"What is the situation?"
In the fifty-fifth year of the Hokage era, Yuji stood in his office by the window, gazing out at the village scenery. Behind him stood Black Zetsu, a figure he had rarely encountered recently.
"There are no clues yet. Orochimaru is extremely cautious. After attacking Sasori, he appears to have anticipated your reaction, and his whereabouts have been thoroughly concealed," Black Zetsu said.
"What about his research bases?"
"I found a few locations, but they have all been abandoned," Black Zetsu replied.
"What about the Land of Rice?"
"Orochimaru did indeed make contact with the Land of Rice's Daimyo. But it does not appear to have happened within the Land of Rice's territory, and the method of contact was likely quite unusual. He himself has not physically appeared anywhere we can detect."
At these words, Yuji's eyes flickered with thought.
If it were White Zetsu, having searched across the entire ninja world and still finding no trace of Orochimaru, that alone might seem understandable. Orochimaru was not an ordinary person and had already gone on high alert.
But White Zetsu had not yet been officially exposed in the ninja world. Based on White Zetsu's abilities and characteristics, detecting them was extremely difficult even for a cautious and intelligent person.
Even with all of Orochimaru's caution, he could not have anticipated that someone could predict the future timeline, including the establishment of what would become the Hidden Sound Village. Creating the Hidden Sound Village would require a personal meeting with the Land of Rice's Daimyo. And yet White Zetsu had not detected this?
A thought stirred in his mind.
"You may go," Yuji said in a low voice, turning his back to Black Zetsu.
"Yes," Black Zetsu replied, disappearing into the ground.
'It seems these two are working together,' Yuji thought, a cold glint appearing in his eyes.
He had known this possibility beforehand, but Black Zetsu did not know that he knew. Black Zetsu only assumed it understood the ninja world's past. So if any situation appeared on the future timeline that did not conform to the original story, it could only mean one thing.
There was an inside informant.
And outside of Black Zetsu, there was no one else it could be.
This way, Orochimaru's successful betrayal and escape from Konoha made complete sense. This was even more convincing than Yuji's earlier subtle attempts to inquire about the matter's origins through Minato.
The exposure of Orochimaru's human experiments had become known to Konoha's senior leadership. It had not been a case of Hiruzen covering it up. Rather, after Minato and Hiruzen received the intelligence, they had prepared to surround and eliminate Orochimaru. But Orochimaru had already escaped, seemingly having received prior warning.
To perfectly time the escape and seize the exact right moment, without using White Zetsu's previous monitoring of Konoha's senior leadership, it would have been impossible.
Yuji had clearly instructed Black Zetsu to temporarily refrain from activity to avoid exposure. Everything had appeared fine up until now. But under Konoha's watchful eyes, with both Minato and Hiruzen possessing extraordinary perceptive abilities, even a more cautious White Zetsu might still have been detected. And whether Black Zetsu's activities had also been noticed by Konoha was even less certain.
White Zetsu, however, remained the Sand Village's secret weapon for the next Great Ninja War.
"This traitor..." Yuji sneered inwardly.
He had never trusted Black Zetsu and had always understood its nature clearly.
"I do not understand why it chose to involve Orochimaru. Well. Let us see what tricks you can manage to pull off."
Something flashed through his mind and he allowed himself a quiet cold smirk.
"Lord Kazekage."
At this moment, Baki, who was waiting outside, knocked on the door.
"Come in."
After the door opened, Baki stepped aside, allowing a pregnant woman to enter.
It was Pakura.
At this point Pakura was visibly pregnant, dressed entirely in the manner of a housewife. She had served as his personal guard for some time, though it had not even lasted a full year. After the two married and confirmed she was pregnant, she had temporarily stepped down from her position. Every day she simply stayed home, studying cooking, and brought Yuji three meals a day.
"I told you to stay home and rest properly."
"You should not be wandering around like this. How did you even get here?" Yuji said with a smile.
"Being idle is still being idle. I am not that fragile," Pakura said, holding a plate of food and stepping forward to set it before him.
"This is a new dish I learned from Karura. You should try it."
"Alright," Yuji said, his expression brightening.
Life after marriage had not changed dramatically for him. As the Kazekage, he found it difficult to devote much attention to domestic matters, and Pakura understood this perfectly. The only real change was that someone was now looking after his daily life, and the office and living quarters were considerably less chaotic than before.
"Not bad. The flavor is very good," Yuji said, enjoying the food.
After tasting a bite, Yuji offered his encouragement. Yura quietly closed the door behind him as he left.
"Even though you are busy and have limited free time, you still found time to learn cooking," Yuji said with some surprise.
"It did not take long," Pakura replied with a smile.
Before their eyes, the earliest group of new children brought to the Sand Village had grown considerably. Kimimaro was now eight years old. The youngest, Gaara, was four. Jugo, Kimimaro, and Kankuro were all six years old. Deidara was seven.
Time had passed so quickly.
Looking at these children, there was a strange sense of unreality about it all.
Because the first generation of children in the village had been newborns and were now beginning to grow up, the village's educational institutions were facing enormous teaching pressure.
Shira, as the person in charge of this area, was naturally extraordinarily busy every day. And because it was a period of peace with fewer assigned missions, many Sand Village ninja had been assigned to the ninja academy to teach students.
These story characters had been caught and brought into the village's orbit. Now that they had grown up somewhat, their personalities and appearances had naturally changed from the original story. The environment had an enormous influence on a person. But even so, familiar shadows of who they would become could still be seen in them.
For example, Deidara, this little troublemaker. Now that he was in the ninja academy, he refused to attend classes or train properly, spending all his time contemplating his clay sculpture art. It was said that if anyone in his class dared to say his creations were not beautiful, they would face retaliation. After school he also frequently used his clay creations to harass the villagers.
Although nothing had escalated to the horrific levels seen in the original story, it was still quite a headache for everyone involved.
The various setbacks from his childhood combined with the Sand Village's influence had restrained him to some degree. Otherwise the situation would have been even more unmanageable. It was not impossible to imagine simply isolating this child entirely the way Onoki had once done.
Education had limited effect on a mischievous child like Deidara.
In the entire Sand Village right now, the only person whose opinion carried any weight with him was Yuji. In Deidara's eyes, only someone who represented a genuinely overwhelming presence mattered. Even the Kazekage himself, this little brat barely acknowledged.
The village now possessed considerable Earth Release resources and had cultivated many Earth Release specialists who could offer Deidara some guidance. However their skill level was still somewhat inferior to the Hidden Stone Village's.
Fortunately, during the period when the Hidden Stone Village's study group had been staying in the Sand Village, Yuji had personally stepped forward and requested that Kitsuchi guide Deidara for a period, allowing the boy to learn from him and lay a solid foundation in Earth Release.
By now, the first cohort of study groups from several major hidden villages had already completed their programs and returned home, including Tsunade and the Konoha group. But where there was a first group, a second would follow. These people, having absorbed the Sand Village's medical knowledge and skills, had already elevated their treatment capabilities considerably.
More than half of the villages intended to continue sending people. As long as diplomatic relations between both sides did not deteriorate, the cooperation would continue indefinitely.
Once it was confirmed that this learning path was viable, figures like Kitsuchi and Tsunade would no longer need to personally accompany their groups to the Sand Village for security oversight.
The Sand Village earned money. The other hidden villages cultivated talent. A mutually beneficial arrangement.
As for the other children, Kimimaro and Jugo's personalities had also undergone meaningful changes.
Jugo's natural energy absorption physique had been continuously researched from the time he was a small child. He had experienced several loss of control incidents during his growth, but none had caused major impact. This young boy had a rather plain and gentle personality at his core. He genuinely loved small animals and had been shaped considerably by the more refined and composed atmosphere of the Sand Village.
Kimimaro, despite his young age, was remarkably sensible, level-headed, and far more mature than his peers. He was no longer the cold and ruthless figure the original story had shown. He was gentler, with a more frequent smile on his face. Both children showed Yuji enormous respect.
However, among all the new generation in the Sand Village, the one who least regarded him, the Kazekage, was none other than the Sand Village's little princess, Temari.
This girl, from childhood onward, had always harbored deep animosity toward Yuji.
Once, when he encountered Temari and Kankuro on the street, he had deliberately smiled and greeted them. Kankuro had been very friendly, running over to hug him enthusiastically. As for Temari, she had not even responded. She did not even look at him, simply turning and walking away.
It could be said that as this group of mischievous children from the Sand Village began to grow up, Yuji felt genuine pressure for the first time in a way he had not anticipated.
Because he was genuinely not very good at disciplining them or knowing how to interact with these little troublemakers.