Naruto's Impending Birth

Orochimaru dismantled the White Zetsu to conduct his research.

He discovered that the White Zetsu was a treasure trove of biological material.

This creature shared 99.99% of its genetic makeup with humans, yet it did not seem to be human at all; it was an entirely unique species.

It was a pity he had only captured one; it would have been ideal to get his hands on a few more.

Orochimaru found himself wishing he could keep a whole colony of White Zetsu in his laboratory.

However, it seemed Obito knew where more of them could be found.

It appeared he would need to find an opportunity to have Zhengyi trick Obito into revealing the location of the White Zetsu.

Since Obito had become a useful asset, Orochimaru naturally began to pay more attention to him.

He used the remains of the White Zetsu to craft a flesh-colored body for Obito.

After the surgery was complete, Obito opened his eyes and looked at his hands. "I'm finally not a pale, ghostly monster anymore?"

"Of course."

Not only that, but Orochimaru had also restored Obito's face.

As for that Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Orochimaru had no intention of returning it to Obito; he planned to use it to strengthen his student, Zhengyi. Thus, Obito remained missing one eye, which he usually kept covered with his headband.

Obito was already satisfied with this.

If his terrifying face were to frighten Rin and cause him to lose to Zhengyi, he dared not imagine the depths of his despair.

"Arigato! Uncle Fourth Hokage!!" Obito bowed ninety degrees to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru!

Orochimaru was practically his savior reborn.

Sob, sob, sob...

During these past few months of Konoha's pro-birth initiative, the heads of the various clans in Konoha had all welcomed new children.

It was a sign of the arrival of Konoha's next generation.

Zhengyi still hoped that the upper echelons would produce more commoners like him, with roots as righteous and red as his own.

Freedom, oh, freedom!!!

October.

The Konoha jinchuriki was nearing her due date.

Every time Orochimaru attended a meeting, he could sense the strange look in Minato's eyes—a mix of worry, concern, and wariness. It left him utterly speechless.

You already know the Flying Thunder God, yet you're still afraid I'll try something during a meeting?

He admitted he had harbored thoughts of eliminating Minato, but certainly not now. The ninja world was currently eyeing Konoha like a tiger stalking its prey; it was not the time for internal strife.

Zhengyi had even warned him recently to be careful during meetings, lest he be ambushed by Minato.

These days, Orochimaru and Zhengyi never appeared at meetings at the same time, fearing they might be wiped out in one fell swoop.

Obito was fourteen this year and had successfully passed the exam to become a Konoha jonin. In the meeting room, he stood quite tall—at over 1.8 meters, he was even taller than Minato. He could certainly see the worried look in Minato's eyes.

After the meeting adjourned, he went to ask Kakashi for the reason.

The Night of the Nine-Tails.

"What?! Sister Kushina will be killed during childbirth?!!"

"Who did it! Which bastard is so devoid of conscience?"

Obito punched a nearby utility pole, leaving a deep dent in the metal.

Sister Kushina was such a good person; why would anyone be so vicious as to harm her?!

Kakashi shook his head. He could not tell Obito that it was likely Orochimaru, or Obito's temper would surely lead him to show open hostility toward the man.

The struggles of adults had nothing to do with children like them.

He was on good terms with Zhengyi and was also a student of Minato.

No matter which of these two factions ended up as Hokage, his path would be smooth, leading him straight to the center of power. As long as he didn't publicly support either side, his future life would be comfortable and pleasant regardless.

Obito assumed his teacher was simply hoping that "Uncle Fourth" would take the matter more seriously, which was why he kept looking at him with such worry during meetings. It was impolite, but given the teacher's love for his wife, it was understandable.

Turning his anger into motivation, he headed to the gym. He was going to train intensely for a few days; when the time came, he wanted to see which animal dared to harm Sister Kushina!

Zhengyi was at the gym today as well.

Along with Guy, Ebisu, Hayate Gekko, and Asuma—several students from their same cohort.

As the son of the Third Hokage, Asuma was a rebellious fellow whom even Orochimaru didn't know how to handle, so he simply kept him close as a hostage to keep the Third Hokage in check.

"Guy, you!"

Obito stared in astonishment at Guy, who was as muscular as an ox.

Guy was practically a fitness deity; he had absolutely no bottlenecks when it came to building muscle. Three hundred and sixty-five days a year, if his body didn't require rest, he would have practically lived in the gym. To him, working out was pure enjoyment.

Thus, there existed the muscular powerhouse Might Guy, whose physique was nearly as wide as a child was tall.

The only disadvantage to this body might have been the slight sacrifice in speed for the sake of raw power, yet even so, Guy's speed remained top-tier among his peers.

"Youth is all about constant movement! Obito! Kakashi!"

The finest fitness coach in the area, Might Duy, also strolled over, sporting a physique packed with muscle.

Looking at the sheer muscle mass of this father-son duo, everyone present felt a sense of inferiority.

They were all very curious as to just how strong the taijutsu of this pair had truly become.

"Sigh, it's a pity I've reached my age," Duy said with regret, facing the envious expressions of the crowd.

His body had reached its limit and was no longer young; no matter how hard he trained each year, he would lose a tiny bit of muscle mass.

"I see," Obito thought, feeling fortunate to be an Uchiha. Their Uchiha bodies were far stronger than those of ordinary people.

He thought of Zhengyi.

Lately, Zhengyi had been slacking off in his office every single day.

He, on the other hand, was training his physical fitness harder every day, becoming stronger and stronger. When the time came, there would be no need to say who little Rin would prefer, right?

Obito still remembered that day he lifted up Zhengyi's shirt, and the way Rin had secretly peeked with those little eyes of hers.

As one wanes, the other waxes! The advantage is mine.

"The jinchuriki is about to give birth."

At this moment, the higher-ups were discussing the headache-inducing matter of Kushina's delivery.

If the Nine-Tails were to break loose, Konoha would truly be in for a tragedy.

Utatane Koharu proposed sending Kushina outside of Konoha to give birth, a motion that was passed unanimously.

What was Minato constantly worried about? What if Orochimaru released the Nine-Tails, Kushina died, and Orochimaru then sealed the Nine-Tails into one of his own people?

Minato felt that Orochimaru was capable of such a scheme to weaken his faction and strengthen the Hokage's.

Minato was being a bit of a small-minded man judging a gentleman's heart.

First of all, neither Orochimaru nor Zhengyi had even thought of such a malicious plan.

Secondly, he was the Hokage now; that very status meant he couldn't play too dirty with his own people, or else he would lose their hearts.

It was still the lingering trauma Zhengyi had inflicted upon Shikaku and the others—turning the tables to become Hokage from such a desperate situation, using every underhanded trick in the book against them.

The cautious Shikaku made Minato watch out for this and that every single day.

Both sides were cautious, both had their own agendas, and so mutual suspicion grew, spiraling ever larger.

"Since Obito is back, will anyone else come to stir up trouble?" Zhengyi wondered, rubbing his chin. Come to think of it, the things Obito did later in the original story were truly beastly!

But he was an Obito player; he had a bit of a filter for Obito ever since the games, the kind who would get agitated if anyone banned Obito.

Ten-Tails Obito, Drifting Obito—fun and loved playing them.

Suddenly, he really wanted to play a mobile game.

But Konoha hadn't even reached the steam age yet; getting his hands on a smartphone would be quite difficult.

Was his Zhengyi Prize really that obscure? To this day, not a single person had come to apply.