"My esteemed master, please forgive my earlier recklessness and ignorance. To become your mount is my greatest honor!"
Garaga lowered its massive head in reverence, its enormous body prostrating itself before Uchiha Yu.
Its gigantic jaws opened and closed, two gleaming venomous fangs trembling as its tongue flickered. The snake spoke words of awkward flattery, clearly unaccustomed to them.
As for Orochimaru, he stood to the side with a smile. He had originally intended to ride on Garaga, but no matter what he said, the serpent had refused, declaring it would only carry its master from now on.
Casting a glance at Shinno behind Uchiha Yu, Orochimaru chuckled. "Yu-kun, I'll accompany you on this journey."
"Mm." Uchiha Yu leapt onto Garaga's head and said to Orochimaru, "Come on up."
"Gladly!" Orochimaru's eyes lit up as he vaulted onto the serpent's head, standing at Yu's side.
With Shinno also hopping onto the snake, Garaga shifted its colossal body, slowly turning before slithering toward the outskirts of Konoha.
Rumble—
Dust rolled in waves.
Uchiha Yu issued a command to Shinno: "Lead the way to the ruins of the Sky Ninja Village."
"Yes." Shinno's vacant eyes looked northeast. Following the memories in his mind, he began guiding them.
This trip wouldn't take long, so Uchiha Yu hadn't planned on bringing the Uchiha clan members along.
He had entrusted Izumi, Tamao and Minami to Tsunade, hoping they would learn more about managing a shinobi village.
As the last remaining Uchiha, their future roles would naturally be to hold important positions within the village.
Thinking this, Yu lifted the sensory restrictions on the "Prison Space."
As the pitch-black environment shifted to daylight, Hashirama and Tobirama simultaneously shut their eyes, turning their heads away to avoid the blinding light.
A new day, of course, had to begin with the interrogation of the two Hokage—that was only fitting for the persona of a wicked Uchiha.
"Damn brat!"
Tobirama cursed through clenched eyes.
Although they were spirits, their senses were no different from the living. The sudden shift from darkness to daylight was an assault on their vision.
As Garaga reached the ruined gates of Konoha, Orochimaru suddenly smiled. "Yu-kun, look toward Hokage Rock."
He had been looking back at the rejuvenating Konoha, but then noticed something intriguing.
Uchiha Yu turned to look, and Hashirama and Tobirama also followed his gaze.
On the left side of Hokage Rock—once destroyed by the fully manifested Susanoo—a massive mountain of earth had risen.
Within minutes, countless Iwa-nin sculpted it with Earth Release, chiseling it into a giant stone carving.
As the rubble fell away, sharp features took shape: defined brows, piercing eyes, loose black hair, and a heroic air.
It was a stone face sculpted in Uchiha Yu's likeness, more detailed and majestic than the visages of the First through Fourth Hokage.
Clearly, this was the handiwork of true professionals.
"..."
Yu's brows furrowed.
There was no need to guess—this was undoubtedly a deliberate "gift" from Ōnoki.
Hashirama and Tobirama, watching as the stone face of Uchiha Yu took form, felt a crushing blow to their spirits so early in the morning.
The children of Konoha in the future would likely forget the First and Second Hokage who had founded the village, remembering only Uchiha Yu!
"Marvelous. In both bearing and appearance, Yu-kun's stone face surpasses even that of the First and Second Hokage!"
Orochimaru did not hesitate to lavish praise, smiling slyly.
"Utter nonsense!"
Tobirama shouted furiously.
Though Orochimaru couldn't hear him, he still glared coldly at the man beside Yu, needing to vent his outrage or suffocate from it.
At that moment, Garaga also chimed in:
"Indeed!"
The snake's agreement, paired with Orochimaru's praise, stabbed Tobirama twice more in the heart.
Hashirama could only give a helpless, bitter smile.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Yu's lips curled slightly upward.
A beautiful day began with Tobirama sinking into despair.
In Konoha, after the Uchiha noticed the changes to the Hokage Rock, their faces lit up with joy.
To them, this confirmed that their captain had truly become the new master of Konoha.
Ordinary villagers also watched the transformation of the Hokage Rock. Though the change in leadership left them uneasy, compared to being ruled by the three great hidden villages, most preferred having the Uchiha—who were originally part of Konoha—take over.
The first ray of sunlight pierced the clouds, illuminating the side of Uchiha Yu's stone visage.
It was as if the village had come alive again.
"Tch…"
Tsunade gave a proud little snort, leaning by the window. Holding a can of red bean soup in her hand, she gazed up at that stone carving, lost in thought.
…
The Land of Fire was vast, with Konoha located in the central northwest region.
Strategically, it was close to other great ninja villages, making it a key military location.
Yet in Uchiha Yu's eyes, the choice of this site—far from the borders—showed that Hashirama and Madara had once considered the image of the "Hokage guarding the nation's gates."
But, perhaps fearing that Konoha's descendants lacked the resolve, they compromised again and again, placing the village further inland.
Meanwhile, the city where the Fire Daimyō resided was known as the "capital" of the Land of Fire.
It lay slightly east of center, protected by Konoha.
But compared to the hub of the country—Konoha itself—it was far less prosperous and therefore not as renowned.
Now, in the northeast, near the coast, a small village nestled by mountains and waters.
The landscape was serene, with birdsong and fragrant flowers, dense greenery, and smoke curling from chimneys.
But just before noon, the ground began to shake, dust billowed, and the village welcomed a group of uninvited guests.
With Garaga's moving at full speed, they had crossed mountains, wheat fields, and rivers in only half a day.
Bearing Uchiha Yu and Orochimaru, Garaga arrived at the site the Shinobi Farmer had indicated—the ruins of the Sky Ninja Village.
Not far away, children playing on the grassy hillside froze as the massive crimson serpent slithered near.
They gawked for a moment, then shrieked in panic and scattered to their homes.
Adults, hearing of the monster's approach, quickly gathered a defense team.
Armed with farm tools and sticks, they rushed to the village entrance—only to drop everything and scatter in terror when they saw the giant snake.
Standing on Garaga's head, Orochimaru looked at the modest settlement ahead and sighed.
"There's not a trace of the Sky Ninja Village here!"
"Often, things that appear ordinary on the surface may hide another world within,"
Uchiha Yu said.
"True enough," Orochimaru nodded.
Garaga slithered deeper into the village, houses flashing past on either side.
Uchiha Yu, however, recognized this place.
More than ten years later, the Shinobi Farmer would sacrifice this very village, driving his female disciple into despair and thereby awakening the Zero-Tails.
Moments later, to the terrified cries of common villagers, Shinya reached the far edge of the settlement.
Before them stretched a green meadow flanked by forests, and just beyond lay a vast, shimmering lake that opened into the sea.
Surrounded by mountains, the lake rippled endlessly toward the horizon.
Orochimaru's eyes widened. As Uchiha Yu had said, the village concealed countless ruined structures.
Nearby, half-hidden by weeds, lay the remnants of polished stone steps.
The craftsmanship was advanced—beyond even what Konoha had used on a large scale.
To either side, among the trees, stood ancient stone columns.
Most were carved from white granite with ornate patterns, their surfaces mottled with moss and dotted with bright flowers.
Some lay toppled, while others remained half-buried, only the capitals protruding from the soil.
"The Sky Ninja Village was destroyed by Konoha during the Second Great Ninja War. At that time, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and I were on the Rain Country front… so we missed this battle."
Orochimaru leapt down from Garaga's head.
He crouched, prying up a broken piece of white brick from the grass.
Beneath it, several twisted brownish-red centipedes stirred, disturbed.
They writhed together before darting into the grass alongside other crawling insects, vanishing from sight.
"I never thought a place like this would conceal such a distinct and unique ninja village," Orochimaru murmured.
He paid no mind to the venomous bugs.
Instead, he studied the craftsmanship of the brick, smiling faintly, and in his mind's eye pictured an exquisite settlement—grand stone foundations, elaborate relief murals, a village of rare artistry.
But alas… it had long since been drowned beneath the cruelty of the ninja world's wars.
Orochimaru himself had never cared about destroyed villages, which was why, after the war, he knew little of Sky Ninja Village's fate.
Uchiha Yu, meanwhile, controlled the Shinobi Farmer to step forward and issued a command:
"Go. Open the royal fortress."
"Yes—"
the Shinobi Farmer replied stiffly.
°°°
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