The Cold Treatment of a Confidential Briefing and the Introduction of an External Brain for the Medical System
The black scroll felt slightly heavy in Baishi's hand.
The wax seal was completely intact. Under the light of the Hokage's Office, the "Top Secret" stamp on it gleamed with a faint dark-red sheen.
Baishi accepted the scroll but did not open it immediately. He ran his fingertip over its textured surface, sensing the unusual chill carried from the Land of Rain Border.
Shikaku Nara stood across from the desk, his expression solemn, a complete departure from his usual languid manner.
"An emergency delivery from the Intelligence Analysis Section. Three hours ago, our border-monitoring Barrier detected a high-intensity Chakra fluctuation. Its source was within the Land of Rain, less than thirty kilometers from our Peace Observer's station."
Baishi's gaze shifted from the scroll to Shikaku.
"How strong?"
"Preliminarily assessed as approaching Kage Level. But its nature is highly unusual and extremely unstable. It contains multiple Chakra attributes, along with an intense life-energy response. The people in the Technical Division spent half an hour comparing its spectrum and found a highly similar sample in the database."
Shikaku paused, seemingly weighing his words.
"Orochimaru."
The air in the office seemed to freeze for an instant.
That name was like an invisible needle, tugging at far too many of Konoha's sensitive nerves. A Rogue Ninja, an S-Rank wanted criminal, a researcher of Forbidden Jutsu, and... a shadow secretly supported by the former Advisor Faction.
Baishi remained silent, his fingers tapping lightly against the scroll with a dull, rhythmic sound.
Shikaku continued his report. "Based on the fluctuation's trajectory and the analysis of residual energy, the Intelligence Section has preliminarily determined that a high-level experimental subject Orochimaru left behind in the Land of Rain may have gone out of control. And this location is... rather delicate."
He did not spell it out, but Baishi