Drip… drip…
Water echoed through the arched underground chamber. The air was thick with damp mold and the metallic sweetness of rust and blood.
In the shadows crouched a black cat, lazily toying with half-dead white snakes. Each time a snake stopped moving, the cat released it—only to pin it down again with soft, deliberate cruelty.
Then it paused.
The cat lifted its head.
Only then could one see its eyes—
one black… and one white.
Most would assume it was blind in one eye.
But that pale eye was the coveted Byakugan—a treasure other villages would kill for. In fact, Ao of the Hidden Mist had once become infamous for possessing a single Byakugan.
Who would imagine someone insane enough to transplant such a priceless eye… into a cat?
Yet someone had.
The cat seized a snake corpse and leapt soundlessly into the overhead pipes. Perched at a bend, its white eye dilated, watching the murky water below.
Moments later—
Three figures skimmed across the sewage surface.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and two ANBU operatives.
They had navigated countless traps and decoys laid by Orochimaru before finding the true route.
Hiruzen halted before a rusted iron door.
With a thunderous crash, it burst open.
The stench hit first—rot, disinfectant, and blood.
Then the sight.
The walls were soaked in dark red stains. Glass cylinders filled the chamber—human shapes suspended in green liquid. Hearts still beating inside opened chests. Snake-like organs grafted into torsos. Labels in blood-red numbers: 32. 42. 65.
Even the ANBU's breathing faltered.
Hiruzen had known.
Orochimaru's early human experiments had once been quietly tolerated—Hashirama cell transplantation in pursuit of reviving Wood Release.
Hiruzen was no saint.
Even now, some guilt lingered in him toward his student.
Until—
He saw the surgical table.
A young boy.
Neck sliced open.
Tears streaming down his face.
Hyuga Yunchuan.
The boy lifted a trembling hand toward him.
Though no sound came, Hiruzen could read it.
"Grandpa Third…"
The word struck harder than the horrors around him.
Hiruzen knew that child.
As honorary principal of the Ninja Academy, he often lectured about the "Will of Fire."
Once, he had chosen Yunchuan's class.
Afterward, students wrote reflections.
Most were empty praise.
But Yunchuan's essay…
It compared Konoha to a great tree.
The Third Hokage as its trunk.
The clans as branches.
The children as fruit.
And in the final lines:
"When I fall,
and am eaten,
and discarded—
as a seed, I will understand."
No flowery language.
No flattery.
Only sincerity.
A child who saw beyond clan boundaries.
A child who truly inherited the Will of Fire.
If anyone dared call that boy evil, Hiruzen would smash their skull in with Enma himself.
And now—
That child lay bleeding on Orochimaru's table.
Something inside Hiruzen snapped.
"Orochimaru!!"
"What have you done?!"
For the first time, there was no hesitation.
No softening.
Hands formed seals instantly.
Boar – Dog – Rooster – Monkey – Ram!
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Bang!
Enma appeared in his battle form.
Without another word, he transformed into the Adamantine Staff.
Orochimaru's face changed.
He hadn't expected this level of fury.
He had calculated that even if discovered, Hiruzen's indecision would let him escape.
But this—
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Wind blades shattered glass and hurled debris to obscure vision.
Even now, Orochimaru attempted to grab Yunchuan.
But the staff extended—
CRASH!
The blow sent Orochimaru flying, blood spraying midair.
He had exhausted nearly all chakra from surgery.
He could not win.
"Earth Release: Hiding in Earth!"
He fled underground.
Hiruzen did not pursue.
Instead, he knelt beside Yunchuan.
"Take this child and save him. At all costs."
The ANBU vanished with the boy.
Above ground—
Orochimaru burst from the soil—
Only to meet Kakashi Hatake.
"Raikiri."
No wasted words.
Lightning pierced forward.
Orochimaru sneered.
These children…
Then—
A faint sound.
A black cat darted past.
Its white eye gleamed.
"Byakugan?!"
Before he could react—
BOOM!!!
Explosive tags detonated.
The laboratory collapsed in a deafening inferno.
Flesh and debris scattered into the night.
Elsewhere—
Carried through the trees by ANBU, Yunchuan felt the explosion's tremor.
A faint smile curved his lips.
So you still held back, didn't you…
He had never expected Hiruzen to truly kill Orochimaru.
Decades of mentorship could not be erased by one night's rage.
But that didn't matter.
Yunchuan's goal was simple—
Remove suspicion.
Whether Orochimaru lived or died was secondary.
In fact…
A tool that useful shouldn't break too early.
He glanced at the sky.
Dawn was breaking.
The sun is always both sunset and sunrise.
When it descends one mountain in fading light—
It rises upon another in blazing brilliance.
"Next," Yunchuan thought calmly,
"the Tenseigan."
Hyuga clan.
Caged Bird Seal.
The weak feign strength.
The strong feign weakness.
Truth hides within lies.
From today onward—
The offense and defense have reversed.