October 10, 1951 – Outside Konoha Village
A cold wind howled across the moonlit forest. In a sealed cave hidden beneath layers of barriers and detection wards, the air trembled with urgency.
"Ah—ahhh!"
"It hurts!"
Uzumaki Kushina lay on a low birthing bed, knees bent, legs spread in an involuntary M-shape. Sweat soaked her crimson hair as she screamed, voice already raw after more than two hours of unrelenting labor.
"Come on, Kushina! Just a little harder—don't stop now!"
The midwife crouched between her legs, offering both encouragement and a sharp pinch to her thigh to spur another push.
"Aaahhh!"
"It—hurts—so much!"
Kushina's cries reverberated through the cave like the echo of distant thunder. Beside her, Minato clasped her trembling hand, whispering soft reassurances with a steadiness that belied the tension in his eyes.
To any outsider, the scene was the picture of a loving couple.
But hidden in the shadows, Uchiha Shisui tilted his head, bemused. They're both veteran shinobi, yet they play the doting husband and wife so convincingly. Is this the legendary self-discipline of a ninja?
Then his brow furrowed. It's been so long—why hasn't the masked intruder shown himself? Could it all be a false alarm?
A sudden thought chilled him. No… maybe he's waiting for the instant the child is born, when the Nine-Tails' chakra spikes uncontrollably.
---
Far below the forest floor, a figure cloaked in darkness stirred impatiently. Using the Mayfly Technique, the masked man had been lurking for hours. The Nine-Tails' chakra has been leaking for too long. Why hasn't this brat been born yet?
As a former Konoha shinobi, he knew the fearsome speed of the Yellow Flash. His plan was simple but ruthless: seize the newborn and use the Fourth Hokage's own son as a bargaining chip.
---
"It's crowning—almost there!"
The midwife's voice cracked with excitement as she caught the final surge of chakra. "It's born!"
With practiced hands she lifted a squalling baby boy from between Kushina's knees and turned to present him to Minato.
A breath later, the air distorted behind "Minato."
Swish!
A kunai flashed toward his heart.
But in a burst of golden light, Minato vanished—leaving only the whisper of displaced air.
The newborn bundle never touched his arms. A black-cloaked figure stepped from the shadows, snatching the infant before the midwife could react.
"As expected of the Yellow Flash," the masked man said, disappointment flickering in his voice. "Such sharp reflexes. But tell me—if I cut down this child right now, how will you respond?"
He raised the kunai, pressing its deadly tip against the baby's tiny forehead.
"This village that betrayed Lord Madara will taste its first blood through the Fourth's son!"
Bang!
Smoke exploded from the swaddling cloth. In the masked man's grip, the "baby" morphed into a smoking explosive tag.
BOOM!
The detonation rattled the cavern walls.
"You… set a trap and waited for me?" He staggered back, cloak singed, eyes narrowing behind the mask. "Impossible!"
A calm voice answered, "Merely a precaution—but it seems the bait caught a very big fish."
The image of Minato shimmered and dissolved, revealing Hatake Kakashi, Raikiri already crackling in his palm.
"You?" the masked man blurted, startled recognition flashing in his single visible eye. Lord Madara had spoken of this one—the copy ninja who had once foiled key parts of Madara's plan.
Before he could regroup, the midwife and Minato dissolved in smoke as well.
Jiraiya and Rin appeared in their place, transformation jutsu fading. From the shadows stepped Shisui, eyes glowing with silent resolve.
"Jiraiya…" The masked man's heartbeat quickened. Even his arrogance faltered before the legendary Toad Sage.
Swish!
Kakashi didn't waste a heartbeat on words. The cavern glowed white as he flickered behind the intruder, Raikiri aimed straight for the skull.
Simultaneously Shisui unleashed his Mangekyō Sharingan: Kotoamatsukami—Light!
A wave of irresistible genjutsu threatened to drag the masked man into illusion, leaving no chance to dodge.
Psshht!
Kakashi's lightning-wreathed hand pierced the enemy's head clean through.
He'd aimed deliberately for the skull. Experience told him that Hashirama-cell–enhanced bodies could survive a pierced heart, but a destroyed brain was another matter. Always headshot, he thought grimly—just as Konohamaru would one day prove with a perfectly placed Rasengan.
For an instant the intruder collapsed. Victory seemed certain.
But the body twitched—then straightened. Bone and flesh re-knit themselves in an instant. The mask cracked and fell away.
Beneath it was a pale, sharp-featured face that many in Konoha believed long dead: Uchiha Naraku, eldest son of Uchiha Setsuna.
Kakashi's eye hardened. "Uncle Jiraiya—seal the chamber!"
Jiraiya slammed his hands together. "Summoning: Toad Mouth Binding!"
The walls themselves seemed to melt into the glistening, muscular lining of a giant toad's stomach, sealing the five of them inside a living fortress.
---
Kakashi's mind raced. Raikiri destroyed his brain. That should have killed anyone, even with Senju cells. Yet he regenerated instantly—and I sensed no use of Izanagi. What technique is this?
Too little information. He needed to press the fight.
Lightning flared again as he formed another Raikiri and flashed forward.
Naraku merely sneered. "Such a boring trick."
He swung a gleaming saber with contemptuous ease.
Clang!
Kakashi halted mid-strike, dispersing the Raikiri. He met the downward slash with the demon blade Muramasa, sparks showering the toad-flesh walls.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
Jiraiya's roar filled the chamber.
Fwoooosh!
An inferno of searing flame engulfed the narrow space, its heat fierce enough to blister stone.
Kakashi didn't flinch. He tightened his guard, holding Naraku in the clash of blades until the last instant—then vanished in a shimmer of the Flying Thunder God, reappearing behind a slick wall just outside the fire's reach.
He landed, smoke curling from singed hair, and exhaled sharply. "Uncle Jiraiya, you have a lot of faith in me."
Jiraiya grinned, unrepentant. "If anyone can dodge at the last second, it's you!"
---
From within the dying flames a dark blur shot forward—Naraku again, faster than before.
"So fast!" Kakashi drew Muramasa, steel meeting steel in a storm of strikes.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The cavern rang with the relentless rhythm of expert swordplay.
This swordsmanship… Kakashi's mind raced even as his body moved on instinct. Only Shisui has ever matched me like this.
Indeed, after awakening the Mangekyō, an Uchiha's dynamic vision and reflexes reached frightening new heights. Each of Naraku's slashes came with impossible precision.
"Damn, he's strong," Kakashi admitted inwardly.
Across from him, Naraku's own thoughts churned. This man keeps pace with my Mangekyō-enhanced movements? Impossible… few have ever pressed me like this since I awakened these eyes.
Shisui stepped closer, his own Sharingan spinning. "Kakashi, don't overextend," he warned, preparing another genjutsu.
But Kakashi only adjusted his grip on Muramasa, eyes locked on Naraku.
"This ends tonight," he said, voice low and lethal.
The two combatants circled amid the living, pulsing walls of the toad's stomach, every sense sharpened to a killing edge.
And in that sealed cavern, the true battle for Konoha's future was only beginning.
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