Rain fell hard over Konoha.
Water burst against tiled rooftops and shattered into spray. Streetlights blurred behind sheets of rain, the village reduced to bands of light and shadow.
Black figures crossed the roofs in silence.
They wore light gray tactical vests. Short blades rested against their backs. Many carried the smell of fresh blood. Beneath white masks, eyes were cold and focused. Civilians below avoided looking up.
They moved toward the village edge.
A building marked with a single character awaited them.
ANBU.
Nearly every active operative had been recalled. The courtyard was crowded but silent. No idle motion. No conversation. It felt like a funeral assembly.
Hatake Kakashi stood among them.
His forehead was wrapped in bandages. Brow tight. One visible eye dull with unanswered questions.
The explosion…Those tags were not placed by the Third.
He had seen Orochimaru burst from underground, only to be caught mid-air by a detonation beneath his feet. Kakashi had taken shock damage. Orochimaru had lost an arm entirely.
But Sarutobi Hiruzen had not prepared that trap.
The doors creaked open.
Kakashi dismissed the thought and raised his mask.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stepped out.Beside him walked another man.
Black kimono. Right arm bandaged. Right eye wrapped. Narrow gaze. Scarred chin.
Shimura Danzō.
Root's founder. The keeper of Konoha's unseen work.
Hiruzen spoke first.
"This emergency assembly has one objective," he said evenly. "Capture Orochimaru."
He swept his gaze across the assembled ANBU.
"Reports confirm he is critically wounded. Given his condition, crossing the Fire Country border quickly will be difficult."
"Orochimaru's knowledge is a strategic asset. Capture alive if possible."
"If he escapes the country, Konoha will suffer long-term damage."
A brief pause.
"We are racing time."
He raised his hand.
"Disperse."
The ANBU vanished.
Once the courtyard emptied, Hiruzen turned back toward the building.
As he passed Danzō, a low voice reached him.
"You're indulgent with your students," Danzō said.
Hiruzen stopped.
"You missed," Danzō continued. "That's not like you."
"I hear you rescued a Hyūga child from Orochimaru."
Hiruzen exhaled slowly.
"He was a victim," Hiruzen said. "A branch family child."
The implication was clear.
A caged bird was useless to Root.
Danzō said nothing further.
"For Konoha," he said at last. "I will assist fully."
"…Very well," Hiruzen replied. "I appreciate your concern."
He entered the building.
Hiruzen believed this.Danzō would act.He always did when Konoha was threatened.
But roots must remain underground.
After Hiruzen left, Danzō opened his eyes.
A crow landed on his shoulder and dropped a scroll into his hand.
Root cipher.
The underground base had been erased. Explosives placed through the drainage system. Equipment destroyed. Records lost.
The scale was deliberate.
Too deliberate.
Orochimaru had lost an arm in the blast.
Too injured to stage this.
Hiruzen would never attempt complete extermination.
So who?
Danzō's expression darkened.
The surviving boy surfaced in his thoughts.
Immediately dismissed.
Impossible.
Fifteen years old. Branch family. No parents. Documented coward.
Such planning required experience. Cruel precision. Psychological manipulation of two Kage-level figures.
"Who?" Danzō muttered.
He crushed the scroll.
Then paused.
He wrote new orders.
The crow departed.
Collateral tolerance approved.
Far from Konoha, in Fire Country forest.
Orochimaru staggered from the shadows.
Blood soaked half his body. His left arm ended at the forearm. Bone exposed. Flesh torn.
He leaned against a tree, breathing raggedly.
This was the worst injury he had suffered since modifying his body.
He had planned contingencies. The Iburi clan. Smoke release. Regenerative blood.
But reaching them required movement he no longer had.
"…That child," Orochimaru rasped.
His hand pressed to his chest. A scroll remained intact.
Ōtsutsuki knowledge.
And a fragment of flesh.
If Reanimation could be perfected…
Only one path remained.
Reverse summoning.
But Manda would devour him on sight in this condition.
And Dragon Cave was not gentle.
His vision swam. Sensation dulled.
Death gnawed close.
Then white smoke erupted.
His surroundings vanished.
Stone.
Cold.
Phosphorescent light.
Orochimaru opened his eyes.
"Dragon Cave?" he whispered.
He had not summoned anyone.
A presence loomed.
Massive. Coiled. White-scaled.
The White Snake Sage revealed its true form, amber eyes fixed upon him.
Silence weighed down.
Then the Sage spoke.
"Orochimaru."
Its voice was ancient. Dry.
Its pupils narrowed.
"…Impossible."
It stared.
"Your fate has been overwritten."
Konoha.
Hyūga compound outskirts.
A decaying house.
"Meow."
A soft sound.
Hyūga Shinya opened his eyes.
He sat up slowly, fingers brushing the bandage at his neck.
One day.
That was all it took.
Healing at this rate was no longer human.
It was not Hashirama-level regeneration.
But it was enough.
Enough to erase fragility.
Enough to survive.
A translucent panel appeared before him.
SYSTEM LOG
Subject: Hyūga Shinya
Age: 15
Bloodline Status:
Hyūga → Ōtsutsuki-derived (Partial Synchronization: 5%)
Chakra Capacity:
Previous: D
Current: S
Chakra Affinity:
Wind
Fire
Water
Earth
Lightning
Yin
Yang
Status: Stable
Threat Level: Under Review
Shinya closed his eyes.
"Next," he thought calmly.
"The Tenseigan."