Time drifted by, and before long, the blazing heat of summer arrived.
In the blink of an eye, it was already June 16th of Konoha Year 46, and the Third Great Ninja War had been dragging on for more than two years.
Over the past six months, Kumogakure's Fourth Raikage had ascended to power, quickly demonstrating remarkable diplomatic skill. No one knew what agreements he had reached with Kirigakure and Iwagakure, but for a time, Kumogakure ceased hostilities with both villages.
With pressure on its fronts easing, Kumogakure gradually shifted its focus toward Konoha.
Of course, Konoha itself wasn't engaged in any other major conflicts at the moment, so it simply rejected—or outright ignored—Kumogakure's repeated demands.
When diplomacy failed, Kumogakure naturally turned to force to achieve its goals—and to seek revenge.
Thus, in February of this year, the two sides clashed for the first time along the borders of the Land of Fire. After that, friction between them became increasingly frequent, and the scale of their engagements steadily grew.
Until last month, when Kumogakure completely annihilated two Konoha shinobi squads—and instead of retreating back to the Land of Lightning, they pushed directly into the Land of Fire.
They were no longer content with minor skirmishes along the border. This was a formal declaration of war against Konoha.
And just like that, war erupted between these two colossal powers.
Following the outbreak, Konoha's higher-ups proceeded according to their prearranged plans, dispatching the "Yellow Flash," Minato Namikaze, to the front lines against Kumogakure, leading fifteen shinobi divisions.
Minato… he was becoming more and more valued by Konoha's leadership.
If he were to achieve another great military accomplishment this time, then Orochimaru's position as a candidate for Hokage would likely…
Shimizu Uzuki glanced at Orochimaru, who remained fully absorbed in his work. Was he really not worried at all?
"Come to think of it, Uzuki-kun, after all this time, this is your first visit to my laboratory."
Before, I didn't dare come. I was afraid I'd end up dissected into a specimen.
But now…
"You said your research on the Hero Water has made new progress. Of course I had to come see it for myself."
Not only had there been progress, but the conditions were extremely demanding. According to Orochimaru, the latest product lost its effectiveness within minutes, becoming nothing more than an ordinary solution.
This was a newly refined reagent he had developed—one capable of temporarily increasing a shinobi's chakra reserves by a significant margin. Unlike the original Hero Water, it didn't carry the terrifying drawback of shortening one's lifespan. More than that, once the effect wore off, the user's chakra reserves would remain slightly higher than before.
The increase wasn't large—but it was permanent.
This conclusion had been confirmed through repeated experiments by Orochimaru.
Shimizu had only come personally to this gloomy underground laboratory after hearing that it could permanently enhance chakra without side effects.
"You place a great deal of importance on chakra reserves, Uzuki-kun."
"Likewise."
Both of them were unfortunate souls barred from mastering senjutsu, and in their pursuit of greater chakra, they were perfectly aligned.
"Heh… then how much Hero Water have you brought?" Orochimaru asked. He had already run out of experimental materials, which was why he had called Shimizu here in the first place.
"Here." Shimizu took out a small glass bottle. The amount inside, however, was limited. "This is all of it."
"A bit too little…" Orochimaru said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.
"I have no reason to hide any. Keeping this stuff is useless to me."
"In that case, I'm afraid we won't be able to produce much."
"Is there enough for the two of us?"
"…Barely enough for three people."
"That works." For Shimizu, as long as there was enough for himself and Orochimaru, there wouldn't be any awkward disputes over dividing it.
"Then please wait a moment, Uzuki-kun." Orochimaru took the Hero Water and immediately began working on his experiment.
With nothing else to do, Shimizu wandered around the underground laboratory.
He saw many indistinct "specimens"—various tissues and organs suspended in jars, along with countless bottles and containers.
"What's this?" Shimizu asked curiously.
In front of him was a palm-sized lump of flesh, faintly emitting fluctuations of chakra.
"That was cultivated from the cells of the Two-Tails' jinchūriki."
"…!"
Now that he thought about it, Shimizu did know that the village had placed the Two-Tails' jinchūriki—the young girl—under Orochimaru's supervision.
Orochimaru had clearly taken advantage of his position to carry out his own "research."
And considering how long he had coveted jinchūriki—combined with his history of abducting people for dissection and experimentation…
The thought made Shimizu uneasy.
"You didn't turn that little girl into a specimen, did you?" he asked cautiously.
Orochimaru let out a soft chuckle. "Are you worried about being implicated, Uzuki-kun?"
Because in your past life, you defected from Konoha for exactly that reason—too many human experiments.
Shimizu had no intention of surviving the incident surrounding the death of the Third Raikage, only to get dragged into something like the "disappearance of the Two-Tails' jinchūriki."
That would be the kind of situation no explanation could ever clear.
"Cut the nonsense. Just answer me directly."
"Heh… I merely extracted and cultured some of her cells."
"You didn't do anything else?"
"If you're still concerned, Uzuki-kun, you're welcome to check the room around the corner yourself."
Fine. I'll take a look.
Shimizu really did step out, intending to see the girl's condition with his own eyes.
But halfway there, a sudden realization struck him—if the Two-Tails' jinchūriki saw him here, wouldn't that expose his connection with Orochimaru?
His steps halted instantly.
"…Hello?"
A soft, childish voice came from a doorway around the corner.
Shimizu looked over and saw a brown-haired child, no more than two or three years old.
A new experimental subject of Orochimaru's?
"…Hello."
"Who are you?" the little boy asked, staring at him with open curiosity.
"I'm a shinobi," Shimizu replied, pointing to the Konoha forehead protector he wore.
"Wow, you're a shinobi? Then you must be really strong!"
Shimizu activated his sensory perception, carefully examining the child—but found nothing unusual at all.
The boy was completely ordinary.
"Compared to civilians, shinobi are naturally stronger."
"I want to become a shinobi too…"
"If you work hard, it's possible."
"But Lord Orochimaru said I don't have any talent."
"Talent isn't what determines whether you can become a shinobi."
"No… it's that I can't even mold chakra."
There were indeed civilians like this—people with absolutely no aptitude whatsoever. In Shimizu's view, that was simply terrible luck.
But someone like that… what was he doing in Orochimaru's laboratory?
Since when did Orochimaru tolerate useless people?
"Then how did you end up here?" Shimizu asked.
"Huh? I was born here. This is my home."
"…?"
Orochimaru's illegitimate child?
Shimizu immediately studied the boy's face more closely. There was a slight resemblance—but also not quite.
After all, the child was only two or three years old. His features were still soft and undeveloped, making it nearly impossible to draw any real conclusions.
...
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