Chapter 49 – Depart! The Road to Tsunade and the Land of Rain
Konoha was shrinking behind them.
If he turned back now, the faces on Hokage Rock would soon vanish from view.
At that moment, Uchiha Yujiro felt something stirring in his chest.
The gears of fate have begun to turn.
Yes—
that was exactly it.
A storm was coming.
One that would sweep across the entire shinobi world—ten years ahead of schedule.
And at the eye of that storm stood none other than Uchiha Yujiro himself.
"Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh~"
"Someone's in high spirits," Jiraiya remarked with a smirk.
"Can you blame me?" Yujiro grinned, his eyes gleaming. "The legendary Three Sannin, gathered in one place—
even I can't help but feel excited.
Though honestly, it'd be even better if we were enemies.
That way, I'd finally get to see who among us is truly the strongest."
Orochimaru's tongue flicked over his lips, his eyes narrowing with amusement.
"Heh-heh-heh~ You think so, Yujiro-kun? Now that you mention it…
Jiraiya, what do you think?
Among the three of us—who's the strongest?"
Jiraiya rolled his eyes.
"Oh great, you too? You guys never change…"
And so, with banter and ego-laced laughter, the trio pressed on down the road.
Their pace was swift—far beyond what any normal traveler could match.
Within hours, the capital of the Land of Fire appeared on the horizon.
---
This journey, unlike the one months ago, was noticeably smoother.
The roads were safer, the people calmer.
Bandits and rogue ninjas—once a daily nuisance—had all but vanished.
No more "This mountain belongs to me!" moments.
No more thugs jumping out from behind trees demanding toll money… or worse.
Orochimaru clicked his tongue in mild annoyance.
"Tch."
Yujiro noticed the sour expression.
Was he disappointed because there were no more highway bandits?
Or because his laboratory was running out of experimental "subjects"?
Still, Yujiro couldn't help wondering—
With all the resources Danzō has, shouldn't Orochimaru have more than enough test material?
After all, the shinobi world lacked many things,
but "people to experiment on" was definitely not one of them.
Danzō could easily disguise Root operatives as bandits or missing-nin.
A steady supply chain—ten "volunteers" a day—wasn't too much to ask.
So why risk abducting people inside the village?
Was it a chakra purity issue?
Bloodline limits?
Or… something as simple and shameful as—
"Eh, it's just more convenient this way."
If that were true, then Danzō's "bastard index" just went up another level.
Which was impressive, considering it was already maxed out.
Be grateful you can't die twice, old man, Yujiro mused darkly.
If you could, I'd be first in line to make it happen.
---
"You know," Orochimaru said suddenly, a serpentine smile curling on his lips,
"the safety of these roads owes a lot to you, Yujiro-kun.
The Konoha Transport Company—that was your idea, wasn't it?
Thanks to that booming trade, travel across the Fire Country has become much safer."
Jiraiya's eyebrows rose in surprise.
"Seriously? That was your doing? Well, color me impressed."
He looked at Yujiro with newfound respect.
Until now, he'd thought of the young Uchiha as just another eccentric genius with a penchant for chaos.
Turns out, the kid actually knew how to build civilization.
---
And it was true.
The logic behind it was simple yet ingenious.
Before, shinobi only dealt with bandits reactively—
they'd wait for merchants or villagers to post missions,
then take out the specific group causing trouble.
But any bandits outside that mission's scope?
Not their problem.
Not everyone thought long-term like Yujiro.
Most didn't realize that improving public safety wasn't charity—
it was good business.
With the establishment of the Konoha Transport Company,
things changed dramatically.
Every route had to be safe.
Every ambush wiped clean.
The faster the convoys could move, the more goods they could deliver—
and the more profit they made.
One extra shipment per day meant one extra bowl of Ichiraku ramen per week.
And if there was one thing every ninja understood deeply… it was money.
And so, without any grand declarations or speeches,
Konoha's shinobi had become the unsung heroes of economic reform.
Merchants prospered.
Villages grew.
The Land of Fire thrived.
---
"Though I hate to admit it," Yujiro said, gazing ahead thoughtfully,
"most of the time, shinobi are a force of destruction, not creation.
War, chaos, crime—those are what make us relevant.
Without them, the world wouldn't need people like us."
He looked over at Jiraiya.
"We're supposed to protect peace… but the truth is, we're the opposite of peace, aren't we?
Still, I hope that someday it changes.
Maybe one day, shinobi won't have to kill or start wars just to survive.
Maybe they can live happy lives without blood on their hands.
What do you think, Jiraiya-sensei?"
For a moment, Jiraiya said nothing.
Then, with a faint, wry smile, he exhaled.
"When I was your age, I couldn't even imagine saying something like that.
You're something else, Yujiro."
To Jiraiya, what stood out wasn't just Yujiro's idealism—
it was the fact that he practiced what he preached.
Plenty of people could talk about changing the world.
But very few actually did something about it.
And among those few, even fewer succeeded.
---
Yujiro smiled modestly.
"It's not all my doing.
Without everyone's cooperation, the company wouldn't have worked.
Changing the world isn't something one person can achieve alone.
More than any so-called 'Child of Prophecy,' I believe in the strength of the people."
For a long moment, Jiraiya just stared at him, then let out a small, proud chuckle.
"You really might be the kind of person who changes the shinobi world someday."
Yujiro only smiled back, the gleam in his Sharingan faint but steady.
"Someday? Oh no, Jiraiya-sensei… that day's already begun."
And as the wind carried their laughter across the road,
the sun dipped low on the horizon—
marking the beginning of a journey that would change the fate of the ninja world forever.
The moment Uchiha Yujiro mentioned the phrase "Child of Prophecy," Jiraiya's heart skipped a beat.
That phrase—so casually spoken—hit far too close to something he'd kept secret for years.
For a brief second, he almost blurted out, "Wait, do you also know about the Great Toad Sage's prophecy?"
But with Orochimaru walking right beside them, that question died on his tongue.
Now was not the time.
---
The conversation naturally drifted away after that.
Yujiro seemed to lose interest in talking, and the group settled into silence.
Their focus returned to the mission—finding Tsunade.
They had to move fast.
If she wasn't in the Fire Capital, they'd need to scour the neighboring towns—one by one—until they found her.
Of course, they weren't alone in this search.
Konoha's intelligence network was feeding them information along the way.
Jiraiya had also summoned a few of his toad familiars to scout across the countryside.
Orochimaru released his snakes, slithering through forests and rivers to expand their search grid.
And not to be outdone, Yujiro dispatched his own ninja cats, swift and silent as shadows.
For a month, the "Search-for-Tsunade" operation rolled on relentlessly—
and after all that…
Nothing.
Not a single trace.
---
"Damn it," Jiraiya muttered one night, frustration written all over his face.
The trio was seated inside a small tavern, nursing hot meals and stronger drinks after another fruitless day.
"This is driving me crazy," he groaned, running a hand through his messy white hair.
"I swear, there were a few times I actually felt her chakra presence. But when I got there—nothing. Completely gone.
Is she… deliberately avoiding us?"
Yujiro nearly laughed out loud.
Congratulations, you've solved the mystery.
Yes, Jiraiya-sensei—she's absolutely avoiding us.
Of the three Sannin, Tsunade was probably the one most disillusioned with Konoha.
Orochimaru had long been disgusted by the village's hypocrisy, yes—
but Tsunade's disappointment ran far deeper.
After all, disappointment only exists where hope once lived.
She had lost her clan.
She had lost her lover.
She had lost her brother.
Piece by piece, her reasons to believe in Konoha had been stripped away—until nothing was left.
And now, she was living like a ghost—drifting from city to city, gambling her pain away,
because there was nothing left in her heart to lose.
As for Jiraiya and Orochimaru… they'd never truly had those attachments to begin with.
And you can't lose what you never cared to hold.
---