Lost Children Arc (15) : According To Plan.

Yamato stood nervously at the edge of the forest, waiting like he was about to give an examination he hadn't prepared much for. He stood calmly on a tree branch however and patiently waited for Tsunade to arrive.

And Yamato didn't have to wait for long.

There was no one in front of him for a second before he blinked once only to find Tsunade suddenly appearing in front of him without disturbing a single leaf around them.

'How skilled…'

Yamato was left admiring Tsunade but she didn't give him much time with his thoughts, instead, she quickly asked him the question that was on her mind.

"Did you come to Konoha from outside the village? Were your family members a part of the Senju clan that split off from the main clan during the warring era and stayed hidden for a long time?"

Yamato gave Tsunade a wry smile before shaking his head.

"I'm afraid that Tsunade-sama has it wrong."

"Hmm? What did I get wrong?"

"If I were to answer your question, technically I would have to say that I was never a part of the Senju clan. I was born a normal human being. It was only after a few things happened to me that my body was turned to resemble a member of the 'Senju' clan or rather the peak of the Senju Clan, Hashirama Senju."

Tsunade's eyes instantly narrowed, her mind obviously narrowed down and singled the words 'my body' and 'turned to resemble' but that wasn't what she questioned about first.

No, what caught her immediate attention was directed towards-

"Grandpa? Your body isn't as full of vitality as him. It doesn't even compare to his dying days. But it does resemble him." Tsunade quickly shook her head.

Yamato smiled again with embarrassment before he quickly formed a hand seal.

The tree branch that they were standing on suddenly sprouted a new branch which quickly morphed into another Yamato and formed a single wood clone.

Tsunade's mouth hung a little loose when she saw that and she immediately started to check if she was dreaming or put under a genjutsu.

Once she was certain that she wasn't she quickly tried poking the wood clone with a senbon.

And the result was obvious. The wood clone didn't dissipate like a normal shadow clone would. It persisted even after Tsunade quickly pushed in some of her chakra into the senbon and caused it to gain an aura of wind nature chakra around itself.

"Wh-"

Tsunade had questions but she couldn't frame them right since every question she could think of only gave her the premonition of a terrible answer.

Her mind had already put together everything about Yamato easily but she was trying her best to stay away from her conclusions.

Tsunade finally took a deep breath before speaking calmly.

"Did they use my Grandfather's cells to change and modify your body?"

Yamato instantly caught onto the part where Tsunade used the word 'they' instead of him or her or any other pronoun that would indicate that she was blaming a single person or entity.

Clearly, this wasn't going well, or even as he had assumed it would since Tsunade was obviously angry with all the higher-ups of the village.

Yamato *sighed* his mind puzzled between answering the 'truth' he had been told about or the truth that he had been suspicious about, but once he saw the unwavering hazel-brown gaze of Tsunade he *sighed* again.

'Can I even lie to her?'

'She's bound to figure it all out anyway.'

Yamato finally looked into Tsunade's eyes and spoke calmly.

"When I was younger I was a member of the ROOT. I was a child who had been orphaned due to the third shinobi war on the border of Amegakure and Fire Nation. I was picked up by a few ANBU shinobi and joined the ROOT where I was given training on how to be a shinobi."

Tsunade was paying close attention to Yamato's story so he continued.

"Along with being trained to become a shinobi, I and the few other children that were kidnapped were undergoing several experiments to perfect a weapon that Danzo-sama wanted. The weapon was the Wood Release technique of the First Hokage."

Tsunade's eyes trembled.

"These experiments involved transplanting a few of the cultivated cells of the First Hokage into our bodies. In the initial stages of the experiment, we were given the cells of normal Senju clan members to test our compatibility. And only when we were found to be a suitable match were we given the First Hokage's cells."

"The experiment was harsh and cruel, and I was the only survivor of the experiment in the end."

Tsunade's fists clenched and her jaw tightened, she spoke barely to ask a single question.

"Who was involved."

Yamato looked into Tsunade's eyes for a few seconds before speaking, "Danzo-sama, Orochimaru-sama."

But Tsunade didn't budge, she kept looking at Yamato intensely and he was forced to buckle under the pressure.

"...although I don't know if this other person was involved. I often heard the person's name through the other orphaned children who were being experimented on. They were children of the shinobi of Konoha who had died in battle. They were promised a nice life if they lived through the experiment."

"...Who?"

"...The Third Hokage-sama."

Tsunade's eyes shut for a second as she fist trembled in anger.

She remained like that for a while before she finally opened her eyes that were burning with anger in them.

"Are the experiments still going on?" Tsunade asked.

Yamato shook his head a little.

"Although I don't have an exact answer for this question, I don't think the experiment with the First Hokage's cells is still on going in the village. Especially since Danzo-sama was given a complete version of the experiment after I survived."

"I sense a but…"

"...but Danzo-sama has begun collecting children once again. I do not know what it is for now, but I suspect something similar happening once again. The Hokage-sama also wants to know more about it, which is why Team Seven has been assigned this mission.-"

"-Although for the team the mission is simply to learn about the darker side of Konoha, my job is to figure out what Danzo-sama is trying to achieve now."

Tsunade looked furious. Her lips were trembling and her eyes also had tears, even still she looked more furious than sad or disappointed.

For the next several minutes, Tsunade opened and closed her mouth several times, but she couldn't bring herself to ask any questions.

After a while, Tsunade finally *sighed* and relaxed a little. She looked at the blue sky for a while before looking at Yamato with a firm gaze as she spoke with authority.

"I will join you on this mission-"

Yamato's eyes widened but before he could say a thing Tsunade continued.

"-but I won't reveal myself or Shizune, my assistant, to your team. I won't interfere with them. All I need is for you to create an opportunity for me to explore the ROOT base. I will hand you over the information I gather at the end of the mission so that you can report to the Hoka- Sarutobi Hiruzen."

Yamato *gulped* audibly.

He could see the ferocity in Tsunade's eyes and hence didn't try to bargain for anything else.

He simply nodded and Tsunade looked at him for a few seconds before speaking calmly, "Good."

Tsunade's thoughts on the other hand were a jumbled mess. But one of them reverberated clearly in her mind.

'Should I kill them or not?'

'No…simply killing them wouldn't do the situation any justice.'

'Those old bastards should get what they deserve.'

'And I'll make sure they get it.'

'I'll be the judge, the jury and the executioner.'

In another part of the village, Tachibana who was now inside the washroom opened his eyes with a smile on his face as he looked at the pendulum that was spinning clockwise.

'So that made Tsunade angry against everyone…'

'Good lord…I wonder what she'll be able to pull off with Mito-baa-san helping her and acting according to my plan.'

'Mito-baa-san should've also started her part of the plan from tomorrow.