When it rains, it pours! Minato was stunned!

The Great Toad Sage's aged and weary voice struck Namikaze Minato's heart like a heavy hammer, blow after blow.

The prophecy... had changed.

The God of Calamity, the Nine Beast Skeletons, Ultimate Suffering, True New Life...

Each word was like an unshakeable dense fog, completely swallowing all his hope and understanding.

He didn't know how he left that Ancient Hall, nor how he returned to Konoha in a daze.

When the sensation of spatial distortion vanished and the familiar furnishings of the Hokage's office came back into view, Minato felt a wave of dizziness, almost unable to stand.

He instinctively reached out to steady himself on the desk, his knuckles turning white from the force.

His mind was a complete mess.

Uchiha Madara, the Akatsuki, an alliance with Kirigakure Village, Obito's betrayal... and now, a new, earth-shattering prophecy filled with despair.

Naruto... his son, what would he become in the future?

Would being a Jinchuriki make him part of the calamity? Or would he be an innocent who perished in that Ultimate Suffering?

Minato dared not think further.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the storm raging in his heart, and vanished from the office in a flash.

The next second, he appeared in his own home.

The living room was quiet. His wife, Kushina, sat on the sofa, knitting a sweater and humming an unknown tune. Her fiery red hair glowed warmly in the afterglow of the sunset.

Hearing the movement, Kushina looked up. Seeing Minato, her face immediately broke into a brilliant smile.

"You're back? Why so early today?"

But she quickly noticed the wrongness of Minato's expression.

"Minato, what's wrong? You look so pale."

"...Nothing." Minato forced a smile and sat down beside her. "Just dealt with some troublesome matters, I'm a bit tired."

He reached out and gently stroked Kushina's slightly bulging abdomen, where the Nine-Tails' Yang Chakra was securely sealed. In the cradle in the bedroom, his newborn son slept peacefully.

"I'm a little worried about Naruto," Minato's voice was low, with a tremor he himself hadn't noticed.

Kushina stopped her knitting, clasped his hand tightly, and softly comforted him, "Don't worry, with both of us here, Naruto will be the happiest child in the world. No matter what happens, our family will always be together."

Family...

Minato's heart felt as if it were being fiercely squeezed.

He couldn't tell her what kind of terrifying future they had to face.

He could only hold his wife tightly in his arms, as if trying to merge her into his own body.

"Yes, our family, together forever."

A look of determination appeared in Minato's eyes. He had to protect his family, to protect the hard-won peace of Konoha. This was his duty as Hokage!

However, this moment of warmth was quickly shattered by a sudden message.

An Anbu ninja wearing a mask appeared silently in the center of the living room and knelt on one knee.

"Fourth Hokage-sama, it's an emergency!"

Minato released Kushina, the warmth on his face instantly receding, replaced by the calm and authority of the Fourth Hokage.

"What is it?"

"Third-sama and Jiraiya-sama request your immediate presence at the Hokage's office. There is critical intelligence that requires your personal decision."

Minato's heart sank.

For the Third and his teacher to use the words "emergency" together, it was definitely not a small matter.

He gave Kushina an apologetic look. She simply nodded with concern, "Go, the village's matters are more important."

Minato hugged her, and his figure disappeared again.

In the Hokage's office.

The atmosphere was so heavy it was almost suffocating.

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat on the sofa, smoking his pipe one puff after another, his brow furrowed into a knot. Jiraiya, arms crossed, leaned against the wall, his expression so grim it could wring water.

In another corner of the office, Shimura Danzo sat quietly in the shadows, like a lifeless sculpture.

Minato's figure appeared out of thin air.

"Third-sama, Teacher, what happened?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't speak. He merely tilted his chin, gesturing towards the desk.

Minato walked over and saw a scroll spread out on the desk. The contents made his pupils contract sharply.

It was an investigation report, accompanied by over a dozen shocking photographs.

The photos showed a dark Underground Laboratory. Beside various sophisticated experimental instruments lay incomplete, grotesquely distorted corpses. Some were even still alive, their bodies forcibly grafted with foreign tissues, their faces filled with pain and despair.

The conclusion of the report pointed to a name Minato couldn't believe—

Orochimaru.

"This... this is..."

"Wood Release Human Experiment," Danzo's chilling voice came from the corner, breaking the silence. "Even after the Third Hokage canceled the Wood Release Human Experiment, Orochimaru continued this inhumane Forbidden Jutsu Research behind our backs."

Minato abruptly turned to look at Sarutobi Hiruzen, his voice laced with a hint of accusation, "Lord Third, did you know about this?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen closed his eyes in pain, exhaling a long ring of smoke. "This is a story from a long time ago. After the First Hokage passed away, Lord Second Tobirama continued to cultivate a successor for Wood Release, so he secretly conducted research on the Wood Release Bloodline Limit. They already began experimenting on death row inmates, captives, and volunteers back then. After Tobirama, in order to regain the powerful strength of the Wood Release Bloodline Limit, under my instruction, Danzo and Orochimaru began to cooperate in researching Wood Release. Many members of the Senju clan, in order to obtain the power of Wood Release and recreate the glory of the Hokage God of the past, voluntarily participated in the experiments. Unfortunately, none of them succeeded. Later, I explicitly forbade Orochimaru from continuing the research, but I never expected him to go this far, secretly continuing the inhumane human experiments and even targeting ninjas within the village. He was eventually discovered by Danzo."

"Hmph, Woman's Benevolence," Danzo scoffed unceremoniously. "I should have been in charge of the entire experimental process from the start, instead of handing over full responsibility to Orochimaru. If I hadn't been keeping an eye on him, he would have probably turned a large number of Konoha ninjas into his test subjects, and you all would still be in the dark!"

Jiraiya slammed his fist against the wall with a dull thud.

"That bastard!" he growled through gritted teeth. "How dare he!"

His teacher's disciple, a former comrade, one of Konoha's Sannin...

Minato felt his temples throbbing.

One Uchiha Madara had already turned the world upside down, and now, even Orochimaru had betrayed the village?

What was happening to this world?

Why were all things developing in the worst possible direction?

"Did your people find this intelligence?" Minato looked at Danzo.

"That's right," Danzo's voice held a hint of undetectable pride. "My people discovered this evidence in one of his abandoned strongholds. Furthermore, we also found out that he has been in frequent contact with many ninjas of unknown identity recently, seemingly plotting something."

Minato's mind raced.

Was Orochimaru's betrayal an isolated incident, or... was it related to the Akatsuki?

He dared not think further.

If even Orochimaru joined the Akatsuki, the organization's strength would swell to an unimaginable level.

"Where is he now?" Minato's voice turned cold.

"According to the tip, one of his largest secret laboratories is deep within the Death Forest, south of the village," Danzo replied.

Minato's gaze sharpened. "Teacher, Lord Third, it seems we have to go ourselves."

Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly stood up, tapping his pipe in the ashtray. His aged face was filled with pain and resolve.

"This unfilial disciple... I will personally clean house."

Jiraiya also straightened his body, his fists clenching with a creaking sound.

"Count me in. I want to ask him myself what he's trying to do!"

Just as the three reached a consensus and prepared to set off immediately.

"Whoosh!"

Another Anbu ninja appeared in the center of the office, his voice urgent.

"Hokage-sama, something's wrong!"

"In the direction of the Death Forest, there was just a violent explosion!"

"What?!" Minato's heart leaped.

The Anbu ninja continued his report, "According to the preliminary report from the on-site investigation team, the center of the explosion was a secret research facility under Lord Orochimaru's name. The scene was engulfed in flames, and the Chakra reactions were extremely chaotic!"

Too late!

Orochimaru sensed his exposure and was destroying evidence to escape!

The atmosphere in the office instantly dropped to freezing point.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's face turned extremely grim. He suddenly turned his head, and for the first time, his cloudy old eyes shot out a scrutinizing glint, staring intently at the shadow in the corner.

"Danzo..."

His voice was hoarse and low, filled with suppressed rage.

"How... did you deliver Orochimaru's intelligence at this exact moment?"