White Snake Sage: Your Fate Has Actually Been Rewritten?

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Night fell, and rain pattered against the rooftops. Falling droplets traced parabolic arcs before large raindrops shattered on impact. Konoha's lights were hazy as a mirage.

Owl-like shadows leaped across the rooftops. They wore light gray tactical vests and carried sheathed short blades or straight swords on their backs.

Many of them still carried the lingering scent of blood. Beneath their white masks, their eyes and brows exuded solemnity and coldness, making the villagers on the streets avoid them at all costs.

They passed through the bustling streets and arrived at the sparsely populated edge of the village.

They stopped before a building marked with the character "Dark." This was Konoha's Anbu building and headquarters.

Nearly every Anbu ninja had been urgently summoned from their homes. Though crowded, the scene remained impeccably orderly and silent. The oppressive solemnity made it feel like they had gathered for a funeral.

Among those Anbu ninja was Hatake Kakashi.

Bandages were wrapped around his forehead, his brows tightly furrowed, and one dead-fish eye was filled with confusion.

Who put those Exploding Tags there? Was it the Third Hokage?

Kakashi naturally had not seen that strange Black Cat. He had only seen Orochimaru burst out of the ground, only to be blasted away midair by the Exploding Tags detonating beneath his feet.

Though Kakashi had been caught in the blast due to his proximity, his injuries were nowhere near as severe as Orochimaru's. Even after promptly using Ninjutsu to offset the explosion's impact, he had still lost an arm to its terrifying power.

But the Third Hokage didn't seem to have set them up beforehand...

Creak!

The doors of the Anbu building before them opened, their harsh screech shattering the deathly silence.

Kakashi could only cast aside his doubts, put on his mask, and look up. He saw two figures emerge one after the other.

Aside from Sarutobi Hiruzen, dressed in red-and-white Hokage robes and a Hokage Hat, there was also an old man in a black kimono, his right arm and right eye wrapped in bandages. His narrow eyes and the scar on his chin gave him a somewhat gloomy appearance.

The founder and leader of Root, the man who controlled Konoha's "darkness," and the most powerful person beneath the Hokage.

—Shimura Danzō.

"This emergency assembly is to capture Orochimaru as quickly as possible. He escaped during the previous operation."

Sarutobi Hiruzen stepped forward, sweeping his gaze over the Anbu ninja. His tone was calm and straightforward. "According to reports, Orochimaru has already suffered grave injuries. Judging by his condition, it will not be easy for him to leave the Land of Fire in a short time."

"The knowledge, intelligence, and techniques Orochimaru possesses are invaluable assets to Konoha. I hope you will bring him back alive if possible."

"Once he defects from the Land of Fire, he will deal Konoha a fatal blow. By then..."

He paused there, only continuing after a moment. "We must race against time before Orochimaru crosses the border."

"Everyone, search with everything you have!"

Having said that, Sarutobi Hiruzen raised his head. His expression was cold, and without wasting any more words, he said in a deep voice, "Dismissed!"

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The Anbu ninja scattered as shadows. These hounds and talons would hunt that cunning snake with all their strength, whether he fled through the skies, underground, or underwater.

After every Anbu ninja had departed, Sarutobi Hiruzen turned and walked toward the Anbu building as well.

Yet as he passed Shimura Danzō, a mocking voice reached his ears.

"You really do cherish your beloved disciple."

Sarutobi Hiruzen stopped, lowering his head slightly. His face was concealed beneath the shadow of his hat, making his expression impossible to see.

"Someone like you actually made a 'mistake.'" Shimura Danzō continued, "I heard you rescued a Hyuga Clan child from Orochimaru?"

The two had been old friends for decades. How could Sarutobi Hiruzen fail to understand what he meant? He sighed inwardly, somewhat wearily.

"That was merely a pitiful child," Sarutobi Hiruzen explained, then added, "He is from the Hyuga Branch Family."

In other words, give up on that idea.

Regardless of whether Orochimaru had achieved any experimental results with that child, someone branded with the Caged Bird from the Branch Family could never be used by him.

Otherwise, given the Will of Fire Hyuga Yunchuan had displayed, Sarutobi Hiruzen would have already tried to approach and recruit him, even if he were a talentless "waste."

Even if he had been an ordinary commoner, he could have been arranged to become a teacher at the Ninja Academy.

Unfortunately, he was not...

A member of the Hyuga Branch Family could only become a servant to someone from the Main Branch. He had no value to exploit.

As long as a member of the Hyuga Clan's Main Branch activated the "secret seal," they could easily destroy the brain nerves of someone bearing the Caged Bird.

The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal Danzo used merely prevented people from revealing classified intelligence. It only paralyzed the entire body, leaving them unable to speak or move. Compared to the Caged Bird, it was practically merciful.

"..."

Upon hearing that, Shimura Danzō merely faced the distant night sky and closed his eyes. He seemed to abandon the thoughts in his heart, and his tone returned to its usual calm indifference. "No matter what, I will assist with all my strength."

"For Konoha, I will do everything I can."

"...Then I truly apologize," Sarutobi Hiruzen said calmly, glancing at him. "For making you 'trouble yourself.'"

With that, he ignored Danzo and walked into the Anbu building.

Although Danzo's every word mocked him for prioritizing personal feelings over Konoha's interests, and although Danzo might have secretly had dealings with Orochimaru...

From the moment Orochimaru defected, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew that his old friend would truly do everything in his power, just as he claimed, to eliminate the threat Orochimaru might pose to Konoha.

Perhaps the explosion that had grievously injured Orochimaru had been a contingency Danzo secretly prepared without Orochimaru's knowledge.

That was also why he had repeatedly turned a blind eye to Danzo's little schemes. After all, in his eyes, everything Danzo did was ultimately for Konoha.

Just as that Hyuga Clan child had said, for Konoha's "great tree" to grow, it truly needed "roots" hidden from the light.

But it only needed "roots" hidden from the light.

After Sarutobi Hiruzen left, Shimura Danzō opened his eyes.

"Caw, caw."

A crow circling overhead descended onto Danzo's shoulder. It spat the small Scroll clutched in its beak into his raised hand.

"..."

Danzo lowered his head and opened the small Scroll. Dense tiny writing entered his view—the cipher unique to Root.

The Scroll recorded the follow-up cleanup of the experimental base. Unfortunately, most of Orochimaru's experimental equipment and records had already been destroyed by the Exploding Tags' blast.

According to an examination of the explosion traces, Exploding Tags had been placed throughout the entire underground passageway. The experimental base had practically been destroyed beyond recognition.

Those experimental devices had cost Danzo a fortune, acquired through special channels. Some of them were not even available to Root.

"Was it that bastard Orochimaru? He would rather destroy them than leave them to me?"

Shimura Danzō raised his head, his narrow eyes full of gloom. But he quickly dismissed that thought.

Orochimaru had also lost an arm in the Exploding Tag blast. Perhaps he could recover with that specially modified body of his, but with his Chakra nearly depleted at the time, there was no need for him to put on such an act while seriously injured.

Moreover, given Sarutobi's guilt toward Orochimaru and his indecisive nature, he could never have gone so far as to leave no survivors.

In fact, based on Danzo's understanding of Sarutobi Hiruzen, that man might even believe Danzo had secretly orchestrated it.

"Then who else?"

Danzo's brow gradually furrowed, tightening as he faintly sensed an invisible hand manipulating every event from the shadows.

He thought of the sole surviving child, but reason told him it was absolutely impossible.

Such clean, decisive, untraceable, sinister, and ruthless methods—methods that had even calculated against both Orochimaru and Sarutobi—could never have been carried out by a fifteen-year-old child.

Much less by a timid orphan from the Hyuga Branch Family.

"Damn it! Who was it?!"

Danzo crushed the Scroll in his clenched fist. He despised the feeling of an unknown threat lurking in the darkness while he was powerless to do anything about it.

That person had to be exceptionally dangerous, perhaps an even greater threat to Konoha than Orochimaru.

Shimura Danzō, known as the Shinobi of Darkness, would never allow someone like that to continue existing!

Better to kill the wrong person than let the real one escape!

With that thought, he narrowed his eyes slightly as he recalled that child from the Hyuga Branch Family. He took a Scroll from his robes, wrote some cipher on it, and had the crow carry it away.

He was just a useless member of the Hyuga Branch Family. No one would care if he died in some accident.

Meanwhile, within the Land of Fire, in a forest hundreds of kilometers from Konoha.

Crack.

The crisp sound of a dead branch snapping rang out from the depths of the forest, startling several birds sheltering from the rain beneath the trees. A figure staggered out from the shadows.

"Hah... hah!"

Orochimaru staggered against a tree. With every breath, he tasted rust between his teeth—the blood bubbles coughed up from his throat were bursting.

His left arm had been severed at the forearm. Blood-red mangled flesh and white bone fragments were clearly visible, and half his clothing had been soaked in blood.

This was likely the most severe and fatal injury he had suffered since modifying his body.

Since he had long anticipated this day, he had naturally left a contingency within the Land of Fire: a clan called Iburi.

They possessed the Kekkei Genkai of "Smoke Transformation," allowing them to turn their bodies into smoke and enter other people's bodies in that form, thereby controlling their actions. However, they also had the weakness of dispersing and dying if wind blew upon them while in their smoke state.

Because they could not stably control this ability, many members of the Iburi clan had died. Only through Orochimaru's help had they managed to stabilize their power and extend their lifespans to some degree.

The blood of the Iburi clan could heal wounds, which was why he had kept them as "blood packs."

Had he not been gravely wounded by the final Exploding Tag blast, even if the old man had injured him, he could have endured his wounds and reached that place alive.

"Damn it! Damn it! It's all because of that brat!!" Orochimaru's hoarse voice was filled with venom and fury.

He touched the Scroll against his chest.

Fortunately, this Scroll containing ancient secrets was still in his hands.

As long as he continued finding a way to break the Sealing Technique on it, he would certainly uncover more secrets of the Otsutsuki Clan.

Furthermore, he had taken a piece of flesh from that Ōtsutsuki body. If the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu could be perfected...

Now, the only way was to have Manda use the Reverse Summoning Technique so he could safely escape the Land of Fire.

But with that beast Manda's temperament, the moment it saw him severely injured, its first instinct would be to swallow him whole.

And the White Snake Sage of Ryūchi Cave, along with her subordinates Tagorihime, Ichikishimahime, and Tagitsuhime—the three great snakes—were no easy opponents either...

Cough, cough!

Orochimaru suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, completely cutting off his train of thought.

His blurred vision, the ringing in his ears, and his increasingly uncontrollable sense of touch.

The twisted shadows of trees seemed to turn into claws, while vines became snares. All of it made him realize that his bodily functions were gradually collapsing.

The fear of death made him dig his five fingers deeply into the trunk. Even the moss on the tree was crushed into a foul green pulp in his palm.

He still had to take revenge on that brat. He still had to grasp every truth in the world!

No matter what, he could not die. He could not die here!

Just as Orochimaru made up his mind and prepared to use the Summoning Technique—

Poof!

A cloud of white smoke suddenly burst forth, and Orochimaru vanished from where he stood.

Several seconds later, a tall figure appeared, his long white hair hanging to his waist. It was Jiraiya, who had pursued him here.

"The Reverse Summoning Technique?" Jiraiya frowned. "Orochimaru, what exactly..."

At the same time, in a space converted from a natural cavern, barbed stalactites hung from the ceiling.

The ground was covered in green stone tiles engraved with snake-shaped reliefs. Dark green phosphorescent flames burned dimly in wall niches, while blue-purple minerals flickered within the rock walls.

"This is..."

Orochimaru opened his eyes with a frown. Seeing the familiar scene before him, he said in surprise, "Ryūchi Cave?"

He had clearly not summoned Manda yet. How had he been reverse summoned here?

"Orochimaru."

Before Orochimaru could make sense of the situation, an aged and ethereal voice reached his ears. He instinctively followed the sound and looked up.

A massive White Phosphorus Snake coiled atop a Stone Seat entered his view.

The White Snake Sage, the founder of Ryūchi Cave—a white-scaled serpent that had lived for over a thousand years, with strength so terrifying that Orochimaru could not begin to gauge it.

Usually, the White Snake Sage appeared as an elderly grandmother dressed in a white robe.

But at this moment, Orochimaru was seeing her true form for the first time. The detached air around her had vanished, replaced by the stench emanating from her snake's mouth.

"How is that possible?"

The White Phosphorus Snake stared straight at Orochimaru with amber Snake Pupils, an uncertain and astonished human-like expression on her face.

"Your fate... has actually been rewritten?"

Meanwhile, in Konoha, inside a dilapidated house at the edge of the Hyuga Clan compound.

"Meow."

A faint cat's cry mingled with the chirping of crickets. Hyuga Yunchuan, who had been lying in bed, slowly opened his eyes.

"It finally left."

He sat up in bed, turned to look at the tranquil night beyond the window, and touched the bandages around his neck. A smile appeared on his face.

After only one day, such a severe, life-threatening injury had already healed more than halfway.

This level of healing ability might still fall short of the terrifying extremity of Hashirama Cells, but it was enough to free him from the shinobi's weakness of being "fragile."

And that was merely one of the benefits this body had brought him.

With that thought, Hyuga Yunchuan looked at the panel that appeared before him.

[Name: Hyuga Yunchuan]

[Age: 15]

[Bloodline: Hyuga Clan → Otsutsuki Clan (5%)]

[Chakra Limit: D-rank → S-rank]

[Chakra Nature: Wind → Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, Yin, Yang]

[Ninjutsu: ...]