mistake would have exposed him.
Shinobi lived under constant threat of death.
Their vigilance bordered on paranoia.
The Hyuga would never overlook even the slightest irregularity.
And now, the commander was Orochimaru.
A man known for suspicion, cruelty, and precision.
Someone who could very well see through him.
Yoru had no intention of staying within Orochimaru's line of sight.
Even with his rising reputation, he preferred not to attract too much attention.
It would only make things troublesome later.
Now, far from the mainland, on an unmonitored island—
He stretched out on the sand.
"Finally… comfortable."
…
But his expectations were destined to fall short.
Having spent his previous life as a low-level officer—and this life among lower-ranked shinobi—Yoru lacked the perspective of those at the top.
He didn't realize that what he had done within the Uchiha clan was, to someone like Orochimaru—raised under Hokage doctrine and viewing himself as a successor—impossible to ignore.
Like the midday sun.
No amount of concealing his strength could prevent that attention.
Because they weren't looking at the same things.
Orochimaru noticed him not for his strength—
But for his political instincts.
And once he began observing, it didn't take long before he discovered the anomalies in Yoru's abilities.
Which led him to investigate further.
While Yoru and Miwa Masayo enjoyed sweet, steaming coconut juice—
Orochimaru had already found the corpse Yoru had left behind ten days earlier.
And began a meticulous dissection.
As the layers of decaying flesh were peeled back—
Orochimaru's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
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