Orochimaru appears.

Kirigakure.

A man with black hair and simple features was in a tent from a distance while waiting for his meal.

'If I knew it would take so long, I would have gone to another tent. I had to disguise myself in search of information, but so far I haven't found anything. The report said that the nukenin Hiroshi was here' complained the man in his mind.

This man was Kaito disguised because he wanted to gather information without drawing any extra attention, and appearing with a Konoha ninja would certainly alarm the nukenin.

It had been a whole week since he left the Land of Iron, but he had only arrived here a day ago. He had already investigated a large part of the city, but still hadn't seen any clues about the nukenin.

'I guess I'll have to search the Hokage's residence to see if I can find any information about him. After all, hardly any Jounin would enter your village without the slightest information, but it's quite risky, especially with her kekkei genkai. I don't think I'm strong enough if I have to fight her, but if I could control this ice...'. Kaito thought as he held his left arm, which was covered inside his clothing to conceal it. Even after Kaito used some chakra-sealed papers to suppress the cold emanating from it, it was still cold to the touch and completely rigid.

He had tried to control this dark ice, but the particles seemed to weigh tons compared to how easily he used normal ice. It seemed he would have a long time ahead to control even the slightest bit of this ice, but it would be a significant upgrade to his power. Another thing he didn't see improvement in was his sage mode seal; no matter how hard he tried, it was very difficult to collect natural energy while balancing it perfectly with his chakra.

At that moment, Kaito noticed several Kirigakure ninjas running over the rooftops towards the Mizukage's residence, which would be considered quite normal, but they had an urgent expression on their faces.

'Something must have happened, or they are carrying some important information. I'll follow them first and see if I can get something out of this.' Kaito thought. After thinking this, he got up and walked to an alley, disappearing quickly.

The Kirigakure ninjas quickly reached the Mizukage's residence.

'I need to get in somehow; I doubt I'll be able to enter disguised like this.' Kaito thought as he investigated around, but soon he noticed a ninja leaving the residence, and his power level was only that of a Chunin.

Kaito smiled and quickly followed him. The ninja, unaware of anything, entered an empty alley, hoping to cut through, but soon received a blow to the back of the neck, knocking him unconscious. After that, he was dragged and placed inside a trash dumpster.

Kaito took advantage and used a seal to keep him unconscious for a longer time to prevent his disguise from being discovered, but nothing that would harm him. He would wake up after 30 minutes, more than enough time for Kaito to receive the information and leave the Mizukage's residence.

After doing this, he went straight to the Mizukage's residence, quickly passing by some ninjas who, upon seeing his urgent expression, remembered the other group that had passed by, so they quickly moved aside not to hinder.

Kaito, noticing this, mentally smiled because he used the same expression as before to deceive the minds of those who saw, giving the impression of urgency.

He quickly arrived in front of the Mizukage's office without any hindrance.

Low and nearly inaudible voices could be heard from inside the room.

Kaito then approached and leaned against the wall, focusing on completely using his sense of hearing, stimulating his chakra minimally to strengthen this sense and not be discovered.

"Well, Mizukage Mei, we found out that the Jounin who entered our village is looking for something. He spends most of his time visiting all the locations in the city and hasn't received any unexpected visitors or contacted anyone," a ninja spoke.

"So, what do you think he's looking for? Have you found out what it is?" Mizukage questioned.

"We're not sure, but from what we've gathered, he might be looking for some abandoned laboratory of Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin," another ninja spoke as he stepped forward.

"Orochimaru created a laboratory here? And how did we not find out anything before?" Mei stood up with a questioning voice.

"We don't know, we're not even sure if it exists or if that's really the objective of this Jounin," another ninja spoke hastily.

"Then go and find out. Try to locate Orochimaru's laboratory, retrieve any research data or valuable items, and destroy the place. That damned snake wanted to nest here without anyone noticing, but I won't let it slide," Mei said after which she sat down with her arms on the table and fingers interlocked, resting her head in between.

Kaito, who was outside listening to this, was surprised by the developments, and decided to leave first as soon as the conversation ended; he couldn't afford to be caught here. But he would follow these ninjas to find out the whereabouts of this Jounin, who might be the nukenin he was looking for, or at least he hoped so.

Shortly after Kaito left the scene, the ninjas in the room also left without realizing they had been spied on a few minutes ago, heading to locate the Jounin.

Inside the room, Mei still had her fingers interlocked and a look of curiosity on her face.

"Who has the courage to enter my residence knowing that I have the strength of a Kage? Maybe he's that ninja Jounin who found out he was being spied on? I don't think so; he would have fled the moment he found out about it. Anyway, it doesn't matter; I'll find out for myself," she said before disappearing from the room.

Despite Kaito minimizing his amount of exerted chakra to the minimum, being almost imperceptible, he had still been discovered; after all, she was a Kage.

...

In a dark alley, there was a small room with an old wooden door. Inside this room was a man in tattered clothes, holding a map of Kirigakure city with several points marked.

"Another location crossed off, but I still have three other suspicious places that might have been Orochimaru's laboratory. I hope to get his experiments on Kekkei Genkai; my organization will surely promote me after this," the ninja said. After speaking, he turned around and left through the door of the house, while behind him, three other ninjas observed.

Upon realizing the target was moving, the Kirigakure ninjas pursued him directly. Not long after, Kaito silently followed behind them without being noticed. At the same time, another figure emerged from the darkness not far from where Kaito had appeared; it was a woman with charming curves.

"So, he has something to do with that Jounin," Mei smiled as she disappeared into the shadows again.

A few minutes later, the ninja in tattered clothes had finally stopped at what should be the next location. In front of him was nothing more than an old house, seeming to have been abandoned for a long time. It was located in the poor district of Kirigakure, but there was no sign of intrusion or anything similar.

The ninja approached cautiously. When he finally noticed several weeds growing around the door, and upon getting closer, several snakes emerged from the bushes around the door, showing that it wouldn't be a good idea to invade that place.

However, for a ninja, that was nothing extraordinary, and it only served to give more hope that it was indeed Orochimaru's laboratory.

The ninja quickly invaded, killing the snakes with a few kunais, not wanting to waste any time.

As soon as he entered, he realized there were several rooms, so he began to search for something that could be used to open a secret passage.

Shortly after he entered the abandoned house, the three ninjas landed in the same location he was previously, and they also didn't delay and quickly invaded behind the Jounin ninja.

Kaito was observing the whole scene from afar while smiling.

'Hahaha, I finally found Hiroshi, but who would have thought he would be interested in Orochimaru's research. But I understand his thoughts. Many people stagnate after reaching the Jounin level, not knowing how to improve beyond that. Orochimaru's experiments up to a certain point can help surpass this level.' Kaito thought. After thinking this, he didn't bother to enter the laboratory because his mission required him to gather information and not fight the nukenin.

Mei was also watching Kaito's movements from a distance, but upon realizing that he was just standing aside without intervening in anything, briefly left her confused.

'Perhaps he is not part of a team with that Jounin, but no one would spy on a Kage's residence without more intentions.' she thought, continuing to observe.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A loud explosion came from the old house, followed by several smaller ones, making them wonder what was happening inside.

'I guess they found Orochimaru's laboratory, but I'm not surprised.'while Kaito was thinking this, Mei, who was not far from him, showed a frustrated expression because she didn't expect there to be a laboratory in her village.

The sounds of explosions ended after a few seconds, and what remained was silence, but it didn't take long for a giant snake to emerge from where the abandoned house stood.

"Damn, I have to stop this snake before it causes damage," the moment Mei saw that giant snake, she ran while preparing her jutsu to attack and kill the snake before it did any harm to the village, passing by Kaito without paying any attention to his existence.

Kaito's heart skipped a beat when he saw that figure with tempting curves and red hair passing by him, seemingly coming from somewhere not far from him.

'It seems I've still been discovered. I underestimated the senses of a Kage-level ninja.' he thought as he watched Mei jump from a house while using her dissolution jutsu, releasing a large amount of acid that began to rapidly melt the snake, not giving it much chance to react, but it began thrashing in all directions, destroying everything around.

Mei, upon seeing this, began to use water barrier jutsu to protect herself, while also using her kekkei genkai to end the fight.

At that moment, Kaito noticed Hiroshi fleeing rapidly. He had managed to survive the explosions and even the acid, and he was running with all his might to escape.

' I'll pursue him before the Mizukage comes after me.' after saying this, Kaito quickly fled from the scene, fearing that the Mizukage would target him once she finished off the giant snake.

Mizukage Mei saw this happening but was still dealing with the snake, so she didn't follow them. However, not long after the departure of the two, several Kirigakure ninjas appeared, so Mei left the snake, which was already almost dead, for them to take care of.

...

Kaito followed Hiroshi closely, unnoticed, until they reached near a large waterfall, where Hiroshi finally stopped to rest.

"Phew, I finally managed to escape from that cursed village. I thought I was going to be killed by the Mizukage's ninjutsu, but I escaped haha, and I even got the data I wanted. Once I return to the organization, I'll be able to climb the ranks, and I'll have access to powerful ninjutsu. Maybe I'll even be able to obtain a Kekkei Genkai," Hiroshi spoke aloud to himself, unaware that not far away, Kaito was watching him.

'I don't remember this organization from Naruto, but I guess it makes sense. My parents shouldn't exist either, much less me, and yet here we all are. Besides, there are many other Jounin who weren't mentioned in the manga or anime,' Kaito thought. After considering this, he felt more inclined to defeat that nukenin who had abandoned Konoha to join what seemed to be a shady organization.

After a few seconds of deliberation, Kaito decided it would be best to capture this Jounin, but he hesitated because he wasn't sure if he could defeat his opponent.

'I can't keep hesitating like this. Even if I can't defeat him, fleeing wouldn't be a problem, and I already have the information the mission required,' after carefully considering, he had made his decision.

With only one hand, he began to form several hand seals, as his frozen arm prevented him from forming the seals with both hands. However, this wasn't a hindrance for Kaito, who managed to reproduce the seals with just one hand, but it required more seals than usual, making it take a little longer.

From within the waterfall, a water dragon emerged and attacked the resting ninja, catching him off guard. The Jutsu collided directly.

However, Kaito wasn't pleased because the moment the water dragon collided, he realized Hiroshi had used the substitution jutsu, and what had been hit was just a tree trunk.

Then he spotted a fireball jutsu flying towards him, causing him to dodge, but at that moment, the nukenin appeared behind him with a kunai in hand.

"Very fast," was what he thought as he made his chakra form a windball between them, which quickly exploded, throwing them both away, not wanting to give the Jounin a chance to control the situation. He then shot several water needles, causing the ninja to retreat as he jumped back.

"Who are you? And why did you try to attack me stealthily?" The ninja asked, taking advantage of the distance between them.

Kaito smiled and undid his disguise, revealing himself as a 13-year-old boy with striking green hair and eyes.

"I am a ninja from the Leaf Village, and my mission is to stop you, Hiroshi," Kaito said as he moved his hand, and once again, the water dragon that seemed to have been undone when it collided with the trunk earlier, attacked Hiroshi with full force.

Hiroshi, upon seeing this, began to form several hand seals, and a mud dragon emerged, colliding with Kaito's water dragon. However, at the same time, two more water dragons emerged from the waterfall, attacking him relentlessly.

"Damn," muttered the ninja, only giving him time to curse before he found himself forced to use his substitution jutsu again. However, the moment he appeared, Kaito had already prepared dozens of water bullets that hit him directly.

Although injured, the ninja managed to avoid vital points, allowing only his arm to be hit, but the nukenin didn't give up with just that. The ground where Kaito stood then turned into mud, not only holding his feet but also reaching out and trapping Kaito's hand, attempting to prevent him from forming jutsu.

"I will enjoy killing you, a child who thinks he's strong. But I understand, sometimes it might not even be your fault. Maybe it's just another one of Hiruzen's or Danzo's ignorances," as he spoke, the ninja formed some hand seals and spat out five giant fireballs.

Kaito, upon realizing this, smiled as the water dragons appeared around him, protecting him from all harm, while the vapor brought with it a huge fog.

Hiroshi didn't care and began to form other hand seals, prepared to attack Kaito who was still trapped. But suddenly, the temperature around him dropped rapidly, and all his limbs stiffened. Looking down, he could see that his whole body was already covered in ice, and it didn't take long for his head to freeze as well.

Seeing that he had succeeded in his first fight against a Jounin, Kaito was more than happy, but he knew that the waterfall had greatly benefited him. It had shortened the time for the formation of his ninjutsu as well as reduced chakra consumption. Most importantly, it caught his enemy by surprise by freezing the vapor-made fog.

He approached the nukenin and released only his mouth from the ice.

"Now, tell me everything about your organization. We can do this the easy way or the hard way," as he said this, Kaito formed several ice needles within the ice sculpture, which slightly pierced his skin, demonstrating how painful the hard way would be.

The nukenin didn't hesitate and quickly began to speak. After all, it wasn't worth keeping the information if he had to die. He had already abandoned Konoha, let alone a mysterious organization he had joined.

Kaito listened carefully to the information and smiled coldly and dangerously. He had never been so angry as he was now, all for one reason: this organization was the same one that had destroyed the Yuki clan and was hunting down all the remnants in order to extract their lineage and conduct experiments to awaken their own Kekkei Genkai. Hiroshi had also told him that the main targets were his mother, Hana, as she possessed a very pure lineage.

And Hiroshi didn't stop there; he had also discovered that they were trying to make a person awaken multiple Kekkei Genkai and fuse them all into an extremely powerful entity. However, for that, they needed a person with a lot of chakra to withstand such a thing, so their targets were Naruto Uzumaki and Karin Uzumaki. There were hundreds of branches of this organization in various countries, and their power was very strong. After all, he had discovered that the leader possessed multiple Kekkei Genkai, one of them being Youton or the magma style, and also possessing Bakuton, being able to explode things like Deidara.

Kaito knew that this would be another very strong enemy, but he wasn't sure to what extent. If he would surpass the famous Madara Uchiha or not, but he felt that he had to seek more and more power, and squeezing his left arm tightly, he felt that this would be the key point of his strengthening.

When he was about to ask more questions to Hiroshi, a large snake slithered out of the forest, completely different from the one that attacked the city. This was Manda, and atop her were Kabuto and Orochimaru.