Uchiha orphan, so what if I'm ruthless?

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The ninja world was vast. How vast?

For ordinary people, they might never leave the area they lived in for their entire lives.

A farmer born in the Land of Fire might not travel beyond a hundred-mile radius from birth to death.

A child growing up on the edge of the deserts in the Land of Wind might never see a real forest in their lifetime.

Those towns, rivers, and mountains were just place names to them, mere hearsay, stories told by others.

But the ninja world was also small.

Small enough that a ninja could cross a country in a few days, small enough that a war could engulf several great nations, and small enough that news could spread from village to village and border to border in just a few days.

Ninjas who executed missions traveled far and wide, visiting places ordinary people could never reach and seeing sights ordinary people could never witness.

To Uchiha Taiga, the ninja world was a novelty.

The places he had only heard of in Konoha—the Land of Rivers, the Land of Rain, the Land of Grass, the Land of Waterfalls—each had its own unique customs and sights worth seeing.

He had no specific goal, no place he had to go, and nothing he had to do. To the ninja world, he was more of a passing traveler.

Leaving Konoha this time wasn't so much a defection as it was being pushed to this point by circumstances.

He felt pretty good about it.

Anyway, he had killed the people he wanted to kill, vented his anger, and smoothed out his frustrations.

Shimura Danzo was dead, Hyuga Soma was dead, and Utatane Koharu was dead too.

He had vented his anger, settled his scores, and severed the ties that needed severing. Now, he just wanted to take a good look at this vast ninja world, see the places that only existed in books and legends, and witness the scenery he had never seen before.

As for where his first stop would be, he actually didn't know himself.

His method for choosing a direction was very primitive. After leaving Konoha's territory, he took off his shoe and tossed it into the air. Whichever direction the toe pointed when it landed, that was the way he went.

No plans, no routes, no destination.

This feeling of exploring the unknown was the most fascinating. You didn't know what lay ahead, who you would meet, or where you would wake up tomorrow.

Everything was unknown, and everything was fresh.

Today was the fourth day since Uchiha Taiga left Konoha. He had been walking for four days at a moderate pace, traveling by day and resting by night.

Sometimes he took the main roads, sometimes he cut through small paths, and sometimes he simply walked through the woods.

In four days, he had left the familiar areas around Konoha and entered the heartland of the Land of Fire.

The terrain here was different from the familiar surroundings of Konoha. The mountains were gentler, the waters calmer, the fields more abundant, and the villages more sparsely populated.

Occasionally, he could see farmers working in the fields, merchant caravans traveling on the roads, and children playing at village entrances. Everything was peaceful and tranquil, as if the world of ninjas was completely isolated from theirs.

A four-day journey might not be far for an ordinary person, but for Uchiha Taiga, it was quite a distance.

He estimated that the straight-line distance from Konoha to here was over a hundred miles.

Over a hundred miles was just a small segment on the ninja world map, but on foot, it was enough to give him the feeling of having truly left.

After all, since his reincarnation into the ninja world until now, he had never left Konoha.

It was another shoe-toss for directions. After walking for half a day, a town appeared ahead.

From a distance, the town's scale couldn't compare to Konoha, but it wasn't small either.

The houses were densely packed, the streets crisscrossed, and a few taller buildings could be vaguely seen.

He remembered this place. According to the map, it was called Tanzaku Quarters.

Tanzaku Quarters was a relatively famous town in the heartland of the Land of Fire. It wasn't famous for its scenery, but for its highly developed service industry—specifically, casinos.

The casinos in Tanzaku Quarters were renowned throughout the Land of Fire. It was said that a large number of gamblers flocked here from all over every year to squander their wealth.

Some became rich overnight, while others lost everything. Some walked out of the casinos laughing, while others were carried out crying.

Uchiha Taiga had no interest in gambling.

By the time he walked into Tanzaku Quarters, the sun was already setting in the west. The orange sunlight spilled over the streets, coating the entire town in a warm hue.

The streets were wide, lined with all sorts of shops on both sides—restaurants, inns, teahouses, grocery stores, and those casinos with exceptionally lavish storefronts.

Red lanterns hung at the casino entrances, with the word "Gamble" written boldly on them. Several neatly dressed attendants stood at the doors, greeting passing pedestrians with smiling faces.

Uchiha Taiga walked down the street. He wasn't wearing a forehead protector, but his outfit... dark clothes, a scroll secured at his lower back, a backpack, and three ninja swords hanging from his waist—no matter how you looked at it, he didn't seem like an ordinary person.

The pedestrians proactively avoided him from a distance. Some lowered their heads and walked quickly past, while others simply detoured to the other side of the street.

This wasn't because anyone recognized him, but due to the instinctive fear ordinary people had of ninjas.

In the eyes of ordinary people, ninjas were walking humanoid weapons; it was best to stay as far away as possible.

Uchiha Taiga didn't care.

He found an inn that looked decent and walked in.

After it got dark, he ordered dinner.

The meal was simple: a grilled fish, a bowl of miso soup, a dish of pickled radishes, and a bowl of white rice.

The taste was average, but it won on freshness.

After dinner, with a jug of sake and a bag of peanuts, he sat on the windowsill, watching the night view outside.

The feeling was completely different.

The night view of Tanzaku Quarters was very distinctive. The streets were brightly lit, and the casino signs and lanterns illuminated the entire street as if it were daytime.

Music drifted over from afar—the sound of a shamisen, mixed with people's laughter and shouts. People were walking on the streets, some coming out of the casinos, others going in.

Everything was bustling, and everything was unfamiliar.

He took a sip of sake, tossed a peanut into his mouth, and chewed.

Then, he saw two people.

The two walked over from the east side of the street. Their pace was fast, as if they had traveled a long way.

They wore dark clothes and bamboo hats pulled low, obscuring most of their faces.

But their walking posture—that slight forward lean and lowered center of gravity—was unique to ninjas.

Ordinary people couldn't tell, but Uchiha Taiga recognized it at a glance.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

The two men stopped downstairs at the inn where he was staying.

They looked up toward the second floor.

The moonlight shone on their faces, on the parts exposed beneath their bamboo hats.

Their skin was very pale, and their eyes were also white—not the whites of ordinary eyes, but the distinct white unique to the Hyuga clan.

Uchiha Taiga raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"What, haven't given up yet?"

His voice drifted down from the second floor. It wasn't loud, but the people downstairs heard it clearly.

"Chased me all the way here just to throw your lives away?"

Hearing his voice, the two men trembled simultaneously.

They exchanged a glance and made a move that somewhat surprised Uchiha Taiga.

They both dropped to one knee and bowed their heads.

They knelt very straight and bowed very low.

Uchiha Taiga's hand, holding the sake cup, paused.

The one kneeling on the left was slightly older, probably in his early thirties. The bandages on his forehead gleamed white in the moonlight.

His voice trembled slightly, but his enunciation was clear. "My Lord, we are not here to seek revenge against you."

He paused, as if afraid Uchiha Taiga would attack at the slightest disagreement, and quickly stated their purpose.

"We are here for the Byakugan."

The younger one next to him nodded in agreement, beads of sweat already seeping from his forehead.

They knew exactly who the young man in front of them was.

He had killed a Main House elder, killed Utatane Koharu and Shimura Danzo, and caused significant damage to the village. Despite all that, he had still walked away brazenly.

If someone like this decided to attack over a disagreement, they wouldn't even have the chance to run.

Uchiha Taiga leaned against the window frame, took a sip of sake, and looked at the two men kneeling downstairs.

"Did Hyuga Hiashi send you?"

The two exchanged a glance, and the older one nodded.

"Yes, the Clan Head ordered us to come."

Uchiha Taiga clicked his tongue and placed the sake cup on the windowsill.

"You guys are certainly persistent."

He paused.

"But then again, has that guy Hyuga Hiashi admitted defeat?"

The two didn't answer; they just kept their heads down in silence.

They didn't know what to say.

Say yes? That would be admitting the Hyuga clan had lost.

Say no? Then what was their purpose in coming here?

Silence was the only choice they could make.

Uchiha Taiga looked at them and didn't press the issue. He withdrew his gaze, looked at the night view outside the window, and thought for a moment.

"What price is your Hyuga clan willing to pay?"

Hearing this, a look of joy appeared on their faces.

The older man quickly pulled an envelope from his chest and held it up with both hands.

"The Clan Head said we are willing to pay with money. This is a preliminary offer; the exact amount can be proposed by you, My Lord."

Uchiha Taiga smiled.

"Money? That works. I happen to need funds for my travels."

He picked up the sake cup from the windowsill and took another sip.

"I can return the Byakugan I have to you, for one hundred million ryo."

His tone was casual, as if discussing a very ordinary matter.

On his way here, he had also examined those Byakugan.

To be honest, they were garbage.

Perhaps because the original owners of those Byakugan were old, the eyes' vitality was very poor, and their purity was even worse.

Uchiha Taiga had originally thought about trying to synthesize a Tenseigan or something similar, treating it as an experiment on the road. But Byakugan of this quality were completely useless.

After all, if he really wanted to synthesize a Tenseigan, unless he used the eyes of the entire Hyuga clan, it would just be a pipe dream.

Since that was the case, keeping those Byakugan on him was of no use.

And strictly speaking, he didn't have any massive grudge against the Hyuga clan. That blind fool Hyuga Soma was already dead, and those boastful Hyuga Main House elders had paid the price. Leaving things as they were now was fine.

The two men downstairs exchanged a glance and nodded simultaneously without hesitation.

"Yes, we will relay your demands to the Clan Head, My Lord."

They stood up, preparing to leave.

But Uchiha Taiga's voice drifted down from the second floor again.

"Wait."

The two stopped in their tracks, their bodies stiffening slightly.

"Tell me, what actions did Konoha take regarding me after I left?"

The two exchanged a glance. The older one took a deep breath and began to recount.

What he said caused Uchiha Taiga's expression to gradually turn peculiar.