While his clone followed Orochimaru back to the laboratory, the original Anya continued with his research. The deeper he studied Hashirama's Essence, the more Anya realized its tremendous power—one that was astonishingly remarkable, rivaling even the Sharingan.
If he truly could merge these two forces together, then the 'Myriad Phenomena' power mentioned on the Stone Tablet would not be a mere fantasy.
"Uncle, thank you for everything during this time. On October 10th, I plan to return to Konoha," Anya said.
"Your original body going back?" Orochimaru questioned doubtfully. This time they'd left on a mission with Jiraiya, but now he was returning alone without completing the task—Konoha would definitely suspect something.
Anya nodded decisively. "Yes. I want to change certain things."
From the plot of the first episode of the anime, Naruto had been very young when Minato and his wife were already gone, killed by the Nine-Tails. If Anya wanted to save Minato, he needed to protect both of them before the Nine-Tails appeared—an easy feat for someone like him who possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Looking into Anya's eyes—the eyes of time itself—Orochimaru seemed to grasp what he meant between the lines. He shook his head helplessly. "Everything in this world revolves around a natural order, just like gears. If you attempt to change the direction of one gear, the consequences might be far worse than you imagined."
"For this reason, I practice swordsmanship," Anya smiled confidently. "[Single Blade Strike] in hand, I hold the entire world. No matter how many obstacles lie ahead, I will cut through every single one."
Orochimaru stopped trying to talk him out of it and dropped all other experiments instead.
"Then let's collaborate on this for the time being."
Anya readily agreed, "Great."
With Orochimaru fully supporting him, progress became much more efficient. With the help of Wood Release Clones, Anya began testing ways to integrate Hashirama's Essence into his physical body.
Through repeated failures, he also gained much experience.
Orochimaru analyzed, "The human body is originally a perfect integrated system. Suddenly introducing external cells disrupts that perfection, causing conflicts. Even with chakra suppression, such conflicts might intensify over time unless..."
"Unless my body becomes imperfect first, allowing Hashirama's Essence to fill in those gaps and establish a new cycle of cellular activity. Am I right?"
"Precisely," Orochimaru replied. Then he recalled an earlier incident where Anya had saved him and added thoughtfully, "Actually, humans are constantly growing and evolving beings. Have you ever considered flying on your own into the sky someday?"
After a moment of excitement, Anya blurted out, "You aren't seriously considering grafting me a pair of wings using Hashirama's Essence, are you?"
"Well... recently I've been researching a Cursed Seal..." Orochimaru hinted slyly.
"Uh, Uncle, I think we don't need to rush this experiment. Slow and steady seems better." Remembering Sasuke's cursed-seal wings from the canon story, Anya shivered involuntarily at the thought.
"I see," Orochimaru sighed with obvious disappointment.
Anya wisely avoided responding and quickly changed the subject. "Hey Uncle, what date is it today?"
"October eighth."
"Oh, then I should head back to Konoha."
Anya still remembered Minato mentioning Little Pepper's due date—October tenth, just two days away. At his current flying speed, a day and night would be just enough to make it in time.
"Go."
Watching Anya's retreating figure, Orochimaru's eyes revealed deep contemplation. He had an uneasy feeling deep inside—Anya's journey wouldn't be simple this time, possibly involving the most dangerous situation he'd ever faced.
"Could it be, do your eyes truly possess the ability to see through time?" Orochimaru murmured to himself, "But if what you see can change, then those eyes have already lost their significance."
Adjusting his physical condition while inside the Warhawk Puppet, Anya felt excited. After spending so long in the Naruto world, finally experiencing genuine plot events from the original story that he had personally witnessed was inevitable.
After rescuing Minato this time, Konoha wouldn't matter as much anymore. The next step would be continuing lab research to completely solve the Sharingan defect issue, then waiting for the possible Uchiha Massacre Night to save Miss Mikoto, using Obito and the Akatsuki Organization...
Just as he was pondering his future path step by step, the peaceful and tranquil Konoha village already came into view far ahead.
At this moment, an immense power silently emerged within the air, like steel barriers appearing around him. It resembled a transparent gong shape, forming a spherical field centered at some point. This powerful barrier's massive wave of pressure directly slammed into Anya's Warhawk Puppet.
"Defense."
Anya reacted extremely quickly. The Warhawk Puppet, modified by Sasori, immediately raised a protective shield.
However, the protective shield shattered as soon as it appeared. The Warhawk Puppet's head had already disintegrated into dust, with the force continuing layer by layer toward Anya's body.
"Lightning Release, Lightning Field."
An electric glow flashed across Anya's body as he sprang upward, using the kicking force to rapidly propel himself away from midair.
Five Chōjuriki rockets shot straight toward Anya who had nowhere to land in midair. This scene was incredibly similar to the exact moment of Anya's death in his previous life.
But the current Anya was already incomparable to before. In midair, he bit his index finger, his hands swiftly forming [Hand Seals]: [Rashōmon].
A gate symbolizing death stood upright upon the earth.
"Rumbling..."
Accompanied by a deafening roar, the rockets exploded against the gate. After a period of shaking, Rashōmon remained undamaged, with Anya standing atop it, his gaze firmly locked onto a figure hovering midair.
"You're... asking for death."
As night fell, within a barrier outside Konoha village, agonizing screams echoed from one of the rooms: "Waaah! It hurts so bad... Aaah!"
Kushina had entered labor, Biwako was helping deliver the baby, while Minato assisted Kushina in stabilizing the Nine-Tails' seal inside her body.
Minato looked at Kushina with worried eyes and asked, "She'll be alright won't she? I've never heard Kushina cry out in pain before."
Biwako calmly replied, "Don't worry, you only need to focus on maintaining the Nine-Tails' seal."
Outside the barrier, an Anbu member was silently killed by the masked man, collapsing lifelessly in a pool of blood.
Inside the room, after enduring a difficult childbirth process, finally an infant's crying sound could be heard.
Kushina and Minato both exhaled in relief, shedding tears of joy. It had been such a difficult ordeal.
Minato beamed, "Starting today—I'm a dad!"
After Kushina gave birth, Biwako quickly took little Naruto aside so Minato could complete the Nine-Tails' sealing.
Just as Minato placed his hand on Kushina's seal, preparing to subdue the Nine-Tails for good—
Biwako and another medical ninja were instantly killed, collapsing to the ground as Naruto fell into the masked man's hands.
"Fourth Hokage, Minato, step away from the jinchūriki, or this child has only one minute left to live."
The masked man's sudden appearance shocked Minato and Kushina greatly.
How had he gotten through the barrier? And how did he even know Kushina was giving birth here? The timing had been too perfect. Minato's mind was flooded with questions.
Without another word, the masked man aimed a kunai at Naruto, slapped a heat pack onto him, then hurled him into the air and struck downward.
"Shoo..."
A flash of yellow light shot through the air. Minato caught Naruto midair, steady and precise, while the heat pack was pierced and flung aside.
BOOM! The explosion shook the room as Kushina vanished along with the masked man.
Moments later, in the village of Konoha, a massive orange fox with nine tails stood wide-eyed, its crimson irises burning with rage. An endless aura of ferocity and fury blanketed the entire village. The peaceful night had been shattered. A deadly battle was about to begin...
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