After playing the Shinobi Game, Orochimaru became suspicious of the Uzumaki Trade Association.
Someone who understood his combat habits so thoroughly had to be intimately familiar with him. And if that person also had ties to such a powerful organization, there was only one likely candidate—Hyuga Mirai.
Orochimaru suspected Mirai precisely because he both knew and didn't fully understand him. He was aware that Mirai was hiding many things, but exactly what those were remained a mystery. Even Mirai's strength—what he had revealed so far—was clearly not the full extent of his abilities.
Others, like Tsunade and Jiraiya, were people Orochimaru had already figured out completely. There was no need to test them; he knew for certain they had no connection to the Uzumaki Trade Association.
After probing Mirai, Orochimaru found that he didn't lie but also never explicitly confirmed any relationship with the association. That was enough to confirm Orochimaru's suspicions.
The two then moved on to discuss other matters, and what interested Mirai most was an exchange of ninjutsu. He was particularly fascinated by Edo Tensei.
To obtain it, Mirai offered Orochimaru the training method for Spirit Transformation Jutsu as well as techniques for utilizing Yin Release chakra. In return, he received an incomplete version of Edo Tensei.
Orochimaru had originally acquired the technique from Danzo, intending to perfect it and summon a powerful deceased shinobi to act as Mirai's sparring partner.
However, for some reason, Danzo suddenly demanded another batch of subordinates with the Wood Release bloodline limit. At first, Orochimaru was unwilling, but the rewards Danzo promised were too tempting to refuse. After only a brief moment of consideration, he agreed.
Still, Orochimaru had his own experiments to conduct, and with the Cloud shinobi constantly stirring trouble, he could be sent to the battlefield at any time. Thus, the Wood Release experiment was pushed to the bottom of his list of priorities.
Regardless, with Edo Tensei in hand, Mirai's journey to the Land of Hot Water had already been worth it.
At face value, Edo Tensei was simply a technique to resurrect powerful warriors for battle. But its true value?
Unlimited chakra.
What did that mean? It was the kind of concept that would bring capitalists to tears of joy.
If Mirai could understand the mechanics behind the technique and the source of its infinite chakra, he would be looking at an immeasurable advantage.
Even in the short term, he could utilize Edo Tensei's chakra supply for countless purposes.
Wars were fought over resources, and in the shinobi world, chakra was the most valuable energy source. Unfortunately, no one had truly recognized its potential yet.
"If I want to fully master Edo Tensei, I'll need extensive experimentation. Once the war is over, I'll start live trials. I should have Unit 18 run simulations first."
After reviewing the technique, Mirai sent a copy to Unit 18 with clear instructions.
Unlimited chakra was exactly what Unit 18 needed. The mechanical guardians she created still relied on converting electrical energy, which was a costly endeavor. But if they could harness Edo Tensei's chakra, those machines could store vast amounts of energy at no extra cost.
With the preparations in place, Mirai turned his focus back to the battlefield, assisting in medical treatment.
With Mirai's medical unit providing support, Orochimaru adjusted his tactics, shifting to a battle of attrition against the Cloud shinobi.
Whenever Konoha forces suffered significant casualties, they would immediately retreat to the camp for treatment.
A few days later, more than half of the injured shinobi would return to the battlefield, fully healed.
At that point, Orochimaru would provoke the Cloud shinobi again, forcing them into another battle.
It didn't take long for the Cloud shinobi to catch on.
Though their intelligence network was lacking compared to Konoha's, they weren't entirely clueless. Hyuga Mirai's reputation had already spread from the battlefields of the Land of Rivers and the Land of Grass. It was only natural for them to have gathered intel on him.
Orochimaru's war of attrition was nothing short of shameless. Unless they could completely annihilate the enemy in one decisive strike, the Konoha forces would always recover thanks to their superior medical support.
Even more troublesome was the existence of Konoha's healing talismans. As long as they were willing to burn through resources and shorten their injured soldiers' lifespans, they could send shinobi back into battle the very next day.
This level of medical capability was something the Cloud shinobi simply couldn't match.
Tsunade had gained fame across the shinobi world for her ability to heal comrades in the midst of battle.
Now imagine facing an opponent who completely ignored minor injuries, who could fight for hours and, even if exhausted, would return to full strength the next day.
Unless there was an overwhelming gap in power, how many shinobi villages could withstand such an enemy?
Hyuga Mirai was just one slug away from standing alongside Tsunade—if not, the Cloud shinobi would be facing two of the Sannin.
"Damn the Hyuga Clan!"
Within the Cloud shinobi camp, the Fourth Raikage's furious roars echoed daily.
During the war against the Stone shinobi, Cloud had suffered minimal losses aside from the death of the Third Raikage. However, the Fourth Raikage desperately needed a victory to solidify his position. He had assumed that after being besieged by two other great villages, Konoha would be severely weakened, making it an easy target for Cloud to exploit.
Yet, reality proved otherwise—Konoha's resistance remained as fierce as ever.
A combination of medical support and poison-based tactics had kept the Cloud forces firmly contained within the Land of Hot Water, offering them no opportunity to advance.
Deploying the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki was an option, but Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki had yet to appear on the battlefield. Furthermore, according to intelligence gathered by Cloud's ANBU, the Stone shinobi had fully retreated to the Land of Earth, and Konoha's forces in the Land of Grass were now free to act.
Continuing the fight was no longer an option.
This was the advice of the Raikage's chief strategist.
If Cloud wanted to secure a victory, they would have to deploy their most elite forces, expending significant resources just to gain a slight advantage. However, doing so risked provoking a devastating counterattack from Konoha—one that could even force them to unleash the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
At that point, it wouldn't just be a skirmish between Cloud and Konoha—it would escalate into full-scale war, with Sand, Stone, and Mist watching from the sidelines. That outcome was the exact opposite of Cloud's original intent.
So, despite his overwhelming rage, the Fourth Raikage was ultimately persuaded. He prepared to withdraw from the war and negotiate a truce with Konoha.
Any further fighting would only serve to weaken Konoha for the benefit of the other villages, while Cloud itself gained nothing.
---
The Land of Tea
When the Hyakusa Trade Association first set foot in this small country, they faced significant resistance. However, thanks to the pharmaceutical products under its name, Unit 19 managed to force their way into the market despite the noble class's attempts to obstruct them.
The Land of Tea lacked medical ninjas. Most commoners, when ill, could do nothing but endure—unless they were fortunate enough to find a wandering doctor.
But with the arrival of the Hyakusa Trade Association, everything changed. The common folk and lower-class merchants now had access to proper medical care.
Previously, the nobles had monopolized medical resources, using their privilege to reinforce the divide between social classes. The association's presence, however, was slowly eroding these barriers. Over time, the nobility would lose their grip over the commoners.
Realizing this, the ruling elite and upper-class merchants in the Land of Tea grew increasingly anxious.
Without a lower class to compare themselves to, what was a noble worth?
Thus, the Hyakusa Trade Association quickly found itself under siege. Local nobles began hiring samurai and bodyguards to carry out assassinations against its members—even employing rogue shinobi from underground bounty networks.
Of course, the association was not about to sit idly by.
Unit 18 and Unit 19 shared their intelligence networks, and the moment trouble arose, Unit 18 was alerted.
Initially, Unit 18 planned to deploy additional mechanical guardians to eliminate the threats. However, when Ayaka Uzumaki learned of the situation, she personally requested to assist the association—using the opportunity to test out the T1 battle armor.
After receiving Hyuga Mirai's approval, she eagerly set off.
Knowing that the armor's existence needed to remain a secret, she only summoned it while flying in secluded areas.
Upon arriving in the Land of Tea, Ayaka wasted no time testing the T1 armor's weaponry on the nobles who had targeted the association.
The thermal beam cannon had an effective range of fifty meters, with a maximum destructive capacity reaching seventy meters—capable of piercing through two meters of solid rock. She obtained these figures firsthand by experimenting on a noble hiding in an underground chamber.
As for the other weapons? Ordinary people and rogue ninjas weren't even worth testing on. Most of them were obliterated in an instant—some reduced to nothing but ash.
After successfully resolving the trade association's troubles, Ayaka wanted to remain outside a bit longer. However, she knew that Unit 18 would never approve.
So instead, she used the T1 armor's communication system to contact Hyuga Mirai directly.
Unit 18 noticed the transmission but didn't cut it off—after all, Ayaka had the necessary clearance.
"What is it? Make it quick," Mirai said. He hadn't planned to answer, knowing that if it were anything important, Unit 18 would have contacted him first.
But after Ayaka called him nine times in a row, he finally relented.
"Mirai-sama, I've completed my mission! Can I stay out a little longer?" she asked eagerly.
…That was it?
Mirai thought for a moment. Had he been too strict with Ayaka lately?
After a brief pause, he replied, "Fine. But don't expose your identity. If anything happens, contact Unit 18."
In terms of weaponry, Ayaka's T1 armor still carried less than half of what Unit 18 had access to.
With the advancement of nanotechnology, both Unit 18 and the T1 armor had seen a significant increase in weapon capacity.
"Thank you, Mirai-sama!" Ayaka cheered.
She wanted to visit the Land of Whirlpools and explore a few other small nations along the way.
Her plan was simple—return to her homeland first, then gather intelligence on the surrounding regions.
She also wanted to do more for Mirai. Collecting information on minor countries seemed like a good place to start.
Soaring through the sky in her T1 armor, Ayaka let her imagination run wild.
She pictured Mirai gently stroking her red hair, a warm smile on his face as he said,
"Ayaka, you did well. You've helped me a lot. What reward would you like? I'll grant you anything."
Just imagining the scene made Ayaka giggle to herself.
"No need, Mirai-sama! This is what I should be doing! Hehe~"
Boom!
Lost in her daydream, Ayaka accidentally sent the T1 armor spiraling through the sky in an S-shaped trajectory.
(End of Chapter)
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