A shortage of medicinal herbs.

This was a deadlock sufficient to strand any grand plan at its very inception.

When Qi handed the list of required medicinal herbs to Fugaku and Shisui, both of their brows furrowed tightly, and the atmosphere in the secret chamber grew heavy once again.

Fugaku tapped his fingers lightly against the table, producing a dull sound that betrayed his inner agitation.

The hope that had just been ignited felt as if it had been doused by a bucket of cold water.

While most of the medicinal herbs on the list were precious, with the financial resources of the Uchiha clan, they could barely be gathered from the major pharmacies within Konoha.

However, the key ingredients like "Dragon Blood Grass" and "Snake Saliva Fruit" were simply not items circulating on the market.

They mostly grew in treacherous, inaccessible places, such as the depths of the Forest of Death or on the cliffs near the Valley of the End, and usually, only bounty hunters operating in the gray zones or large underground exchange shops would have a small amount in stock.

"Under Konoha's surveillance, we cannot conduct large-scale purchases, and it is even more impossible to dispatch clansmen to leave the village to search for them," Fugaku said in a deep voice, his words filled with helplessness. "The eyes of Root and Anbu are everywhere; any unusual movement of supplies or missing personnel would immediately alert the Third Hokage. Although Danzo is seriously injured, his minions remain. We cannot expose our intentions at this critical moment."

Shisui also nodded, agreeing with Fugaku's assessment.

He had once served in Anbu and knew deeply the terror of Konoha's intelligence network.

Every entrance and exit of the village, every commercial channel, was filled with informants.

For any member of the Uchiha clansman, if there were any abnormal actions, a relevant report would be placed on the Hokage's desk within half an hour. This was truly a deadlock.

However, Qi appeared confident.

"Clan Leader, Senior, there is no need for such trouble," he smiled, that composure making both Fugaku and Shisui feel somewhat surprised. "Leave these medicinal herbs to me to resolve. Konoha's cage cannot trap me."

That night, the three met again in the secret chamber.

"I am going out for a trip; I will be back soon."

Qi said to the two, and then, under their shocked gazes, he activated Kamui.

Around his body, space began to distort violently, like a water surface into which a stone had been thrown, forming a bottomless, pitch-black vortex.

The vortex seemed to possess life, slowly sucking him entirely into it.

In the next second, his figure was completely swallowed by the vortex, passing directly through the thick walls of Naka Shrine, ignoring the layers of defensive barriers covering the entire Uchiha Clan Compound, and vanished without a trace.

Fugaku and Shisui exchanged a glance, both seeing deep shock in each other's eyes.

Ignoring barriers, entering and exiting freely... this ability was simply born for infiltration and breaking out!

Konoha's physical blockade against the Uchiha was, in front of Qi, nothing more than a facade.

For the first time, Fugaku realized so clearly that the power Qi possessed was not just powerful destructive force, but a strategic-level ability capable of overturning the rules.

The worry for the future in his heart was, at this moment, diluted significantly by this incredible power.

Meanwhile, Qi had already appeared in a dense forest several kilometers outside the Uchiha Clan Compound.

Through several short-distance space-time transfers, like a ghost traveling through different dimensions, he easily bypassed all the open and hidden sentries Konoha had deployed on the outskirts of the village, arriving at the capital of the Land of Fire, several dozen kilometers away from Konoha.

This was the political and economic center of the Land of Fire, far more prosperous than Konoha, and also far more chaotic.

Various forces were intertwined; it was a hub for intelligence and supplies, and also a hotbed for darkness.

After a slight disguise, using a black hooded cloak to cover his face and that conspicuous Uchiha clansman attire, he then cast a Transformation Technique and walked with familiarity into a dark, damp alleyway that reeked of mold.

At the end of the alley was an inconspicuous, rusty iron door.

Pushing the door open, a turbid air mixed with tobacco, inferior alcohol, and a faint scent of blood rushed toward him.

This was the largest underground exchange shop in the Land of Fire, commonly known as the Black Market.

The lighting in the Black Market was dim, the voices noisy, and it was filled with rogue ninjas from various countries, bounty hunters, and brokers selling intelligence.

Seeing Qi, a stranger, enter, they merely cast a few vigilant, wolf-like gazes, then paid him no further attention.

Here, everyone had their own secrets; prying into others was a major taboo.

Qi ignored these people and walked straight to the counter in the deepest part of the Black Market.

Behind the counter, a middle-aged man with a scar on his face and sharp eyes was carelessly wiping a Kunai in his hand with a cloth.

Raising his eyelids, he lazily sized Qi up and asked, "What do you want to buy? Or do you want to sell something? You know the rules, right? Cash only, no credit."

Qi did not waste words.

Slightly raising his head, beneath the shadow of his hood, a pair of scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan with a unique windmill Shuriken pattern flashed and vanished.

That immense and cold spiritual energy, which seemed to come from another dimension, although only for a fleeting moment, caused the person in charge behind the counter to stiffen all over, as if his throat had been gripped by an invisible giant snake.

The Kunai in his hand dropped to the ground with a "clang," the crisp sound appearing exceptionally abrupt in the noisy environment.

Cold sweat instantly seeped from his forehead.

He felt that what he had just seen was not a pair of eyes, but death itself.

The power contained within those eyes was enough to completely erase him, along with this small Black Market, from this world.

Mangekyō Sharingan!

Although he was just a businessman, he still had that much discernment.

Any Uchiha capable of awakening this legendary eye was without exception a monster among monsters.

Such an existence, let alone offending, he didn't even have the qualification to look at more than once.

The person in charge's attitude changed 180 degrees instantly; he hurriedly bowed and said in an almost fawning, respectful tone, "My... Lord, if you have any orders, please feel free to say them. Your will is the rule of the Black Market."

Qi was satisfied with the other party's shrewdness; this would save a lot of unnecessary trouble.

He placed the medicinal herb list he had prepared long ago on the counter.

The person in charge picked up the list, glanced at it, and immediately nodded and bowed, saying, "My Lord, please wait a moment. Although these medicinal herbs are rare, we have them in stock. I will have someone prepare them for you immediately."

In less than ten minutes, a huge sealing scroll was delivered to Qi.

Qi opened it to check, and after confirming that the quantity and quality of all the medicinal herbs were correct, he left a huge sum of money that would make the Black Market person in charge unable to stop smiling for the next year, then put the scroll away and prepared to leave.

Just as he turned to leave, he inadvertently heard two bounty hunters at a nearby table who were drinking and looked like rogue ninjas from the Hidden Rain Village talking in lowered voices.

"Have you heard? That organization called 'Akatsuki' has started recruiting again recently; they are making big moves."

"Of course I've heard; they are very generous. It is said that as long as it is an S-Rank rogue ninja, regardless of background or past, they are welcomed without exception. I heard that the immortal monster from Hidden Waterfall Village, known as 'He Who Lives as Long as Heaven and Earth,' Kakuzu, seems to have joined."

"What a mysterious organization; I don't know what they want to do... collecting powerful rogue ninjas everywhere; their schemes are not small..."

Akatsuki?

Qi's footsteps paused slightly.

His heart stirred, and he silently noted this intelligence.

It seems that with his intervention, the butterfly effect in this world has begun to manifest; Akatsuki's actions seem to be earlier than in his memories.

A vague thought flashed through his mind.