Laboratory Core

The air deep within the cave was thick with the stench of chemicals and blood.

Like a silent shadow, Hyuga Xiao slipped along the rock wall into the laboratory's core area. His Byakugan glimmered faintly pale blue in the darkness, his vision piercing through layer after layer of obstacles—thirty meters ahead, Kakashi's team stood before an open experimental platform.

At the center of the platform stood a massive operating table piled with scrolls and experimental records. Dozens of cylindrical incubation tanks were embedded in the surrounding walls, their pale green nutrient fluid gleaming eerily beneath the dim blue lights. A human body floated in every tank—some intact, some mutilated, some no longer even recognizable as human.

Xiao slowed his breathing to the barest whisper.

Earlier, he had used a shadow clone on the main battlefield to fake being gravely wounded and collapsing, while his real body had infiltrated amid the chaos. Ko Hyuga, an elder of the Main House, believed all three Branch House members had become sacrificial bait. He did not know that one of the fish had already swum into deeper waters.

"Move quickly."

Kakashi's voice echoed through the empty laboratory, carrying a coldness Xiao had never heard from him before. The Elite Ninja who usually appeared so lazy now had eyes as sharp as blades.

"Destroy all experimental data. Deal with the test subjects in the incubation tanks as well."

"Yes!"

The three ANBU members swiftly scattered. One began splashing a specialized corrosive solution over the operating table, and the scrolls and papers dissolved into black smoke with a sizzling hiss. The other two headed for the incubation tanks, forming hand seals as they prepared to release Fire Style.

Hidden in the shadows of a corner, Xiao swept every incubation tank with his Byakugan.

Most of the test subjects had already lost all signs of life. Their skin was pale and bloated, their bodies pierced by tubes. Some bore Curse Mark patterns branded onto their foreheads or chests, while others had suffered grotesque physical mutations—extra arms, twisted bones, scales covering their skin.

This was Orochimaru's research.

Using living humans as materials, he had explored the limits of combining Curse Marks with the human body and had even... attempted to recreate the power of the God Tree.

Xiao pressed a hand to his chest. The "Active Curse Mark Seed" in his robes was faintly hot, as though it resonated with something deep within the laboratory. He forcibly suppressed the urge to investigate at once and continued observing.

Kakashi walked to the edge of the platform and pressed one hand against the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

White smoke burst forth, and eight ninja hounds appeared beside him. Pakkun twitched his nose. "Kakashi, this place smells awful. Blood, chemicals, and... the smell of death."

"Search the entire area. Make sure there are no surviving subjects or important items left behind."

"Understood."

The ninja hounds scattered. Kakashi, meanwhile, headed toward the innermost row of incubation tanks. The tanks there were taller than those elsewhere, and their nutrient fluid was darker, nearly ink-green.

Xiao's gaze followed him.

Then his pupils abruptly contracted.

Inside the third incubation tank at the very end floated a black-haired young man. His skin was pale, his eyes closed, and a breathing mask covered his face. But that face—

Shisui Uchiha.

The Uchiha genius who was said to have leapt into the Nanga River and killed himself, leaving not even a body behind.

Xiao's breathing faltered for an instant.

He immediately suppressed any fluctuations in his chakra, but Kakashi seemed to sense something. He suddenly turned toward the corner where Xiao was hiding.

"Who's there?"

There was no answer.

Kakashi's hand settled on his ninja tool pouch. The three ANBU members also stopped moving and quickly formed a triangular formation, warily scanning their surroundings.

Xiao held his breath.

His chakra had only recovered to seventy percent. Facing Kakashi's team head-on, he had almost no chance of winning. More importantly, he could not reveal that he was still alive—the Main House believed he was dead, and the Leaf Village higher-ups believed the Branch House bait had been wiped out. It was the perfect disguise.

But...

Shisui's chest was still rising and falling faintly inside the incubation tank.

He was alive.

"A false alarm?" Kakashi muttered, but his Sharingan had already activated, its three tomoe slowly rotating in the darkness.

Xiao's mind raced.

Kakashi intended to destroy every test subject, including Shisui. That meant the Leaf Village higher-ups knew Shisui was here, yet had chosen to silence him. Why? What secret did Shisui know? Or was his very existence evidence that needed to be erased?

"Captain, should we search?" an ANBU member asked.

Kakashi fell silent for two seconds.

"Continue the mission. Pakkun, take two dogs and check that side."

"Got it."

The ninja hounds headed toward Xiao.

Xiao's fingertips grew slightly cold. He had two choices now: first, retreat immediately and preserve his life along with the Curse Mark Seed in his robes; second, risk doing something.

He looked toward Shisui's incubation tank.

The system gave no notification. That meant hijacking Shisui's fate would not bring any direct reward—Shisui was male and did not meet the system's criteria for a "high-destiny female."

But...

A thought flashed through Xiao's mind.

Shisui Uchiha possessed Kotoamatsukami, the strongest genjutsu, capable of silently altering another person's will. If used properly, such an ability might become the key to resisting the Caged Bird Seal. More importantly, Shisui was Itachi Uchiha's most trusted friend, and Itachi... would become an important member of the Akatsuki in the future.

Benefits.

Risks.

The calculation was completed in an instant.

Xiao moved.

He did not rush toward Shisui. Instead, he lunged in the opposite direction—toward the control console at the very depths of the laboratory. There was a red emergency button there, marked in Hidden Sound script: "Nutrient Fluid Drainage System."

"Enemy attack!"

The ANBU reacted swiftly. Three shuriken tore through the air.

Xiao twisted in midair, and the force of his Gentle Fist palms knocked the shuriken off course. He tapped the rock wall with his toes, spinning like a top as his right hand struck the red button with perfect precision.

Bzz—

A piercing alarm rang throughout the laboratory.

The valves beneath every incubation tank opened at once, and the dark green nutrient fluid poured out like waterfalls, gathering into thick streams across the floor. The test subjects slid down with the liquid and slammed onto the metal flooring with dull thuds.

"Stop him!" Kakashi shouted.

But it was already too late.

Xiao changed direction the instant he pressed the button. He ignored Shisui and rushed toward the operating table—several experimental records had not yet been fully corroded. His left hand swept them into his robes, while his right grabbed several smoke bombs from his ninja tool pouch and smashed them violently onto the ground.

Dense white smoke exploded outward, filling the entire laboratory.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

Kakashi formed hand seals, and a violent gust scattered the smoke. But Xiao had already vanished—not exactly. He had appeared beside Shisui.

Shisui had fallen to the ground, his breathing mask knocked loose and his pale face smeared with sticky nutrient fluid. His eyes opened slightly, revealing unfocused dark-red pupils.

Xiao grabbed Shisui by the collar with one hand and formed seals with the other.

"Earth Style: Rock Concealment Jutsu!"

Their bodies rapidly sank into the ground. This was a B-rank Earth Style ninjutsu Xiao had received as a system reward, allowing short-distance travel through rock and soil. He had originally intended to use it to escape, but now it had become a means of saving someone.

"Pursue them!" Kakashi's voice carried anger for the first time.

But Xiao had already brought Shisui deep into the rock layer. His Byakugan pierced through the earth, allowing him to see Kakashi's team rapidly forming seals above as they attempted to counter with Earth Style. He bit his tongue, forcibly driving his chakra as he rushed deeper into the laboratory—toward the direction that made the Curse Mark Seed resonate.

Ten meters.

Twenty meters.

Fifty meters.

Shisui suddenly began coughing in his arms, nutrient fluid spilling from his mouth and nose. His eyes opened completely. The legendary Mangekyō Sharingan was dim and lifeless, but a trace of awareness still lingered deep within his pupils.

"Who... are you?" Shisui's voice was hoarse as a broken bellows.

"The one saving you," Xiao answered briefly. "Don't talk. Save your strength."

"Why...?"

"Because you're useful."

Xiao's answer was cold and direct. He had no time to weave lies, nor any need to. Shisui was intelligent, and intelligent people understood the balance of advantages and disadvantages—being silenced by the Leaf Village or being saved by a stranger, which offered a better chance at survival was obvious.

Light appeared ahead.

Xiao burst out of the rock layer and landed in a narrow passageway. This place was already far from the laboratory's core. The walls were covered in glowing moss, and the air was damp and cold. He set Shisui down and quickly turned to form hand seals.

"Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!"

A heavy stone wall rose from the ground and sealed off the path behind them. It would not hold Kakashi for long, but it could buy them some time.

Xiao panted as he leaned back against the wall.

The Curse Mark Seed in his robes was scorching hot. He took it out and found fine patterns emerging across the surface of the dark-red seed, resonating intensely with something deep within the passage.

But what caught his attention even more was—

The system panel suddenly appeared.

[Special Fate Node intervention detected]

[Target: Shisui Uchiha (Original fate: Suicide after having his eye taken by Shimura Danzō)]

[Current fate status: Saved by host from Leaf Village silencing operation]

[Fate interference level: 47%]

[Warning: Target is male and does not meet the system's standard reward criteria]

[Hidden mechanism triggered: Fate chain reaction]

[Analyzing...]

[Analysis complete]

[Because the host intervened in Shisui Uchiha's fate line, the future fate trajectories of the following high-destiny females have been indirectly affected: Izumi Uchiha (Shisui's cousin, original fate: Dies during the Nine-Tails attack), Kurenai Yuhi (original fate: Husband Asuma Sarutobi dies in battle), Tsunade (original fate: Both younger brother and lover die in battle)...]

[Calculating chain effects...]

[Projected cumulative Destiny Points increase: 300%]

[Notice: Saving key male characters may trigger broader ripples of fate. Host, carefully evaluate the risks and rewards.]

Xiao stared at the panel, and the corner of his mouth slowly curved upward.

So that was it.

The system's so-called "hijacking high-destiny females" was, in essence, changing fate lines. And some male characters were crossroads where multiple female fate lines converged. Saving them was like throwing a massive boulder into the web of fate, sending ripples through many more lives.

Shisui was precisely such a key node.

He was Itachi Uchiha's closest friend, Izumi Uchiha's cousin, and a victim of the Leaf Village higher-ups' conspiracy. His life and death affected at least three important female fate lines.

"Interesting..." Xiao murmured.

At that moment, Shisui coughed again. He struggled into a sitting position and leaned against the wall, his dim Mangekyō Sharingan fixed on Xiao.

"You're... from the Hyuga Clan." Shisui's voice remained hoarse, but it was much clearer now. "The Byakugan... the Branch House's Caged Bird Seal."

"Not bad powers of observation." Xiao did not deny it.

"Why did you save me? You should know that taking me with you will make you a rogue ninja of the Leaf Village."

"The Leaf Village?" Xiao laughed, his smile filled with undisguised mockery. "A village that uses its own geniuses for human experimentation and silences them once they're no longer useful deserves to call itself the 'Leaf Village'?"

Shisui fell silent.

His fingers trembled slightly, not from fear but from anger—anger at his own naïve faith in the higher-ups, anger at the fate awaiting the Uchiha Clan, anger at this twisted Shinobi World system.

"What do you want from me?" Shisui asked. "Kotoamatsukami? The secrets of the Sharingan? Or Uchiha intelligence?"

"Everything." Xiao rose to his feet and walked before Shisui, looking down at him. "But most importantly, I need an ally. An ally like me, betrayed by this village, oppressed by this system, and willing to tear it all apart."

"What makes you think I'll help you?"

"Because you have no choice."

Xiao crouched down, meeting Shisui's gaze at eye level.

"The Uchiha Clan is about to be exterminated. Danzo and the Third Hokage have already decided on that plan. Your closest friend, Itachi Uchiha, will be forced to carry it out. And you were supposed to have 'committed suicide' months ago, yet your body ended up in one of Orochimaru's experimental tanks—what that means should be very clear to you."

Shisui's breathing quickened.

"The higher-ups never intended to let the Uchiha live. You tried to use Kotoamatsukami to change your clansmen's minds and prevent civil war, but Danzo took one of your eyes. You jumped into the Nanga River and faked your death, only to be fished out by Orochimaru's people and turned into experimental material. Now that the Leaf Village has discovered you're alive, its first reaction is to silence you."

Every word Xiao spoke stabbed into Shisui's heart like a knife.

"Shisui, you've already been abandoned by the village twice. The first time was when your eye was taken. The second was this silencing attempt. Do you want to be abandoned a third time?"

A long silence followed.

The only sounds in the passage were their suppressed breathing and the faint explosions of Earth Style from afar—Kakashi's team was breaking through the Earth-Style Wall.

At last, Shisui raised his head.

His Mangekyō Sharingan remained dim, yet something rekindled deep within it. It was not hope, but something colder and more resolute.

"What do you intend to do?" he asked.

"First, overthrow the Hyuga Main House and take control of the clan. Then purge the Leaf Village higher-ups and reshape the village. Finally..." Xiao looked deeper into the passage, where the Curse Mark Seed's resonance was growing stronger and stronger, "conquer this Shinobi World and shatter every predetermined fate."

"Arrogant."

"But it's the only path." Xiao extended his hand. "Either die in silence, or be reborn through resistance. Shisui, which do you choose?"

Shisui looked at that hand.

It was still smeared with sticky nutrient fluid, and its knuckles were slightly red from the battle just now. Yet it was steady—steady as a rock.

He thought of the Uchiha Clan's pride, of the pain in Itachi's eyes, of Danzo's indifferent face when he took his eye.

Then he clasped that hand.

"I'll help you," Shisui said. "But I have one condition—You cannot kill Itachi Uchiha. He was forced into it."

"Fine." Xiao pulled him to his feet. "But only as long as he doesn't stand in my way."

"Deal."

Their hands remained clasped, one cold and one burning hot.

At that moment, a rumble suddenly sounded from deep within the passage.

It was not Kakashi breaking through the Earth-Style Wall, but something farther below—the rock layers were collapsing, and something enormous was awakening. The Curse Mark Seed in Xiao's robes shook violently, its patterns shining with a blood-red light.

Xiao looked deeper with his Byakugan.

His vision pierced through layer after layer of rock walls, and he saw it—

A massive nest entwined with flesh, blood, and tree roots. At the center of the nest, a dark-red fruit pulsed slowly, each beat releasing a terrifying wave of chakra.

That was...

"A prototype... God Tree Fruit?" Xiao murmured.

The system panel refreshed frantically.

[An over-specification energy source detected]

[Energy attribute: Diluted God Tree Origin]

[Association: ultimate product of Orochimaru's Cursed Seal experiment]

[Warning: this energy source is in an unstable state. Contact may cause unpredictable mutations]

[Recommendation: evacuate immediately]

Xiao did not move.

He looked at the pulsating fruit, then at the Curse Mark seed in his hand, and finally at the weakened Shisui beside him.

Risk.

Reward.

Then he made his decision.

"Shisui, can you still fight?"

"My Sharingan can still be used once... twice at most." Shisui wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "What are you planning to do?"

"Before that fruit ripens, I'm going to swallow it."

Xiao's voice was as calm as if he were discussing what to eat for dinner.

"If Orochimaru dared to study it and Leaf Village dared to destroy it, then its value must far exceed anything we can imagine. Rather than let it fall into someone else's hands, I'll take it."

He strode deeper into the passage.

"Follow me. Or stay here and wait to die."

Shisui stared at his back and suddenly smiled.

Madman.

But perhaps only madmen could break the cage in this world.

Dragging his weakened body along, he followed.

Behind them, the Earth-Style Wall was finally blasted apart. Kakashi led the ANBU into the passage, his Sharingan sweeping the surroundings, but all he saw were empty rock walls and the terrifying rumble echoing from deeper within.

"Captain, should we pursue?" an ANBU asked.

Kakashi stared into the darkness, the three tomoe in his Sharingan slowly turning.

After a long while, he shook his head.

"The mission has changed. The laboratory's core data has been destroyed. The test subjects... including Shisui Uchiha, are confirmed dead. Withdraw."

"But—"

"Execute the order."

Kakashi turned and headed back the way they had come.

His fingers trembled slightly.

In that instant, his Sharingan had caught the chakra fluctuations deep within the passage—chakra no human should possess. Violent, chaotic, filled with the desire for destruction, like... the Tailed Beasts.

No, older and more primal than the Tailed Beasts.

"Hyuga Xiao..." Kakashi murmured the name.

That Branch House boy, who should have died on the front lines, was not only alive but had taken Shisui Uchiha with him. Now he was heading toward the deepest, most dangerous thing in Orochimaru's Laboratory.

Just what kind of monster had Leaf Village unleashed?

Kakashi did not know the answer.

But he had a premonition—

The Shinobi World was about to change.