Two newborn infants were placed in a secret room.
One had short, yellow hair and six whisker-like markings on his face.
The other had short, red hair and a fair, clean face. Unlike the peacefully sleeping baby beside her, this infant was watching the people before her with a pair of deep blue eyes.
"Are we really going to do this? She's the Fourth Hokage's daughter."
A man wearing a mask and dressed entirely in black robes, who sounded around twenty years old, spoke.
"She is also the current Jinchuriki's sister. And look at this red hair—she's a pure-blooded member of the Uzumaki Clan. Do I need to say more, Shiromaru?"
Another person, dressed similarly, spoke in a completely flat, emotionless tone that made it difficult to discern their age.
"Even so!"
"Enough!"
At that moment, a third voice suddenly rang out. As Amane turned her head to look, the pungent smell of blood assaulted her senses.
[As expected of the Hokage whose heart is black through and through.]
Amane mentally complained. This situation where people could just die was something she never dared to imagine in her previous life.
"Are you ready?"
The two nodded. It seemed this person was truly dangerous; even the one who had clearly shown dissent earlier was now obedient.
"The Third Hokage is currently overwhelmed. To complete this mission, now is the time. Shiromaru, you take the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Kuroaoi, you take the mission target. Move out now. I'll stay behind to clean up."
After he finished speaking, the two acknowledged the order and reached out to pick up their respective targets.
But from Amane's perspective, one of them was holding air. Then, the person from earlier took out a scroll. With a 'poof' sound, something resembling an infant appeared in Shiromaru's arms.
[An illusion? So that means this person called Shiromaru is the decoy and the sacrifice?]
After the two left, Amane was picked up and then carried away in a completely different direction.
After passing through an extremely hidden passage, Amane saw a man that made her heart sink to the depths of despair.
Danzo!
Although she had guessed this possibility earlier, having the fact right before her eyes still made her heart clench. Root was not a good place. The evils Danzo had committed were enough to earn him the title 'pot hokage'.
[Sigh, it's a hallmark of the Hokage world that important figures have turbulent lives. I guess I'm just following local customs. But how is Naruto's situation the same as in the original work?]
Amane had originally thought she would definitely make those troublesome villagers of Konoha taste her power. But with this result—falling into Danzo's hands—she could only consider finding a chance to escape in the future.
[However, I remember an anime-only filler arc not in the manga: the Kakashi Anbu arc. It was a few years after the Nine-Tails Attack, involving Yamato from Root and Orochimaru's defection. Maybe I can try something then?]
Amane wearily closed her eyes; her spirit simply couldn't hold on any longer.
"Well done."
Danzo looked with satisfaction at the child in his subordinate's arms. Now he had an important chess piece in his hands: the sister of the current Jinchuriki, a child who had also inherited strong Uzumaki Clan genes.
"Since we've succeeded, what about the Third Hokage? I don't think those tricks can fool him. He will definitely suspect you."
Kuroaoi handed Amane over to another Root member nearby.
"Take her down and raise her well. You can appropriately increase the drug dosage. Since she's from the Uzumaki Clan, she should be able to endure it."
After Danzo finished speaking, he turned his gaze back to Kuroaoi and said:
"I have my own arrangements for that. You return immediately to oversee the situation with the Jinchuriki. Ensure those two proceed according to plan."
The man acknowledged and immediately disappeared from the spot using the Body Flicker Technique.
"Three people? Never mind. Don't disappoint me, Uzumaki Amane."
Meanwhile, elsewhere... "What! Amane is dead!"
In the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had just finished arranging the day's cleanup work and hadn't even caught his breath, abruptly stood up.
"What happened! I even sent several skilled Anbu members to protect her!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi could hardly believe it. Had Konoha offended the Six Paths Sage today? First, Kushina had problems during childbirth, causing the Nine-Tails to appear. Then, the Fourth Hokage died in battle alongside her. And now, his daughter was also... "Based on the scene, someone tried to take both of them. Fortunately, we were lucky. One of the two escape routes ran straight into the area Kakashi was responsible for. We managed to recapture Naruto, but..."
The reporting voice hesitated involuntarily. Hiruzen's heart gave a violent lurch.
"The person on the other side committed suicide using a special exploding tag. The scene was completely obliterated."
Obliterated... obliterated!
Suddenly, Hiruzen felt something was off.
"Have you identified who did it? Since we recaptured Naruto, at least one person must have been caught, right?"
Under Hiruzen's stern gaze, the messenger reported that the captured person had spontaneously combusted and vanished the instant Naruto was recovered.
Knock, knock, knock... A knocking sound came from the door. It was Kakashi.
"The person I fought had traces of being under an illusion. His skills were clearly from the Anbu."
Kakashi's tone was calm, completely at odds with his murderous expression.
"Was it the work of the mastermind behind this Nine-Tails incident?"
Although the Nine-Tails Attack had just erupted, there were many terrifying details upon closer thought. For example, how did the Nine-Tails suddenly appear inside the Village? Even if something went wrong with Kushina, it should have appeared outside the Village. So, someone likely used a summoning or similar method.
But if that was the case, the problem was serious! Because that meant this person also knew the Jinchuriki would weaken during childbirth. And there was only one candidate with that knowledge and capability: Uchiha Madara!
And the subsequent abduction of the Fourth Hokage's child also seemed to align with the purpose of this incident... The image of a man involuntarily flashed through his mind.
Hiruzen couldn't help but reveal a bitter smile. His old partner seemed to have ample motive for this, and Hiruzen even had an idea of how he was thinking.
[Guiding my thoughts so thoughtfully, are you? Danzo, it's precisely because of things like this that the Nidaime-sama didn't choose you.]
Launch a direct investigation?
The moment this thought arose, Hiruzen dismissed it. For no other reason than Danzo had chosen the timing perfectly. Right now, he simply couldn't spare the manpower.
So, what should he do? If he delayed for a while, an investigation would likely be useless.
Could he, having just promised Minato and Kushina, knowingly let the culprit go temporarily?
First, he needed to confirm something... However, just as Hiruzen was about to move, two old comrades arrived outside the door.
Homura Mitokado, Utatane Koharu.
"Hiruzen, the two of us would like to discuss the Village's future with you. Or rather, who should be the next Hokage."
After Utatane Koharu finished speaking, she glanced at Kakashi, who promptly left.
"More important than that, I need to find Danzo and ask him something right now. If you can't wait, we can talk while walking."
After Hiruzen said this, he tried to walk out the door. However, Homura Mitokado immediately spoke up:
"About Uzumaki Amane? Indeed, Danzo is suspicious in this matter. But is now the time for this? Addressing the Village's urgent crisis is the top priority."
[Not good! It seems these two old comrades also have an idea. They probably came at this time because they're worried about a conflict erupting between me and Danzo.]
Sigh... A helpless, long sigh.
Hiruzen clenched his pipe tightly. For now... he could only prioritize putting out the visible fire before dealing with anything else.