"Ho, did you hear that, Tsunade? Genetic technology."
Inside the office at the Hokage Building, a crystal ball was broadcasting the scene inside the Uchiha Clan's head's residence.
On the sofa to the left of the desk, the man with the white ponytail took a sip of tea. As he put the cup down, the empty sleeve hanging over the sofa slid a little.
"Yeah, genetic technology, human experimentation..."
Tsunade rested her chest, which added to her burden, on the desk. She raised her fist and pounded her shoulder, relieved of the burden, and rested her cheek on it.
Using genetic technology to cultivate a newborn. Looking at the entire Land of Fire, there was only one person capable of doing such a thing, their former teammate before her and Jiraiya's time… Orochimaru.
"No, it probably wasn't Orochimaru."
Jiraiya's eyes, lined with eyeshadow, stared sharply at the tea stem in his cup.
Tsunade, on the desk beside him, opened her brown eyes, her face showing confusion, "If it wasn't him, who else could it be?"
"I don't know!"
Raising his hand to rub his forehead, Jiraiya frowned deeply, "If the time Sakura mentioned is correct, seven years ago, Orochimaru didn't have time to do something like this."
The reason he could assert this was entirely because seven years ago was when he, Jiraiya, was pursuing Orochimaru most intensely.
Not to mention sneaking into the Land of Fire to secretly steal a student's genetic information. During that time, Jiraiya had even forced Orochimaru to the point where he didn't dare leave the Land of Rice Fields.
And the reason Jiraiya was so furiously pursuing Orochimaru was because when he was traveling through the Land of Fire, he had once destroyed a research institute that was kidnapping children for human experimentation!
The research was so brutal and bloody, the methods so dirty and despicable, that Jiraiya was furious.
At the time, he thought that research institute was Orochimaru's doing, so he launched a frantic pursuit.
But during a subsequent investigation into the funding, he discovered a terrifying thing. The funds that kept this organization running came from merchants and some nobles in the capital of the Land of Fire!
"Wait, you're saying ordinary people were conducting human experiments... and researching Ninja?!" Hearing Jiraiya's recollection, Tsunade's head shot up in shock, her mouth wide open.
"Not entirely ordinary people..." Jiraiya stroked his chin, "Thinking about it now, it was probably an organization with both ordinary people and Ninja. They had strong technical capabilities. I was even injured by one of their experimental products when I infiltrated the place."
The more she heard, the more horrified Tsunade became. She slammed her hands on the table and stood up, "Something this important, why didn't you mention it sooner!"
'—Because you never asked!'
Jiraiya rolled his eyes and shrugged at Tsunade, "I thought it was Orochimaru at first. I didn't connect the two incidents initially."
"Then write me a new report on the details of that mission." Tsunade smoothed out her furrowed brow and subtly tricked Jiraiya into being a workhorse.
But Jiraiya didn't take the bait. Before Tsunade could react, he formed a one-handed seal and used the Body Flicker Technique, turning into a streak of light that shot out of the Hokage's office.
Only an echo lingered in the air, gently mocking Tsunade, "Check the mission archives from the old man's time. Look it up yourself!"
"Tch, lazy bastard!" Tsunade glanced around, then suddenly had an idea.
One person involved could run away, but the other person involved had a family she could leverage~
Heh heh heh heh—!
With that thought, Tsunade had already circled around her desk and knocked the signal to summon the Anbu.
"Go notify Sakura to come to the Hokage's office. If she doesn't come, tell her: 'You wouldn't want your daughter to not have a registered status in Konoha, would you?'"
"Yes!"
The Anbu nodded and quickly flickered out of the office.
…
On the other side, in the Uchiha Clan's compound.
The suddenly appearing Anbu had taken Sakura to the Hokage's office. Sato Sakura, having nowhere else to go for the moment, was left at Sasuke's place.
It was a good opportunity for her to get to know the other uncles and aunts, so that, charmed by the expressionless girl's cute appearance, they would voluntarily hand over their greeting gifts!
"Hey, hey, Sato Sakura-chan, where did you live before? How was it?" Aunt Ino, who had successfully advanced a generation, pulled the tall Sato Sakura into her arms and nuzzled her.
'—Mmm, this smooth, flat chest, definitely Sakura's child!'
"Hmm, let me think!"
Sato Sakura freed one hand and started counting, "On an island, fighting, drinking, killing, watching the place, fighting for territory, being a pirate..."
Having been specifically told by Sakura not to mention the world of the sea, Sato Sakura could only use some more tactful phrasing to summarize her past life.
But she didn't notice that the more her audience heard of her memories, the uglier their faces became, and the thicker the pity in their eyes grew.
Ino and Hinata, the two girls, were especially heartbroken. They stepped forward and pulled the weather-beaten child into their arms.
'—Mmm, this smooth, flat chest, definitely Sakura's child! Boohoo!'
"Pirates, islands, killing..."
Shikamaru, known for his composure, even he turned pale, and the teacup in his hand nearly shattered from the pressure.
After exchanging a glance with Sasuke, their eyes met, and both saw a confirmed answer in the other's eyes.
"The Land of Water!"
They spoke the answer in unison, drawing the others' attention.
"Ah, why did you suddenly bring up the Land of Water?"
Naruto, who had reluctantly given Sato Sakura his limited-edition ramen freebie coupon, returned and asked curiously upon hearing their words.
"The environment Sato Sakura-chan described is too similar to the Land of Water."
Shino's voice was low as he explained to Naruto, "So what Sasuke and Shikamaru mean is that the force that stole Sakura's genes for cloning experiments might have come from the Land of Water, or even... Kirigakure itself!"
"How dare they, I haven't even... ahem, to treat Sakura's child like that! Those Kirigakure bastards!" Naruto clenched his fists, the two forehead protector ribbons behind his head floating like tails.
"Sigh, you're hopeless, you know that?"
Ino lightly knocked Naruto on the head and sighed helplessly.
"By the way, we should keep what we know about Sato Sakura's background a secret from Sakura. She probably chose to hide everything because she didn't want us to bear such a heavy burden." Shikamaru, the team's designated brain, reminded them.
Then, the others stared at Sato Sakura, who was counting the clouds in the sky, with even more loving eyes, their gazes also faintly tinged with concern for Sakura.
A comrade in the village had been treated like this, yet they could only stand by powerlessly after learning the truth. This feeling of powerlessness was etched into the memory of every Konoha's new generation present today.
Even Naruto, usually the loudest, became quiet. A flame burned in their eyes, and they could all feel each other's determination to protect their comrades and seek justice for them!
Their burning fighting spirit ignited their Haki, making them even more dangerous.
A thousand words converged into just one sentence.
'—Don't think you'll die an easy death, you bastards of the Land of Water!'