After dealing with matters in Kirigakure, Hii Kōri didn't rush back to the Land of Water's capital. He rode his Iron Sand cloud, making a circuit through the skies above various parts of the Land of Water.
With Uchiha Hikari at the daimyō's residence, there was no need to worry. In comparison, it was more important to first check whether any remnants of the curse remained in other regions of the Land of Water.
By the time he had exorcised some of the more deeply rooted curses and cleaned out a few small villages running cults, and finally returned to the Land of Water's capital, over a week had passed.
The sky had darkened. Wearing the concealment field of the Rainbow Release, Hii Kōri silently entered the main hall, passed the attendant on duty, and walked to his room door.
Since assassination was one of the primary trades of ninjas, he naturally knew small tricks like lock-picking.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The moment he opened the locked door, several shuriken shots through the air, aimed at roughly vital areas his throat, heart, and lower abdomen.
Even enveloped in the Rainbow Release's field, Uchiha Hikari had a keen sensed something amiss and responded before he even opened the door.
Hii Kōri didn't even raise an eyebrow. He simply raised his hand, and the shuriken fell into the turbulent airflow, lost their momentum, and dropped onto the carpet.
"Don't be so tense. It's me."
After closing the door and casually adding a soundproof barrier, Hii Kōri dispelled the Rainbow Release field and waved at the alert Uchiha Hikari.
The room was silent for a second.
Then—
"Kōri!"
The small figure threw herself at him like a swallow returning to its nest, her arms wrapping around his shoulders, her entire body nearly hanging off him.
The girl buried her face in his neck like a little dog, rubbing back and forth, breathing in his scent deeply, as if confirming he wasn't injured.
"How did your hair turn so white..."
"It's just a side effect of a technique. Nothing serious."
"...Are you done with everything on your end?"
Although she could guess that it was probably some kind of price that consumed lifespan, since Hii Kōri didn't want to say more, Hikari didn't press further. The girl asked in a muffled voice against his shoulder, her warm breath slightly damp, leaving a small patch of warm moisture on his neck.
As a skilled Yin Release user, she could vaguely sense traces of curses. And the rapid retreat or rather, convergence of curses a few days ago, she had naturally felt as well.
With a little calculation, she could figure out just how massive a curse had gathered throughout the entire Land of Water. But what risks Hii Kōri would face in confronting that power—that was beyond her knowledge.
And it was precisely because she didn't know that she feared.
Of course, Uchiha Hikari was worried that something might have happened to him.
Just then, the bedroom door opened.
Hearing the noise outside, Sasori poked his head out, glanced expressionlessly toward the living room, and saw Hikari clinging to his uncle. He simply waved at Hii Kōri in greeting, then withdrew and quietly closed the door again.
The entire process was seamless, taking no more than three seconds.
Lately, he had been studying cannon blueprints, with many optimization plans to work on. He had plenty to keep him busy.
It was just his uncle and that Uchiha woman being affectionate. Nothing unusual. Sociology +3.
"...Would Konan cry if she saw this?"
Sasori muttered softly, thinking of his overly obedient junior sister who didn't really know how to act coquettishly. For some reason, he felt a touch of emotion.
"...Yeah, pretty much. But I'll leave the cleanup in Kirigakure to them."
Watching Sasori's closed door, Hii Kōri thought for a moment, then explained as if nothing was wrong.
He wrapped one arm around the girl's waist, used the other to support her thigh, held her securely, and walked to sit on the sofa, then changed the subject. "How have things been on your end?"
"I've almost finished everything on my end too!"
Hikari naturally curled up in Hii Kōri's arms, leaning against his chest as she peeled an orange. Eating the segments, she "reported" on her work progress.
"I've taken care of the daimyō, the ministers, and the guard ninjas. Next is Uncle Sakaki's meeting time. From what he says, after the next negotiation session, they can directly send in the engineering teams to the Land of Water."
During the days Hii Kōri was away, Uchiha Hikari, disguised as Hii Kōri's "advisor," had been going to the daimyō's residence with Sakaki Tatsuma under the pretext of discussing cooperation, adjusting the genjutsu effects.
If they used genjutsu that directly controlled the mind or affected the five senses, it would be much faster. But the drawback was that the controlled individuals would be too stiff, easily revealing that they were under genjutsu.
For ninjas who rarely spoke with outsiders, this method didn't matter much. But the daimyō and ministers all had to meet people.
Throwing them into the trash heap would come later. For now, they were still needed, so preparations had to be made.
The technique that Madara Uchiha had given to Uchiha Obito in the original story to control Yagura was actually very useful. But first, neither Hii Kōri nor Hikari knew that genjutsu. Second, they didn't have time to play "ruling the country" house here.
So the genjutsu used on these "big shots" needed to be adjusted more carefully, slowly and gradually tamper with their minds.
Slow work yields fine results. No difference.
At the guesthouse, Hikari had been using her Shadow Clone as a decoy.
Clone Technique, Transformation Technique, and genjutsu had always been the top choices for ninja infiltration and concealment. Although there was a risk of keen ninjas noticing flaws in these techniques, one had to consider who was using them.
Moreover, every single ninja in the daimyō's residence had been taken down by the "super Mangekyō user's" super genjutsu. Could they still be expected to notice anything?
"Don't call him uncle... Ahaha-kun will cry, you know."
Hearing Uchiha Hikari's address for Sakaki Tatsuma, Hii Kōri was momentarily speechless.
Although Sakaki Tatsuma was two years older than him, calling him "uncle" seemed a bit much, didn't it? By that logic, it made him sound old too.
This body was only twenty-three, after all.
"Heh~"
Hikari didn't answer directly. She just smiled and rubbed the top of her head against his chest, then drew out her tone. "Kōri, Sasori taught me a lot of things~"
Even though they had only been apart for just over a week, the girl, whose interpersonal circle was very narrow, still found it a bit difficult to bear.
After experiencing warmth from Hii Kōri, she could no longer endure the endless loneliness and suffering she had endured in the past.
As that short poem said: I could have endured the darkness, if I had never seen the sun. Yet sunlight has only made my desolation a newer desolation.
Although if she wanted to go out and look around to pass the time, no one here could stop her—or even detect her—she still felt that since she was carrying out the task Hii Kōri had entrusted to her, she shouldn't create any complications.
But besides adjusting those genjutsu, the girl still felt a bit bored.
Seeing Sasori studying all sorts of things she didn't quite understand, Hikari, who had learned various common sense from Kōri, became curious. So, half to pass the time and half for the purpose of "establishing sound interpersonal relationships," she went to talk with this person of her own generation.
In terms of strength, there probably weren't ten people in the entire ninja world who could go toe-to-toe with Uchiha Hikari at full power. But in terms of knowledge, Sasori, who had been studying under Hii Kōri since childhood, was equally impressive.
Teaching Uchiha Hikari some knowledge was naturally no burden for him—in fact, it was even a form of relaxation.
Hii Kōri smiled and stroked Hikari's head. "I'm glad you two are getting along so well."
Meanwhile, Orochimaru, forced to take a vacation at home, also received a letter from Tsunade.
The opening was a very formulaic greeting, followed by roundabout inquiries about Jiraiya and Sarutobi-sensei's recent conditions.
Orochimaru could imagine Tsunade's expression as she wrote those lines—furrowed brows, looking reluctant yet unable to harden her heart enough to not mention them at all.
After all, they were her teammates and teacher of twenty years.
But even so, she barely managed two lines of this reminiscing before stopping.
With Tsunade's personality, she wasn't the type to write such things in a letter.
At least, not to Orochimaru.
As for why she didn't write directly to Hiruzen Sarutobi and Jiraiya, but instead struggled to squeeze out two lines in this letter to Orochimaru—of course, it was because she was still angry.
The Hashirama cell research was an issue that Konoha and Tsunade couldn't get past.
Although the current executor of this project was Orochimaru himself, he was also the one who had told Tsunade about it. And when Tsunade left Konoha, she had received funding from him.
That favor was something Tsunade could never forget—especially at a time like this.
That was also another reason Tsunade was willing to help Akane write this letter.
Aside from those awkwardly included greetings, Tsunade also described her own situation in the letter, saying she had opened a medical clinic in a small town, met some very good people, and was living a stable life with Shizune, no need to worry.
This wasn't entirely fabricated. Orochimaru remembered Hii Kōri telling him that Tsunade was now at the guild's main headquarters in the Land of Fire, and that the headquarters' area was indeed no different from a small town.
And Tsunade did indeed go to the medical department to sit in during her free time. Her life was plenty stable.
Apart from not mentioning that she had given birth to a son, Tsunade had described things quite truthfully.
Orochimaru thought that if Jiraiya saw this, he would definitely chase after the messenger to find Tsunade again.
Whether he'd be beaten out with a stick was another matter.
Jiraiya right now was even less useful than a sandbag, after all.
At the very end of the letter, Tsunade hurriedly added a short passage, hoping Orochimaru could help find materials related to reincarnation techniques.
"Reincarnation techniques, huh..."
Orochimaru's slender fingers tapped continuously on the desk, somewhat uncertain.
Was Tsunade truly trying to resurrect someone—like Katō Dan or Nawaki? Or was Hii Kōri using this to give him a hint, telling him to quickly acquire Tobirama Senju's materials?
He was somewhat inclined toward the latter.
To be honest, Hii Kōri's progress in reincarnation techniques was far ahead of his own. That "data theory" had provided him with endless inspiration.
Orochimaru thought that given the current relationship between those two, if Tsunade wanted to resurrect someone, Hii Kōri wouldn't refuse.
Even if it was Katō Dan.
"So Hii-kun is using this opportunity to tell me to quickly get the Second Hokage's materials, then?"
Thinking thus, Orochimaru suddenly realized this possibility wasn't very high either.
Konoha had used Hashirama Senju's cells, and Tsunade got angry. If Hii Kōri used Tobirama Senju's cells, wouldn't she get angry just the same?
That didn't make sense.
The last line might simply be something Tsunade added herself, a smoke bomb to obscure Konoha's speculation about her situation.
After all, the claim that she was being held by Hii Kōri was only Jiraiya's speculation. He hadn't even seen Tsunade herself—only the scene of Hii Kōri walking away with Shizune.
Since the war had ended, even if Konoha ninjas went missing and there was suspicion that Sunagakure was responsible, Konoha wouldn't block foreign nationals and ninjas from the Land of Wind entering the Land of Fire.
Wartime was wartime. After the war, everyone still needed to eat.
So even if Hii Kōri had actually encountered Tsunade, Konoha couldn't easily take action, as it might reignite conflict. In fact, Jiraiya hadn't even checked Hii Kōri's entry application before attacking—that was the real breach of protocol.
"Ah, this is truly..."
Having figured out the crux of the issue, Orochimaru shook his head with some emotion, feeling the confusion of the relationships between his "friends."
But regardless of what Tsunade's last sentence meant, Orochimaru didn't really care.
Orochimaru had already reported to the Hokage requesting permission to "learn" Impure World Reincarnation. Hiruzen Sarutobi had already replied.
He actually approved!
Presumably, Hiruzen Sarutobi saw that he was so idle in the lab he was about to shed his skin, and thus specially granted his request.
Yes. Shed his skin.
In the literal sense.
Think about it—with no funding to continue experiments, and training also costing money, what else could Orochimaru research but those increasingly evil self-modification ninjutsu?
He couldn't learn the senjutsu of Ryūchi Cave, but he could still study somewhat snake-like ninjutsu that resembled but wasn't quite the real thing.
As for the Impure World Reincarnation issue—if you're going to put on a show, you have to do it properly. Even though he had already obtained a more detailed analysis from Hii Kōri, Orochimaru still had to go through the motions of "learning" for a while.
After dragging things out for a few more months and doing several practical operations, Orochimaru could then conveniently find an excuse to use Tobirama Senju's materials.
More than the meaning of Tsunade's last ambiguous sentence, what concerned him more was the thick stack of bearer bonds delivered with the letter.
The letter said it was repayment of the money he had given her. But the amount was many times greater than what he had given Tsunade when she left the village.
One look at the amount made it clear: this was research funding that Hii Kōri had sent him using Tsunade as an excuse.
Too generous, Boss Hii.