From the night of genocide, marching towards the strongest.

Gaara's team was one of them. They weren't originally in charge of investigating this area, but after the Sunagakure team in this area hadn't sent any signals for several hours, the people of Sunagakure realized that something must have happened to the team.

Therefore, Gaara and the others who were closest to this location immediately rushed over to this spot.

When they arrived here, they happened to encounter Uchiha Sasuke, who had just arrived in this place not long ago.

Gaara, who had resolved his inner conflict and whose strength was almost on par with his mentor Maki, originally intended to capture Sasuke and extract information from him, but stopped because of a single sentence from Sasuke.

Because his sixth sense told him that if he ignored Sasuke Uchiha's warning and insisted on taking action, something bad would definitely happen.

Moreover, every time he prepares for battle, Shukaku, who is usually instigating trouble and fearless, has become strangely silent just now.

And so, an eerie silence fell over the room.

At this moment, Temari, who has always been bold and straightforward, broke the silence by speaking first.

"Uchiha Sasuke, why are you here? Is our attack on Sunagakure related to... Orochimaru?"

Temari originally wanted to ask if it had anything to do with you, but after a pause, she changed the question to Orochimaru instead.

Although Temari is bold and straightforward, and has a carefree personality, as the eldest sister, she is more mature and thoughtful in many matters.

When Orochimaru's name was mentioned, Temari's tone was filled with hatred and killing intent. Kankuro's face was also extremely ugly, and even Gaara's eyes darkened.

Orochimaru was their father's killer; their father had been murdered by Orochimaru.

They disguised themselves as their father and successfully instigated a battle between the Sand Village and Konoha ninjas. It wasn't until the Chunin Exams were over that the Sand Village members discovered Rasa's body.

This battle not only resulted in heavy losses for Konoha, but also severely damaged Sunagakure.

However, when faced with Temari's questioning, Sasuke remained silent, as if he hadn't heard her, and continued to examine the injuries of the survivors.

This wound?

Suddenly, Sasuke seemed to realize something, a thoughtful look flashing deep in his eyes, but his expression remained unchanged.

Upon seeing this, Temari's expression hardened, and she touched the three-star fan on her back with her right hand.

The Three-Star Fan is a wind-attribute weapon passed down from Sunagakure, and its status and nature are comparable to the Seven Great Swords of Kirigakure.

It possesses both "impact" and "cutting" characteristics, meaning it can unleash slashing attacks like Wind Release: Kamaitachi, as well as airflow techniques like Great Breakthrough.

"Temari, don't be impulsive."

As the three's mentor and the most experienced, Maki stopped Temari from intervening, then looked at Sasuke and said in a deep voice:

“Uchiha Sasuke, although you defected from Konoha and joined Orochimaru, strictly speaking, you have no hatred or grudges with our Sunagakure.”

"Although Sunagakure and Konoha are allies, we can pretend we didn't see you here today."

"Please tell us, is this matter related to Orochimaru?"

If we're talking about who was the most influential figure in the ninja world in the second half of last year, it would definitely be Orochimaru.

First, he single-handedly outmaneuvered two major ninja villages, instigating a war between Sunagakure and Konoha, and even killing two leaders, achieving success in both areas simultaneously.

In October, he manipulated the Third and Fourth Kazekage to attack Kusagakure, resulting in the deaths of the village's leader, the Forest Gento, and a number of elders, causing heavy losses to Kusagakure.

In early December, they attacked the sealed temple of the Demon Kingdom, releasing alien monsters.

Although the last person Konoha and the Land of Demons met was Uchiha Sasuke, only the priestess Shion of the Land of Demons knew the true inside story.

Almost everyone believes that Sasuke Uchiha was just a tool to carry out orders, and that Orochimaru was the real mastermind!

At the end of December, he infiltrated Kumogakure and stole the body of the Third Raikage. Shortly after this incident, Orochimaru was placed on Kumogakure's S-rank wanted list.

Meanwhile, the Hidden Cloud Village also contacted the Hidden Leaf Village and the Hidden Sand Village, who shared a deep-seated hatred for Orochimaru, and together they issued a warrant for his arrest.

Therefore, the people of Sunagakure also knew that Orochimaru had stolen the body of the Third Raikage.

However, after the start of the new year, Orochimaru, who was always stirring up trouble, became strangely quiet.

But a person's name is like a tree's shadow.

The moment they saw Orochimaru's subordinate, Uchiha Sasuke, they instinctively thought that Orochimaru was up to something again!

"It has nothing to do with me; I just arrived too."

Sasuke, who had been assessing the survivors' injuries and pondering how to treat them and ensure their speedy recovery, surprisingly gave a reply.

"None of your business? So, this was Orochimaru's doing!?"

Maki felt he had grasped the key point, and his expression turned serious.

"Um... whatever you think is true."

Sasuke casually brushed it off, saying that Orochimaru already had enough to take the blame for, so a few more wouldn't matter, since having too much to worry about is never a problem.

Sasuke was initially surprised that they were so eager to pin the blame on Orochimaru right from the start.

But he quickly realized that this wasn't the first or second time Orochimaru had stirred up trouble in his name.

He can be described as the new generation of scapegoat, a unique scapegoat for Sasuke.

Orochimaru's reputation in the ninja world is so bad that even children dare not cry at night.

Sand Village, Leaf Village, Cloud Village, Grass Village, Rain Village, Star Village, Land of Demons...

After careful consideration, Sasuke was surprised to find that, apart from Kirigakure and Iwagakure, Orochimaru had offended almost every well-known force in the entire ninja world.

If nothing unexpected happens, with Sasuke's efforts, Orochimaru will offend even more forces in the future, reaching the point where he is an enemy of the whole world.

It's alright, Orochimaru. Even if the whole world is against you, I, Sasuke Uchiha, will stand by your side... no...

They will understand your good intentions.

He mentally grumbled to himself, then his medical chakra lit up as he prepared to treat the survivors.

What do you mean by "I think so, right?"

Upon hearing this perfunctory answer, Maki frowned and was about to ask another question when Sasuke made a shushing gesture.

"I think you should ask the people who experienced these events firsthand, instead of asking me."

Upon hearing this, Maki, who had been about to say something, immediately shut his mouth. After Sasuke healed several survivors, they didn't stop there and went to examine the corpses and signs of battle.

A few moments later, the survivors who had been treated slowly regained consciousness. After learning that Sasuke was the doctor who saved their lives and that Maki and the others were ninjas from Sunagakure, they discovered that Sasuke was the doctor who saved their lives and that Maki and the others were ninjas from Sunagakure.

A black-haired boy, who seemed to be the leader and claimed to be the grandson of the caravan leader, begged them to save his grandfather.

After the black-haired boy recounted the incident, the whole story became clear.

It turned out that the people who attacked them were a group of people from overseas who claimed to be descendants of the Grell Empire, and this was why they attacked them.

That's because his grandfather, He Yan, was also a descendant of the Grell Empire and knew the exact location of the Grell mine that once created the ancient empire.

"At the time, I vaguely heard the group mention the Takachiho Gorge in the land of rivers, and they were heading towards that place."

After the boy recounted the story, Sasuke asked:

"So you're saying the Grell mine is located inside the Takachiho Canyon?"

"Yes!" The boy nodded: "Although I only learned today that our family is a descendant of that ancient empire, I had occasionally heard my grandfather mention this place before."

"it is good!"

Sasuke nodded, not intending to ask further questions. He glanced at the growing number of Sunagakure squads arriving from afar and casually remarked:

"These men are yours to handle!"

"What? You're planning to...?"

boom!

Before he could finish speaking, a deafening roar, like a volcanic eruption, was heard, and Sasuke shot into the sky in a fiery streak, heading towards the Land of Rivers.

Gaara and the others were left looking at each other in a daze, and Kankuro swallowed hard.

"Thank goodness we didn't clash with this guy earlier. That kind of power is monstrous!"

"Mr. Maki, what should we do now?"

"..."

After a moment of silence, Maki instructed several Sand Village ninja to settle the survivors, then said in a deep voice:

"Let's go to Takachiho Gorge!"

..........

At this moment, as Sasuke flew higher and faster, a rare look of caution appeared on his face.

While examining the bodies and treating the survivors, he unexpectedly discovered some familiar wounds!

The wound inflicted by a genius female swordsman who is a genius ninja known as Lightning Release and who has brought the power of the Lightning Blade Kiba to its extreme!

Ringo Yuri!

After killing Raiga Kurosuki in the battle in the Land of Waves, Sasuke discovered three fatal wounds on Raiga Kurosuki's corpse.

As one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, Raiga Kurosuki fought countless battles throughout his life and had many scars, but these three wounds were the most serious and fatal.

The first one was naturally caused by Sasuke.

The second one is caused by physical techniques, which is likely Might Guy.

As for the third one, it was a knife wound, and Sasuke also found traces of lightning release on it.

This means that the person who inflicted this wound on him was not only a master swordsman, but also an expert in lightning techniques.

This person is Ringo Ameyuri!

After all, in this world, Raiga Kurosuki once fought with Ameyuri Ringo. In that battle, Raiga was seriously injured and nearly died, and his Raiga sword was also taken away.

After Ringo Ameyuri passed away due to illness, Kurosuki Raiga regained control of the Raiga sword.

Upon discovering the wound, which appeared to have been inflicted by Ringo Ameonna's sharp sword technique, Sasuke remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was alarmed.

He realized this was a trap set for him!

The enemy waiting for him in Takachiho Canyon was not the group of Grell survivors, but the Akatsuki!

First of all, Ringo Ameyuri is already dead, and she's completely dead.

Since they are already dead, their presence here means that someone used the Impure World Reincarnation or Earth Release: Reincarnation Technique.

Currently, only Sasuke and Kabuto Yakushi are skilled in the Impure World Reincarnation technique. Black Zetsu should also possess it, given that Madara Uchiha appeared to know a great deal about the technique during the Fourth Shinobi World War, indicating that he had researched it before his death.

Black Zetsu, who had monitored Madara Uchiha his entire life, naturally possessed the training method of the Impure World Reincarnation, but it should belong to the version of the Second Hokage.