The Hokage's Office!
"Sasuke obtained Tailed Beast chakra… and then defeated Orochimaru?!"
"Menma knows the Eight Gates? He can even open the fourth gate?!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the image in the crystal ball, his face ashen.
Doubt, fear, and a heavy wave of regret filled his heart.
As a master of ninjutsu, even without hearing the conversation, he could identify the techniques in the vision based on his experience. But he never expected Menma to possess the Eight Gates.
Could the stolen Forbidden Scroll have contained that technique? Three months had passed, but Hiruzen clearly remembered the scroll prepared for Naruto contained four specific ninjutsu—not taijutsu!
And even if he had misremembered, the Eight Gates were indeed a part of Konoha's history. But to open four gates in just three months? That wasn't just genius. That was monstrous. Inhuman.
Or, Hiruzen thought, his eyes narrowing, it meant Menma's personality had existed since Naruto's childhood.
He could emerge anytime without Naruto knowing. He had been hiding, training in secret, mastering ninjutsu and the Nine-Tails' chakra all along.
After all, Hiruzen hadn't been constantly observing Naruto with the Telescope Technique. The ANBU surveillance was primarily for protection, with inevitable blind spots. Menma could have used that time to train. He could have learned from Might Guy, who often trained his taijutsu around the village.
That explained the powerful taijutsu, the Nine-Tails chakra, and the Eight Gates.
The more the Third Hokage thought about it, the more it made sense—except for one thing. Why was Naruto's taijutsu so poor if they shared the same body?
It was the only explanation he could find, however flawed.
"If I'd known this would happen, I never should have been so greedy three months ago," he muttered. "I should have just sent Yamanaka Inoichi to lead the sealing team and cooperate with Naruto."
Now, Menma had fully gained Naruto's trust and dug his heels in.
Hiruzen looked at the crystal ball, filled with regret. He wished he could slap Danzo Shimura across the face. If Danzo hadn't insisted on bringing him to headquarters, acting so nonchalant, Hiruzen wouldn't have been so careless.
Now, even if he wanted to seal Menma, Naruto probably wouldn't cooperate.
(Danzo, hiding in a base somewhere, sneezed inexplicably, feeling a sudden weight on his back.)
"I can only take this one step at a time," Hiruzen sighed.
If all else failed, he'd have to trick Naruto into cooperating. Or maybe he could maneuver Menma into massacring the village, forcing Naruto to agree to the sealing. Of course, if Menma remained restrained and obedient later, the Third wouldn't have to go that far.
Turning his attention to Sasuke, Hiruzen frowned. A barely perceptible glint of greed appeared in his eyes. If he had that Tailed Beast chakra, he wouldn't have to worry about Orochimaru anymore. His body might even recover to its peak.
Unfortunately, he had been focused on Naruto and hadn't seen what happened between Sasuke and Orochimaru.
Shaking his head, Hiruzen suppressed his greed and tapped the table.
"Who gave Sasuke this Tailed Beast chakra? What's the mechanism?"
Aside from the legendary Gold and Silver Brothers, he had never heard of anyone other than a Jinchuriki being able to use Tailed Beast chakra.
Just as he stared blankly at the crystal ball, Yamato emerged from the Forest of Death and respectfully entered.
"Hokage-sama."
Hiruzen nodded, noticing the remains of Orochimaru Yamato had brought.
"I never thought he'd ultimately turn himself into something neither human nor ghost," he sighed. "I won't ask about Naruto's information. Tell me about Sasuke and that Tailed Beast chakra."
"Yes." Yamato quickly recounted the information he had gathered, along with what Anko Mitarashi obtained from Sakura Haruno.
"A masked figure gave it to him? Summoned by a ninja from the Four-Star Village?" Hiruzen frowned, reaching into a drawer for documents on the Four-Star Village.
"They joined the Land of Fire's alliance by offering priority access to Four Star Seeds with a yield of over a thousand pounds per acre, and sent people to participate in the exam."
"Furthermore, they recruited several S-rank criminals, protecting them by using the Four Star Seeds as leverage."
"Several bounty hunters, a large number of Hidden Mist pursuit troops, and elite spies have disappeared from the Four-Star Village. It's suspected a Kage-level ninja is among them."
Hiruzen's brow furrowed. "A newly established ninja village is surprisingly murky. This is troublesome."
A village suspected of housing a Kage-level powerhouse was enough to secure a place in the ninja world. And they had high-yield Four Star Seeds—a trump card. The Daimyo of the Land of Fire certainly wouldn't send troops to the Land of Waves. Konoha would have to handle this themselves.
But a suspected Kage-level powerhouse was undeniable. It was likely a powerful Jinchuriki living in exile, possessing the ability to share Tailed Beast chakra with others. Hiruzen's current forces were no match for that.
The good news was that the Four-Star Village hadn't shown hostility yet. Their target seemed to be only Sasuke. Plus, among the examinees were a member of the Yuki clan and one from the Uzumaki clan. Their goal was likely to collect bloodline limits.
"In that case…" Hiruzen looked up at Yamato. "Tenzo, pass what happened to Sasuke to Danzo. Have him deliver this information to the right people."
He really couldn't afford to provoke the Four-Star Village right now. However, he could send Itachi, who was infiltrating, to investigate. After all, Itachi had traded the extermination of his clan to protect Sasuke.
Outwardly, Itachi appeared to be a good person, but secretly, he had Danzo handle the dirty work. Although Itachi hadn't sent any news back, Hiruzen believed Danzo had a way to pass on the message. With Itachi's strength, he could throw the Four-Star Village into chaos, allowing Hiruzen to slip spies in during the confusion.
"I understand," Yamato nodded. He vanished in a flash.
---
The rest area of the Sound Village (Otogakure).
Orochimaru, his lower half a snake's body, emerged from the mud.
"Lord Orochimaru! What happened to you?!"
The Sound Four, disguised as ordinary ninjas, quickly surrounded him.
"I'm fine." Orochimaru breathed a sigh of relief. Using the last of his chakra, he shed his White Snake form. A body with a snake's lower half slid out of his gaping mouth.
He turned to the four. "Kidomaru, go to Sunagakure. Tell Rasa the plan is moving forward. If he doesn't arrive before the second exam, the deal is off."
"Tayuya, return to Sound Village and retrieve Kimimaro."
"Sakon, keep an eye on the Hidden Sand ninja. Bring them back as soon as they set off."
"Jirobo, infiltrate the exam hall and deliver this message to Kabuto Yakushi."
Although his primary objective—luring Sasuke—hadn't been entirely successful, Orochimaru couldn't let Naruto and Sasuke, whose strength exceeded expectations, ruin his secondary objective: the Konoha Crush. He had no choice but to risk moving the plan forward while the two were taking their exams.