Orochimaru's Shadow

A small white snake vanished into the depths of the old tunnel.

It moved fast, gliding along the damp stone wall without a sound. If Kakashi's Sharingan had not caught that flash of white, they might have thought the dark figure had escaped entirely.

Jiraiya's expression darkened.

"Orochimaru."

The name put both Kumogakure ninja on alert.

A rogue ninja and one of the Sannin. One of Konoha's most dangerous fugitives.

If he was tied to the black thread, things had just become even more complicated.

Naruto stood at the edge of the collapsed training ground, looking at the tunnel entrance.

The tunnel was old. Marks from Konoha's earliest construction projects lined its stone walls. It was probably an abandoned escape route. Three traces lingered inside it now.

Black corruption.

The blood of the man in the white medical coat.

And the cold, rank scent of a white snake.

Jiraiya crouched beside the entrance and touched the slime the snake had left behind.

"It's definitely one of Orochimaru's summoned snakes."

Kakashi asked, "Was he here himself?"

"Not necessarily." Jiraiya shook his head. "He can use snakes to send messages from a distance. It might also have been watching us."

Naruto asked, "What does he have to do with the Yakushi orphanage?"

Jiraiya fell silent for a moment.

"Yakushi Nonō used to be an intelligence agent for Root. Later, she ran the orphanage. Orochimaru and Danzo both had dealings with her network. There was a child close to her who was later taken by Root."

Kakashi supplied the name. "Kabuto Yakushi."

Naruto committed the name to memory.

Kabuto Yakushi.

The orphanage. Medicine. Root. Orochimaru.

The pieces connected.

Blood still flowed from the man in the white medical coat's chest. Jiraiya used a seal and medicine to keep him alive for the moment. The man's consciousness had faded, and he could only force out a few broken words now and then.

"Orphanage... director... experiments... snake..."

Naruto crouched down.

"Where's Kabuto Yakushi?"

The man's eyes shifted.

"He... isn't in the village..."

"Who's helping him inside the village?"

The man's lips trembled.

"Director's office... old roster..."

With those words, he lost consciousness completely.

Jiraiya examined him. "He'll live, but he needs to get to the hospital immediately. Don't let him come into contact with anyone on the hospital staff."

Naruto looked at the two Kumogakure ninja.

"Take him back to the Foreign Guesthouse. Have Kumogakure keep an eye on him too."

Both men looked displeased.

One of them said coldly, "You want us to guard a Konoha criminal?"

Naruto met his gaze.

"He killed your people."

The Kumogakure ninja had no answer.

The other man put a hand on his companion's shoulder. "We'll take him," he said quietly.

They had realized that keeping the prisoner alive would benefit Kumogakure too.

If they could prove a third party had killed the Kumogakure ninja, the direction of their negotiations would change when the Raikage arrived.

Kakashi arranged for the training ground to be sealed off. Jiraiya placed a toad marker at the tunnel entrance in case the white snake returned.

Naruto did not chase the snake.

The tunnel was plainly bait.

If Orochimaru really was watching from behind the scenes, he would not expose himself so easily.

The old roster in the director's office mattered more right now.

By the time they returned to the hospital, the director's office had been sealed.

The director was still unconscious in an isolation ward. There was no Black Ring Mark on the director's body; genjutsu and drugs had been used to control them.

Kakashi searched the hidden cabinets in the office.

There was nothing unusual in the ordinary medical records.

Then Naruto swept the corner with Nine-Tails Chakra and found a hair-thin sealing lock behind the bookshelf.

A surge of golden sealing script pressed against it, and the hidden compartment opened.

Inside lay an old roster.

The cover read:

"External Medical Support Staff, Konoha Orphanage."

The roster held many names. Most of the people listed had resigned, died, or been transferred to other departments.

Naruto turned to the middle and saw a familiar mark.

The Black Ring Mark.

Three names were written beside it.

Kinoshita Shinji.

Kabuto Yakushi.

Yamanaka Fūma.

Kakashi's expression shifted when he saw the name Yamanaka.

"The Yamanaka Clan?"

Jiraiya frowned. "Not a Main Family name. He could be from a branch family or have been adopted."

Naruto kept reading.

Yamanaka Fūma had been transferred to the Intelligence Analysis Team six years ago. He had retired three years ago due to mental injury and was currently registered as a low-ranking clerk at the Konoha Archives.

The archives.

Naruto looked up.

"What can he access?"

Kakashi's face tightened.

"Almost every request to consult the old records passes through him."

"That explains why so many records were moved ahead of time," Jiraiya said at once.

Kinoshita Shinji was in the hospital. Yamanaka Fūma was in the archives. The orphanage led to Kabuto Yakushi. Orochimaru had left behind a white snake, while the black corruption lurked deeper still.

These were not isolated incidents.

They were a web.

The Third Hokage arrived after receiving word. His face turned grim as he listened.

"Where is Yamanaka Fūma now?"

ANBU reported back quickly.

"No one's in the archives' guardroom. There's a request slip on the desk, filed half an hour ago."

"What did he request?"

The ANBU operative clenched his teeth.

"Every original record from the night Naruto was born."

"And... the Fourth Hokage's unpublished Sealing Jutsu manuscripts."

Naruto's gaze turned cold.

One copy of Minato's Flying Thunder God notes was missing. The original of Kushina's Sealing Notes was missing. Now the Fourth Hokage's unpublished manuscripts had been requested too.

Whoever was behind this did not merely want to exploit the rift between Naruto and Konoha.

They were gathering the power Minato and Kushina had left behind.

Jiraiya was furious.

"Orochimaru is definitely involved."

Naruto looked at him.

"You know him."

Jiraiya's voice was grave. "Orochimaru wouldn't do all this just to turn you against Konoha. He wants jutsu, bodies, and forbidden knowledge. If he knows you have complete control of the Nine-Tails, he'll certainly be interested in your body."

Inside the Sealing Space, the Nine-Tails sneered.

Let him come.

Naruto closed the roster.

"The archives first."

The Third Hokage gave an immediate order. "ANBU, seal every exit from the archives."

Kakashi added, "Yamanaka Fūma may know secret mind techniques. Don't confront him alone."

They hurried to the archives.

The Konoha Archives stood behind the Hokage Building. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary stone building, but it had three underground floors. The first held civil, financial, and mission records. The second held records on jutsu, wartime operations, and bloodlines. Only the Hokage and authorized personnel could enter the third.

By the time they arrived, ANBU surrounded the building.

The front door was intact.

The barrier had not been breached.

All the guards were unconscious, with no wounds on their faces.

Yamanaka Fūma was gone.

An ANBU operative opened the guardroom.

A cup of tea still steaming sat on the desk.

Beside it lay a sheet of paper.

A white snake had been drawn on it.

The snake was coiled around a black ring.

A sentence was written below:

"Naruto-kun, if you want your parents' manuscripts back, come to the Depths of the Forest of Death."

The only signature was a snake-shaped symbol.

Jiraiya's fists clenched so hard his knuckles cracked.

"Orochimaru."