"Alright," Naruto said, hesitating for a moment—then finally nodded.
Sakura activated the Palm Healing Technique and began treating his wounds.
Watching the two of them from the side, Yoruha felt something stir inside.
Maybe it was because of his presence that Sakura hadn't developed that obsessive attachment to Sasuke like in the original timeline. Because of that, over the years, her bond with Naruto had only deepened.
And that was why, just now, Naruto chose not to use the Nine-Tails' power—because once he did, he would lose control of his mind and miss the feeling of fighting side-by-side with Sakura.
"If this really leads to something between them... that wouldn't be a bad thing," Yoruha thought.
Half an hour passed.
Sakura and Naruto's injuries had been mostly healed, and their energy was steadily recovering thanks to the military rations pills.
But Yoruha suddenly noticed something odd.
Sai hadn't moved for a while now.
Could it be… that Orochimaru's stronghold was closer than expected?
"Yoruha, let's go!" Naruto stood up with renewed energy. "I feel like I've fully recovered!"
After all, this was a treatment done personally by Sakura—the effect was naturally impressive.
"Alright. Let's go," Yoruha nodded.
He activated the Flying Thunder God Formation and instantly teleported himself, Naruto, and Sakura to Sai's location.
But it wasn't Orochimaru's stronghold.
It was a desolate wasteland.
—
"Sai! Wake up—what happened?!" Naruto rushed to support the unconscious Sai while Sakura quickly began healing him.
"Yoruha, what now?" Sakura frowned. "It doesn't look like he joined Orochimaru as we thought."
They had originally planned to use Sai to trace Orochimaru's location.
But clearly… they'd lost his trail.
"I'll use my clan's secret technique to search his memories." Yoruha formed a seal, and his spiritual energy penetrated into Sai's mind.
Ten minutes passed.
Yoruha opened his eyes, frowning slightly.
Everything matched up with what he remembered from the original events.
Sai had indeed met Orochimaru and delivered Danzo's request to cooperate.
But Orochimaru had rejected him without hesitation—and even attacked him.
Before leaving, Orochimaru had muttered, "Cooperate? Do you even understand how terrifying Yoruha is? Danzo is dead. I, Orochimaru, don't want to die."
At that moment, Yoruha's expression became oddly complicated.
Uncle Snake… was scared of him?
He really ran off?
Meanwhile, at Orochimaru's base in the Land of Grass...
Orochimaru and the battered Pharmacist Kabuto arrived back at their hideout.
As soon as they entered, Sasuke stepped forward impatiently, eager to begin today's training.
But Orochimaru didn't even glance at him.
"Kabuto, pack up all the critical intel. We're abandoning this location immediately," he said coldly.
"Understood," Kabuto nodded.
"Leaving? We just got here. Why are we moving again?" Sasuke asked, frowning.
"Probably because of Yoruha," Kabuto said, shrugging. "We just clashed with him—and he might be tracking us."
Kabuto didn't know the details of Orochimaru's battle with Yoruha, but for someone like Orochimaru to be this rattled?
It said enough.
"Yoruha…" Sasuke's eyes narrowed, a chilling pressure leaking from his body.
His black eyes turned crimson.
"Orochimaru, you're getting soft. So what if Yoruha's coming? I've been waiting to kill him for years."
His Sharingan burned bright.
Three years.
Three long years under Orochimaru's so-called 'tutelage.'
He'd endured the humiliation for this very moment—to take revenge on Yoruha for all those beatdowns.
"Sasuke, don't get cocky," Orochimaru said with a shake of his head. "Yoruha is far stronger than you imagine. If you really want to fight him, you'll need to wait until I've gathered more intel."
The Second Coming of Uchiha was always like this.
Thinks he's ready. Gets cocky. Gets clobbered.
Repeat.
Wasn't it exhausting?
"Hmph," Sasuke scoffed.
"Yoruha may be strong—but I, Uchiha Sasuke, am not weak. I have a technique that'll bring him down."
He spoke with conviction.
"Sasuke, I understand how you feel. But not today," Orochimaru said calmly. "Let's pull back for now."
"Next time, we'll kill him—together."
His eyes flickered coldly as he looked Sasuke up and down.
Of course, what he really meant was: Once I've taken your body for myself, I'll handle it.
"For the sake of the bigger picture, please restrain yourself," Kabuto added, adjusting his glasses. "This is Lord Orochimaru's research base. If critical data is lost, everything he's worked for will be wasted."
But honestly, expecting Sasuke to listen?
Ridiculous.
With a thunderous burst of chakra, Sasuke's figure vanished into lightning.
"Damn it. He's still so impulsive!" Orochimaru clenched his jaw.
"Orochimaru-sama, what now? If Sasuke gets injured, he won't be suitable as your next vessel," Kabuto warned.
"You pack the data and escape. I'll go retrieve him myself," Orochimaru replied.
Though he had spatial ninjutsu for escaping, he'd already used it once recently.
To use it again would completely drain his chakra reserves—and likely break this current body.
—
Back in the forest...
Yoruha, Naruto, and Sakura were traveling through the trees.
Now that they'd lost Orochimaru's trail, Yoruha relied on his clan's sensory technique to track him down.
But as expected, Orochimaru was cautious to the extreme.
His base in the Land of Grass was underground and well hidden. Finding it wouldn't be easy.
"I didn't expect Danzo to try forming an alliance with Orochimaru," Sakura said with a heavy expression. "Looks like Lady Tsunade's suspicions were correct."
"But now that Sai failed… can we still find Sasuke?" Naruto asked, his tone full of frustration.
They were so close to succeeding.
Now, it felt like everything had slipped through their fingers again.
Would Sasuke be lost forever to Orochimaru?
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