The capital of the Land of Bears.
A woman with a spiky blue hairstyle and a tall, grotesque-looking man walked side by side along the road leading into the city.
"This city doesn't even have walls?" The blue-haired woman gazed at the bustling crowd and the gradually clearer outline of the city, unable to hold back her surprise.
Having traveled across the Ninja World for years, this was the first ti she had seen a city without walls.
In a world plagued by constant conflict, whether it was a capital, a major city, a small village, or even a Ninja Village, most had walls or fences to protect their core areas.
In so prosperous cities, makeshift shantytowns even sprouted outside the walls, forming slums.
After all, in this chaotic world, larger cities usually ant greater safety… at the very least, they were less likely to be dragged into war. Ninja battles rarely targeted cities directly.
"Guren-san, how should we deliver Orochimaru-sama's ssage?" The ugly man's sunken eyes held a dull gaze as he spoke in a monotone.
Guren, draped in a green overcoat, snorted lightly and glanced at the group of Hoshigakure's Ninjas rapidly approaching in the distance. She crossed her arms: "If that Shura is really here, we can just tell him directly."
Whoosh!
Three Hoshigakure's Ninjas suddenly landed on the ground, with kunai unsheathed, forming a standoff with Guren and Gozu.
"Identify yourselves and state your purpose!" The leading Hoshigakure's Ninja warned sternly.
Seeing this, the surrounding pedestrians and travelers quickly retreated, clearing the road in an instant.
"We've been ordered to seek an audience with Shura-sama." Guren said calmly, stating their business directly.
Hearing the na of 'Shura-sama', the expressions of the three Hoshigakure's Ninjas also beca serious: "Under whose orders?"
Seeing they didn't deny his presence, Guren knew she had co to the right place, so she said directly: "Orochimaru-sama's order."
The leading Hoshigakure's Ninja exchanged a glance with his teammates.
Soon, Guren and Gozu were escorted into the new Hoshigakure, or rather, Hoshinin Base.
As they walked, Guren observed the surrounding buildings and layout. She noticed a river dividing the city into two distinct halves.
To the west of the river lay a vast plain dotted with civilian buildings and residential areas. In the distance, farrs toiled in the fields, seemingly taking advantage of the agricultural off-season to construct new irrigation systems.
To the east stood a cluster of gray-white structures, where most of the people moving about were Ninjas or officials in uniform.
Kanon located one of nma's shadow clones and reported the situation.
"Orochimaru's people?" This particular shadow clone was stationed here specifically for communication.
Normally, it listened to reports from Kanon and Gato on political affairs and construction progress, then issued orders and directives.
"Let them in." nma's shadow clone mused briefly before donning a white three-eyed fox mask and taking his seat at the head of the room.
When Guren and Gozu were led inside, an oppressive aura, even more overwhelming than Orochimaru's, forced them to kneel on one knee.
Seeing the mysterious masked man sitting in the main seat, Guren steadied herself and presented a scroll: "Shura-sama, Orochimaru-sama ordered us to deliver this scroll to you."
nma motioned to Kanon to bring the scroll over, and thought to himself, 'Since these two people did not lose their composure under my pressure, their strength was probably close to Jonin-level.'
Searching his mory, nma recalled that these two had been sent by Orochimaru to capture the Three-Tails alongside a young boy in the Ani.
'You'd need so skill for that.'
'That guy Orochimaru, his judgnt is as sharp as ever.'
nma guessed that when news of the upheaval in the Land of Bears' Hoshigakure spread, Orochimaru had already deduced who was behind it.
But sending Guren here wasn't just about delivering a ssage.
nma took the scroll from Kanon and skimd its contents.
In the scroll, Orochimaru ntioned that his research on the Iburi Clan had achieved so breakthrough progress. However, the stored samples of their flesh, blood, and hair had been exhausted, so he asked nma to co to the Land of Rice Fields to collect the research results and bring fresh samples.
Additionally, Orochimaru expressed interest in establishing an outpost in the Land of Bears… he wanted to study the poisonous gas of Devil's Ravine and the teorite in Hoshigakure.
Finally, Orochimaru expressed his intention to visit Kirigakure and extended an invitation for nma to accompany him.
'As expected.' nma rolled up the scroll and looked down at Guren below.
He only vaguely rembered that this woman was one of Orochimaru's subordinates, and also one of his potential vessels for body transfer. However, Orochimaru later found other vessels, so she was never used.
'She also seed to have been in charge of one of Orochimaru's hideouts. After failing to capture the Three-Tails, she went into seclusion with so kid.'
'I think she even visited Konoha during Naruto's wedding…'
"There's no need to establish a separate outpost. I'll assign you a dedicated research building directly." nma stated firmly.
He had no intention of allowing an uncontrolled base within his territory… who knew what kind of human experints might be going on inside?
"..." Guren opened her mouth as if to argue. However, she was overwheld by the pressure from the mysterious masked man in front of her, so she could only lower her head and said, "Understood, sir."
nma guessed that Orochimaru wanted to set up a liaison point here, which was why he had sent Guren… his forr top candidate for the Living Corpse Reincarnation.
After having Kanon escort Guren and Gozu out, nma headed deeper into the base.
In the underground levels of the facility, the relocated Iburi Clan was bustling with activity, building their new ho.
"Shura-sama!" When nma arrived at the underground floor where the Iburi Clan was located, he was greeted with enthusiastic cheers.
Their living conditions were far better than the dug-out tree hollows they had lived in before.
Moreover, being directly beneath a city ant they lacked nothing, as supplies were delivered regularly.
However, this one-sided reliance left the Iburi Clan uneasy. Due to the instability of their Kekkei Genkai, they couldn't move about in sunlight.
The guilt of being unable to serve or repay nma weighed heavily on their hearts.
Gotta and Yukimi, who are now dressed in new clothes, stepped forward respectfully: "My lord, what are your orders?"
"Orochimaru's research on your clan's Kekkei Genkai has made so progress. I need blood samples, skin cells, and hair from your people." nma stated plainly.
Though Gotta's face twisted with disgust at the ntion of Orochimaru, he imdiately gathered the clan mbers.
After all, this was for their sake, so they could one day walk under the sun.
nma collected their blood, skin tissue, and hair, storing them in test tubes.
Since the Iburi Clan's relocation, nma's shadow clones had also been researching their Kekkei Genkai, but progress was slow… far slower than Orochimaru's ruthless dissection thods.
"Farewell, Shura-sama!" As nma left, Gotta led the entire clansn in kneeling on one knee, watching nma's figure disappear down the corridor.
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