The heavy iron doors of the Anbu Headquarters groaned open, the harsh sound piercing the dead silence of the night.
Kakashi shook the doubts from his mind. He adjusted his mask and looked up to see two figures emerging.
One was the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, clad in his red and white robes and iconic hat.
The other was an old man in a black kimono. His right eye and right arm were swathed in bandages, and a cross-shaped scar on his chin gave him a perpetually sinister appearance.
The founder and leader of "Root." The man who controlled the darkness of Konoha. The most powerful man in the village after the Hokage.
—Shimura Danzō.
"This emergency assembly is to apprehend the traitor Orochimaru, who slipped through the net during the previous operation."
Hiruzen stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the gathered Anbu. His tone was calm but direct. "According to reports, Orochimaru is heavily wounded. Given his condition, leaving the Land of Fire quickly will not be an easy task."
"Orochimaru possesses knowledge, intelligence, and technology that are invaluable assets to Konoha. I want you to bring him back alive if possible."
"If he defects from the Land of Fire, it will deal a fatal blow to Konoha. If that happens..."
Hiruzen paused for a moment before continuing heavily. "We must race against time before he crosses the border."
"Everyone, search with all your might!"
With that, Hiruzen lifted his head. His face was cold, devoid of unnecessary sentiment. "Scatter!"
Swish! Swish!
The Anbu dissolved into shadows. The hawks and hounds of the village would hunt the cunning snake with everything they had, scouring the sky, the earth, and the water.
Once the courtyard was empty, Hiruzen turned to re-enter the building.
As he passed Danzō, a voice dripping with mockery reached his ears.
"You really do cherish your adorable student, don't you?"
Hiruzen stopped. He lowered his head slightly, the brim of his hat casting a shadow that hid his expression.
"To think that someone like you would 'blunder' so badly," Danzō continued. "I heard you saved a Hyūga child from Orochimaru's clutches?"
They had been rivals and friends for decades; Hiruzen knew exactly what Danzō was implying. He sighed inwardly, feeling a deep wave of exhaustion.
"He is just a pitiful child," Hiruzen said, then added pointedly, "He is from the Branch House."
Give it up. That was the unspoken message.
Regardless of whether Orochimaru had achieved any experimental results on the boy, a Branch House member branded with the "Caged Bird" could never be used by Root.
If not for that seal, given the boy's display of the "Will of Fire," Hiruzen would have already taken steps to groom him. Even if he was a talentless "waste," he could have been an excellent Academy teacher.
But alas...
A Branch House member existed only to serve the Main House. They had no autonomy.
The Main House needed only to activate their secret seal to destroy the brain nerves of anyone bearing the Caged Bird.
Compared to that, Danzō's "Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal"—which merely paralyzed the target to prevent leaking intel—was practically an act of charity.
"..."
Hearing this, Danzō closed his visible eye and turned his face toward the dark horizon. He seemed to drop his schemes. His tone returned to its usual cold indifference. "regardless, I will assist fully."
"For the sake of Konoha, I will do everything in my power."
"...I am sorry to trouble you," Hiruzen glanced at him and said calmly. "Thank you for your 'concern'."
Hiruzen walked into the building without another word.
Although Danzō mocked his sentimentality, and although Danzō likely had shady dealings with Orochimaru in the past, Hiruzen knew one thing for certain:
From the moment Orochimaru defected, Danzō would do exactly as he said. He would try to kill Orochimaru to bury their shared secrets and eliminate a threat to the village.
Perhaps the explosion that critically wounded Orochimaru was a fail-safe Danzō had planted without Orochimaru's knowledge.
This was why Hiruzen tolerated Danzō's darkness. In the end, everything Danzō did was for the sake of the village.
As that Hyūga child had written: for the "Great Tree" of Konoha to grow, it needed "Roots" that never saw the sun.
But they only needed to be roots.
After Hiruzen left, Danzō opened his eye.
"Caw."
A crow circled overhead and landed on Danzō's shoulder. It opened its beak and dropped a small scroll into his hand.
"..."
Danzō unfurled the scroll. It was written in Root cipher.
The report detailed the cleanup of the laboratory. Unfortunately, most of Orochimaru's equipment and data had been utterly destroyed by the explosion.
According to the forensic analysis, explosive tags had been lined along the entire length of the drainage pipes. The destruction was total.
Those machines had cost Danzō a fortune to procure through the black market. Some were tech even Root didn't possess.
"Did Orochimaru do this? He'd rather destroy it than let me have it?"
Danzō's eye filled with gloom. But he quickly dismissed the idea.
Orochimaru had lost an arm in that blast. Even with his modified body, blowing himself up while drained of chakra was irrational.
And Hiruzen? His guilt and softness made him incapable of such a ruthless scorched-earth tactic.
In fact, knowing Hiruzen, the old fool probably thought Danzō was the one who set the trap.
"Then... who?"
Danzō's brow furrowed deep. He felt the unsettling sensation of an invisible hand manipulating events from the shadows.
He thought of the sole survivor—the boy. But logic dictated it was impossible.
Such a clean, vicious, and comprehensive elimination of evidence? A plan that played both a Sannin and a Hokage like fiddles?
Impossible for a fifteen-year-old.
Impossible for a cowardly orphan from the Branch House.
"Damn it! Who is it?!"
Danzō crushed the scroll in his fist. He loathed this feeling—a threat hiding in the darkness that he couldn't see or control.
Whoever it was, they were dangerous. Perhaps more dangerous than Orochimaru.
He, the "Darkness of Shinobi," would not allow such an anomaly to exist.
Better to kill the wrong person than let a threat live.
Thinking of the Hyūga boy, Danzō narrowed his eye. He pulled out a blank scroll and scribbled a command in code. He gave it to the crow, which took flight into the night.
It was just a "waste" from the Hyūga Branch House. If he died in an unfortunate accident, no one would care.
Meanwhile, hundreds of kilometers away in the forests of the Land of Fire.
Snap.
A dry branch broke underfoot, startling birds from their roosts. A figure stumbled out of the shadows.
"Haa... Haa..."
Orochimaru leaned heavily against a tree. He tasted iron; blood bubbles were bursting in his throat with every breath.
His left arm was gone, severed at the forearm. Mangled red flesh and white bone were exposed to the air. His clothes were soaked in blood.
This was the closest to death he had ever been since he began his body modifications.
Anticipating a day like this, he had prepared a contingency within the Land of Fire: the Iburi Clan.
They possessed a unique Kekkei Genkai that allowed them to turn into smoke and possess bodies. However, they were unstable and prone to dispersing into nothingness if hit by wind.
Orochimaru had stabilized their powers using his cursed seals, extending their lives. In return, their blood, which possessed healing properties, served as his emergency biological reserve.
If not for that final explosion, he could have made it there easily.
"Damn it! Damn it! All because of that brat!!" Orochimaru's voice was a raspy hiss of pure venom.
He touched the scroll tucked in his chest.
At least he still had the scroll containing the ancient secrets. If he could decipher more of the seals, he would uncover the truth of the Ōtsutsuki.
He also had a sample of flesh from the Ōtsutsuki corpse. If he could perfect the Impure World Reincarnation...
His only option now was to have Manda use "Reverse Summoning."
But Manda was a treacherous beast. If the giant snake saw him this weak, it would eat him without a second thought.
And the White Snake Sage of Ryūchi Cave, along with the three Snake Princesses, were not exactly benevolent figures.
"Cough!"
Orochimaru coughed up a clot of blood.
His vision blurred. The buzzing in his ears grew deafening. The tree shadows seemed to twist into claws. His body was shutting down.
The fear of death drove his fingers into the tree bark, grinding moss into green paste.
I have to take revenge on that brat. I have to master all the truths of this world!
I cannot die! Not here!
Just as Orochimaru resolved to use the summoning, space warped.
POOF!
A cloud of white smoke exploded, and Orochimaru vanished.
Seconds later, a tall figure with a mane of white spiky hair landed in the clearing. Jiraiya looked around, frowning.
"Reverse Summoning? Orochimaru, what on earth..."
At the same time, in a cavern filled with stalactites hanging like fangs.
The floor was paved with green stone tiles carved with snake motifs. eerie green phantom fires burned in alcoves, and purple crystals pulsed in the walls.
"This is..."
Orochimaru opened his eyes, confused. "Ryūchi Cave?"
He hadn't summoned Manda yet. Why was he reverse-summoned here?
"Orochimaru."
An ancient, ethereal voice filled the air.
Orochimaru looked up.
Coiled on a massive stone throne was a colossal white serpent.
The White Snake Sage. The Great White Snake of Ryūchi Cave. A being that had lived for over a millennium. Its power was unfathomable.
Usually, the Sage took the form of an old woman smoking a pipe.
But this was the first time Orochimaru had seen its true form. The detached, lazy aura was gone, replaced by a terrifying, primal pressure.
"How is this possible?"
The Great White Snake stared down at Orochimaru with amber, vertical pupils. Its face held an expression that was shockingly human—a look of bewilderment.
"Your fate... has somehow been rewritten?"
Konohagakure. Hyūga Compound. A dilapidated house on the outskirts.
"Meow."
A soft mewl mixed with the chirping of crickets.
On the bed, Hyūga Kumokawa slowly opened his eyes.
"Finally gone."
He sat up, looking out the window at the peaceful night. He touched the bandages on his neck, and a smile curled his lips.
A fatal wound that had nearly severed his head... after only one day, it was mostly healed.
This regeneration speed wasn't quite at the level of Hashirama Cells, but it was enough to eliminate the inherent fragility of a ninja's body.
And this was merely the first benefit his new body had granted him.