Chapter Fourteen: Sudden Turn of Events

The next day, at dawn.

The sun had yet to rise when Uchiha Rei awoke. Today, he was assigned to patrol the streets.

Stepping out of his room, he noticed the breakfast left out on the table. Scratching his head in confusion, he muttered, "Strange, out shopping for groceries this early?"

Usually, Uchiha Yao would go shopping in the morning for the day's ingredients, but only after the sun was up. For her to leave at such an hour was quite rare.

Still, Rei didn't dwell on it. He ate some porridge casually and prepared to leave.

But just as he entered the courtyard, he saw Yao hastily opening the main gate and coming back in.

Sweat beaded on her forehead, dampening her hair. Rei frowned and asked, "Why the rush for groceries? How do you end up sweating like that in this weather?"

Yao seemed startled, instinctively hiding the bag behind her back.

Seeing her like this, Rei shook his head, suppressing a laugh. "And you say you're not a child, always flustered and loud. Where's your composure?"

Yao pouted, clearly displeased, and huffed, "Mind your own business!"

With that, she hurried across the courtyard and went straight inside.

Watching her disappear, Rei opened his mouth to ask about lunch, but closed it again. He'd wanted to ask what she bought, but she was already gone.

Putting aside his curiosity about lunch, Rei stepped out onto the street to begin his routine patrol.

The chaos of the Nine-Tails' attack was now in the past; most damaged buildings had been repaired, and the streets bustled with life once more.

Today, Rei patrolled alone, without his usual team, strolling leisurely through the streets.

Watching the reactions of the townsfolk and merchants, he found himself in a fairly good mood.

The current situation was quite different from the original story.

During the Nine-Tails' incident, under his "persuasion," Uchiha Fugaku led the Police Force to the front lines—rescuing villagers, subduing the Nine-Tails, and saving the Fourth Hokage.

Such achievements had lowered suspicion toward the Uchiha, and rumors in the village had diminished greatly.

During his patrol, some street conversation caught his attention, and he paused to listen.

"Did you hear? This morning, the Hokage led a group of ANBU and arrested a lot of people!"

"But isn’t the Hokage still recovering in the hospital and temporarily retired? How could he be out with the ANBU arresting people?"

"I'm talking about the Third Hokage. He led the team himself. It seems to be related to Orochimaru."

"Are you sure? Orochimaru is the Third's student. Why would the Third send people to arrest his own?"

"Of course I’m sure! This is a big deal—many people saw it. They say ANBU received a report..."

As he listened to their discussion, a hint of surprise flickered in Rei's eyes.

Just last night, Orochimaru had snuck into the Uchiha district, but left empty-handed thanks to Rei's interference.

Now, without attracting much attention last night, Orochimaru was suddenly in trouble this morning—someone had reported him!

Rei barely had time to ponder this when a clansman hurried over.

Reaching Rei, he spoke quickly, "Lord Rei, please come with me. The clan head has important business with you!"

"Alright, I'm coming," Rei replied, briskly following the clansman toward the Police Department building.

Before long, the two arrived with familiar ease, and Rei entered Fugaku's office alone.

Seeing the clan head's solemn expression, Rei asked directly, "Is this about Orochimaru?"

Fugaku nodded. "Early this morning, someone deliberately led the ANBU to Orochimaru's secret base. From there, the ANBU uncovered a trove of evidence regarding his human experiments."

"Wait, someone led them there—not just reported it?"

"Exactly," Fugaku confirmed. "It wasn't a report. Someone intentionally guided them—and wreaked havoc in the base, seemingly out of revenge."

Rei was stunned. This development was truly unexpected.

He recalled clearly that, in the original story, Orochimaru's defection wasn't prompted by revenge, but by the Third leading ANBU in a surprise raid on his laboratory.

But now, inexplicably, someone else had appeared—one bent on vengeance against Orochimaru.

Orochimaru was one of the Sannin. At this point in time, who could possibly hold such a grudge?

Fugaku took a sip of water and continued, "Human experimentation is strictly forbidden, even more so for someone of Orochimaru's standing."

"The Third declared Orochimaru a rogue ninja on the spot, but unfortunately, Orochimaru escaped when they tried to apprehend him."

"Jiraiya then set off in pursuit, though whether he can catch Orochimaru is anyone's guess."

Hearing this, Rei smiled and shook his head. "No need to wonder—he definitely won’t catch him. If the Third truly wanted to capture Orochimaru, he wouldn’t have let him escape."

"Indeed," Fugaku agreed, then shifted the topic. "But more important than Orochimaru's defection is the news that just arrived."

He slid a folder across the desk.

Seeing the words "Top Secret" on the cover, Rei sensed the gravity of the matter and quickly opened it.

The reports were compiled by Konoha’s spies embedded in various villages, all conveying similar information.

According to the intelligence, after the truth of the Nine-Tails incident became known, the great ninja villages were instantly thrown into turmoil.

Kumogakure and Iwagakure, in particular, mobilized large ninja combat units to their borders, clearly preparing for war.

The other villages, influenced by this, were also restless. The situation was turning dire for Konoha.

Once he’d finished reading, Fugaku said gravely, "If these were isolated incidents, it would be one thing. But this time, it’s entirely different."

"Yes, the village is in for a headache now," Rei replied, blinking as he understood his clan head’s meaning.

After the Nine-Tails’ rampage, the other villages making moves was to be expected, and Konoha had made preparations accordingly.

But at this critical moment, Orochimaru had defected.

This changed everything, for the village had lost one of its main fighting forces.

During the Third Great Ninja War, Konoha’s ultimate victory was largely thanks to the overwhelming power of Minato and others, who turned the tide.

But now Minato was gravely injured and convalescing, unable to fight.

Orochimaru, their other hope, had defected just this morning.

Of the remaining Sannin, Tsunade had left long ago, vanishing without a trace due to her hemophobia.

Now Jiraiya had gone after Orochimaru, and whether he’d return soon was uncertain.

In such circumstances, should war break out, Konoha’s border defenses would lack supporting high-level combat power and could be overrun in short order.

And if the borders fell, the village itself would be in grave danger…