Hokage Tower.
"Has it been confirmed?" Tsunade asked, her voice low as she listened to the report.
"Yes," Yamato replied calmly. "Thanks to the resonance between Hawk's cursed seal and Orochimaru's experiments, we located one of his hidden bases. It's confirmed to be one of Orochimaru's facilities."
"Orochimaru…"
Tsunade repeated the name softly, her expression complicated.
It had been over a year since she last heard it. A year of silence. Which only meant one thing. That snake was preparing something unpleasant, as always.
"Can we confirm whether Orochimaru himself is there?" she asked.
"We avoided alerting them," Yamato said. "After identifying the base, we withdrew immediately. Fox used genjutsu to probe the area. Orochimaru hasn't visited that location in a long time."
"I see…"
Tsunade closed her eyes, thinking.
Moments later, she made her decision.
She assigned an ANBU strike force under Yamato's command, with orders to surround and completely destroy the newly discovered base.
As Yamato departed, Tsunade lost interest in the paperwork piled on her desk. She walked to the window instead, gazing out over the village.
Now she understood why past Hokage liked standing here.
From this height, all of Konoha lay in view.
"Orochimaru…" she murmured, old memories surfacing. "It's Konoha's turn to hunt you."
"Captain, has the order come down?"
Sasuke looked up as Yamato returned.
"Yes," Yamato replied. "We're wiping out Orochimaru's base. If this operation succeeds, you'll have earned real merit."
"Understood."
Sasuke nodded, showing little interest in praise.
He had joined ANBU to grow stronger. Nothing else.
Over the past year, he had fully adapted to ANBU life. Only after joining did he realize how fortunate he had been before. Kakashi as his jōnin sensei. Yamato as his captain now.
Other squads had shown him the truth of the job. People he greeted one day were gone the next.
Especially in ANBU.
Their missions were dangerous. Dirty. Final.
Fortunately, Yamato was leading them. As long as they didn't do anything reckless, survival rates stayed high.
This operation had started with Sasuke noticing something unusual. The cursed seal on his neck, sealed long ago by Fujimoto Tōma, had begun to stir.
It couldn't break the seal.
But it could resonate.
And that resonance led him to Orochimaru's hidden base.
Yamato watched Sasuke with approval. The boy's identity wasn't exactly a secret. Konoha only had one Sharingan user now.
But Sasuke followed orders. Worked well with teammates. Never complained.
His growth had been rapid. From a weak link to the squad's second strongest.
Still nowhere near Tōma's level, but undeniably a genius.
Now Yamato's concern lay elsewhere.
How to minimize casualties.
Night.
In the northern reaches of the Land of Fire, an island near the coast lay hidden beneath dense jungle.
Buried underground sat a structure resembling a prison.
Finding the island alone was difficult. Locating the base beneath it was nearly impossible.
And yet, dozens of masked figures stood silently in the trees around it.
Yamato raised a hand.
ANBU operatives surged forward, including Sasuke's unit.
"Be careful… Hyena, Fox, Hawk…"
Yamato formed seals.
"Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence."
Roots and trees erupted, sealing every possible escape route.
Inside the base, the operation became simple.
Eradication.
There were no innocents here.
Sasuke moved swiftly, his Chidori Blade flashing as enemies fell one after another. He followed the pull of the cursed seal's resonance, heading deeper.
Hyena and Fox stayed with him, along with several other ANBU.
They trusted Sasuke's strength.
And honestly, staying near him felt safer.
Sasuke understood now why Tōma preferred blades. In ANBU missions, efficiency mattered.
Soon, they reached a chamber resembling a cellblock.
The cursed seal burned hot.
It was here.
Before Sasuke could plan an entry—
Boom.
The wall exploded outward from the inside.
Smoke filled the corridor as a figure emerged.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
Gray skin. Clawed hands. Distorted growths along its back. A wide, unhinged grin.
A monster.
"Kill… kill you!" it roared, locking onto Sasuke.
Around them, surviving enemies screamed in agony.
Something was wrong.
The ANBU regrouped instinctively.
Then they saw it.
The others were changing too. Twisting. Mutating. Becoming monsters just like the first.
"So this is what I'd become without Tōma's seal…" Sasuke muttered. "Ugly."
The first monster was the source.
He formed seals.
"Chidori Spear!"
A lance of lightning pierced straight through the creature.
Or so it should have.
The monster didn't fall.
Instead, it grabbed the lightning itself and crushed it apart.
The wound closed. Regenerated.
Fox spoke sharply. "My genjutsu isn't working anymore."
The transformed enemies had completed their change.
Sasuke's gaze hardened.
"You handle the others. I'll take this one."
Hyena nodded. No argument.
Sasuke attacked.
Shuriken bounced uselessly off its skin.
The creature charged, each step shaking the base.
Sasuke's Sharingan spun. Lightning wrapped his body and blade.
He struck.
The blade bit in… and stopped.
Stuck.
Before he could react, the monster turned.
Power surged through the sword, dragging Sasuke with it.
Sasuke flooded the blade with lightning.
The monster screamed but still swung.
Sasuke released the weapon and blocked with both arms.
The impact sent him flying.
He slammed into the wall, blood spraying from his mouth.
His arms burned with pain, barely responding.
Even electrocuted, it hit like that?
Lightning flared again as he forced his arms to recover.
The monster ripped the sword free and crushed it underfoot.
Sasuke scanned the battlefield.
This was bad.
Very bad.