Eve of the Third Shinobi War

In the forty-sixth year of Konoha, the autumn wind swept through, carrying no longer fallen leaves, but the ever-thickening stench of blood and gunpowder that hung over the entire shinobi world. Eleven-year-old Uchiha Kyohaku stood at the edge of the Forest of Death, his pale face expressionless. Only his two-tomoe Sharingan gazed deeply toward the scorched earth and dark clouds that seemed to stretch endlessly beyond the village.

The shinobi world, a massive powder keg, stood on the brink of explosion. Several years of localized frictions and conflicts had finally developed into large-scale war. For resources, interests, and even pure hatred, the great powers ruthlessly marched their iron hooves into the surrounding smaller nations. The Land of Rain, the Land of Grass, the Land of Hot Water... countless small countries wailed beneath the crushing advance of shinobi villages. Some were forced into submission and made to sign humiliating treaties; others suffered even more miserably, their towns destroyed, their shinobi villages wiped out, erased from the map entirely.

What followed was the collapse of order. Roaming bandits, wandering shinobi who had lost their employers, and missing-nin who had defected from every nation spread across the continent like a plague. They burned, killed, looted, and committed every evil imaginable, scattering chaos and death into every corner. Though Konoha Village still maintained an outward appearance of order, everyone could feel the tightly drawn string in the air. The number of S-rank and A-rank missions on the mission board had surged, most involving reconnaissance, interception, or sabotage in dangerous regions. The wounded being brought into the hospital were also arriving more often, with increasingly severe injuries.

Uchiha Kyohaku was in Orochimaru's laboratory, a place that seemed like the only twisted, tranquil point within the eye of the storm. Over the past year or so, after completely integrating the White Zetsu Cells, regaining his health, and acquiring formidable power, he had devoted all his energy to a frenzied absorption of knowledge.

Under Orochimaru's meticulous and unreserved instruction, his rate of growth had been terrifying. Whether it was the theoretical depth and practical application of ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu, or his hands-on ability with sealing techniques, forbidden medical techniques, and biological modification, he had reached an exceptionally high level. He could already independently design and complete fairly complex biological experiments, decipher and improve many ancient forbidden technique scrolls, and even engage Orochimaru in in-depth discussions about certain difficult problems concerning the soul.

His "shinobi talent" and "research talent" had achieved their most extreme, most warped blossoming within this forbidden laboratory. Orochimaru looked at him as though admiring a perfect work of art he had sculpted with his own hands—one that continued to evolve on its own, even beginning to exceed his expectations. The satisfaction and interest in his eyes grew deeper by the day.

Yet Kyohaku's mind remained utterly clear. He knew that being powerful in a laboratory and surviving on a battlefield were two different things. He possessed jōnin-level chakra, a healthy body, evolved Sharingan, an uncanny movement technique, and a vast store of knowledge... but he lacked the most crucial link—tempering through blood and fire.

Theory alone could only take him so far.

His "Completion Plan" required more resources, especially rare bloodline-limit samples and combat data. Those could only be acquired most quickly and directly on the cruelest battlefields.

It was time.

One day, after Orochimaru finished recording a set of data on the corrosiveness of Hashirama Cells, Kyohaku spoke calmly. His voice was especially clear in the laboratory thick with the smell of formalin.

"Sensei."

"Hmm?" Orochimaru did not turn around, remaining focused on the world beneath his microscope.

"I want to apply for front-line missions." Kyohaku's tone did not ripple in the slightest, as though he were stating an established fact.

Orochimaru paused. He slowly straightened and turned around, his golden snake-like pupils carrying a trace of amusement and scrutiny as he carefully examined Kyohaku. "Oh? Have you finally grown tired of the laboratory's peace? Or do you feel... that the knowledge you already possess can no longer satisfy you?"

"Knowledge needs practice to be tested and elevated," Kyohaku answered flawlessly. "And given the current situation, the village needs every bit of strength it can get. I believe I should go wherever I am needed most." He paused before adding, "Especially in medical support and special intelligence processing, I should be able to contribute."

He did not directly say that he wanted to go to the battlefield and kill. Instead, he chose reasons more fitting for his public identity as a "medical-nin" and his hidden specialty as a "researcher."

Orochimaru let out a low chuckle, as if he had seen through the true intent beneath Kyohaku's calm words. Yet he did not care. On the contrary, he seemed quite approving.

"Hehehe... Do you crave blood and real death? Very good. That is the resolve one should possess on the path of pursuing power." He licked his lips. "Staying in a greenhouse forever truly prevents one from growing. Your current strength is enough to handle most situations as well."

He walked to the desk, picked up a blank mission application form, and quickly began writing on it.

"I will recommend to the old man that you be assigned to my direct unit. We will soon head to the border of the Land of Rivers. That place... is quite an interesting 'testing ground.'" Dangerous excitement gleamed in Orochimaru's eyes. "The elites of every nation are there... more than enough for you to properly 'put into practice' what you have learned."

He handed the completed form to Kyohaku, a cold curve lifting at the corner of his mouth. "Go on, then. Let me see just what kind of brilliant radiance my disciple can bloom with in a true battlefield of carnage. Do not die too easily, Kyohaku. Your value... is far greater than that of cannon fodder."

"Yes, Sensei. I will not disappoint you." Kyohaku accepted the form and gave a slight bow.

The third step of his plan had finally begun.

He would leave the laboratory and step onto a real battlefield, temper himself amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood, acquire resources, and turn the ideal of "completion" into reality step by step.

The storm clouds of war had arrived, and Uchiha Kyohaku, this newly tempered blade, was finally about to leave its sheath, thirsting for blood.