Chapter 65: Orochimaru: That's right, I did it all.
"The way you were just now, that's right, it must be the Cursed Seal of Heaven that transformed your body. It's my fault, I shouldn't have used genjutsu on you," Kakashi apologized while examining Orochimaru's bite mark on Uchiha Ren's body.
'Even Lady Tsunade's sealing technique can't completely seal the Cursed Seal?'
Kakashi muttered to himself, while Uchiha Ren also perceived the thoughts in Kakashi's mind.
How could this be due to Tsunade's sealing technique not working?
Even his species was almost changed.
This clearly showed it had nothing to do with the Cursed Seal of Heaven.
Kakashi patted Uchiha Ren's shoulder, "Don't worry. As long as you control this power well, you can still serve the Village."
"Swear allegiance to Konoha!"
Hidden Cloud Village, belonging to the Land of Lightning, one of the Five Great Nations.
The villagers are all dark-skinned with large muscles, and black culture is prevalent.
To sum it up in one sentence.
This is the black community with the fewest "crazies" in the Ninja World.
Konoha, Hidden Sand Village, Hidden Mist Village, Hidden Stone Village – each of the other four Great Ninja Villages has provided powerful rogue ninja as combatants to the Akatsuki organization.
Only Hidden Cloud Village has no rogue ninja.
This is because...
When Jinchuriki like Naruto Uzumaki and Gaara were still being scorned by the villagers, Hidden Cloud Village's Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B, was holding concerts, and the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Rengito Nii, was already a high-ranking member of the Village.
Hidden Cloud Village only cares whether you are strong or not, not why you are strong.
Compared to the strong individuals from other Ninja Villages, the treatment of strong individuals here is like heaven and earth.
Even the rebellious Gold and Silver Brothers, after their rise to power, were highly respected. The rule was that might makes right. The villagers unanimously agreed to listen to whoever was strong, without any second thoughts.
Between the cloud-shrouded peaks, two figures, one large and one small, were slowly walking.
Uchiha Ren, walking alongside Kakashi, threw his bento box towards the bottomless cliff.
Kakashi was a bit puzzled: "What's wrong?"
"I don't know, I can't eat. I feel like I'm starving to death right now, but I just can't eat. All I can think about is coffee. As soon as I think about the food in the bento box, I want to vomit."
"Is that so?" Kakashi felt guilty. If he had been stronger and prevented Orochimaru from implanting the Cursed Seal, then Ren wouldn't have become a creature that couldn't eat and grew a tail.
Thinking of this, Kakashi looked towards the Land of Lightning's capital, "There are the world's best coffee beans here. Get some more to take back."
"Kakashi-sensei, thank you." Uchiha Ren bowed to express his gratitude.
Sunlight shone down through the cracks in the mountain peaks, casting their shadows onto the rocks, forming mottled beams of light and shadow.
The two, dressed in casual clothes and not wearing forehead protectors, saw the great gate of the Land of Lightning appear in their sight.
This was a unique country, formed by numerous towering peaks reaching into the clouds. The peaks were connected by suspension bridges, forming a natural fortress.
These suspension bridges were not only connecting passages between the peaks, but also the main routes in and out of the Land of Lightning.
Uchiha Ren and Kakashi chose a small path. They lightly jumped onto a suspension bridge, and entered the Land of Lightning along with a merchant Team.
Arriving at an deserted terrace, Kakashi changed into a mask, and turned to Uchiha Ren, saying:
"If there are still 'tails' following us, once they reach this place, they should be a bit more careful."
Kakashi, who came from the ANBU, was very cautious in his actions.
After encountering Orochimaru's attack, he did not take Uchiha Ren directly back to the Village, but continued heading east.
It was on this path that they met Lady Tsunade, who had just been kicked out of a gambling den.
Now that the two had arrived at Hidden Cloud Village's main camp, Uchiha Ren couldn't help but sigh, "Kakashi's strategy of 'driving tigers to devour wolves' was truly brilliant."
But it was also extremely dangerous.
Two people, three Sharingan.
One moment of inattention and they could fall here.
People from Konoha, they are all extremely bold.
Later, when Team 7 was formed, Kakashi alone, carrying the Uchiha Clan's only remaining pair of Sharingan, and also the ultimate weapon, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, was wandering around outside the Village doing Missions, and wasn't afraid of others coveting them.
Arriving at a market-like mountain peak, Uchiha Ren followed the scent and saw an old woman with a hunched back at a stall.
At her stall, there were three large bamboo baskets filled with earth-brown coffee beans!
"Grandma, how are the coffee beans sold?!"
The old woman casually held up five fingers, her mind clearly elsewhere.
Uchiha Ren didn't know if the price was reasonable, and turned to look at Kakashi.
Kakashi nodded, "'Back home' it's not easy to buy, so you should get more."
"All of them?"
Cold sweat broke out on Kakashi's forehead, "Well, it's not impossible."
The two bought three baskets of coffee beans. Kakashi carried two, and Uchiha Ren carried one on his back, looking more like merchants.
After buying the coffee beans, Uchiha Ren and Kakashi found a simple inn, and decided to temporarily stay there.
Although the inn room was small, it was clean enough. Outside the window, they could see distant mountains shrouded in mist, giving a sense of tranquility.
Uchiha Ren carefully placed the three baskets of coffee beans on the ground, scooped out a bowlful, and had Kakashi store the rest of the beans using a sealing scroll.
Uchiha Ren placed a coffee bean in front of his nose, took two deep sniffs, and was very satisfied.
Seeing Uchiha Ren's appearance, Kakashi even thought of a type of drug Orochimaru once developed that could control ninja.
As the coffee beans were ground into powder by Uchiha Ren and then poured into a cup, he brewed them with hot water.
A rich coffee aroma immediately filled the entire room. Kakashi couldn't help but take a deep breath, praising the coffee's fragrance.
Uchiha Ren picked up the pot, blew on it a little, and while the coffee was still steaming, he tilted his head back and drank!
As if savoring a divine elixir, he slowly drank an entire pot of coffee!
"Ah~"
Uchiha Ren put down the coffee, utterly satisfied, but this satisfaction didn't last long.
As the effects of the coffee gradually faded, an extreme emptiness appeared on his face, as if the satisfaction he felt earlier was just an illusion.
Kakashi looked at Uchiha Ren with concern, and asked, "Ren, how do you feel?"
Uchiha Ren shook his head and said with a bitter smile, "It wasn't as good as I imagined, but at least I didn't vomit, which is already pretty difficult." Uchiha Ren tried to force a slight smile, though this smile carried a hint of bitterness.
Kakashi gently patted Uchiha Ren's shoulder and comforted him, "We'll find a solution!"
"Kakashi-sensei, I need to confess something."
"What?"
"I seem to, I seem to have a very strong desire for human beings, I mean..."
Not only did Kakashi not show a surprised expression, instead, he nodded in understanding. "Orochimaru, that fellow, is truly malicious. He definitely wanted to control you through such a method! Don't worry, as long as it's not Konoha villagers, I don't care about others."
Although Uchiha Ren didn't reply, Kakashi instead asked, "Why aren't you speaking?"
Uchiha Ren was silent for a moment. "Kakashi-sensei, you have even less of a bottom line than I imagined."
(end of chapter)