Under the same night sky, in the deepest darkness of Konoha.
Root's base was as cold and deathly silent as ever. The smell of disinfectant in the air seemed capable of seeping into a person's bones.
Danzo sat at the head of the room, half his face hidden in shadow, leaving only that utterly impassive eye exposed. His fingers tapped unconsciously against the armrest, making soft tap, tap, tap sounds-the only sound in the deathly silence.
Orochimaru stood before him, wearing his trademark inscrutable smile.
"Orochimaru," Danzo said, his voice dry and cold, like two stones grinding together, "you sent Fang to the Land of Rain. Why?"
Danzo had originally had other uses for the pawn that was Hatake Sakumo. There was so much dirty work a "dead" Kage Level powerhouse could do in secret. Sending him to that quagmire of a country, perpetually ravaged by war, was a waste in Danzo's eyes.
A faint gleam flashed through Orochimaru's golden, serpentine eyes. He had long expected Danzo to ask.
He gave a hoarse chuckle that sounded especially chilling in the spacious basement. "Heh heh... Lord Danzo, you see only the Land of Rain's poverty and chaos, not what lies behind them: the future course of the entire Shinobi World."
He made no mention of Senju Chen. Instead, he repackaged and presented what the boy had said that night in his own words.
"The Second Shinobi World War may appear to be over, but the accumulated conflicts between the great nations are far from being resolved. Peace is merely a fleeting illusion." Orochimaru paced slowly, the dim light stretching his shadow into something ghostlike. "And the Land of Rain lies right between the three great nations of Fire, Wind, and Earth. Its geographical position dictates that it will inevitably become the spark of the next war, or... the place where it ends."
"I sent Fang there not to fight, but to 'see.'" Orochimaru's tone grew laden with meaning. "To see clearly the stance of Amegakure's leader, Hanzo of the Salamander, the man hailed as a Demigod; to see what other restless forces lurk within that country. Only by placing a piece in advance can we seize the initiative when the next game begins."
Danzo's fingers stopped tapping against the armrest.
His exposed eye stared fixedly at Orochimaru, a barely perceptible trace of shock and... admiration flashing within it.
As Root's leader, Danzo's perspective was largely confined to the tactical level of assassination, intelligence, and subversion. What Orochimaru displayed now, however, was a grand strategic vision that transcended the thinking of ordinary shinobi.
He had actually already glimpsed the shadow of the Third Shinobi World War and begun laying plans for it!
As expected of that old fool the Third's personal disciple. As expected of Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin!
For the first time, Danzo felt a sense of kinship with Orochimaru. Hiruzen Sarutobi was too upright, too naive, whereas the man before him understood the laws of survival in darkness just as he did, and possessed an even more far-reaching vision.
(This man... if I become Hokage someday and leave Root in his hands, perhaps... he could carry out my will even better...)
The thought flashed through Danzo's mind. Suppressing his thoughts, he changed the subject and asked, "How is the research on the Hashirama Cells progressing?"
This was what concerned him most.
"Very smoothly." Orochimaru extended his tongue and licked his lips, a fervor that only he understood surfacing in his golden pupils. "The purity of the life energy in the 'material' obtained this time far exceeds expectations. I have already successfully carried out its preliminary activation in a culture medium. I believe a breakthrough will come very soon."
Of course, he would not tell Danzo that what he had obtained was Senju Chen's near-perfect bloodline of the First, rather than those "dead things" scraped from the First's remains, their vitality long since greatly diminished.
"Very good." Danzo nodded in satisfaction. "I need to see results. The sooner, the better."
"Of course." Orochimaru bowed slightly, but deep within his eyes lay cold mockery.
Inside a bedroom in the Senju residence.
It was late at night, and all was quiet. The smell of rubber and sweat filled the air.
Senju Chen sat cross-legged in the middle of his bed, his little face taut, fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead and sliding down his cheeks. In his small palm, he held the last water-filled balloon of the night.
Chakra gathered in his palm, spinning, then spinning again!
Failure after failure had exhausted his already limited stamina, while mental fatigue surged over him like a tide, nearly swallowing him whole.
Just as his consciousness was about to drift, Orochimaru's golden, serpentine eyes, glittering with fervor, flashed through his mind, followed by Danzo's eye, hidden in shadow, believing it saw through everything.
An inexplicable strength welled up from deep within him.
"Just... break!"
Pop!
There was an extremely faint, muffled sound, like a ripe fruit being punctured by a fingertip.
It was quiet, yet it exploded like thunder beside Senju Chen's ears!
His eyes snapped open, and he stared fixedly at his palm.
An irregular hole had appeared in the center of the balloon that had tormented him for several nights. Cool water soaked his palm, extinguishing all his fatigue and irritation as well.
It worked!
He had broken through the first stage of the Rasengan!
An immense rush of joy and accomplishment surged into Senju Chen's head. He nearly threw back his head and howled to vent his excitement.
He opened his palm, carefully sensing the lingering traces of wild, chaotic chakra that had yet to dissipate completely. The corners of his mouth rose uncontrollably.
Just then, an ill-timed "Grrr..." came from his stomach.
Senju Chen's smile stiffened, and he rubbed his empty belly.
All right, a five-year-old body really did wear out too easily. Before celebrating, he needed to fill his stomach.
He hopped off the bed and slipped quietly into the kitchen. Taking a packet of soldier pills from a cupboard, he quickly stuffed two into his mouth like a child sneaking candy, chewing indistinctly.
"Big Brother Minato, that answer of yours, 'I want it all,' really is noble and bright."
But Minato's ending had shown him just how difficult it was to achieve that "I want it all."
He leaned against the cold wall, gazing at the moonlight outside the window.
Perhaps only by truly becoming strong enough to stand above everyone and every rule could he really achieve 'I want it all'!
"So, I won't beg."
Senju Chen murmured softly and swallowed the last of the soldier pills, their dry texture making him frown.
"I'll simply create that world where 'I want it all' with my own hands."
His voice was very quiet, yet those eyes that should have been clear churned with ambition and desire utterly at odds with his age.
The Rasengan was only the beginning.