As Hiromi left the village, many people's eyes lit up upon hearing this news.
Especially at the Bounty Station.
A ninety-million bounty!
Despite the title of "Number One Below The Kage," he was, in the end, just a child. No matter how strong his Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, or Genjutsu were, could he really withstand sneak attacks from so many people?
Greedy eyes flickered, everyone was filled with a sinister confidence.
However, many people remained calm. Among them, a middle-aged man wearing a black cloak with red clouds, a black mask, and a Takigakure Rogue Ninja headband, with cyan pupils, looked very composed.
He flipped through the bounty book in his hand, which was as thick as a dictionary, and quickly found his target.
[Name: Uchiha Hiromi]
[Age: 7 years old]
[Abilities: Mangekyo (Suspected capability to manifest a partial giant), Fire Release Chakra Mode (Suspected similarity to the Raikage lineage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode)]
[Bounty: 90,000,000]
"I heard he's been looking for Orochimaru lately." He mused to himself. "Right now, Orochimaru and Jūzō are in the Land of Earth looking for a kid who might join the Akatsuki, seemingly to become Sasori's partner."
Having seemingly decided on a direction, he decisively closed the bounty book and walked outside.
—
Kumogakure.
Raikage Building.
Upon receiving the news that Hiromi had left the village, A snorted coldly, tossing the seemingly tiny piece of paper onto the table.
"Where is Orochimaru?"
The Raikage's secretary, Mabui, reported, "It's unclear."
A: "???"
"Konoha found him, but my Kumogakure Anbu didn't?" A huffed, appearing irritable.
It was as if he were saying, "Is my Kumogakure Anbu really that incompetent?"
"It was the Uchiha Root that found him." Mabui corrected.
A was taken aback. "Konoha doesn't know?"
"They likely don't."
A snorted, "It seems the conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha clan has intensified again. In that case, there's no rush to kill that Uchiha brat."
The Lightning Release Chakra Mode is a secret nintaijutsu unique to the Land of Lightning, developed by the Second Raikage.
Hearing that an Uchiha brat knew a similar nintaijutsu, his first thought was to beat the Uchiha brat to death for daring to imitate the secret nintaijutsu of the Raikage lineage.
As for his opinion of Hiromi, it was one of disdain.
He's just a brat. He had absolute confidence that he could kill him.
"Let's pray Orochimaru doesn't show up in the Land of Lightning."
His fingers twitched, and his rock-like muscles rippled, full of violence and power.
—
At the same time Kumogakure received the intel, Iwagakure and Sunagakure also received it.
However, Sunagakure first received intel that "Sasori has appeared in the Land of Earth."
Consequently, Sunagakure immediately dispatched Baki's squad to quietly head to the Land of Earth for an S-rank mission.
It wasn't until half a day later that they received the news of Hiromi leaving the village.
Not knowing Hiromi's destination, Sunagakure didn't give it much thought and ignored the intel. Although they didn't want to see Konoha prosper, Sunagakure didn't want to go out of their way to make an enemy of Konoha right now.
However, if they were to encounter him, they wouldn't mind letting the monster in their village kill Konoha's future powerhouse.
—
Five days later.
Hiromi traveled from the forest-filled Land of Fire, through the grass-covered Land of Grass, and finally arrived at the rocky, mountainous Land of Earth. Leaving the village for the first time, he was somewhat excited.
Although some bounty hunters and bandits were "lucky" enough to encounter him on the way, after completing several missions that only rewarded Ninjutsu and no Chakra, he lost interest.
He handed these trivial matters over to the Uchiha Root Members following him and instructed them to pull those people up by the roots.
Hiromi had quite a comfortable journey. He had poked tigers and ridden on elephants. He was as rowdy as a bratty kid.
However, after half a day of playing, he got bored and started traveling at high speed, nearly causing the leisurely Uchiha Root Members to lose him, leaving them in a cold sweat.
Now, he looked to his left at the four people staring at him.
A man in his twenties, accompanied by a girl and two boys.
The girl was the tallest after the man, about twelve years old, carrying a giant iron fan.
The second tallest was a boy, about ten years old. He carried a puppet wrapped in bandages, with the hair on top of its head visible.
The shortest boy was the same age as Hiromi, seven years old, with heavy dark circles under his eyes that looked both exhausted and fierce.
He had short red hair and the character for "Love" carved on his forehead.
Hiromi knew who they were.
Sunagakure Jonin Baki, Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara.
"Temari, Kankuro, guard the perimeter."
Baki stared at Hiromi, gripping a Kunai as he walked toward him, saying, "Gaara, attack with me. Don't look into his eyes."
He was going to kill Hiromi today!
The wind blew, swirling yellow leaves. The atmosphere grew heavy and dangerous as they approached step by step.
The Uchiha Root Members hiding in the surroundings had cold gazes, a red light flickering within the hollow eyes of their masks. But in the next moment, they were stunned.
Baki, who was intentionally avoiding Hiromi's eyes, now had a dull expression.
Unconsciously, he had raised his head and was staring intently into Hiromi's eyes.
He's caught in a Genjutsu!
Since when?
Even the Uchiha clan members were alarmed.