That evening, Seigen returned to the village with Orochimaru.
Since moving all of the laboratory equipment would be a troublesome task, Orochimaru decided to come ahead of time to inspect the site himself.
It also gave him an opportunity to see the Uchiha Clan’s new village.
Construction of the Hidden Flame Village had already begun to take shape.
Everywhere the eye could see, dust filled the air as work continued.
However, Seigen hadn’t allowed the villagers to build their homes the same way they had back in Konoha—with wood.
Instead, he had chosen reinforced concrete.
That’s right.
When Seigen first discovered that the Naruto world actually had reinforced concrete, he genuinely didn’t know what to say.
The technological progression of this world was incredibly bizarre.
He had even asked why, if reinforced concrete already existed, the hidden villages still insisted on building houses out of wood.
Fugaku explained that it was largely due to tradition.
Furthermore, the population of most ninja villages remained relatively stable, so there was rarely a need to construct large numbers of new homes.
As a result, Seigen immediately dispatched teams to purchase steel and cement.
After all, the village he envisioned wasn’t just a village.
Although ninjas were far more efficient than ordinary people, most Uchiha specialized in combat.
When it came to construction, they were still much slower than Earth Release users.
Thinking of the shinobi from the Hidden Stone Village, Seigen lowered his head in thought.
Looks like I’ll have to find time to visit the Hidden Stone Village.
“Oh!
Isn’t that Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin…?”
“What!?
The rogue ninja Orochimaru?”
“Hey, Uchiha Riku, what are you talking about?
Aren’t we rogue ninjas too?”
Three Uchiha working at a construction site began chatting after seeing Seigen return with Orochimaru.
“Ah…
Seigen’s housing plans are amazing!
I visited my cousin’s new house yesterday.
It’s so much better than the ones we used to have in Konoha!”
Uchiha Riku sighed with heartfelt admiration.
“Shut up!
We should be calling him Flame Shadow now!” another Uchiha hurriedly reminded him.
The construction plans Seigen had proposed had earned unanimous praise throughout the village.
“It seems the Hidden Flame Village is very different from the other hidden villages, Seigen-kun.”
“You’ll see even more differences.
Want me to show you around?”
“It would be my honor…
Flame Shadow.”
Orochimaru suddenly became unusually serious, making Seigen feel strangely uncomfortable.
Afterward, Seigen led Orochimaru on a tour of the village.
When they arrived at the farming district, Orochimaru saw large numbers of Uchiha shinobi hard at work in the fields.
Various ninjutsu were being used for planting seeds, pulling weeds, and reclaiming farmland.
The sight fascinated him.
To nearly everyone, ninjutsu was an art of killing.
Even his own research into ninjutsu existed solely to make killing more efficient.
Watching the Uchiha use ninjutsu this way was truly eye-opening.
If shinobi from other villages came here and saw proud members of the Uchiha Clan setting aside their dignity to work in the fields like ordinary farmers, they would undoubtedly laugh at them for abandoning the Uchiha’s honor.
But the Uchiha didn’t care.
When you’re on the verge of starving to death, who cares about meaningless honor?
Who cares about maintaining a ninja’s pride?
Orochimaru found the scene surprisingly interesting.
Having been born a commoner himself, he had done plenty of farm work when he was young.
The sight before him stirred memories of his childhood.
“Using ninjutsu for production…
What an excellent idea.”
As Orochimaru continued touring the village, he noticed a separate area established along its outskirts.
So these are the refugees Seigen has taken in…
What exactly is he trying to accomplish?
Orochimaru couldn’t quite understand.
He could tell that Seigen fundamentally despised human experimentation.
If that was the case, why gather so many refugees?
Logically speaking, the fastest way to strengthen a hidden village was to recruit smaller ninja clans, absorb them outright, and only afterward search among civilians for talented individuals worth cultivating.
To everyone else, refugees were hardly considered people at all.
What puzzled Orochimaru even more was what happened after they registered.
The refugees were separated into male and female camps.
Then the Uchiha ordered them to shave their heads, take baths, and even sprayed them with insect repellent.
“Mom!
Mom!”
A mother and her son were being separated by Uchiha Yue.
“W-Waaah…
Ninja, please!
Don’t separate me from my child!” the woman sobbed as she clung desperately to Yue’s sleeve.
Whoosh!
Itachi happened to be patrolling the refugee camp when he came across the commotion.
He walked over, gently patted the little boy’s head, and said, “Ma’am, we have to separate the men and women.
It’s to prevent the spread of any infectious diseases you may be carrying.
I’ll make sure your son is looked after.”
“R-Really…?”
The woman noticed that all the other shinobi respectfully nodded to the young man.
She believed he wouldn’t lie to her.
Her name was Nana Yuki.
She and her family had originally lived in the Land of Grass.
Then a group of wandering rogue ninja attacked their village.
Her husband and the rest of her family had died at their hands.
Relying solely on her determination, she had escaped the Land of Grass with her son.
Along the way, she heard rumors that this place was willing to take refugees in.
“All right.
The camp has prepared porridge.
Go line up over there in a little while.”
Itachi pointed toward the queue.
“Thank you, my !
Thank you so much!”
Nana Yuki immediately knelt before Itachi.
Itachi merely nodded before turning and leaving the camp.
The ninja here…
seem different from the ones everywhere else…