"Just now… the way you were, it wasn't your fault. It must be the Cursed Seal of Heaven altering your body. That's on me. I shouldn't have used genjutsu on you," Kakashi apologized as he checked the bite marks from Orochimaru on Uchiha Yujin's body.
Even Tsunade-sama's sealing technique couldn't fully suppress the curse seal?
Kakashi muttered quietly to himself, and Uchiha Yujin could see what he was thinking.
This has nothing to do with Tsunade's sealing technique.
It's practically altering the entire bloodline.
Kakashi patted Uchiha Yujin on the shoulder. "Don't worry. As long as you control this power, you can still serve the village."
"I swear my life to Konoha!"
The Hidden Cloud Village, part of the Five Great Nations under the Land of Lightning.
The villagers were muscular, dark-skinned, and embraced Black culture.
In one sentence:
This is the sanest Black community in the ninja world.
Konoha, Sunagakure, Kirigakure, Iwagakure… each of the other four great villages had supplied powerful rogue ninjas to the Akatsuki.
Only the Hidden Cloud had none.
That's because…
When jinchuriki like Naruto Uzumaki and Gaara were still treated as freaks by their villages, the Eight-Tails jinchuriki Killer Bee was already holding concerts, and the Two-Tails jinchuriki Yugito Nii had become a top leader in the village.
The Cloud Village only cared if you were strong, not why you were strong.
Compared to the other villages, the strong in Cloud were treated like gods.
Even rebellious figures like Gold and Silver Horns, once in power, fully respected the principle: strength is authority. The villagers all agreed—listen to the strongest, no questions asked.
Between the peaks, two figures walked slowly, one tall, one small.
Uchiha Yujin, walking beside Kakashi, tossed his lunchbox off a cliff that seemed bottomless.
Kakashi looked puzzled. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know," Uchiha Yujin said. "I can't eat. I feel like I'm starving, but I just can't. All I can think about is coffee. When I think about the food in my lunchbox, I feel like vomiting."
"Is that so?" Kakashi felt a pang of guilt. If he had been strong enough to stop Orochimaru from implanting the curse mark, Yujin wouldn't have become a tail-bearing creature who couldn't even eat.
Thinking this, Kakashi glanced at the walls of the Land of Lightning. "They have the best coffee beans in the world here. Take some back with us."
"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei," Uchiha Yujin bowed in gratitude.
Sunlight streamed through the gaps between the mountain peaks, casting their shadows on the rocks in a patchwork of light and dark.
The two of them, dressed in plain clothes and without headbands, saw the gates of the Land of Lightning ahead.
It was a unique country, made up of towering mountains connected by suspension bridges, forming a natural fortress.
These bridges weren't just paths between peaks—they were also the main routes in and out of the Land of Lightning.
Uchiha Yujin and Kakashi chose a small path and lightly jumped onto a bridge, entering the Land of Lightning alongside a group of merchants.
They reached a deserted rooftop, where Kakashi changed his mask and looked back at Uchiha Yujin.
"If there's still a tail following us, they'll need to be more cautious now that we've reached here."
Being from Anbu, Kakashi was extremely careful.
After encountering Orochimaru's attack, he hadn't taken Uchiha Yujin straight back to the village. Instead, they continued east.
It was along this road that they ran into Tsunade, who had just been kicked out of a casino.
Now, arriving at the Hidden Cloud's main camp, Uchiha Yujin couldn't help but admire Kakashi's daring strategy. It was brilliant but extremely risky.
Two people, three Sharingan.
One misstep could spell disaster.
The people of Konoha were fearless by nature.
Later, when Team Seven was formed, Kakashi wandered outside the village with the only surviving pair of Uchiha Sharingan, plus the ultimate weapon, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, carrying out missions without worrying about anyone coveting them.
Uchiha Yujin arrived at a mountain peak that looked like a bustling marketplace.
Following a pleasant aroma, he spotted a hunched old woman running a small stall.
On her stall were three large baskets filled with small brown beans.
"Grandma, how much for the coffee beans?" Yujin asked.
The old woman casually showed five with her fingers, seeming distracted.
Yujin wasn't sure if the price was reasonable, so he looked back at Kakashi.
Kakashi nodded. "It's not easy to buy back home, so just get more."
"Can we take all of them?" Yujin asked.
Kakashi wiped the sweat off his forehead. "It's… not impossible."
The two of them bought all three baskets. Kakashi carried two, and Yujin carried one on his back, looking more like a merchant than a ninja.
After buying the coffee beans, Yujin and Kakashi found a simple inn and decided to stay there for a while.
The room was small but clean, and from the window, they could see distant mountains shrouded in mist, giving a sense of calm.
Yujin carefully set the three baskets of coffee beans on the floor. He scooped a bowl for immediate use, while the rest were sealed into a scroll by Kakashi for storage.
Yujin held a single coffee bean under his nose and inhaled deeply twice, feeling fully satisfied.
Seeing Yujin like that, Kakashi couldn't help but recall a certain potion Orochimaru had once made that could control ninjas.
Yujin ground the coffee beans into powder and poured it into a cup, then added hot water.
A strong, rich coffee aroma immediately filled the room. Kakashi took a deep breath and admired the scent.
Yujin lifted the cup, blew gently on it, and drank while it was still steaming.
He sipped the coffee as if savoring the finest wine, slowly finishing the entire cup.
"Ah~"
Yujin set the cup down, completely satisfied—but the feeling didn't last long.
As the coffee's effect began to fade, a deep emptiness appeared on his face, as if the earlier satisfaction had been an illusion.
Kakashi watched him with concern and asked, "Yujin, how are you feeling?"
Uchiha Yujin shook his head and gave a bitter smile. "Not as good as I imagined, but at least I didn't throw up. That's already something."
He tried to force a small smile, though it carried a hint of bitterness.
Kakashi gently patted Uchiha Yujin's shoulder in reassurance. "We'll find a way to fix this!"
"Kakashi-sensei, I have to admit something."
"What is it?"
"I… I think I've developed a very strong desire toward humans. I mean…"
Kakashi didn't look shocked at all. Instead, he nodded knowingly. "That guy Orochimaru is truly evil. He probably wants to control you with thoughts like that! Don't worry, as long as you don't bite any villagers of Konoha, I won't interfere with anything else."
Seeing that Uchiha Yujin didn't respond, Kakashi asked, "Why aren't you saying anything?"
After a brief silence, Uchiha Yujin muttered, "Uh… Kakashi-sensei, you really have no limits, more than I imagined."
****
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