The world didn't return in a rush; it came back in fragments. The smell of antiseptic. The rhythmic ticking of a clock. The weight of a heavy blanket.
Dan opened his eyes. The ceiling was the familiar white of the Konoha General Hospital's high-security wing. His body felt as though it had been put through a meat grinder and then stitched back together with cold wire. The "Sync Fatigue" from the Wood Release was the most punishing sensation he had ever experienced.
[System Notification: Host Consciousness Restored.]
[Status: Cellular Reconstruction at 82%.]
[Mirror Space Feedback: The Clone has successfully absorbed the Mokuton 'Will-Burn'. Training efficiency reduced by 40% for the next 72 hours.]
"You're lucky to be alive, Dan."
Dan tilted his head. Sitting in a chair by the window was Minato Namikaze. The Fourth Hokage-candidate wasn't wearing his usual bright smile. He looked tired, his Jonin vest dusty, and his blue eyes were fixed on Dan with an intensity that felt like a physical weight.
"Minato-sensei," Dan croaked, his throat feeling like he'd swallowed glass.
"Shisui brought you in," Minato said, leaning forward. "He told the medics you were caught in a massive Earth Style explosion. But I went to the border, Dan. I saw the battlefield."
Minato reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, charred splinter of wood. He laid it on the bedside table. "This isn't Earth Style. This is a cellular match for the First Hokage's Mokuton. Care to explain how a nine-year-old—excuse me, an eleven-year-old Uchiha manifested the Shodai's lost bloodline?"
The room went silent. Dan knew that Shisui's lie had been a stop-gap, but against a man like Minato, who possessed the keenest mind in the village, lies were just delays.
"The Architecture isn't just about economics, Sensei," Dan said, his voice regaining some strength. "It's about biological optimization. I've been studying the scrolls of the Second Hokage. He theorized that the Uchiha and the Senju were two sides of the same coin. I simply... found the edge of that coin."
Minato sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Dan, do you have any idea how dangerous that is? The village elders—not just Danzo, but the others—would see you as an experiment to be dissected. If the Uchiha Clan learns you have the Senju's power, it could spark a theological war within the district."
"That's why I did it at the border," Dan countered. "And that's why Kakuzu had to die. Or at least, be neutralized."
"Kakuzu?" Minato's eyes widened. "The bounty hunter from the Waterfall? He's a monster who has survived since the founding of the villages. You took him down?"
"He was a relic," Dan said dismissively. "But he was working for a group. They call themselves the Akatsuki. They're based in the Land of Rain."
Minato stood up and began to pace. The mention of the Akatsuki shifted his focus from Dan's biology to the village's security. "Rain... Hanzo the Salamander's territory. This is getting complicated. The Third is already dealing with the fallout of Danzo's 'illness.' If I tell him you're manifesting Wood Release, he'll be forced to put you under permanent ANBU surveillance."
"Then don't tell him," Dan said.
Minato stopped pacing and looked at Dan. "You're asking me to hide a Kage-level anomaly from the Hokage?"
"I'm asking you to trust the person you called a 'war-winning asset' five years ago," Dan said, his 3-Tomoe Sharingan activating, glowing with a calm, steady light. "I am loyal to Konoha, Minato-sensei. But I cannot protect this village if I am locked in a lab for the rest of my life."
Minato stared at Dan for a long time. In that moment, he didn't see a child. He saw a peer. He saw the same burden of leadership he felt, but refined through a much darker lens.
"I'll classify the border incident as a 'Natural Chakra Surge' caused by the terrain," Minato said finally. "But Dan... if you lose control of that power, I will be the one to stop you. Not as your sensei, but as the man who will soon lead this village."
"I wouldn't expect anything less, Lord Fourth," Dan replied.
The Architect's Recovery
Two days later, Dan was discharged. He didn't go home; he went straight to the Architecture's Command Center.
Shisui and Anko were waiting. Anko looked frantic, her usual bravado replaced by genuine concern. "You idiot! Using Mokuton before the stability check? You almost turned into a tree!"
"The data was worth it," Dan said, sitting in his stone throne. "System, report on the Mokuton integration."
[System Notification: Combat Data Analysis Complete.]
[Mokuton Mastery: Jumped from 18% to 32%.]
[New Feature Unlocked: 'Life-Force Siphon'. You can now drain chakra from organic matter to accelerate healing.]
"Good," Dan muttered. "Shisui, any movement from the 'other' Uchiha?"
"The clan is quiet," Shisui reported. "But there's a rumor. Someone saw a man in a spiral mask near the Naka Shrine last night. He didn't have a chakra signature. It was like he was a ghost."
Dan's grip tightened on the armrest. Obito. Obito was already moving. He was likely checking on the "Anomaly" that had disrupted the timeline. If Obito and Zetsu were involved, the Nine-Tails attack might not happen the way it was supposed to. It might happen sooner.
"Anko," Dan turned to her. "I need you to use your ROOT contacts. I want every Uzumaki sealing scroll we can find. If the 'Ghost' comes for the village, we need a way to lock down space itself."
"You want to counter the Hiraishin?" Anko asked.
"No," Dan said, his Mangekyō flickering for a split second. "I want to counter Kamui."
The Training of the Three
For the next month, Dan pushed the Architecture into an "Overdrive" phase. He knew he couldn't do everything alone.
He took Shisui and Anko to a secluded valley. "You two are the pillars of this organization," Dan told them. "But you're still fighting like Shinobi. I need you to start fighting like Architects."
He began to share the fruits of his system's labor.
To Shisui: He taught the "Flicker-Ghost" technique—a method of using the Hiraishin theory to create afterimages that were physically solid for a fraction of a second.
To Anko: He gave her the "Chakra-Circuit Overload"—a way to use her snake summons as biological conduits for long-range sealing.
As for Dan, his clone was now 100% focused on one thing: The Sage Mode of the Great Snake.
He didn't go to Ryuchi Cave. He didn't need to. Through the Hashirama Cells and the data he'd gathered from Orochimaru, his System was "simulating" the Senjutsu absorption process.
[Sage Mode Simulation: 25%...]
[30%...]
[Estimated time to 'Inorganic Animation': 6 months.]
"I'm coming for you, Obito," Dan whispered as he watched Shisui and Anko spar. "You think you're the only one who can play with the fabric of reality? I have a hundred years of training in my head, and I'm just getting started."