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Jōmae Village.
Compared to when Gensou first arrived over two years ago, the village hadn't flourished; instead, it had become more desolate.
Of course, this wasn't due to Gensou's poor governance. In reality, most of the true Jōmae Village had already relocated to the fortress in the sky.
Upon receiving intelligence from Samui and under Gensou's instruction, the remaining villagers had now moved to the sky as well.
"Leader-sama, the relocation of the experimental base has been successfully completed, and all traces have been thoroughly erased."
On the new Jōmae Village above, Hanare, still as youthful and charming as ever, dressed in a ninja outfit, approached Gensou and softly reported.
Gensou nodded and glanced down below. "Are there any of our people left on the ground?"
Hanare replied, "A squad of the village's security team is finishing up the final tasks. Oh, and Sasuke is with them."
Gensou understood. The so-called security squad was a defensive force in Jōmae Village, similar to Konoha's security force. Most of the Uchiha in Jōmae Village had joined the security squad, continuing their old profession.
Though Sasuke mainly focused on training, knowing he couldn't live off others for free, he had also joined the security squad, completing some missions and contributing over the past year.
"Notify those on the ground to rendezvous at the designated location once they finish up. The airborne fortress will depart now; it's time to move to our new home," Gensou ordered.
The intelligence he had just received indicated that a joint team from Konoha and Iwa was swiftly approaching Jōmae Village, with a clear objective. They would arrive soon.
Although the airborne fortress had stealth capabilities, it couldn't underestimate the various strange techniques of the shinobi world. To avoid exposure, Gensou decided to move the fortress now and complete the main mission that had been on standby for a long time.
As for Sasuke, with his current strength, few in the shinobi world could stop him, so there was nothing to worry about.
"Leader-sama, there are other Uchiha members in the ground security squad," Hanare reminded.
Gensou waved his hand dismissively, unconcerned. "The Uchiha clan will eventually return to the shinobi world, sooner or later."
The journey to the Land of Fire over a year ago had already made the shinobi world suspect that other Uchiha members still existed. Now, it would only confirm those suspicions.
In any case, the Uchiha's revenge would soon begin. Sasuke and Itachi would be the central figures, but the other Uchiha members, burdened with pain and hatred, would also join the fray. Therefore, there was no longer a need for secrecy. It would merely make Konoha feel more bitter.
Soon, under Gensou's orders, the power source of the airborne fortress was activated, propelling it toward its predetermined destination, leaving only the squad with Sasuke to finish up.
At the same time, eight figures were swiftly moving through the forest, drawing closer to Jōmae Village.
At one point, one of them suddenly looked up, staring curiously at the clear sky.
Beside him, a short-haired girl with pink hair noticed and asked in confusion, "What's wrong, Naruto?"
"Nothing. I just felt like there was something up there... I must be imagining things, haha," Naruto, who had grown taller and more muscular, scratched his head with a grin.
Sakura glanced at the sky and then back at Naruto.
She had thought that Naruto, who had changed so much after not seeing him for a long time, would be more dependable now. However, memories of the past came flooding back.
Crack!
Sakura clenched her fist and sternly warned, "Naruto, don't mess up this time. We finally have news of Sasuke. We can't afford to miss him again!"
Hearing Sasuke's name, Naruto immediately straightened up and nodded firmly, "I swear, I'll bring Sasuke back this time!"
The last time they heard news about Sasuke was over a year ago when he caused havoc at the Fire Temple and the Tsuchigumo clan. At the time, Naruto had been training with Jiraiya and only found out a week after the event, by which time it was too late to pursue him.
Determined to get stronger, Naruto pushed himself even harder in training, hoping to earn Jiraiya's approval and continue searching for Sasuke. This was why he had returned to the village several months earlier than in the original timeline.
Luckily, soon after his return, Naruto received a mission related to Sasuke. This time, their mission was to secretly investigate Jōmae Village in the Land of Keys, where Sasuke was hiding. The mission had been designated by the investigation department, and Team 7 was working with a team from Iwa.
Naruto recognized the leader of the Iwa team, Kurotsuchi, whom he had met during the Five Kage Summit. She wasn't much older than him and was now a jōnin. The other three members were jōnin Akatsuchi, jōnin Bunya, and chūnin Ichiha.
Due to the recent disappearance of a jōnin from Iwa in the Land of Keys, Iwa had dispatched an unusually strong team.
Their own side wasn't lacking either. Captain Yamato, who was temporarily leading Team 7 and specialized in Mokuton, had been promoted to chūnin. Then there was Sakura, now also a chūnin and Tsunade's disciple, and Sai, who had recently joined and always wore a fake smile. And then... himself.
Uh... why am I still the only genin?
Naruto scratched his head, feeling frustrated.
At that moment, Sai, who had been trying to smile genuinely but still didn't know how, chimed in with a fake smile, "You two might have forgotten, but Uchiha Sasuke is now an S-rank missing-nin from Konoha. If we find him, the first order for Konoha shinobi is to kill him. Bringing him back to the village won't make much of a difference."
Sakura: "..."
Naruto: "..."
"What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" Sai, recalling what the Konoha Missing-nin Handling Manual stated, was confused by the blank stares from Naruto and Sakura.
As one of the few survivors from Root who had been on a mission outside when the base was destroyed, Sai had been idle for a while. After Root's disbandment, he was absorbed into the ANBU to continue serving Konoha. Due to the shortage in Team 7, Tsunade had reassigned Sai from ANBU to fill the gap.
Though he still lacked social skills, Sai swore he was genuinely trying to learn and meant no harm. He had only been telling the truth.
So why did Naruto and Sakura suddenly look so upset?
Sai was utterly perplexed.
At the front of the group, Yamato, who had left the ANBU to temporarily lead Team 7 due to Kakashi being on another mission, glanced back at his teammates, feeling a strange tension in the air. He sighed.
He had a feeling that his first time leading a team was going to be challenging.
(End of Chapter)