Swish! Swish! Swish!
Night fell.
Rain pattered endlessly against the rooftops. Droplets fell in arcs, shattering into splashes as they hit the ground.
The lights of Konoha shimmered like a mirage through the misty veil.
Black shadows, like owls in the night, leapt across the rooftops. They all wore light, gray tactical vests, with short blades or straight swords sheathed on their backs.
Many of them still carried the faint stench of blood. Beneath their white masks, their eyes radiated solemnity and coldness, so much so that villagers on the streets instinctively avoided them.
Passing through the bustling district, they reached the deserted outskirts of the village.
They stopped before a building marked with the kanji "暗" ("Dark")—the headquarters of the ANBU Black Ops.
Almost every ANBU operative had been urgently summoned from their homes. Though the place was crowded, everything was in perfect order.
Not a sound could be heard. The atmosphere was suffocating, solemn, like attending a funeral.
Among them stood Hatake Kakashi.
A bandage was wrapped around his forehead. His brow furrowed tightly, his dead-fish eye full of confusion.
Those explosive tags… who placed them there? Was it Lord Third?
Kakashi hadn't seen the strange black cat.
All he had seen was Orochimaru being blown into the air the moment he emerged from the ground—caught by the detonating tags under his feet.
Though Kakashi had been close by, he'd only been slightly caught in the blast.
Orochimaru had taken the full brunt.
Even with his swift countermeasures, his arm was still blasted apart.
But… the Third Hokage hadn't arranged anything like that before.
Creaaaak!
The massive ANBU doors swung open, their shrill creak breaking the oppressive silence.
Kakashi shoved away his doubts, donned his mask, and raised his head. Two figures stepped out.
One was Sarutobi Hiruzen, clad in the red-and-white Hokage robes and hat.
The other, an elderly man dressed in a black kimono, his right arm and eye wrapped in bandages.
Narrow eyes, a scar across his chin, and a perpetually shadowed demeanor.
The founder and commander of Root, the man who controlled Konoha's "darkness," second only to the Hokage in power..
Shimura Danzō.
"This emergency summons is to ensure we capture Orochimaru, who slipped away during the earlier operation," Hiruzen said.
He stepped forward, his eyes sweeping across the ANBU, his tone calm yet direct:
"According to reports, Orochimaru is gravely wounded. Judging from his injuries, it will not be easy for him to leave the Land of Fire quickly."
"The knowledge, intelligence, and techniques in Orochimaru's hands are of immeasurable value to Konoha. Do your utmost to bring him back alive."
"If he manages to defect beyond the Land of Fire's borders, the damage to Konoha will be fatal. At that time…"
He paused briefly, then continued, voice firm:
"We must race against time to stop him before he crosses the border."
"Everyone, conduct a full-scale search!"
Then Hiruzen raised his head, face cold, voice low and commanding:
"Disperse!"
Swish! Swish!
The ANBU vanished into the night, shadows scattering in every direction, hounds unleashed to hunt the slippery serpent—whether by land, air, or water.
When the ANBU were gone, Hiruzen turned and walked back toward the ANBU headquarters.
As he brushed past Danzō, a mocking voice slipped into his ear.
"…Such affection for your precious disciple."
Hiruzen stopped. His head dipped slightly, his face hidden in the shadow of his Hokage hat, expression unreadable.
"A man like you, and yet even you 'slip up.'" Danzō continued, his tone needling. "I heard you rescued a Hyūga child from Orochimaru's hands?"
After decades of friendship, Hiruzen of course caught his implication. He sighed inwardly, tired.
"He's just a pitiful child," Hiruzen replied. Then added, "From the Hyūga branch family."
The meaning was clear: Forget it, Danzō.
Even if Orochimaru had experimented on him, a branch family child cursed with the "Caged Bird Seal" could never be of use to Danzō.
Otherwise, given the "Will of Fire" Kumokawa had shown, Hiruzen would have already tried to reach out, even if the boy was untalented or considered a "failure."
Even a civilian-born with no talent could be placed as a teacher at the Academy.
But unfortunately—he was not.
A Hyūga branch member could only ever serve the main family as a subordinate, with no value to be exploited.
The Hyūga main family could activate the cursed seal at will, destroying the brain of the branded branch member.
Compared to that, Danzō's "Reverse Four Symbols Sealing" on Root operatives—paralyzing them and silencing them to prevent secrets from leaking—was practically merciful.
"…."
Hearing this, Danzō only turned to the night sky, eyes closed, his tone returning to its usual cold calm:
"No matter what, I will give my full support."
"For Konoha, I will do whatever is necessary."
"…That's truly unfortunate," Hiruzen murmured, glancing at him. His tone was flat. "That I've troubled you."
Without another word, he entered the ANBU building.
Though Danzō's words mocked him for letting emotions cloud his duty, though Danzō may have once colluded in secret with Orochimaru's schemes.
Hiruzen knew the moment Orochimaru defected, his old friend would devote himself completely to erasing the threat Orochimaru posed to Konoha.
Perhaps even the explosion that crippled Orochimaru… had been Danzō's hidden contingency.
That was why Hiruzen had always tolerated Danzō's shadowy schemes—because in his eyes, everything Danzō did was still for Konoha.
As Kumokawa had once said: For the great tree of Konoha to grow, roots hidden in darkness are indeed necessary.
But they must remain roots—hidden, unseen.
When Hiruzen left, Danzō finally opened his eyes.
Gaa!
A crow swooped down, landing on his shoulder, dropping a tiny scroll into his waiting hand.
Danzō unrolled it. Lines of cramped cipher, Root's special code.
It recorded the clean-up of Orochimaru's laboratory. But most of the equipment and research notes had been destroyed by the chain of explosive tags.
From the blast traces, the entire underground complex had been rigged. The whole facility obliterated.
Those devices had cost Danzō dearly, purchased through secret channels. Some were so rare, even Root itself had no duplicates.
"Orochimaru… did you do this yourself? Would you rather destroy everything than leave it to me?"
Danzō's narrow eyes darkened. But soon, he dismissed the thought.
After all, Orochimaru had lost an arm in the explosion.
Even with his modified body, and even if he could recover, his chakra had been nearly depleted. He'd had no reason to deliberately stage such an act.
And Hiruzen. Soft, guilty toward Orochimaru, could never be so ruthless.
Knowing Hiruzen, he probably even suspected him.
"…Then who?"
Danzō's brow furrowed deeper. A chill crept into his mind—an unseen hand was pulling the strings of these events.
He thought of the lone surviving child… but reason told him that was impossible.
Such a clean, merciless, and cunning scheme—trapping even Orochimaru and Hiruzen alike—was far beyond a fifteen-year-old boy.
Especially a branch-family Hyūga child. Parentless, meek, submissive.
"Damn it… who is it?!"
Danzō crushed the scroll in his fist, loathing the sense of a hidden threat lurking in darkness, beyond his reach.
Whoever it was, this figure was more dangerous to Konoha than Orochimaru.
As the man known as "Konoha's Darkness," Danzō Shimura would never allow such an enemy to live.
Better to kill the wrong target than let one slip away.
At that thought, his eyes narrowed, thinking again of that Hyūga branch child. He pulled out another scroll, wrote in cipher, and sent it off with the crow.
After all, he was just a "failure" from the Hyūga branch family. If he died in some "accident," no one would care.
---
Meanwhile, deep in a forest hundreds of kilometers from Konoha, inside the Land of Fire.
Crack.
The snap of a branch startled a few birds from shelter. A staggering figure emerged from the shadows.
"Hhh… hhh!"
Orochimaru leaned heavily against a tree. Blood bubbled in his throat, filling his mouth with the taste of iron.
His left arm was gone from the elbow down. Flesh torn, bone gleaming white. His clothes were drenched in blood.
This was likely the most severe, lethal injury he had suffered since modifying his body.
But he had foreseen this day. He had left contingencies in the Land of Fire: the Iburi Clan.
They possessed the Kekkei Genkai of "Smoke Transformation," able to turn their bodies into smoke, slip inside others to control them.
But if blown apart as smoke, they would vanish and die.
Because of this flaw, many Iburi had perished. Only with Orochimaru's help could they stabilize their ability and extend their lives.
Their blood could heal wounds. Orochimaru had kept them as living "blood supply."
If not for that last devastating explosion, he might still have reached them alive.
"Damn it… damn that brat!!" Orochimaru rasped, hatred burning in his voice.
He touched the scroll hidden against his chest.
At least this remained—the ancient secrets of the Ōtsutsuki. As long as he could break the seals upon it, more mysteries would unfold.
He had also taken a fragment of an Ōtsutsuki body. If he could perfect Edo Tensei…
But now, the only way to escape was through Manda's Reverse Summoning Jutsu.
Yet with Manda's nature, seeing him gravely injured, the snake's first instinct would be to devour him.
And the White Snake Sage of Ryūchi Cave, along with her attendants—Tagorihime, Ichikishimahime, and Kōranhime—were not to be trifled with either.
"Khkk—!"
A spurt of blood cut off his thoughts. His vision blurred. His hearing rang. His body was failing, nerve by nerve.
The twisted shadows of trees became claws, vines into shackles. His body was collapsing.
Fear of death made him claw into the bark, grinding moss into slime beneath his fingers.
He still had to kill that brat. He still had to uncover the world's truths.
He could not die here.
As he prepared to summon,
Bang!
A puff of white smoke. Orochimaru vanished.
Moments later, a tall figure appeared, long white hair to his waist—Jiraiya.
"Reverse Summoning Jutsu?" Jiraiya frowned. "Orochimaru, what are you—"
---
At the same time, in a vast underground cavern, stalactites hung like blades from the ceiling.
Snake-carved stone bricks covered the floor. Pale-green ghost-flames flickered in alcoves. Blue-violet minerals glimmered in the walls.
"…This place…"
Orochimaru opened his eyes, frowning in shock. "Ryūchi Cave?"
But he hadn't summoned Manda. Why was he here?
"Orochimaru."
An ancient and ethereal voice resonated. He looked up instinctively.
Upon a throne coiled a colossal white-scaled serpent.
The White Snake Sage—the founder of Ryūchi Cave, a serpent who had lived for over a thousand years. Its power was unfathomable.
Usually, it appeared as an old woman in white robes.
But this was the first time Orochimaru beheld her true form. The calm aura was gone, replaced with the stench of a predator.
"Impossible…"
The amber eyes of the white serpent fixed on him. Its expression strangely human, tinged with disbelief.
"Your fate… has actually been rewritten?"
---
Meanwhile, back in Konoha—inside a shabby Hyūga residence on the edge of the clan's compound.
"Meow."
A faint cat's cry mixed with the chirp of crickets.
On the bed, Hyūga Kumokawa slowly opened his eyes.
"…Finally, I'm free."
He sat up, glancing at the calm night outside the window. He touched the bandages on his neck, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
Such a fatal wound, and yet in just a single day, he had recovered more than half.
This level of regeneration might not rival Hashirama's cells, but it was enough to rid him of a shinobi's greatest weakness—fragility.
And this was only one of the gifts this new body granted him.
With that thought, Hyūga Kumokawa turned his gaze to the panel appearing before his eyes:
[Name: Hyūga Kumokawa]
[Age: 15]
[Bloodline: Hyūga Clan → Ōtsutsuki Clan (5%)]
[Chakra Capacity: D-Rank → S-Rank]
[Chakra Natures: Wind → Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, Yin, Yang]
[Jutsu: …]