Chapter 137: What, Nobody Likes a Female Sasuke, Right?
Kenichi stared up at the sign for a moment, then slowly exhaled.
Judging by the atmosphere, this place felt uncomfortably similar to the red light districts from his previous life. Once he accepted that, he forced himself to calm down. He was not here to do anything in a place like this.
At most, he thought, it might be useful to observe a little and learn some so called advanced experience.
"I really did not expect the trail to lead somewhere like this." Sasori frowned as he looked down the street. He clearly knew what kind of district this was.
Kenichi turned to him with a strange look. "Seriously? With a face like yours, you know places like this exist?"
Kenichi had only learned about things like this from Jiraiya's books.
Then he narrowed his eyes. "Sasori, have you been here before?"
Sasori nodded and admitted it without hesitation.
Kenichi went silent.
No. This was not how the conversation was supposed to go. You were supposed to get flustered so he could tease you properly.
"This place is a specialty spot," Sasori said, tone flat. "It caters to shinobi with… specific preferences."
Kenichi blinked.
He had not expected the shinobi world to have something this specialized. It felt like one of those ridiculous hot spring stories from his previous life, where people screamed about pure love while someone in a bull mask applauded from the corner.
Kenichi's lips twitched.
He used to look down on this world's entertainment, thinking it was primitive. Now he realized how shallow that judgment had been.
They were not just playing. They were speed running insanity.
"I did not expect people here to be this dedicated," Kenichi muttered, rubbing his forehead.
Still, none of it was his problem. As long as it was not some woman walking around calling herself Jiraiya or Hiruzen Sarutobi, he did not care what kind of business this district ran.
Of course, he also had no intention of lingering. This was the Land of Fire. If he actually got involved in anything here, Konoha shinobi would crush him before he could blink.
Once inside, Kenichi immediately noticed a large sign hanging high above the entrance.
In bold letters, it read:
Special Offer! The Most Beautiful Courtesan from the Land of Thunder! Limited Time Auction for the First Visit!
Kenichi stared.
"?" he thought.
Why would someone from the Land of Thunder end up here?
For a heartbeat, Kenichi actually considered joining the auction, if only to ask her how she managed to travel that far and still land in a place like this.
Then he remembered why he was here.
Business came first. Sasori was standing beside him, and this was not the time to get distracted.
So Kenichi went straight to the owner and asked a few questions.
The boss, a woman whose age was impossible to judge, turned out to be surprisingly cooperative. She told Kenichi that the courtesan had submitted her resignation yesterday morning.
"So her name is Saiki Sasuke?" Kenichi repeated, eyebrows lifting.
What a bizarre name.
More importantly, Sasuke was a man's name. Why would a woman use it?
Kenichi found it hard to understand.
And of course, the name Sasuke immediately reminded him of someone else. Itachi's younger brother.
At the same time, a strange memory surfaced. In his previous life, he had once seen a manga where Sasuke was drawn as a girl.
It was oddly convincing. It did not just slap a female label onto the same face. The design actually felt thought out.
"Sir," the boss said with a practiced smile, clearly familiar with this reaction, "it's for added fun. Some customers like our girls to dress as men. They say they enjoy the thrill of dragging someone into moral ruin."
Kenichi went silent again.
So that was the level of creativity here.
No wonder Jiraiya was always running around and never going home. With entertainment like this, it was a miracle he remembered Konoha existed at all.
Kenichi had not expected his target to run so fast, but the target had been clever. Knowing she might have slipped up and drawn Konoha's attention, she had fled in advance.
That alone proved something.
Either she really had a problem, or she knew something about the Land of the Sky.
Unfortunately, she was gone.
With no lead to chase, Kenichi could only leave the hot spring reluctantly. Part of him had wanted to sit down and calmly discuss the mysteries of the universe with the women inside.
But the disappearance of that Konoha squad would not stay secret for long.
It was better to leave now, while he still could.
Over the next few days, Kenichi and Sasori kept traveling. Four or five days later, they finally reached the southernmost town in the Land of Fire.
It was called Sky Town.
"Sky Town," Kenichi muttered, then curled his lip. "No way a place with a name like this has no connection to the Land of the Sky."
The Land of Fire really was arrogant. After destroying and annexing a country, they even built a town to brag about it.
No wonder the Land of the Sky would retaliate later. Even Kenichi felt irritated just hearing the name.
After a brief silence, Sasori spoke. "The Land of Wind has a place called Roran."
"Roran?" Kenichi's interest rose.
He remembered hearing that name somewhere before, maybe from a movie, but he could not recall the details. He was not sure whether Sasori's Rorab was related to what he remembered, but the coincidence caught his attention anyway.
In Sky Town, Kenichi managed to learn more about the Land of the Sky, including the rough location of their former site.
Unfortunately, the old man who gave him information clearly misunderstood who Kenichi and Sasori were.
"Listen, young ones," the old man whispered mysteriously, leaning in close. "If you want to pay respects to your elders, do it quietly. And do not leave offerings behind. Just pray in your heart."
Kenichi's expression turned strange, but he still responded. "Are you saying… a shinobi from Konoha?"
The old man waved him off sharply. "Just understand it. Do not say it out loud."
Kenichi agreed with a solemn nod.
Then he and Sasori left Sky Town and followed the location the old man had given them into a dense forest.
Kenichi surveyed the place as they arrived.
From the outside, it looked like an ordinary forest. Still, scattered across the ground were the remains of buildings, half buried and broken, as if time had chewed them apart.
"This doesn't look like a place where you could hide anything," Kenichi said, lifting his chin to the sky.
The blue above was vast and empty. There was not a single cloud, let alone anything flying.
If the Land of the Sky truly had an aerial fortress, and it was as large as the name implied, Kenichi felt he should be able to see it just by looking up.
But there was nothing.
Unless the Land of the Sky had mastered invisibility, the fortress was not in the air.
So… underground?
It felt possible. The Sky fortress was ancient, and if it could be called a fortress, its size should not be small. Hiding something like that beneath ruins would not be impossible.
Kenichi stomped the ground. Thick soil. Nothing obvious.
Still, since he was already here, it would be a waste not to dig.
"Sasori, do you have any ninjutsu that can dig?" Kenichi asked.
"A simple Earth Release is enough," Sasori replied, glancing at him.
Sasori clearly did not think Kenichi had found the Land of the Sky's secret weapon. The place looked like it had nothing at all.
But Sasori still acted. He formed seals and used Earth Release, tearing up large chunks of soil and exposing rock beneath.
"Keep going," Kenichi said, still uneasy. "Dig there. I'll try over here."
Black Zetsu had given him the information. Kenichi also remembered what a friend had told him in his previous life. In theory, there should be no way they came all this way and found nothing.
If the secret weapon was hidden somewhere else, then this trip would be a complete waste.
Just thinking about that made Kenichi's stomach ache, but he forced himself to keep digging.
Then Sasori's voice cut through the forest.
"Kenichi."
Kenichi rushed over immediately, and his eyes landed on a large stone structure.
It was well made, far too deliberate to be natural.
"Could this be the weapon?" Kenichi stared at it, confused. It did not resemble the kind of sky carrier he had imagined at all.
"It looks more like ruins," Sasori said. "Sunagakure unearthed ruins before. Like the temple of the desert god. This is the same kind of stone construction."
Kenichi let out a long breath. Hope drained from his chest.
Still, he forced himself to keep working.
"Let's dig around it," Kenichi said. "If it really is ruins, we go in and look. Who knows what treasure might be inside."
He had almost accepted the disappointment.
These stones were massive. They did not look like they could fly in any way. Even in the shinobi world, something this heavy would need an absurd propulsion system.
That felt impossible.
But after digging a bit longer, Kenichi suddenly felt something different under his foot.
Wood.
A large wooden plank.
The workmanship was obvious. It was not naturally formed.
Kenichi pried it aside, and a deep hole opened in the earth.
Chakra gathered in his palm. Kenichi flicked a small fireball down into the darkness.
The flame struck rock below and lit the space for an instant, revealing a hollow passage.
Since the fire burned normally, there was air.
Kenichi jumped down.
The moment his feet hit the ground, he activated Sage Mode and scanned his surroundings, alert for traps or ambushes.
But the place was silent.
Empty.
Cold.
It really did feel like ruins, with no living presence at all.
At the same time, deeper within those ruins, a different scene unfolded.
A red haired girl bit her finger, eyes burning with anger as she glared at a shinobi in front of her.
"The teacher was right," she said. "Those filthy Konoha shinobi still came looking for us."
"Lady Amaru," the leading shinobi asked carefully, then made a quiet throat slitting gesture. "Do you need us to handle it?"
"No need," Amaru replied, smiling faintly.
Her voice was soft, but her words made the Sky shinobi around her shiver with excitement.
"The big thing the teacher put inside me is hungry."
A flash of fanatic light ignited in the eyes of the Sky shinobi who heard her.
The embers of their hidden village would become karmic fire.
Fire that would burn Konoha to the ground.
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