"Alright, then let's meet up in 3 hours outside the village." - withthose words, Eiji left Sasuke alone.
'I said I want to searchforthe dragon temple, but I have no idea where to even start...well let's just go with my other plan first, since it overlaps with it anyway...'
Eiji then walked leisurely towardsKonoha's prison.
A few hours later, the Sound Four were escaping while gritting their teeth.
They were waiting for Sasuke to finally get close to his home when suddenly all kinds of shinobis started to search for something.
It didn't take long for them to get noticed, and even though they were arrogant and thought they were strong, against a horde of shinobis in their home village was too much, so they started to escape with everything they got.
"YOU MUST BE OROCHIMARU'S HENCHMAN!!! GIVE UCHIHA SASUKE BACK!!!" - random Konoha shinobi
"GIVE SASUKE BACK MY ASS!!! WE COULDN'T KIDNAP HIM SINCE HE WAS HIDING SOMEWHERE THE WHOLE TIME!!!" - a furious Tayuya screamed back.
"YOU THINK WE ARE IDIOTS?? UCHIHA SASUKE IS MISSING AND ONE OF YOUR COMRADE ESCAPED FROM THE PRISON!! IF THISWASN'T YOU, WHO WAS IT?! SO STOP RIGHT THERE AND SURRENDER, OR ELSE WE WILL CHASE YOU TO THE END OF THE WORLD!!"
'WHAT THE FUCK?! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING??? WHY IS FUCKIN UKON MISSING NOW?? Damn you Sasuke Uchiha...I will never forgive you!' - Tayuya increased her speed, while the rest of the Sound Four were following behind her.
Sasuke looked at Eiji who was accompanied by someone.
It was none other than Ukon!
He was currently laughing madly while occasionally biting into his arm.
"?" - Sasuke didn't say a word, but his expression told more than a thousand words.
"What's wrong? Oh is it about this guy? I thought since finding the dragon temple won't be so easy, we will need to build an information network first. And having someone who knows the locations of Orochimaru's hideouts, he might come in handy." - Eiji
"Information network?" - Sasuke already contemplated if he made the wrong decision.
Eiji smiled: "Yeah, let's build a large organization specializing in the gathering and trading of information...don't make such a face...this will be beneficial to you as well since you cant just easily meet Itachi with him being part of a criminal organization. And getting information on that organization isn't easy, so doing that makes sense, right?" - Eiji shamelessly concealed that he already knew everything about Akatsuki so that Sasuke would have no choice but to agree.
"Hmph!" - Sasuke didn't answer in his usual arrogant demeanor, but since he didn't complain, Eiji knew that he agreed more or less.
"HIIAHAHAHA!!! Hey you! You didn't lie to me when you said you will help me with my revenge against Orochimaru, right?" - Ukon
"Don't worry, I have the reputation of being the best helper for revenge in existence, right Sasuke?" - Eiji picked his nose while saying that.
"..." - Sasuke knew that his new "comrades" will be a pain in the ass and he even started to miss the useless Sakura and the annoying and dumb Naruto.
Building an organization specialized in information wasn't only to make it easier for him to find the dragon temple, but more importantly to save his and the world's life.
In the future, he can just "release" some important information to make other people move as he wants, with that he will be in control of the flow of events and can "fix" as much as he needs.
If you control all the information, you control the world!
Eiji looked at his "comrades": Sasuke was walking cool with his hands in his pockets and Ukon was randomly erupting in madly laughter and biting his arms.
'Since I'm now the leader of an organization, I'll need to come up with a name and uniforms, right?... Damn, I should have asked Guy to give me a bunch of those green jumpsuits...'
On this night, a colorful group embarked from Konoha.
"Please calm down Lord Orochimaru!" - Kabuto
"HOW CAN I CALM DOWN?! NOT ONLY DID THEY FAIL TO BRING SASUKE HERE BUT THE CURRENT LOCATION OF SASUKE ISN'T KNOWN NOW WHICH IS EVEN WORSE!!!" - Orochimaru screamed in his new body.
Since Sasuke wasn't "delivered" in time, hehad to take another body, like in the original timeline.
But this time Sasuke didn't even arrive late, which is why he was furious.
"Even though they completely failed their mission, they arrived with some interesting news..." - Kabuto tried his best to calm Orochimaru down.
"What do you mean?" - Orochimaru
...
"So the "Hokage" coincidentally went missing at the same time as Sasuke? HAHAHAHA!!!! IT'S THE SECOND TIME THIS STUPID BRAT GOT IN MY WAY!!! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE HIM!!!" - Orochimaru radiated an immense amount of bloodlust, making Kabuto fear for his life.
InKumogakure A (Fourth Raikage) looked at a Bingo Bock entry his shinobi brought secretly from Konoha.
it was a page of Eiji:
STATUS: Alive
AFFILIATION: Konohagakure (former), Rouge
RANK: S-rank
SEX: Male
D.O.B: September 28
AFFINITY(IES): Wind Release, Senjutsu
HEIGHT: 150 cm - 152,5 cm
WEIGHT: 41 kg - 43 kg
OTHER: Highly dangerous. Do not approach unless of being Anbu rank or higher. Despite the appearance, the individual is sharp and calculating. Highly proficient in Kenjutsu and able to enter Sage Mode. Be aware of the extraordinary regeneration ability, which makes killing him difficult.
Next was a picture of Eiji staring in the air dumbly while picking his nose.
"..." - A
"Lord Raikage, how do we proceed? Even though he was only Hokage for a few days, he may have some information, we could..." - C
A slammed his fist on the table: "DESPITE APPEARANCE?! THIS GUY LOOKS LIKE AN IDIOT!!"
C sighed: "I agree with that, but more important than his appearance, what should we do?"
A calmed down and started to think.
Kumogakure had the history of always trying to kidnap shinobis from other villages, but an S-rank who was Hokage (albeit only for a few days) wouldn't be easy to kidnap, to say the least.
They would need to send a huge amount of manpower, for a former Hokage who might not have had the time to learn any significant secrets as Hokage in his short "career".
The risk was way too high to justify the possible reward.
"We won't do anything. Let's just have Konoha try to deal with their own mess...this will be beneficial for us as well." - A
"Understood." - C glanced at Eiji page while thinking: 'What a waste of such rare young talent. I'm sure Konoha's elders must feel like crying...'
After crying the whole night, Sakura made her mind up.
Instead of always relying on others, she willtry to get stronger herself!
So that in the future, she can help to save Sasuke from Orochimaru.
She knocked on the door, of the "new" Fith Hokage Tsunade (Eiji wouldn't have his face ingrained in the Hokage Rock...)
"Come in!" - Tsunade
"I have a request." - Sakura
"What is it?" - Tsunade
"Please...make me your apprentice!" - Sakura
"Haruno Sakura...I've heard from Kakashi that you're intelligent and that you have a strong spirit. Alright...from now on, I won't goeasy on you!" - Tsunade
"O...OK!!"
A carrier pigeon delivered news of Sasukebeing captured by Orochimaru's henchman to Jiraiya who was currently training Naruto.
"So he really moved, huh...a lot of stuffhappened in Konoha lately...Hey, Naruto! We will pick up the pace of your training!" - Jiraiya
A sweating Naruto cried out in disbelieve: "WHAT?! I'M GONNA DIE AT THIS RATE!! HEY, IT MUST BE BECAUSE OF THE LETTER YOU GOT!!"
"You're right...Sasuke...it looks like he was captured by Orochimaru." - Jiraiya
"!" - Naruto got instantly serious.
"HEY, PERVY SAGE!!! WE NEED TO RESCUEHIM!!!" - a panicked Naruto
"Calm down, as I said I researched Orochimaru's "Immortality Jutsu" and he won't be able to use Sasuke's body as a container for his soul for at least three years...so Sasuke's life won't be in danger for that time. So we will just proceed with the training! Rushing in with your current strength will just get you killed! After three years you will be stronger and we will safe Sasuke then, alright?" - Jiraiya
"...alright." - Naruto proceeded with his training while thinking: 'Just wait Sasuke. After three years I'll save you!'
Twosilhouettes in long black robes with red clouds on them were walking in the desert.
"Are you sure yourbounty target is here? You know, we have our Akatsuki assignments to do..."
"I'm sure since the information came from Shiki Ryuu tea-house."
"Hoo, if that's the case then it has to be true...though I really don't like how they seem to know everything...it's really a spooky group if you ask me..."
"Like you can call others spooky with you and your weird shit religion."
Around two and a half years, a new information broker emerged and rose to the sole powerhouse in their fields.
Their aggressive conquering of rival brokers was one of the main reasons for the unbelievable rapid growth.
Either they submitted to them and worked for them, or they would get destroyed.
And since information brokers were often considered shady and acting out of the law, no one intervened to help them.
With that, the unorganized and ununited small brokers soon found themselves being part of a big information trading network.
But their aggressive expansion method wasn't the sole reason for the rise into the undisputed position they have.
Uniting all those small brokers and developing a vast network meant that they could deliver almost any information you ask and that in a laughable short amount of time!
They called themselves Shiki Ryuu tea-house!
It was safe to say, that they revolutionized information-trading and made it as comfortable as possible.
Almost every town or village had a tea-house, where you can just go in and give a letter of what information you want.
If they have the information available in their tea-house branch, you get your information instantly.
If not, the letter will be sent via carrier-pigeons to their headquarters and then delivered back with the information you are looking for as soon as possible.
You can even leave and do something else, while the carrier-pigeons will find you and deliver the information you asked for.
There was even a saying: "Shiki Ryuu tea-house has all the information in the world! If you get your money sent back instead of the information, it just means you didn't pay enough!"
Even some Daimyos praised it and expressed their wishes on employing or buying the organization.
Of course, the Shinobi villages grew worried about the growing influence of the Shiki Ryuu tea-house.
But the extent of the influence was only known when for some reason Orochimaru tried to find trouble with them.
He attacked various branches, but the overall damage dealt was minuscule since most of the employers were ordinary civilians and non-shinobis, so replacing them was totally easy.
Furthermore, most employees didn't know the location of the headquarters and the pigeons behaved weirdly when someone trackedtheir flying.
In short, his attacks dealt almost no damage.
But how the Shiki Ryuu tea-house retaliated was a completely different matter.
The locations of various hideouts from Orochimaru were published.
And more importantly, all kinds of techniques, jutsus, and secrets from him were published as well.
Almost all his fighting techniques and trump cards were known to the whole world.
It was said that he spat blood for days out of anger.
But the more problematic thing for him was, that know all of the 5 great shinobi villages knew that he had plundered the dead bodies of various shinobis from them for his Edo Tensei.
Save to say, they weren't exactly happy how the dead bodies of their village's heroes were treated and so all published hideouts were completely raided.
With just publishing some information, the Shiki Ryuu tea-house managed to move all the 5 great shinobi villages!
After this incident, the 5 great shinobi villages recognized how threatening the influence of the Shiki Ryuu tea-house truly was.
But they couldn't move against them, since the Shiki Ryuu tea-house always showed their clear stance of neutrality and having a clear bottom-line of not selling any information which would threaten a whole country or village.
And more importantly, no one of them knew what kind of information about theirvillage could get published if they decided to attack them.
None of the villages wanted to "sacrifice" themselves so that the other 4 villages would feel safer.
Of course, the was the other aspect of them buying information from them as well, which makes missions a lot easier, but that's something they wouldn't openly admit...
"You will burn in hell for calling my religion weird and shit when you die, you know?"
"Like I care. As long as I have money, even hell won't be a problem."
"There you go again about money..."
The two silhouettes continued to walk in this desert until they spotted a cave that seemed to be a hideout.
Two shadows crept in what looked like an abandoned warehouse: "I still think this is a dumb idea...this is obviously a suicide mission they gave us."
"Don't complain. Our village is small and inconsequential, so we need to gamble like that. If we succeed, our village might even get more power than the 5 great shinobi villages!"
"I know...but even Orochimaru paid a heavy price for messing with them...I really don't understand our elders."
"Sigh...that's why you are still only a chunin after all those years. You never see the bigger picture. We could successfully infiltrate a few moles into the Shiki Ryuu, precisely because we're an obscure village! With them always guarding against the 5 great shinobi villages, they don't pay attention to trash like us."
"Trash? That's what you call our villages? Since we're drink buddies I won't tell on you, but you should be careful, you might never know who might hear you..."
"Humph! Like I care! As long we survive this mission, I'll gladly be demoted as long as I live a peaceful life!"
"If we survive.We will probably just run into the Shiki Ryuu's Red-Eyed-Demon and end up as sashimi."
"D-don't worry about that, our moles confirmed that the Red-Eyed-Demon left for a task or something."
"The same moles which said that the headquarters are supposed to be here?" - the shinobi looked at their surroundings: It looked just like any ordinary abandoned warehouse.
"Uhmm, they said that -" - the older shinobi stopped midsentence since an entrance appeared out of the thin air in the ground.
"... let's turn around. This is too creepy."
"T-that's why you are still a chunin! It must have been one of our moles!"
"...yeah right. Drinking sake for breakfast, what a superb teammate I have!"
"E-enough with your complaints! Let's just get done with it!"
"Hey...just out of curiosity...should the headquarters of a giant info brokerage be like a labyrinth full with human skulls and blood on the walls? Cause I certainly don't think so!"
"T-that's just for the aesthetic! The Shiki Ryuu's master must have a peculiar taste!"
"And what about the darkness which follows us and seems to swallow everything?"
"T-that's obvio- wait what did you say?" - the older shinobi turned around and looked back.
"..."
"RUN!!!!"
The two ran with everything they got until they got into a giant room.
They closed the door and looked around.
"Hey, why are there 2 coffins here?"
"Idiot, that's why you are still a chunin. Coffins are often secret passageways. Even genin know that!" - he walked towards the 2 coffins while speaking confidently.
"Then why are you staring at them? Just open them!"
"L-let's open them at the same time!"
The other shinobi rolled his eyes and did as his teammate wanted.
"WHAT THE!!!!"
"MAMI!!!"
Both saw their own corpses in the coffins and passed out.
Eiji looked at the two unconscious shinobis in front of him and shook his head.
He went towards a table and rang a bell.
Soon a middle-aged woman styled in traditional japanese clothes appeared at the door: "You called for me, master?"
"Chisato, how many times do I have to tell you to call me boss instead? Anyway, take those two idiots and drop them somewhere in the city's streets." - While saying that, Eiji took out a pipe and started to lighten it.
"As you - master, why are their pants wet?"
"Just some clowns who can't handle a genjutsu...really, the trash villages seem to produce clowns like that on a treadmill." - he again shook his head and let his gaze wander around his office.
A highly decorated and luxurious room also in traditional japanese style.
He snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed how his secretary was still here: "Something wrong?"
"A red-class report came in..." - she gave him a letter with red seals on it.
"Red-class? Why didn't you say that earlier?" - he opened it with one quick movement with one of his hands.
'So it finally begins?' - an amused smile appeared on his face.
Next, he looked at the shogi board thinking: "On Sasuke's end, things should be soon wrapped up as well."
"Clack!" - he placed a shogi piece on the board.
'Let the show begin!'
Around two years ago back, in a small village.
The door opened and two handsome youths entered an inn.
Chisato sighed, this was the only inn in the village, so she wasn't surprised that those two handsome youths were dressed in shady cloaks.
Only merchants, wanderers, or shady characters would visit this tiny village out in nowhere.
"Damn, this was kinda a letdown..." - the more mysterious but more easygoing out of those two walked towards a random table (since they were all empty) while complaining.
The more cool looking one followed him without a word.
She sighed again and put up her business smile before approaching their table: "Welcome to our humble inn, dear guests. Do you want to order something, or want me to prepare rooms for you?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry, I was lost in thought. Something to eat and drink would be nice." - the easygoing one replied.
"Do you want me to bring a menu?"
"Nah, just bring something you recommend."
She bowed respectfully before leaving for the kitchen.
"Hmph, you wasted so much time searching for that dragon-temple and now look disappointed?"
"Come one, don't be like that. And it's not like it was a complete flop. At least I learned about the characteristics of divine jutsus, though it really won't help in getting stronger, precisely because of those characteristics..."
Eiji started to fall into contemplation again: 'Connecting to the divine, you always have to pay a price...looking at Hidan or the Reaper Death Seal jutsu I should have expected something like that...so this means if I want to "connect" to the dragon god, this will result in a one-time use jutsu similar to the Reaper Death Seal jutsu or opening all eight gates...but I'm not noble enough to use a kamikaze jutsu to save the world or something like that!'
He started to smile wryly, while Sasuke was thinking about his own stuff with eyes closed.
"Well, even down it was a bit disappointing, it wasn't a complete time-waste. So with that out of the way, we should head back tomorrow and meet up with Ukon. Let's just hope he listened to me and negotiated peacefully...it would hinder our plans if he just killed the broker we managed to find..."
Chisato returned with a plate of food when the door shut open suddenly and a bunch of no-good thugs busted in.
'I-it's them again!' - she gritted her teeth.
Always when there was a shinobi war, the small countries and villages between the five great shinobi countries are always the ones who suffer the most. Most of the battles take place in these locations, which is why a certain village where it always rains gave birth to a certain group. But unlike that village, this rundown village had problems recovering their civil-forces. With that, it was easy for a group of bandits to take control and extort money for "protection".
No one dared to go against them, except for 2 fools. It was her husband and her son who had enough and tried to chase them away.
But since they were just ordinary civilians who owned an inn, it didn't end well.
She grieved a long time over the death of her husband and son, but in the end, she was powerless and could only endure.
"HAHAHAHA!!! Did you see their faces when I smashed my club on his head? HAHAHA!!! HEY, YOU! The usual!" - the bandit leader sat down on a chair with his feet on the table.
This was the worst in her opinion.
They not only killed her family but visit the inn to "remind" her of what they did.
She wanted to cry, she wanted to shout, but she endured as always and took out 6 bottles of sake from the bar.
"Jeez, do you ugly bastards have to be so damn loud?" - Eiji said with a soft smile while eating.
"HA!! You damn kid must have a death wish! Or you are just stupid. Haven't you hear of us? We are the White Horseshoe Gang!" - the bandit group stood up with dirty smiles.
"Sigh, I wished Ukon was here with us. He actually enjoys dealing with trash...alright which one of us will do it, Sasuke?"
"You, since this happened because you can't keep yo-"
"Alright, let's decide with Rock paper scissors."
"..."
"Rock, paper..." - Eiji started to raise his hands while Sasuke watched at him silently.
"HEY, YOU!! ARE YOU IGNORING US?!" - the bandit leader was furious and charged at him.
Chisato closed her eyes, not wanting to see how those brutal ruffians will torture those two handsome youngsters.
Chisato opened her eyes.
"Huh?"
She didn't believe what she saw and closed her eyes again.
Then opened them.
All the bandits were laying on the ground unconsciously, while the two youngsters were eating as nothing happened.
With her mouth wide open in complete disbelieve she just continued to stare at the scene.
Eiji noticed her gaze and turned to her: "What's wrong? Are they your friends or what? I'm telling you outright, I won't pay for their treatment. This was self-defense."
It finally dawned upon her that the group, which terrorized her and the village for so long was defeated.
She broke down into tears while letting the sake bottles drop down on the floor, where they smashed into countless pieces.
"Uhm...did I say something wrong? Hey, Sasuke! You are a lady's boy. Read her mind and tell me what's wrong with her!"
"..."
"Tsk, ignoring me again? Whatever...hey you! I'm sorry?"
"S-sorry? No..." - Chisato got up and bowed.
"Thank you...these bandits plagued our village for such a long time...and finally..."
"Oh, it's that? You are welcome then. If you are grateful, how about letting our meal be on the house..."
"NO! This isn't enough repayment. Please, let me repay you no matter what!" - she was in front of him and stared directly into his eyes.
"You are really making this awkward, you know? There is really nothing I need of you..."
"Then let me follow you! You two are wanderers, right? I will do my utmost to help you in any way possible. I can cook, I can wash clothes..."
While she rambled on, Eiji looked at Sasuke with a look that seemed to ask for help.
"Isn't that fine? Didn't you say how we need more manpower anyway?"
"No, actually yes, but this wasn't the kind of manpower I meant!"
"Then it's decided! Let me inform the village chief to take the group into custody and let me pack some stuff before we leave!" - she happily clapped her hands.
'This really isn't the manpower I meant...'
Present time.
Two silhouettes could be seen in the desert on the way to Sunagakure.
"So...the ones Orochimaru manipulated are ahead...yeah. It seems for some reason he leaked our information and turned into a traitor...yeah."
"We don't know what he's like after using that jutsu either. Is it alright just with that bag?"
"My jutsus are all artistic...so I came up with my favorite number, No. 18...yeah. Because our opponent is the "one tail"...yeah."
From afar on a huge sand wall, Sunagakure nins were stationed there.
"What's that? Looks like red clouds on black cloaks...that's! Captain Yuura!"
"Don't worry, it will be over soon." - a dark light flashed in Captain Yuura's eyes.
"Sasori...didn't you say you planted your servant there? Why are the guards all alive and alert? Your servant must have failed...yeah."
"Not a problem, just more work. Let me handle it since you need to save your clay for the one tail."
At the Kazekage Office.
"Lord Kazekage! It looks like the information was true...the Akatuski attacked and Captain Yuura betrayed us!"
"Since it was information from the Shiki Ryuu, we expected it to be true...still, to think he would betray us..." - Baki
"This doesn't matter right now! Gaara, what will you do?" - Kankuro
"I'll engage them outside the village, where I won't need to worry about the village."
"So this is the infamous Akatsuki? The ones who said to be on pair with Orochimaru? Looks like fun, can I join?"
Eiji and Ukon were watching from afar, how Sasori slaughtered the Suna-nins.
"No, this Suna's problem. We are here just to gather information." - Eiji had his arms behind his back and with the expensive kimono and his hair cut short and in clean and hairstyle, he certainly looked like an important person.
"Besides...only Sasuke could take the two one at the same time."
"Tsk, this damn Sasuke. I hate him, I hate him, I hate him..." - Ukon started to chew on his hand while continuing to mutter.
While they were conversing, Gaara suddenly appeared on a sand cloud with his arms crossed.
"Looks like I won't be able to infiltrate now...yeah." - Deidara