Chapter 7: Kushina's Defection

In the bustling streets of Konoha, two boys walked side by side, despite the cheerful atmosphere of the village, a somber aura seemed to follow them.

Kakashi Hatake had slumped shoulders and a dim expression, as if a succubus had drained all his energy.

His face, partially covered by his mask, didn't hide the deep dark circles under his eyes nor the absent glow in them.

Beside him, Might Guy walked uneasily, occasionally casting furtive glances at Kakashi, his concern evident.

"Come on, Kakashi, let's have a competition!" Guy shouted, clenching his fist enthusiastically.

"Mm.. if rock, paper, scissors is enough for you." Kakashi muttered absentmindedly.

"Isn't there something more intense? Just when my blood is starting to boil with excitement!" Guy replied.

'Obito, Rin..' Kakashi continued daydreaming, paying no attention to his enthusiastic friend.

'Hm.. what's that? It feels cold and frightening..' Kakashi suddenly stopped when he felt a strange premonition that pulled him out of his thoughts.

"How about a race, or a Taijutsu competition, yes, that would be even better!" Guy continued without stopping.

"Wait, Guy, don't you feel something strange?" Kakashi asked suddenly as a sense of danger washed over him.

"Heh..? Well, now that you mention it.." murmured Guy, noticing a faint sense of danger in the air.

The same sensation spread across Konoha, every ninja baptized by war noticed the eerie stillness, as if a bloodthirsty predator was silently watching them.

In the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage frowned: "It seems the time has come." He murmured as he stood up, removing the Hokage robe to reveal the combat gear underneath.

Kaboom!

Out of nowhere, an orange streak of lightning cut across the sky, illuminating Konoha with an ominous flash that seemed to split the air itself.

An instant later, a deafening roar echoed throughout the village, shaking the ground and sending shockwaves that shattered windows.

Roaarr!!

The Nine-Tails' roar thundered, filling the hearts of the villagers with terror as its terrifying claw swept down like a gale, tearing through houses in a single motion, as if everything in its path were mere paper under its titanic strength.

Chaos erupted in Konoha's streets as ninjas swiftly mobilized, attempting to contain the beast, fear filling everyone's hearts without exception.

All the clan leaders and high-ranking ninjas rushed toward the enormous Nine-Tails, while lower-ranked ninjas assisted the Uchiha police force in evacuating civilians away from the danger zone.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball!"

"Earth Style: Earth Bullets!"

"Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere!"

Dozens of attacks landed on the Nine-Tails, creating an impressive spectacle, but no matter how hard they tried, these jutsu caused no damage at all.

The Nine-Tails roared and swung its claws in fury, forcing the ninjas to shield themselves with defensive jutsu before being flung backward like projectiles, causing further destruction to the village's infrastructure.

"Everyone, follow orders to the letter, this is a level 1 situation, do not try to defeat it, just distract and contain it!"

"Hiruzen-sama, the civilians have been evacuated, there are no casualties." An Anbu ninja approached Hiruzen and reported.

Hiruzen nodded: "Continue with the plan, help keep the Nine-Tails at bay and don't let it breach the defensive line!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes, sir!"

The Anbu ninjas nodded and joined the battle, but it was all futile, a mere light swipe from the Nine-Tails sent them flying.

Hiruzen's heart clenched, if the situation continued like this, others would soon begin to notice anomalies.

Just as he was about to lose hope, two figures appeared in the sky above, Hiruzen identified them as his disciple's disciple, Minato Namikaze, and his disciple, Orochimaru.

Orochimaru let go of Minato's shoulder and nodded to him. "Thank you, Minato, leave it to me." Then he began to plummet.

"Mokuton: Great Wood Pillar!"

Suddenly, a gigantic pillar rose from beneath the Nine-Tails, striking it and knocking it out of the village, with a crash, the Nine-Tails landed, raising a cloud of dust, Orochimaru landed on a branch created with the Wood Style, staring coldly at the enormous demon fox that now writhed furiously in the distance.

"Good work, Orochimaru." Hiruzen approached and praised him, the other ninjas also cheered as they saw the Nine-Tails expelled from the village's heart.

"Hey Natsuki, did you see that? Orochimaru-sama just used Wood Style to drive out the Nine-Tails!"

"Oh! Now that you mention it, it's true, but that's impossible, I thought Orochimaru-sama was a civilian."

"I remember the Senju clan dissolved a few years ago, but even though they lost their surname, their lineage remains."

"Or maybe he's the First Hokage's secret child.."

Rumors and gossip began to spread among everyone, almost completely forgetting the Nine-Tails.

Hiruzen observed them with a sharp gaze and shouted: "Stop wasting time, we must capture the Nine-Tails, return to your formations immediately!"

"Hai!" Everyone nodded and fell silent, more terrified by him than the Nine-Tails, quickly returning to their formations.

The gigantic figure of the Nine-Tails began to rise amidst the dust, its fiery gaze full of fury fixed on Orochimaru.

The tension thickened in the air, and the Kyubi's roar echoed again, making the ground tremble beneath their feet.

"Let's go, bring the sealing team, their job is to seal the Nine-Tails again, Orochimaru, you must immobilize it, we cannot let Kushina escape the village!" Hiruzen shouted at the top of his lungs, making everyone's eyes widen in shock.

'Kushina plans to escape the village..? But she's Konoha's Jinchuriki, that's impossible!'

Similar thoughts flooded everyone's minds after hearing the Hokage's words, while those who were present at the meeting two days ago had slightly different thoughts, however, regardless of the reasoning, no one said anything and simply went along.

In an instant, everyone arrived outside the village and faced the Nine-Tails once more.

"Mokuton: Wood Dragon!" Orochimaru performed a series of quick hand signs, and from the ground, a colossal wooden dragon emerged, slithering toward the Nine-Tails.

The dragon coiled around the fox, binding it tightly as its jaws clamped fiercely, draining the beast's chakra.

"Sealing team, begin the Eight Trigrams Seal!" Hiruzen shouted, signaling a group of ninjas holding special scrolls as they positioned themselves strategically around the Nine-Tails.

Chakra began to flow between them, forming a complex web of symbols in the air that enveloped the beast.

The Nine-Tails roared, thrashing furiously, but Orochimaru's Wood Dragon held it firmly in place.

"Kushina.." Minato, observing all of this from a distance without joining the battle, murmured worriedly.

"We're ready to complete the seal, Hokage-sama!" announced the leader of the sealing team.

But just as the circle of light was about to close and trap the Nine-Tails, its massive figure began to flicker with a yellow glow, vanishing from everyone's sight.

"What's happening?!" exclaimed one of the sealing team ninjas as the chakra surrounding the bijuu dispersed suddenly.

"It disappeared!" shouted a ninja, staring incredulously at the void left by the Nine-Tails.

Far off, on a hill at the edge of Konoha, a female figure with bright red hair and a giant scroll strapped to her back could be seen, beside her, a man with yellow hair landed, catching the exhausted Kushina.

"Minato.." murmured Hiruzen, as an intense silence fell over the area.

Before anyone could react, another yellow flash illuminated the horizon, and in the blink of an eye, both disappeared.

Astonishment and confusion flooded the ninjas of Konoha, Kushina and Minato, two of the village's most trusted pillars, had seemingly "deserted" together, taking the Nine-Tails with them.

"Hokage-sama, we must pursue them before they escape!" shouted a random ninja, not prearranged at all.

Hiruzen shook his head: "No, it's impossible to follow Minato, the only way is to figure out their destination and try to intercept them, for now, let's return to the village, assess the damage, and prepare for what's to come." After saying this, he turned and headed back to the village.

"Yes, Hokage-sama!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama!"

Everyone shouted in unison and followed him back to the village, although they didn't like to admit it, the Third Hokage was right, it was impossible to follow Minato, all thanks to his forbidden jutsu, the Hiraishin no Jutsu.

It's like the Sharingan, to defeat the Sharingan, you need another Sharingan, though a bit more literal in this case.

...

The next day, the situation in the Hokage Tower had turned into a real battlefield.

The clan leaders, elders, and high-ranking Jonin sat in silence, forming a circle around Hiruzen, who remained seated in his chair, frowning, the smoke from his pipe filling the air.

But while the high-ranking ninjas remained silent, their subordinates and lower-ranking ninjas did not.

"This is madness, how is it possible for the Nine-Tails to just disappear like that? Doesn't this mean Konoha no longer has a Jinchuriki?!" said one of the Chunin present.

"Exactly, by the way, I heard Kumo and Kirigakure will launch an attack on Konoha soon, without a Jinchuriki, it will be much harder for us to resist."

"Rumors say it was Minato-sama who helped Kushina escape, apparently, they're engaged."

"I think she seduced him to escape!" said another ninja, slightly raising his voice.

"Silence!" Suddenly, the Third Hokage's voice thundered, stopping the discussions. His eyes bore into each of them, making them shudder.

In one corner of the room, a teenager whose white-hair seemed to gravity-defying logic observed all this quietly with lifeless die-fish-like eyes, in contrast, another teenager sitting beside him in a green jumpsuit stared at the Third Hokage with eyes brimming with admiration.

'Awesome! Hiruzen-sama still has the spirit of youth!'

The Third Hokage cleared his throat before saying. "I believe you all saw with your own eyes how the Nine-Tails appeared in Konoha yesterday, and you will also know that indeed, Kushina Uzumaki has deserted the village." He paused before continuing.

"But what some of you may not know is that the Yellow Flash of Konoha has become a traitor by helping Kushina escape, making them impossible to track."

After those words, an uproar resonated in the room once more, although they had already suspected it, suspicion and hearing it directly from the Hokage were two very different things.

"Hokage-sama, how is it possible that Minato Namikaze, who is a hero to us, betrayed the village?" exclaimed a Chunin, his voice trembling with disbelief.

"This makes no sense, Hokage-sama, Kushina and Minato were pillars of Konoha, what reason could they have for deserting?" asked another, reflecting the general confusion.

The room's noise grew, a mix of anger, confusion, and fear filling the air.

'I can't simply say that he was concerned for Kushina and requested to accompany her on her journey, can I?' Hiruzen thought, stressed.

'Orochimaru, one day you'll be the death of me..' Hiruzen thought, though a chill ran through him after having such a thought.

He raised his hand, and silence fell again over the room. "I understand your disbelief." said the Third Hokage, his voice grave and authoritative.

"Minato and Kushina were always loyal to Konoha, but their actions last night show otherwise, whatever their motive, their decision to take the Nine-Tails has put us in a critical situation."

"Therefore, I have decided to label them both as S-rank rogue ninjas and offer a bounty of 50 million for each." The Third Hokage's words fell like a bomb on everyone.

"Hokage-sama, with all due respect, I cannot accept this decision." At that moment, Kakashi, who had been sitting in a corner of the room, could no longer remain silent, he stood up and spoke.

"Minato-sensei is the most loyal ninja I have ever known, although I don't know much about Kushina-hime, I don't believe she would betray the village without a valid reason." said Kakashi, looking at him firmly, which caused murmurs of surprise and discontent.

'He's a loyal boy.' thought Hiruzen, but his expression didn't change at all.

"I understand how you feel, Kakashi, but what happened last night left the village vulnerable, we cannot allow this to become a problem, but I promise that after bringing Kushina and Minato back, I will personally investigate this matter." said Hiruzen, looking at him seriously.

Kakashi's face regained some color after hearing those words, he bowed and said, "Thank you, Hokage-sama!"

The Third Hokage nodded, satisfied, gesturing for him to sit down, then turned to Orochimaru, giving him a meaningful look.

Orochimaru understood the message and stood up. "Everyone, remain silent, as many of you noticed yesterday, I am capable of using Wood Style, the same element as the First Hokage."

"I cannot reveal the details as this is an S-rank secret, but the important thing is that thanks to Wood Style, I can use a jutsu that allows me to track targets over long distances." He paused while everyone processed his words. "That's right, I know where Kushina and Minato are heading."

"So it's true." murmured Fugaku, his narrowed eyes fixed on Orochimaru, similar reactions spread among others.

"Orochimaru-sama, where are Kushina and Minato heading? If they attempt to escape to an enemy village, it could be very dangerous, they might ally with one of them to use as a shield." asked a random ninja from a corner.

Orochimaru nodded without even looking at the one who asked the question. "It's true, they have been fleeing all night, from their route, I deduce they are heading toward the Land of Earth, perhaps to meet with Iwagakure's forces."

"If that happens, recovering them will be much more complicated." Shikaku said with a frown, and the others nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation.

Hiruzen stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Very well, do not worry yet, I am confident we can capture them before they reach enemy forces, Orochimaru, since you can track their location, you will lead the recovery team."

"Yes, Sensei!" Orochimaru nodded without looking at Hiruzen, his eyes scanning the room, for some reason, that bastard Danzo was nowhere to be found.

"Then we have nothing more to discuss. Reconstruction will proceed as planned, this meeting is adjourned!" Hiruzen announced, dismissing the miscellaneous attendees.

Once the room was empty, he approached Orochimaru and whispered, "I hope you're not wrong." Then he left, following Konoha's council.

"You don't need to worry, Sensei, this is for my future and Konoha's." murmured Orochimaru, barely audible.

Of course, all of this was just a theater performance by Konoha's greatest actors, Damn it, even the Nine-Tails wasn't real, it was just Kushina using the Transformation Jutsu, inspired by Naruto.

Thanks to Kushina's vast chakra reserves, it was possible to pull this off without exposing her, obviously, the Hyuga clan and all sensory ninjas were preemptively excluded from participation and even warned in advance. Orochimaru silently thanked the Caged Bird seal.

The rest of the day passed with him holding meetings with clan leaders and ninjas who would join him, thanks to the Hokage's support, this aspect posed no issues.

By the afternoon, Orochimaru finally arrived at a hidden training ground about 15 kilometers from Konoha, it took him only five minutes to get there.

...

In the Root base, Danzo sat calmly in his office, stroking his cane with his left hand, in front of him, a ninja wearing a demon mask knelt on the floor.

"Danzo-sama, the meeting went as expected, Orochimaru took advantage of the situation to tarnish the reputation of his political rival and her fiancé, it's expected that the rumor will spread throughout Konoha soon." reported the Root Anbu.

'Hmph, Orochimaru, you're as manipulative as your master.' Danzo gripped his cane tightly, his face grim, he was fully aware of Konoha's current situation.

Right now, Orochimaru is the best candidate for Hokage after Sakumo, but thanks to his intervention, there's no need to worry about that potential threat.

Both Jiraiya and Tsunade have no desire to compete for the Hokage position, so after Orochimaru, the next best candidate is undoubtedly the recently popular Yellow Flash of Konoha, Minato Namikaze.

Danzo looked at his subordinate. "Contact the Root Anbu stationed in Kumo and Iwa, I need them to deliver a message." A smile formed on his lips.

'Hehe.. a rumor is just a rumor, once the interested parties learn the truth, it'll all be over!' With that twisted thought taking shape, nothing could stop him.

"Yes, Danzo-sama!" The Root Anbu accepted and bowed his head, Danzo waved his hand, and the ninja disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Everything I do is for Konoha!" Danzo recited his mantra once more.

...

Pov Orochimaru ~

After entering the training ground, I walked to the center and observed my surroundings.

It was a clearing in the forest, completely surrounded by trees with targets painted on them, some training dummies, an obstacle course, combat areas, and more.

The reason I came here was to adapt to my abilities and develop a new fighting style, I don't want to get hit all the time and have to cough up a new snake every two minutes, even though I haven't mastered that technique yet.

"Great Sage, I think we should start from the beginning, I mean the abilities I gained during my reincarnation." I spoke to Great Sage in my mind.

[ That is a wise decision, know yourself and you shall conquer ]

"Yes, yes, you're a great philosopher, I know." I muttered, rolling my eyes. "Let's start with Arc of Embodiment, I want to understand its limits, I feel it could be very valuable if used correctly."

[ Arc of Embodiment is an ability based on materializing concepts, it allows you to create physical objects, weapons, and even complex structures such as skyscrapers ]

"I knew it, this ability is completely broken, now that I think about it, Great Sage, you analyzed the First Hokage, and now I know his molecular structure, does that mean I can create a clone of the First Hokage and transfer a soul into his body?"

[ Negative, there are restrictions: ]

"Of course there are.." I grumbled, annoyed.

[ Restrictions include: The object created must be based on your imagination and prior knowledge, the more complex or large the object, the greater the chakra cost ]

[ Most importantly, you cannot create living beings or organic matter, however, as a possible advantage, creations do not disappear even if you exhaust yourself or die ]

"In summary, they don't need maintenance, but I remember the original ability could create organic creatures, what happened?" I asked, somewhat confused.

[ This is because it is a unique ability, it's possible to create organic objects if it evolves into an ultimate ability ]

"Oh!" I exclaimed, of course, it would be like that.

[ In its current form, it cannot create organic matter or living beings with souls because this would disrupt the natural flow of chakra laws and life itself ]

"Unnatural? That's a fancy way of saying too broken to be real, right?" I muttered, thinking about how to adapt this limitation to my advantage, though I can't deny I'd like to evolve the ability.

"Great Sage, how can I evolve the ability?"

[ Answer: If you become a Demon Lord, you can upgrade all unique abilities to ultimate abilities and common abilities to unique abilities ]

This made me wonder: "Great Sage, is the way to become a Demon Lord the same as I imagine?"

[ Affirmative, you need the power of 10,000 souls, but.. ]

"But..?" I asked and gulp hard.

[ You could also obtain the Ten-Tails as an alternative, at that point, not only would you possess the power of a True Demon Lord, but you could also be even stronger ]

I paused to think for a moment, I couldn't deny it sounded tempting, but it also seemed like the perfect recipe to have the entire ninja world behind my ass.

[ You could also keep collecting souls to reach the True Demon Lord threshold in a less risky manner ]

I could only roll my eyes at that, I wasn't sure if the first option or the second was worse.

"Forget it, let's focus on today, in the upcoming battle, I'll face hundreds of enemies, not counting Kage-level ninjas."

When it comes to dealing with cannon fodder, Orochimaru is excellent at it, he can summon thousands of snakes at any moment to distract or eliminate low-ranking shinobi.

"Kuchiyose!"

With a puff of smoke, a small brown snake slithered onto my arm and coiled around me, a shiver ran through me, but I quickly forced myself to calm down, snakes can smell fear.

I held the "small" snake on my right arm while thinking of a new possible jutsu, as I did, I remembered how I had destroyed the base a few days ago.

"That's it, explosive tags!" I exclaimed excitedly.

Without wasting time, I used Arc of Embodiment and created three explosive tags, which appeared in my hands instantly, I rolled the tags like cigarettes, then held the snake and made it swallow the tags.

"That should do it." I murmured and set the snake on the ground, it quickly slithered toward a training dummy and wrapped around it.

Boom!»

With an explosion, the snake detonated, scattering flesh and internal organs, with an agile move, I barely dodged a piece of the snake.

One of the benefits of Ryuchi Cave is that snakes, especially small ones, can be used as kamikazes without consequences, a significant difference from Mount Myoboku, the toads' home.

"The effective damage area is about two meters, not bad, but I feel there's a problem, I can't wait for snakes to patiently swallow explosive tags in the middle of battle, nor can I let them swallow the tags beforehand, or they might end up digesting them.."

Creating a new jutsu is often like this, when you think you have a brilliant idea, reality hits you like a bitch and makes you realize your limitations.

"Great Sage, do you have any suggestions?" I asked without much hope.

[ Try creating the seal directly on the snake ]

"On the snake, you say... Wait, on the snake? Is that even possible?!" I asked, surprised, though mostly to myself, quickly, I summoned another snake and held it on my arm.

Then I took out a brush and sealing ink from my ninja pouch, with clean strokes, I inscribed the seal onto the snake's forehead.

Despite my surprise, I had a feeling this would work, it's important to remember that explosive tags are essentially downgraded versions of a sealing scroll, but instead of sealing objects, they seal chakra.

Now think about Jinchuriki, they can seal massive tailed beasts within their bodies, which are composed of pure chakra, therefore, sealing a bit of chakra into a snake is not impossible.

Once I finished the seal, I stored the materials and injected fire-element chakra, as this is the element typically used in explosive tags.

When I was done, I had the snake repeat the same action as the previous one, and with a blast, I witnessed my success.

"Haha, amazing! I can already imagine the battlefield being flooded with tiny snakes that appear out of nowhere and blow everything around them to pieces!" I celebrated enthusiastically, but before I could celebrate further, I realized another problem.

If I had to draw the seal on each snake one by one, it would be torture worse than death, well, maybe I'm exaggerating, but I'm a modern man, so I always have to think about efficiency and automation, especially automation.

"Automation... automation... automation..." I began muttering again, forgetting even to ask Great Sage for help.

"I've got it!" After some rambling, I found a solution.

If I remember correctly, in the Tensura anime, Rimuru used Predator on the goblins and infused them with healing potions within the storage space, so, I could let Great Sage install the seals directly while infusing chakra at the same time.

"Now that's what I call automation." I nodded, satisfied, in short, it's all about letting others do the work for you.

[...]

"... Great Sage, is there a problem?" I asked, sensing something unusual, but there was no response, ignoring that, I quickly summoned another snake and used Predator to devour it instantly.

Seconds later, I spat the snake out of the storage space, but I didn't see any seal on its forehead.

"It didn't work?" I asked, slightly disappointed.

However, before admitting defeat, the snake flipped onto its belly, revealing the kanji for «Explosion» etched beneath it.

"Oh! Great Sage, you're a genius, this will help conceal the hidden card from the enemy." I nodded, understanding my ability's train of thought.

The seals can be placed both on the forehead and the stomach, well, you can place them anywhere if you want, but the forehead and stomach are vital as they can direct chakra to any part of the body, this is why Tsunade's Yin Seal is on her forehead.

It's also the reason why Jinchuriki seal tailed beasts in their stomachs, in the case of explosive snakes, if the chakra can be distributed throughout the snake's body, then the attack range can increase in length, but not in area, and it might even decrease.

"This has as many benefits as drawbacks, it's best if the snake decides when facing the enemy." I said thoughtfully.

This is another advantage of snakes, unlike an inanimate object, snakes can reason to some extent and proceed based on the situation.

"Alright, let's create an army of explosive snakes!" I shouted and began forming seals.

"Kuchiyose: Explosive Snakes!" Instantly, hundreds of snakes appeared in front of me, of course, they didn't yet have the explosive seal.

"It's going to be a long afternoon.." I groaned with a headache.

"Predator!" The mass of dark energy surged once again and devoured the snakes in front of me.