Land of Rice Fields, Sound Village.
Neji and Orochimaru stood opposite each other, both evaluating the other with caution and curiosity.
"A Byakugan," Orochimaru murmured, licking his lips as he eyed Neji's forehead. "Neji Hyūga, I rember you."
"But where is the Caged Bird Seal?"
Neji didn't respond, remaining silent and still behind Naruto.
"I removed it," Naruto said, casually waving his hand. "Alright, Orochimaru, I've brought Neji here because I have a favor to ask."
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, suspicion flashing across his face.
"I plan to leave Neji with you for a while," Naruto continued. "I want you to teach him everything about sealing techniques—from the basics."
Orochimaru shook his head slowly. "Even Sasuke isn't technically my disciple. Naruto-kun, you're asking quite a lot of ..."
"Have you prepared a suitable reward?"
Naruto reached out and unrolled a scroll.
Orochimaru's eyes glead with anticipation, but when the contents were revealed, his expression soured. Disappointnt was clear as he pouted.
Inside the scroll was a glass jar filled with formaldehyde, containing three pairs of Byakugan.
"Is this the reward you're offering?" Orochimaru asked, his disdain barely concealed. "The Byakugan isn't of much use to ."
Naruto shook his head. "This is for a second task."
"According to mbers of the Hyūga clan, the Byakugan might have the potential to evolve further."
"However, it requires a considerable amount of Byakugan power. I want you to research it and figure out what's behind this."
Orochimaru paused, considering the request. "Naruto-kun, it seems you've already started treating as one of your subordinates."
"If you perform well," Naruto said, clapping his hands and summoning another scroll, "there might be more rewards."
As the seal on the scroll was broken, a faint spiritual energy began to emanate from within.
Orochimaru imdiately recognized it.
It was the essence of his own chakra.
His interest was piqued.
There was no doubt that the scroll contained his own sealed hands.
"Naruto-kun," Orochimaru said, eting Naruto's smiling face with a shake of his head, "you're making feel like a foolish pig chasing after a carrot."
Naruto's voice dropped to a low, serious tone. "This is not a bad deal for you."
"A new research direction."
"And the chance to regain your hands if you perform well."
Orochimaru sneered, his interest still apparent.
Just then, white smoke puffed up around Naruto's feet.
It was a variant of the Summoning Technique.
An orange toad with goggles around its neck appeared.
"Naruto!" the toad called out anxiously.
Catching sight of Orochimaru, it let out a startled croak. "Orochimaru! You're still alive?"
Orochimaru licked his lips again, his voice dripping with malice. "Oh my, my biggest secret has been discovered by a little toad from Mount Myōboku..."
"It seems I can't let you live."
The red toad jumped in fear, hiding behind Naruto's legs. "Save ! I have urgent news!"
Naruto looked down at the toad and said in a calming voice, "Don't worry. Orochimaru isn't going to harm you. Just think of him as already dead. Now, what's the news?"
Orochimaru, still trying to intimidate the toad, burst out laughing when it seed to lose all hope.
"The Hokage's Sharingan was stolen!" the toad blurted out, panicking. "It was taken by the masked Uchiha that Naruto-sama had issued a warrant for!"
Naruto froze. "Who was it?"
"It was Obito Uchiha," the toad answered, its tone hurried and frantic. "The Hokage said he was sure."
"That na sounds familiar," Naruto muttered, trying to recall where he had heard it.
"Obito Uchiha?" Orochimaru echoed in surprise. "So it's him?"
Naruto glanced at Orochimaru.
"You know him too?"
Naruto searched his mory, finally recalling sothing from many years ago, almost seventy years in the past.
Back then, he had just graduated from the ninja academy and was preparing for the Genin exam.
He had seen this na on the files of "Kakashi Hatake." It was one of his teammates. A disciple of his father, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
"Kakashi-sensei really said it was Obito Uchiha?" Naruto's calm expression faltered.
The toad nodded. "The Hokage wants you to return to Konoha as soon as possible. There are so things that a little toad like can't properly convey."
Naruto nodded, taking the scroll containing Orochimaru's sealed hands.
"Orochimaru, I'm leaving Neji in your care," he said as he turned to leave.
Karin stretched and yawned. "Naruto, you'll be back soon, right?"
"The sooner I leave, the sooner I'll be back."
"I think my skin got rough during those days in the Land of Wind. I plan to freshen up here with Orochimaru."
Orochimaru sneered, "This is not a beauty salon."
"It's all the sa," Karin waved dismissively. "The results will be similar. So, Naruto, you should go alone this ti."
"You'll move faster that way."
Naruto picked up the toad and smiled at her. "Then I'll be going now."
With a flash of golden light, he disappeared.
"A Byakugan that can evolve?" Orochimaru mused, examining the glass jar. "Neji-kun, care to tell more?"
"Don't look at like that," he added when Neji gave him a cold stare. "We're colleagues now, after all."
Neji remained indifferent, his expression cold and unmoved.
Elsewhere.
The toad screeched in fear, instinctively kicking its legs as Naruto moved at an incredible speed.
Too fast!
This was beyond what a small toad could handle.
It wasn't until they crossed the border of the Land of Rice Fields that the toad rembered it was a summoning beast. It kicked its legs once more and poofed out of existence in a cloud of white smoke.
Konoha Hospital.
"I've already notified Naruto," Jiraiya said softly. "With his speed, he should arrive soon."
"However..."
"Kakashi, are you certain that man was Obito Uchiha?"
Kakashi nodded silently.
Shikaku, who had been sitting by Kakashi's bedside, opened his mouth as if to say sothing, wanting to point out that the more pressing issue wasn't the masked man's identity, but rather the unusual delay in response from the Anbu, Root, and even the Jonin teams during the incident.
However, seeing the "living hell" expressions on their faces, he couldn't bring himself to say it.
Better to wait for the most important person to arrive.
Naruto's arrival was faster than they expected.
In less than an hour, he flipped into the hospital room.
"Hey, Naruto, you got here so quickly?" Jiraiya greeted him.
Naruto ignored the pleasantries, staring intently at Kakashi. "I searched for him on my way here, but there was no sign of him."
"Are you sure that man was Obito Uchiha?"
Kakashi nodded. "I'm certain."
"The Mangekyō Sharingan—you should know it better than I do, Naruto."
"The Mangekyō that man possesses is identical in shape to the one I had in my Sharingan."
"He..."
"He attacked to complete his set of Sharingan."
Naruto spoke softly, "I see."
"Do you know why he would target my parents—his own teacher?"
Kakashi shook his head, his tone despondent. "I don't know."
"In theory, he shouldn't have."
"He was soone who loved life and had a kind heart."
"His life's goal was to beco Hokage."
"He loved Konoha dearly. He shouldn't have done those things."
Naruto frowned. "Could it have sothing to do with his death and certain people in Konoha?"
Kakashi didn't reply.
Jiraiya also remained silent, neither nodding nor shaking his head.
After what had happened with Nagato, his attitude toward Konoha's "high-ranking advisors" had soured to the point where he wished they would all just die.
Who knew what underhanded things they might have done behind the scenes?
"More importantly, there's sothing I find even more serious," Shikaku interjected, speaking up with a grave tone.
Naruto looked at him.
Shikaku then shared the suspicions he and his son had initially ford.
"Obito Uchiha was far too familiar with the Hokage Building's layout," Naruto mused. "And the response from the Anbu, Root, and even the Jonin teams was unusually slow, offering no effective support for Kakashi-sensei?"
Shikaku nodded.
"There's soone in Konoha who's working with him," Naruto concluded.
Everyone in the room lowered their heads.
Though they were reluctant to admit it, based on the outco, it was the only plausible explanation.
"Nara-san," Naruto said, turning his head, "please gather everyone who might know about the building's defenses. Have them et here,
okay?"
"Tell them it's an invitation from , Naruto Uzumaki."
"If anyone doesn't show up... I'll assu they're Obito Uchiha's accomplice."
Shikaku nodded and left the room to carry out the order.
Half an hour later, three more people were in the room.
"Building defenses are top secret. Only those in high positions have knowledge of the details," Naruto explained.
"Besides the Hokage himself, the head of the Jonin team, Shikaku Nara, only these three senior advisors would know."
Koharu Utatane directed her frustration at Shikaku, though she couldn't hide her annoyance at Naruto. "What do you want from us?"
"The Hokage is injured. We should be taking over his duties."
Naruto spoke softly, "I just have a few questions."
"Are any of you accomplices of the masked Uchiha who stole Kakashi's Sharingan?"
Homura Mitokado gritted his teeth. "Uzumaki-sama, you are indeed powerful."
"But you cannot insult us like this!"
"We would never ally with soone who would harm the Hokage."
Mind's Eye of the Kagura confird that this entire statent was truthful.
Naruto ignored him, turning to Koharu Utatane. "What about you?"
"Just answer yes or no."
Koharu took a deep breath, shaking her head in frustration, "No."
Mind's Eye of the Kagura confird that she was also telling the truth.
That left only one person.
Naruto turned his gaze to the last man standing at the far end of the room, a man with short black hair, his face mostly wrapped in bandages, leaving only his left eye exposed.
"So, is it you?" Naruto asked.
The man remained silent, offering no response.
"Just answer yes or no," Naruto urged.
Still, the man didn't speak. His face remained expressionless, but his emotions were in turmoil, as sensed by Mind's Eye of the Kagura.
"Looks like it's you," Naruto said, walking toward him, his voice icy, radiating killing intent. "I rember you now. You're the one called Danzo."
~~~
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