The Prelude to the Fateful Day

(A/N: The official release date from now on will be a chapter every two days!)

(A/N: I also couldn't post that often recently, because I had a very sharp and surprising pain in my heart, in my left area of the chest. I couldn't sit well at all, and slept sometimes for nearly a day straight.)

- - -

Somewhere on the periphery of the Konohagakure, there was an underground hidden complex tunnel system. The floor was covered in some kind of water, and the walls were all made of bluish stone, it all felt like a giant stone labyrinth.

A young man was currently leisurely walking through that exact tunnel. His current attire was just a simple and close-fitting black shinobi t-shirt, and also similarly black and tight-fitting pants. He had a medium-long red hair tied up in a small ponytail.

He suddenly finally stopped his walk once he came in front of a specially-sealed large metal door. He stood there for a few seconds blankly, when they opened all of a sudden.

A man in a green Konoha's usual shinobi uniform suddenly opened the door with a loud bang.

"Yoshi? What can I do for you?" Orochimaru suddenly grinned a little and said after opening the doors completely. He already realized that Yoshi was the one who was currently walking through the tunnel just now, otherwise, he certainly wouldn't welcome him so warmly to his secret base!

"Orochimaru, will you invite me in?" Yoshi also smiled a bit and asked politely.

"Alright, come in. But remember not to touch anything!" Orochimaru entered the room promptly, followed by Yoshi next.

The whole room looked quite spacious and gloomy, it also held many different laboratory types of equipment, and around sixty different startling, large, body-like sealed tubes.

Yoshi looked like he was already expecting this scene, and seeing this Orochimaru suddenly looked him curiously, "Yoshi, you do realize that I have many questions for you right now? Beginning from how did you even find this base?"

"Is there anything in Konoha that I don't know about?"

"I already consider this village as somewhat of an extension of myself, because of all the years I've spent here. I can already sense things here as if I'm sensing my own body!"

"Interesting..." Orochimaru held his hand on his chin as if just thinking about something.

"So, what do you need from me?" He suddenly gestured with his hand a bit, after finishing thinking, already realizing something about Yoshi's sensory abilities.

"Nothing much, just came here to ask, how's your current Senju project with Danzo doing?" Yoshi replied a bit playfully.

Orochimaru suddenly opened his eyes wide a bit dangerously. But then calmed down again, sighed, and finally asked again, "What is it that you really want today, Yoshi?"

"Well, since you already gave Kakashi his brand new left arm, then how about enhancing it a little further as well?" Yoshi suddenly glanced at Orochimaru seriously and then said.

'It won't be a problem to do that to him, as well, once I master that technology...' Orochimaru thought in a second but still said aloud in the end, "And what do I gain from doing that?"

"I could actually threaten you with exposing these inhumane experiments here, but I won't do that..."

"Instead, I want us to still remain allies!"

"For that reason, Kakashi and I will offer you one favor in the future for your help this time!"

"Impressive... haha," Orochimaru suddenly exclaimed a bit surprised again, in his usual manner, and then just laughed at the end.

"I was truly right at that time!"

"Yoshi, if not me, you'll be the one to end this loathsome village, instead!"

Orochimaru suddenly remembered that day when he first saw Yoshi, back at the ninja academy.

'The Uzumaki clan is truly about to rise again, as well!'

He accurately predicted today's situation to his former teacher Hiruzen. But, it's a pity that the man was way overconfident in himself and didn't heed his warnings about Yoshi seriously before.

'Orochimaru is truly a great ally to have during these times. He doesn't work simply based on ideology like Nagato, Obito, Madara, and Zetsu, do,

He works directly on logic and benefits instead, and such allies are the best choice for me right now, considering we're also essentially the same!'

Yoshi thought pretty level-headedly after hearing Orochimaru's previous praising response.

"That's what I wanted to talk about with you today, too..." Yoshi suddenly smiled a bit meaningfully, an evil light flashing in his purple eyes a little, all of a sudden.

"What do you mean!?" Orochimaru looked a bit surprised, not expecting him to be so direct right now, at all.

"Well, how much do you know about...-"

.

"-... So how is it? Do you have the guts for that or not?" Yoshi finally finished reiterating his earth-shattering and vicious plan. His facial expression wicked, and his purpose truly nefarious this time.

Orochimaru looked at him wide-eyed, his usual playfulness completely gone, replaced by true amazement and shock instead.

He suddenly opened his mouth after a while and just replied something seriously, after which, his expression turned into Yoshi's kind as well.

'I didn't expect to get a chance for revenge so soon...'

"Haha..."

"Yoshi, you're truly good!"

Orochimaru suddenly started laughing maniacally, in his dark secret laboratory, drops of gloomy cave water falling onto the stone ground from time to time.

Yoshi smiled extremely satisfied and a bit expecting as well.

'It's finally time for payback!'

- - -

And just a month later, in Hokage's illustrious large red building.

"What!?" The Konoha's Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, suddenly stood up from his chair in unexpected shock.

Near him, on his spacious wooden table, were piles of various types of different paperwork. Rays of the daylight entering this office through the seemingly large windows from behind him.

"Are you sure he really exited the village sensing barrier? You're not mistaking?" Minato asked after regaining his normal composure a little but still really apprehensive of the coming answer from his most loyal subordinate.

"I'm afraid that Lord Orochimaru really covertly exited the village just now..."

"And he did so even without having any leave permissions, I'm afraid..." Genma Shiranui, the captain of the Hokage's special guards replied solemnly. His famous wooden toothpick still uniquely present in his mouth, as always.

The Hokage Guard platoon is a group of Konohagakure shinobi dedicated to the protection of the Hokage. And every Hokage has the right to personally choose his own guards,

Raido Namiashi, Genma Shiranui, and Iwashi Tatami were people whom he all hand-picked himself recently to take on that very important and unique duty.

They were the best candidates out of the limited pool of talents he could scout this time. Even though he doesn't want to admit it yet, but he truly realized many different things, after finally climbing up to this prominent position of his village.

Even though he was the nominal Hokage of this village, he actually held no real power in his hands!

The captain of the Anbu forces, codenamed Rat, was truly an unknown individual to him, what his interests were, he really didn't know.

The Jonin Commander, Nara Shikuku, his own clan, and all the other important clans in the village as well, remained cordial and listened to him politely only on the surface,

However, they were still truly loyal to only one man, Hiruzen Sarutobi!

His two formal advisors? They were even more loyal to their old friend, Hiruzen!

And Danzo of the Root? That man was essentially famous for being loyal only to himself!

That's why he taught them how to use the Flying Thunder Formation Technique, a minor version of the Flying Thunder God Technique, in hopes of strengthening his own new faction in the village.

He planned to do even more things in the future, in this regard, once his wife finally gives birth to their first cherished son Naruto.

"I want the three of you to find me, Might Duy, Guy, and Kakashi Hatake right now!" Minato said resolutely after thinking for a few moments. This situation was really very delicate.

Minato truly changed after realizing all those things before, he tried to try and recruit even more people to be loyal just to him,

Might Guy and Duy, Kakashi Hatake, and that other guy were truly the only elites in the current Konoha's shinobi forces, not tied to any other boats at the moment.

.

The Might father and son and Kakashi looked at each other curiously as they entered the Hokage's office room at the same time. Genma and others following them in seriously as well, "Lord Hokage, we've brought them!"

Minato stood up from his chair promptly, nodding a bit towards them, then looking at the trio of newly arrived people seriously, "I have really important tasks for you three, right now! Orochimaru actually may have just rebelled from the village!"

The three of them opened their eyes wide, extremely stunned.

"Duy and Guy, I want you to try and use your inner gates to find Orochimaru, and bring him back swiftly! Genma will point you the way!" Minato said decisively after glancing at all of them solemnly.

"Kakashi, you will follow Raido and Iwashi towards a certain place I noticed suspicious activity in before!" Minato said after looking at Kakashi and the two of them.

In fact, he is not that utterly stupid and naive, such large things like Orochimaru's secret base and experiments, truly can't be hidden completely,

But, he thought that Hiruzen had it all under control before, until reality hit him in the face just now!

'Maybe there really isn't any secret plan between them, and the Third Hokage protected him before, just because he's his own disciple?' Minato suddenly thought really tiredly and distressingly, this position truly wasn't anything like he ever imagined before, and he was slowly realizing this...

"Understood!" All of them promptly shouted in unison and left to perform their respective tasks.

Might Guy, Duy, and Genma went on their way outside the village seriously.

'That man already rebelled?' Kakashi who was on his run towards Orochimaru's previous village hideout instead thought serious all of a sudden.

'That means that Yoshi will soon, too?' He suddenly turned a little tense and concerned for his best friend and what was clearly about to happen next.

.

After a while, he and the Hokage's two guards finally arrived at their current destination.

Kakashi slowly gestured them to enter the underground tunnel system.

He remembers that it was only last week that he came here to get an upgrade for his new left arm, from the same man who gave it to him, in the first place.

And, after formally checking the hidden rooms built there, one by one, they finally came towards the most interesting room of the whole tunnel-like place.

It was Orochimaru's previous main laboratory!

After entering that room, they suddenly all opened their eyes wide in shock and disgust.

Outside of the numerous pieces of shattered hard glass laying broken on the floor, it was also whole weirdly covered in some kind of green and perturbing water-like substance.

However, the most shocking thing, in fact, were the various corpses of human children, in different shapes and forms also laying there on the ground, in the pool of broken glassy containers and green peculiar substance. It all looked extremely grotesque!

"What on earth...-" One of the guards who came with Kakashi nearly vomited all of a sudden.

There was a total of sixty tragically deformed and crippled children corpses laying there.

'Does this have something to do with my left arm?' Kakashi also furrowed his brows a little disturbed as well.

He remembers seeing all of these containers too when he came here at that time, but they were all sealed in some kind of black shellings before, so they couldn't be really seen.

"Wait, there is one still alive there!?" He suddenly exclaimed loudly after seeing one of them, from the distance, still faintly moving.

The Hokage's guards also turned towards the direction he pointed at in surprise.

'It's a girl...' Kakashi noticed suddenly as he came closer towards her now.

She had a very long-sized and jet-black hair, falling freely around her somewhat curvy figure.

She was also wholly coated in black color, her brown eyes still opened weakly.

'She's about fifteen, a little younger than me!' Kakashi thought as he crouched down, checking her pulse efficiently a little.

The last thing the girl saw before finally closing her eyes completely, was the shiny silver hair and a mask on a boy's face.

Kakashi just looked at her calm face afterward, she also had slightly tanned-looking darker skin and seductive and small pink furrowed lips.

"Stop!" And just as he was about to finally pick her up on his back, a loud voice was suddenly being heard in the large room, a horde of silent footsteps following after it soon.

A gloomy man with a noticeable scar on his chin, and weirdly covered right arm, suddenly shouted after entering the room quickly.

A brigade of his most loyal black-clothed Root shinobi following closely behind him silently.

Minato's two guards suddenly looked at him in shock, but also a little apprehensive.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi just narrowed his eyes dangerously, looking at him fearlessly.

"Take care of your tone, brat! Look at who are you talking to, first!" Danzo also replied pretty unhinged and pressuring.

"Why are you stopping us from performing our duty, Root's leader?" Kakashi fired back badly, this was the biggest respect he could give to this shameless and vile man, who tried to viciously harm his father in the past, right now.

"Our Root will take that girl right now! Your mission here is over!" Danzo narrowed his eyes even further, a little threateningly now. He was clearly not about to give in to some little brat!

He knew very well about the experiments that were performed here recently. That girl could truly be the last known user of the legendary Wood Release of the whole world, a perfect candidate for his Root!

"No, your presence here is over! Unless you want to defy the Lord Hokage's orders that is..." Kakashi replied seriously, borrowing the Hokage's name freely.

"You'll not make me angry now, brat! Step away from that girl right now! I'll explain it to the Hokage personally later!"

But, how could old fox Danzo not realize the truth of this matter instantly? They were clearly not tasked to take back that girl, but just to investigate the happenings here.

''If he takes her now, he'll never let her back, no matter what Minato says later!' Kakashi thought in a second and replied resolutely in the next.

"I'll take this girl personally to the Hokage, instead. And that's the end of it!"

Danzo suddenly took a better glance at him, also surprised a little, not expecting him to be so resolute at all.

"I'll remember this, Hatake brat!" He just sighed hard and exclaimed fiercely after turning his back towards Kakashi and signaling his personal to get back, he was not stupid,

He already weighed the pros and cons of this matter clearly.

.

Simultaneously, somewhere away from the Konohagakure itself, in a usual deep greeny forest.

Two figures were moving through it expeditiously as if looking for something or someone. They left bright green auras in their wake, as well.

"Dad, still nothing, should we go back?" The smaller but similarly-clothed person asked suddenly while on the run.

"No, Guy! We should never give up!" The older man replied vigorously instead.

"For youth!", "Youth!"

And they continued heartily running forwards after exclaiming that.

But, once they were gone a little further, a surprising figure suddenly popped up slowly from the ground where they just recently stood at.

"The recently acclaimed Eight Inner Gates...?" Orochimaru murmured softly as he now freely stood on the ground, still in his Konoha's shinobi uniform.

He used simple Hiding in Surface Technique just now. With this technique, the user can phase through their surroundings, allowing them to quickly avoid an incoming attack and can travel undetected as well.

"If I get a chance, I should study it as well," Orochimaru looked intrigued for a second, but then slowly entered the ground covertly again, as if he was never there in the first place.

.

Back in the Konoha, Kakashi slowly entered the Hokage's office while carrying a petite dark-haired girl on his back carefully. Raido and Iwashi still following behind him diligently as well.

The nearby ordinary office guardsmen all looked at him in shock and wonder.

"Kakashi...?" As he entered, Minato already stood up from his chair looking at him curiously and asking unsurely.

"This is the girl we found in Orochimaru's previous laboratory. She was the only one alive out of the whole batch of sixty different children of various ages, that dangerous experiments have been seemingly recently performed on!"

Kakashi explained solemnly and Raido and Iwashi just nodded in approval.

"What!?" Minato suddenly exclaimed in shock and anger after hearing this, his expression also very sad. Was his village truly this corrupt and evil before?

Did the Third Hokage know about those experiments, in detail?

Did he cover for Orochimaru even after knowing it?

"Sigh..."

"Kakashi you bring her to Hatake's residence now and take good care of her, please."

"Remember to report everything you find from her to me..."

Minato sighed dejectedly and sat down again gloomily.

'This position truly wasn't anything like I imagined...'

His whole world-view suddenly collapsing, and also gradually turning a bit cynical.

.

At the same time, in the Konohagakure, in front of the mentioned Hatake clan's residence, unsurely stood a red-haired, seemingly pregnant woman.

She had a slender, but feminine build, fair skin, violet eyes, and the common Uzumaki red hair.

She wore a high-collared, sleeveless blouse under a long, loose-fitting dress with a wristband on her left wrist and standard shinobi sandals.

But the currently most noticeable thing about her was her large and round stomach.

She took a deep breath, and opened the large wooden door, entering the Hatake residence promptly.

The courtyard looked very elegant and peaceful, full of different wooden ancestral-like decorations.

"Mrs. First Lady? How can I thank you for this visit?" Yoshi who already sensed her approaching from miles away suddenly opened his previously meditating eyes, and replied a little playful while, sitting on a wooden plank.

Kushina suddenly looked at this guy who already grown into a young adult with mixed feelings.

"There's no need for that. Just call me Kushina!" She just sighed and replied tiredly in the end.

"No, no, how could I do that? What would your husband think of me then?" Yoshi replied a bit playfully frightened.

Kushina sighed inwardly again, in fact, the only reason she came today to see him was exactly because of her own husband, Minato, the Fourth Hokage.

Otherwise, she would never come here to see that hateful guy ever again!

For some strange and unexplainable reasons, every time she sees him, she grows a little dispirited and guilty, all of a sudden!

It was as if some kind of deeply hidden memories suddenly emerge on the surface after she sees him, and then they promptly disappear, subconsciously sealed by her again.

It would be for the best if she doesn't see him at all in the future, that was what she thought before.

She's about to finally realize all of her dreams, becoming a mother, giving a son to her most beloved man!

She doesn't have time for any covert negative feelings, right now!

These were the happiest days of her life!

But, Minato already explained to her his current situation in the village, and that he truly now lacked his own loyal subordinates the most.

And that this strong and a little familiar guy in front of her, would be of really great help to him, also considering their familiar clan relationship...

So she had to bear with this for now... "You won't invite me to sit?"

"Of course, let's sit inside, Mrs," Yoshi stood up, smiled, and gestured Kushina the way swiftly.

Yoshi slowly moved towards the spacious living room.

Every since he transmigrated into this world, he spent the most amount of time in this same familiar residence.

Rarely leaving its parameters to go outside, usually shutting himself in here in his room, or the courtyard outside, working on his seals and fuinjutsu mastery tirelessly, all day.

He reached his maximum physical potential just recently. So he stopped training hard in that aspect. Now just working out from time to time, to keep his current shape,

He was extraordinarily six foot five right now, with a really muscular build accompanying him as well!

As the finally sat down, Yoshi started looking at Kushina curiously but also throwing a couple of secret glances towards her large belly, 'It will really happen soon, I truly can't wait!'

He was pretty excited just thinking about that upcoming day!

"Ahm! Yoshi why have you been avoiding me ever since our first meeting!?" Kushina suddenly asked, getting right to the chase.

"Did I? I don't remember..." Yoshi said confusedly but also still smirked a little.

"Don't...-" Kushina immediately replied vigorously.

.

'That guy clearly didn't take me seriously! Who does he think he is?' Kushina shouted tiredly and angrily after leaving the Hatake clan's residence, stomping on the ground a little. That guy just played with her from the beginning to the end!

'He takes neither me nor Minato seriously anymore, at all!' Kushina thought a little amazed as well; it's amazing how big of a disregard he held towards them. He was never that arrogant before!

'Did he take the wrong medicine today?' Kushina thought incredulously, before spotting something else in the distance.

'Is that Kakashi Hatake, but who's that girl on his back?'

"Mrs. First Lady..." Kakashi just passed by, barely recognizing her, greeting her just plainly.

"Don't call me that!!" Kushina just yelled, stomped with her foot again, and finally left.

"... Just what does the Hokage see in her...?"

Kakashi murmured curiously while watching her back in the distance.

After entering his home, he spotted Yoshi waiting for him there, immediately.

"This is the girl who survived Orochimaru's laboratory,"

Seeing Yoshi's somewhat teasing look, Kakashi explained patiently.

'Orochimaru's laboratory? Before the defection? Don't tell me...'

"Yes, let's go in, we'll talk further and wait for her to wake up!"

Seeing Yoshi's sudden look of realization, Kakashi said again.

.

Somewhere laying on a comfortable white futon, a girl suddenly opened her dark-colored eyes,

And, the first thing she saw, was that spiky white hair again.

Kakashi flinched a little, noticing that she woke up, seeing him staring at her.

They were in one of the rooms in the Hatake's residence. Yoshi already left to work diligently on some kind of a difficult new seal.

"What's your name?"

Seeing her now staring at him as well, Kakashi asked softly.

The black-haired girl suddenly wanted to open her mouth and respond, but she somehow couldn't. Some kind of brain fog forming inside of her head.

'This will probably be a very long and tiresome process,' Seeing this, Kakashi just sighed.

.

A piece of truly startling news suddenly hit the influential Konohagakure and the whole world in the extension as well, today.

One of the three legendary Saninns and the personal disciple of the Third Hokage, Orochimaru, betrayed his own home village and rebelled viciously?

Doing inhumane and savage experiments on Konoha's children after secretly kidnapping them to his laboratory for seemingly, months?

Then was the reason for his previous 'dedicated' approach in getting the Konoha a really big victory on the Kumogakure's front before?

In fact, not many people connected the dots between these two occurrences, but some of them realized, that disappointed for not being appointed as the next Hokage instead of his junior, Orochimaru became really furious and already planned to rebel from his village for months as well.

Hiruzen Sarutobi currently sat in his living room, really dejected and dispirited. He wore just an ordinary clan head's clothes now, leaving his old unique Hokage uniform completely behind.

If the previous great and severe ninja war made his naturally brown hair, gray, then this recent incident made it even grayer now!

Restricting Orochimaru from becoming the next Hokage, doesn't mean that he truly hated him, nor wanted to make him betray the village in the end.

Orochimaru basically forced him to do that, already getting along pretty well with Danzo before, making him more and more hesitant to allow him to succeed as the next Hokage.

If Danzo's own failure to become the next Hokage made him really cold and heartless, then Hiruzen's succeeding of that very same heavy position, made himself realize many truths of the dark human nature instead, making him more and more callous and uncaring as the decades flashed by.

His young and inexperienced self already gone a long time ago...

However, that also doesn't mean that he didn't have any emotions left, as could be seen with himself covering for Danzo frequently before, and even covering Orochimaru's brutal and sadistic experiments in recent months until he finally rebelled, from the shadows.

'The only good news recently is the upcoming birth of our village's potential future Jinchuriki!'

Hiruzen suddenly thought calmly and collectedly.

After the Uzumaki clan's previous harrowing destruction, their village was truly left without the next possible Jinchurki. Kushina Uzumaki certainly won't live forever, and who will succeed her as the Jinchuriki then?

The lineage of Jinchurikis continuing flowing through the Fourth Hokage, the highest and the most loyal village leader? That was the best possible outcome!

That's Hiruzen's own ingenious plan, currently being finalized, after many years of previous careful preparations and skillful scheming!

- - -

If you truly appreciate my efforts in writing chapters this long, and my really thoughtful writing style, then support me on the Patreo-n, right now!

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The link is the first one in my story's main page, in the story's synopsis!!

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Some of my current ideas are the Ice Release MC, Uchiha MC with a new MS ability,

They are not even limited to the Naruto world, I'm even considering creating some fanfics for One Piece, Bleach, or Akame ga Kill!

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