Ominous Ambition

(???'s Point of View) (Land of Sun)

In a dark lab underneath the recently renamed capitol city of Tamamo, a pale-skinned man stood over a partially dissected Iwa shinobi's corpse.

He had yellow pupiless eyes, angular facial features, two purple dots on his forehead, and shoulder-length black hair, which he wore divided down the middle on his head with an atypical 'zigzag' hair parting along with two separate partings on either side of his face.

He wore a specialized version of the attire worn by the sound four, consisting of a light lavender, loose-fitting, long-sleeved, zip-up shirt, black pants cut off around mid-calf, bandages wrapped around his ankles, traditional shinobi sandals, and a purple, rope-like belt tied in an inverted bow around his waist. He also wore two black, tube-like hair ornaments; one on either side of his head, securing two locks of his black hair.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed in rage.

'I lost their signals, all of them!' He thought, furious at the loss of valuable lieutenants. He raised those idiots for over a decade into a force that could fight entire villages if given proper prep time. To lose them at once was infuriating to say the least.

"DAMN!!" He roared as his fist slammed into the specimen beneath him, blasting it apart and sending its pieces across the room. "Who's been doing this!? First, Konoha learns how to remove my curse mark, then they clean up their rotten village, and now, NOW!!!" He takes a moment to calm his breathing. "Now they dare kill my valuable pawns…" He spoke with a now cold, quiet rage.

"Well, well, it's been a while my old subordinate. It looks like yet another one of your schemes has gone awry; nothing new there." An aged voice stated from the shadows.

Looking toward the source, the enraged man saw a lone eye staring back at him, glowing in an ominous crimson with three tomoe. Everything else was obscured by shadow.

He was neither surprised nor enraged at his presence, merely curious at the elder's purpose for coming here.

Without warning, the tomoe spun rapidly, closing into the center, merging into it, and transforming into a black ring in the center with root-like black tendrils extending outwards.

'Tsukuyomi.' In an instant, the two were brought in an extremely powerful space-time genjutsu.

Three seconds later, the previously enraged man blinked at returning to reality only to notice the elderly man gone from his previous position; he wasn't surprised.

Considering what he'd just been told, his face broke out into a disturbingly menacing smile. Not only that, but the veins around his eyes bulged and slit pupils became noticeable; it wasn't obvious, but flecks of blue started bleeding into the eye from the pupil.

"So…there was yet another anomaly in Konoha and if what he said is true… she is far more talented than the silver-haired Uchiha. *chuckle* Not only that, but she's breedable, compatible with my current development path, and best of all, has a profound hatred for Konoha. Very interesting… If only they knew. I'll need to make it a point to find her before she learns to harness her dormant strength.

"Taking her body would be too risky. For now, all I need is her DNA; that would be enough to start with yet heading to Konoha would be foolish. Hmm… I guess I'll have to contact him then…" He mumbled frustratedly, angered at the thought of needed to reach out to a certain man.

'I need to move soon. He could make his move any time now.

"Kabuto!" He shouted out.

"Yes, my lord?"

Behind him body flickered a young man with onyx eyes, black rimmed circular glasses, and ash-grey hair, which he kept in a ponytail. He wore a dark purple shirt with a high collar, a white under-shirt, dark purple pants with a white cloth waistband, dark purple fingerless gloves with armored plates on the back of the hand, and a blue forehead protector with a hidden mist village (Kiri) symbol.

"Contact Kirai and have him send me a sample of the runaway Hyuga girl. While interesting, I wasn't compatible with the chakra he secured from the Uchiha anomaly."

The young man smirked at his lord.

"Found a worthy vessel Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto asked with anticipation. It wouldn't be long now before his lord's dreams were finally realized; he came so far in just a year.

His lips once again curving into a menacing smile, Orochimaru looked his most trusted assistant in the eyes and replied, "No. Thanks to 'that man's' beautiful little tool, this body won't fail me. This is the highest quality vessel I'm willing to waste time finding. No, what I need to do is enhance this body and make it divine; only then would the power be truly mine. The Hyuga girl's cells should be far more compatible with that goal in mind."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru." He did a slight bow before body-flickering to accomplish his mission.

"Now then, let's call a 'strategy meeting' with the remaining Ex-Iwa shinobi. Just a little bit more and this little experiment will be complete *chuckle* Hahahaha. His chuckles crescendoed into maddening laughter as he marveled at the magnificence of his current endeavor.

Around him were the broken bodies of numerous Iwa ninjas. Their flesh was distorted around various types of implanted cells. One thing they had in common though was an ominous dark chakra radiating from those implants.

"Ah, what a great use of money."

Leaf Training Ground (Minato's Point of View) (The Next Day)

Buzzing around the leaf simulation zone were teams of scientists accompanied by ANBU and field medics. Small squads were going in and out of the large structure that had been teleported there in the last couple of days.

This was probably one of the most important forensics operations conducted in Konoha's history. After all, there was a lot of experimental data that could be documented and used to advance the medical field, even if the original sources were inhumane.

There were also quite a few test subjects that were being extracted and cared for with prospects for new clans based on the 'families' of subjects. For example, there were quite a few of people that had been modified with DNA of various felines. While the species may be different, they were all genetically similar enough to be grouped in a clan if that was what they wished.

Of course, the Yamanaka had been almost fully mobilized to mind walk and provide appropriate psychological care for all of them, especially after the details recorded in the reproduction lab came to light.

The biggest issue they noticed in this area was the rapid toxification of the surrounding land. At first, it wasn't obvious why it was happening until Minato took a closer look. It was the natural energy. It was rapidly influencing the natural chakra of the nearby area and evolving the local plant life accordingly.

It was well documented that exposure to certain types of chakra changes genes in humans, but changes in plant life, outside of wood release jutsu, had never been recorded in Konoha's history, so there were scientists for that too.

Jiraiya had even been forcefully reverse summoned to advise on the situation. That and Minato felt he needed the older man's input regarding whatever report his daughter was about to give. She had, after all, ripped through the memories of these scientists and possibly the sound four during her mission. Whatever she found would likely decide the village's military focus for the next year.

The Hyuga situation was also a mess. Not only was it a serious blow to their military forces, but everyone was asking questions. It was a massacre the likes of which hadn't been seen since the nine-tail's rampage. The worst part was that the offending clan was silent. Minato actually delayed the council inquiry until his daughter got back just to make sure they had all the information before making judgments.

Since she was scheduled to return today, it made sense to have her present to break the seal. She didn't necessarily have to be present during the following discussion, but it would very likely involve her. When the hospital reviewed the DNA left at the scene, they found something extremely disturbing.

While the suspects clearly had dominant Hyuga blood, there were also strong signatures of Senju and Uchiha DNA. Not only was this troubling, but all the major clans were throwing a fit. The disturbing part, this type of DNA and the remnant traces of chakra reminded him strongly of his daughter's secret medical records. Actually, it was far more potent than his daughter's.

It's been a long time since a village clan was put on trial, but he already had his legal team working on the paperwork. He hoped it wouldn't come to it, but every instinct he had cultivated over his lifetime suggested otherwise. This would get ugly; fast.

Suddenly, about half a mile away north of the structure, a Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder barrier appeared 3 meters above the air. It was about 200 feet in diameter and descended in a heartbeat, revealing a large crowd of people, including a familiar curtain of silvery-white hair.

Having expected this, the various teams didn't panic. Only one ANBU team approached the group, Team Ro, Kakashi, Itachi, and Yugao's old team. A heartbeat later, Minato body-flickered in front of them. This was an abnormal situation, but he owed this new clan the curtesy of being welcomed to Konoha properly by its head. It's just unfortunate that it wasn't under better circumstances.

The uninitiated of the group (those who'd never teleported before) stumbled in place, trying to regain their bearings. Minato waited for about a minute until it looked like most of them had finished somewhat regaining their composure, looking around, and had focused on him. There were quite a few distracted by the other investigation teams swarming about though.

'I really should have asked Kamui to teleport into the cloud simulation zone. It would have been much easier. Then again, I can feel even more poisoned natural energy pouring out from the jutsu, so that area would've been tainted too. Clearly, Kamui overfilled it again. I might have to force the others to go home for the day while a team re-confirms the safety of the area.' He cursed in his mind.

If he weren't so busy with everything, he might have remembered to do that and saved a lot of hassle this new wave of energy would bring today's investigations. Then again, doing that might have ended up with yet another poisonous training area so the benefits were up for debate.

"Welcome to Konoha." He exclaimed. "It's great to see you've made it here safely. Now, I know that you've all just braved through an exhausting endeavor. As such, I've decided to keep this short."

His eyes locked on the mission requestor and from what he's been led to understand, current clan head. Now that will be an interesting story. How interesting it was to find the previous one in one of Konoha's most secure prison cells. Anko's been begging to take that one on since the moment he arrived.

"Reina Kocho." He called out, locking the young woman's undivided attention on him. "Along with the Konoha mission team and special exceptions, please come with me to my office for the debrief." Looking up from her, he gazed at the rest. "As for the rest of you, please follow this team of ANBU. They will guide you to what we've set up as your temporary housing until a more formal clan compound is built. I'll be discussing the details with your clan head."

"Thank you, Lord Hokage." Reina gratefully thanked with a deep bow.

Chuckling, Minato waved the gratitude off.

"Please, you don't have to thank me. The moment you became part of Konoha, it was our duty to defend you. The will of fire, passed down from our forefathers, demands all Konoha shinobi to protect their own. We are a family and the second you signed those papers, you were a part of it." Minato passionately conveyed, charisma oozing from every pore of his body.

To the Kocho, Reina included, it was almost as if beams of heavenly light radiated from the man's form, clearing any doubt they may have had in joining this 'paradise on earth'.

To the others though, it was a little different. Kamui gave a knowing chuckle. Himiko was more curious and looked to be studying the man that had garnered so much praise from her newly discovered mother. Yugao was calm and unaffected, having appreciated the man's passion too many times to get worked up. Naga, on the other hand, rolled her eyes at the spectacle.

'A very moving performance Fourth Hokage. It's fairly obvious why Konoha's shinobi are so loyal and why foreign nations often forget that Konoha's often just as 'evil' as every other great nation. The 'will of fire' ethos is powerful indeed.' Naga analyzed coldly, not affected in the slightest at the man's performance.

Although she hated her father, she was still influenced by his teachings.

'I guess it would be hard to attract new talent if you didn't create such a mushy culture. Then again, while it may seem unnecessary to us, it drives Konoha shinobi to push harder than any others. I mean, it's so effective that this too was copied by the other great nations, just renamed.' She thought cynically.

While Naga brooded in her cynicism, Himiko's eyes sparkled as she looked around. She didn't really know what was going on, why there was so many ANBU teams running around the nearby compound, the story of the Kocho, or anything else really. She was just interested in seeing Konoha for the first time. Their shinobi were just so much different than the Land of Sun's samurai.

'Mom was right, this will be so much fun! Much better than leading stuffy ceremonies and talking with boring old men all the time.' The priestess happily thought to herself , doing her best to shelve the annoying parts that were sure to follow.