NIGHT: YAMANAKA CLAN
Inside the deepest underground level of the Yamanaka Estate was the Mind Examination Chamber.
It was a cold, quiet room made of thick gray stone walls. In the center of the dark room stood a heavy wooden chair with thick leather straps for the arms and legs. Hanging directly above the chair was a big, metal helmet connected to long tubes that went up into the stone ceiling.
Dark sealing symbols were drawn all over the cold floor. Small blue candles flickered on the walls, casting long, scary shadows across the room.
Outside in the wooden hallways of the estate, loud footsteps were rushing everywhere. People were running back and forth, shouting in complete panic.
Suddenly, a furious voice boomed through the building, echoing off the stone walls!
"YOU FOOLS!" the voice roared in pure anger. "Because of you all, what face am I going to show to the Council and the other clan members now?!"
Through the heavy smoke of the flickering
candles, Yamanaka Inoichi stomped out into the hallway, his face completely red with fury! His hands were clenched into tight fists at his sides as he glared at the clan members trembling before him.
"How could a single girl just vanish into thin air from a locked underground room?!" Inoichi shouted, his voice cracking from stress. "ANSWER ME!"
Just then, another Yamanaka clan member came running down the corridor, breathing heavily with sweat dripping down his forehead!
"I-Inoichi-sama!" the man gasped frantically, bowing his head in total panic. "We... we found them! We found the clan members who were inside the room with the girl an hour ago!"
Inoichi's eyes widened, a sharp spark of hope and anger flashing in his gaze.
"Yes! Finally!" Inoichi snapped, waving his hand frantically. "Where are they?! Bring them to me right now! And I want to meet the guards who were posted outside the compound gates as well!!"
Within minutes, the two groups of clan members were brought straight before Inoichi in the main hallway.
On the left stood the examination members who had been inside the room, drenched in cold sweat and shaking like leaves.
On the right stood the outer gate guards, looking totally calm yet completely confused by all the shouting.
"Alright, speak!" Inoichi demanded, glaring back and forth between them. "Who allowed the girl to leave?!"
"I-Inoichi-sama, nobody allowed her to leave!" the lead examination member squeaked out, waving his hands frantically in pure panic. "We were right beside the chair the whole time! We turned around for two seconds, and she was just... GONE! It's like since yesterday she was just a clone who disappeared! We swear on our lives, we never opened those doors for anyone!!"
"What kind of ridiculous lie is that?!" the outer gate guard blurted out, frowning in total confusion. "Inoichi-sama, don't listen to them! An hour ago, these exact members walked the girl right out through the main gates!"
"WHAT?!" the examination member shrieked, his eyes practically popping out of his socket. "WE DID NOT!!"
"Yes, you did!" the gate guard insisted back, nodding firmly. "You looked me right in the eye and said, 'Official clan orders, open the gates and let her pass.' So I opened them! You even escorted her halfway down the street yourselves!"
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" the examination member screamed, pulling at his own hair in complete despair. "WE NEVER LEFT THE UNDERGROUND ROOM!! WE WOULD NEVER DO THAT!!"
Inoichi looked from the gate guard—who was utterly convinced he saw them—to the terrified examination members who were crying in frustration.
His temple throbbed with a massive, painful headache.
'They're contradicting each other completely...' Inoichi thought, his fists shaking violently as his mind spiraled into absolute chaos. 'The gate guards claim the examiners walked her out... but the examiners swear they never moved! Someone inside this clan is lying... there is a massive inner conspiracy happening right under my nose!!'
"ENOUGH!" Inoichi bellowed, his voice shaking the wooden rafters. "Lock down the entire compound! NO ONE enters or leaves until I find out who the traitor is!!"
Before the panicked argument could break out again, a Yamanaka messenger came rushing down the hallway.
"I-Inoichi-sama—!" the messenger began, panting for air.
But before the poor messenger could even finish his sentence, Inoichi turned around, pointing a furious finger straight at the sobbing lead examiner!
"You!" Inoichi shouted, his voice echoing off the walls. "Tell me right now—who appointed this complete fool as the lead examination member in the first place?!"
The lead examiner instantly fell to his knees, clutching Inoichi's robes and begging in tears. "Inoichi-sama, please! Have mercy! I swear I didn't do anything wrong! I'm innocent! I didn't let her go!"
The messenger blinked, looking nervously between the weeping examiner and his furious clan head.
"Um... sir..." the messenger stammered, sweating nervously. "You... you were the one who appointed him... two years ago..."
Inoichi froze for a split second. He cleared his throat, ignored the comment completely, and stepped right over the begging examiner as he walked past.
"I don't believe it—" Inoichi muttered coldly, keeping his eyes straight ahead.
The messenger quickly jogged alongside him, trying to keep up with Inoichi's fast strides.
"Inoichi-sama, wait!" the messenger whispered urgently. "Nara Shikaku-sama has just arrived at the front gates! He heard the news about the girl's escape!"
Inoichi slammed his feet to a sudden halt. He slowly turned his head toward the messenger, his eyes wide in total horror and disbelief.
"Unbelievable..." Inoichi gasped, placing a hand on his forehead as a massive headache kicked in. "So the news has already spread outside?! The Yamanaka Clan is a complete goner now..."
He let out a heavy, dramatic sigh, before his face turned stone-cold with pure determination.
"Listen to me—" Inoichi ordered the messenger, pointing back toward the room. "Take that lead examiner and strap him back into the chair. Make him ready for a full mind reading. I am going to read his memories personally!"
Inoichi walked quickly into the main reception hall, massaging his sore temples. Sitting calmly by the low wooden table with a warm cup of tea in his hand was Nara Shikaku.
"Inoichi—" Shikaku greeted, placing his teacup down with a soft click. "You look like you haven't slept in three days. I take it the rumors about the little girl escaping are true?"
"Don't start, Shikaku—" Inoichi groaned, sinking into the cushion across from him with a heavy sigh.
"It's a complete disaster. The guard at the outer gates swears the examination team walked her out. But the examination team swears they never left the room! Someone inside my own clan is lying through their teeth!"
Shikaku closed his eyes, leaning back against the wall. He stroked his chin thoughtfully, his sharp mind immediately processing all the details.
"Hmm..." Shikaku muttered, opening one dark eye to look at his friend. "A contradiction like that isn't a simple lie, Inoichi. Think about it logically."
"What do you mean?" Inoichi asked, frowning.
"If the gate guard was lying, he would have come up with a far better excuse than blaming the inner examiners—" Shikaku explained smoothly, his voice calm and analytical.
"And if the examiners were traitors who freed her, they wouldn't have stayed inside the room waiting to be caught."
Inoichi blinked, listening intently.
"So... what are you saying?"
"I'm Saying Both Sides Are Telling The Truth As They Know It!" Shikaku said, a small, clever smirk playing on his lips.
"The gate guard truly believes he saw the examiners... because his eyes and mind were manipulated. Someone hijacked his body from a distance, forced him to open the gates, and wiped or blurred his immediate memory afterward."
Shikaku leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as his tone turned sharp.
"To control multiple guards seamlessly, command them to speak, and walk a prisoner out without triggering a single alarm... that requires an extremely high-level Mind Transfer Jutsu!" Shikaku stated, tapping his temple.
"In fact, whoever got her out... possessed a deep knowledge aboutYamanaka traits. And high-level ones at that."
Inoichi's jaw dropped, a cold sweat breaking out down his neck as Shikaku's words hit him like a ton of bricks!
"A... a high-level Yamanaka user...?" Inoichi whispered in total shock.
"Precisely—" Shikaku replied, taking another slow sip of his tea.
"You don't have a traitor hiding in your cellar, Inoichi. You're dealing with a master mind-controller who knows your clan's techniques inside and out."
FOREST NEAR THE A-UN GATE
WOOSH!
Two figures moved through the dark forest trees at incredible speed. They looked like quick shadows jumping from branch to branch in the moonlight.
Both of them wore thick black cloaks with large hoods that covered their clothes and hid their faces in the dark night.
Leading the way was Neji. Under his hood, his unique white Byakugan eyes glowed softly in the dark. He looked straight ahead, watching for any danger. A few long strands of his dark brown hair came out of his hood and flew in the wind as he jumped across the high branches.
Running right beside him was the Adult Ino. Her bright blue eyes were sharp and focused. Her long pale yellow hair was tied into a high ponytail that bounced with every fast step she took.
Carried safely over Neji's shoulder was the quiet body of Twelve Year Old Ino. She was fast asleep and completely knocked out, having no idea what was happening around her.
These two were none other than the Neji and Ino who had traveled through time alongside Black Devil Sasuke and Minato!
While Sasuke and Minato were busy with their intense battles, Minato had originally left Neji and Ino behind in Tetsu no Kuni. Their specific job back then was to carefully dig up and recover the special forehead protectors from the deep hole they had hidden them in.
Only after Minato finished his fight against the Yondaime Hokage, the Namikaze Minato of this era, did he finally find a spare moment to jump back, pick them up, and bring them safely to where they needed to be: the Konoha of this timeline!
Meanwhile, in another part of the village...
Near the empty playground right beside the Konoha Library, Minato was standing quietly under the moonlight, adjusting his cloak.
A-CHOO!
Minato suddenly let out a small sneeze, rubbing his nose in confusion with a soft laugh.
"Huh... someone must be talking about me right now—" Minato muttered to himself, smiling warmly as he looked up at the night sky.
Back in the quiet forest near the A-Un Gate...
Neji landed silently on a thick tree branch, carefully shifting the unconscious young Ino on his shoulder.
He turned his head toward the adult Ino, his pale Byakugan eyes looking at her with a calm, serious expression.
"Are you sure no one in the Yamanaka clan is going to find out what really happened back there?" Neji asked, his voice low and steady.
Adult Ino flipped her long pale yellow ponytail over her shoulder, giving him a confident, playful smirk in the dark.
"Count on me, Neji-san!" Ino replied with a proud smile.
"Even if they figure out that the guards were controlled by a Mind Transfer master, it won't matter. Any chakra signature left behind in their minds will match my younger self's chakra perfectly... so they'll just keep running around in circles thinking it's an inside job!"
YAyMANAKA ESTATE: RECEPTION HALL
Inoichi was still pacing back and forth across the room when a Yamanaka sensory member suddenly burst through the doors, holding a official chakra reading scroll in his hands!
"Inoichi-sama! Shikaku-sama!" the member shouted, bowing quickly. "We finally got the sensory report of the active chakra inside the room and outside the compound!"
Inoichi stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes lighting up. "Show it to me!"
Shikaku instantly leaned forward in his seat, his sharp eyes narrowing as he set his teacup down to pay close attention.
The sensory member unrolled the scroll and began reading the recorded data out loud.
"At around 8:17 PM, the chakra levels of everyone in the underground room and at the front gates were completely normal. There were zero traces of an intruder inside or outside the clan territory—" the member reported smoothly.
"And then?" Inoichi asked impatiently.
"Then, suddenly at 8:18 PM, there was a sharp, sudden rise in chakra coming from all four examiners inside the room—" the member explained.
"And in just half a minute, that chakra spike suddenly lowered back down to normal."
Shikaku rubbed his chin, a deep frown forming on his face. "Strange... Are you completely sure everyone present inside the room had their chakra rise at the exact same second, and lower at the exact same second?"
"Yes, Shikaku-sama—" the member replied, nodding firmly. "Leaving the girl out, everyone's chakra spiked at the exact same time."
Inoichi clenched his jaw in utter confusion. "What the... How is that even possible?!"
"Please listen to this next detail, Inoichi-sama..." the member continued, taking a nervous breath as he looked down at the final line of the report. "This is the strangest part of all."
Both Inoichi and Shikaku stared intently at the member, waiting for his next words.
"The sudden rise in chakra level..." the member gasped, looking up in absolute disbelief. "The chakra signature recorded controlling all of them... was recognized as the exact same signature as the girl!"
"WHAT?!" Inoichi roared, his jaw dropping to the floor in total shock!
FOREST BEHIND UCHIHA POLICE HEADQUARTERS
Mid-air above the courtyard, Sasuke's body surged forward like a dark streak of lightning, his weapon aimed straight for Hikaru's throat!
Hikaru just stood there on the ground, his bloodthirsty smirk widening as he waited for the final clash.
Then, without a single warning, the night sky directly above Sasuke went completely dark.
A massive, terrifying shadow fell over Sasuke's face!
THUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMM!!
An incredible, earth-shattering weight smashed straight down from the clouds! The force of the impact ripped through the air, completely crushing the ground beneath it!
CRACK! BANG!
Deep, jagged cracks tore across the entire stone courtyard as the earth violently buckled! Huge clouds of thick grey dust and broken rocks exploded into the air, swallowing the entire area in total darkness!
The force of the landing shook the wooden walls of the Police Headquarters so hard that loose roof tiles rained down everywhere!
When the blinding dust slowly began to clear, a unbelievable sight appeared in the crater.
Sitting directly in the center of the giant hole was an enormous, dark-skinned creature with rough, bumpy skin and massive yellow eyes.
It sat low to the earth on powerful, giant back legs, its massive mouth closed tight as smoke curled out from its wide nostrils.
Standing right on top of the giant creature's head was a tall figure, completely unbothered by the chaos below.
The figure wore a long, bright red vest over a simple green kimono shirt, tied securely with a dark sash around the waist. Heavy wooden sandals clicked against the creature's rough hide.
A long, broad scroll was strapped diagonally across his back, and thick, spikey hair spilled down over his shoulders.
The tall man stood with his arms crossed tightly over his chest, looking down through the rising dust with a calm, dangerous presence that filled the entire forest!
The giant creature grumbled, his loud voice booming like thunder as he looked straight ahead, completely ignoring the giant crack under his webbed feet.
"Hmph..." the creature grunts, blowing a thick cloud of smoke from his mouth. "I hope we didn't just kill him down there... I can really be a bit too heavy sometimes."
The man on his head didn't even check the ground below! Believing with absolute certainty that he had just crushed the dangerous intruder, he leaped high into the air, doing a quick spin before landing on one foot right on top of the giant creature's head!
He threw his arms out wide, stamped his wooden sandal down, and struck a super dramatic, over-the-top pose!
"The tale of a true ninja is not measured by how he lives, but by what he accomplishes before his death!" the man shouted at the top of his lungs, pointing two fingers straight into the night air with absolute pride.
"I am Jiraiya! The Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku!!"
"And I am here to take you down, Uchiha Hikaru!!" Jiraiya shouted, his voice echoing loudly across the forest.
Silence hung in the heavy night air. The smoke slowly drifted away...
A few feet away from the giant toad's webbed foot, the real Uchiha Hikaru was standing completely still. His mouth was slightly open, his red eyes blinking once, then twice, in sheer disbelief.
Then, a sudden twitch appeared on Hikaru's cheek.
'Wait... what...?' Hikaru thought, staring at the tall white-haired man standing on top of the giant toad.
A slow, highly amused grin spread across Hikaru's face until he couldn't hold it in anymore. He placed a hand over his mouth, his shoulders trembling as a soft, wicked chuckle escaped his chest.
'He really dropped an entire giant toad straight from the sky onto Sasuke... thinking HE was me?!' Hikaru laughed mentally, his eyes gleaming with dark delight.
Hikaru didn't say a single word out loud. He stayed completely quiet in the shadows, his dark eyes shifting from Jiraiya on top of the giant toad down to the cracked land.
A slow, wicked grin spread across Hikaru's face as he put the pieces together in his head.
'Good, Mikoto... very good...' Hikaru thought, his eyes gleaming with dark delight. 'You made everyone in the commercial district believe that Sasuke is Hikaru... and now even one of the Legendary Sannin is after his life!'
Hikaru carefully picked up Shinnachiku, holding the boy firmly in his arm. He looked down at Shinnachiku's face one last time, before looking back toward Jiraiya and the giant toad.
"Now then, Sasuke..." Hikaru muttered under his breath with a cold, sinister smirk. "Be busy with him for a while... until I come back and settle my other errands."
Without making a single sound, Hikaru turned around on his feet. He stepped away from the quiet courtyard, heading straight toward the ruined, shattered cell from where those four Uchiha shinobi had originally come out!
On top of the giant toad, Jiraiya maintained his grand, dramatic stance, his eyes fixed firmly on the heavy smoke rising from the land.
RUMBLE...
Suddenly, the earth beneath the giant creature trembled violently. Jagged arcs of dark purple lightning exploded through the dirt, shrieking like thousands of birds!
BOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!
A massive shockwave of pure chakra erupted from the pit! The sheer pressure blasted upward, forcing the giant toad to slide back several feet as heavy stone tiles shattered into dust!
"Tch!" Jiraiya grunted, narrowing his eyes as he shifted his stance on the toad's head to absorb the sudden force.
As the thick smoke was ripped apart by the purple electricity, Sasuke emerged.
He didn't have a single scratch on his dark cloak. His expression was dangerously calm, but the chakra radiating off his body was terrifying.
He didn't speak a single word. He simply raised his cold, glowing gaze, locking onto Jiraiya with absolute, deadly intent.
The purple lightning around his hand shrieked louder, tearing up the ground beneath his boots as he prepared to strike.
Jiraiya stared down at him through the lingering dust, his arms still crossed over his chest. Looking at those sharp dark features, that cold Uchiha gaze, and the dark cloak, Jiraiya's expression remained dead serious.
To him, the dangerous man standing in front of him matched every single detail of the rogue Uchiha he had come to deal with.
The air between them grew dangerously heavy.
Gamabunta blew a dense cloud of grey smoke from his mouth, his massive yellow eyes glaring down at the dark figure standing in the crater.
"Jiraiya..." Gamabunta's thunderous voice boomed across the courtyard, rattling the nearby wooden fences. "This brat's chakra isn't normal. Don't drop your guard for a second."
"I know, Bunta—" Jiraiya replied in a low, serious tone. He uncrossed his arms, shifting his weight on top of Gamabunta's head as his sharp gaze stayed locked on Sasuke's eyes.
"He's fast. Be ready."
Sasuke didn't waste a single breath on words.
BZZZZZZT!
With a blinding flash of dark purple lightning, Sasuke vanished from the ground!
"Above us!" Jiraiya shouted instantly.
In a fraction of a second, Sasuke appeared mid-air directly above Gamabunta's head! The purple lightning around his right hand shrieked like thousands of birds, ripping through the dark night sky as he drove a lightning-infused strike straight down toward Jiraiya's shoulder!
SWOOSH!
Gamabunta moved with terrifying speed for his size, launching his giant body backward in a massive leap to clear the attack!
BOOOOM!
Sasuke's purple lightning strike hit the empty space where Gamabunta had been sitting just a millisecond prior, completely shattering the forest trees!
Mid-leap, Jiraiya's hands blurred through a set of high-speed hand seals.
"Toad Oil Bullet!" Jiraiya roared!
From high in the air, a massive wave of sticky, heavy oil spewed from Jiraiya's mouth, raining down like a dark tsunami to drown the entire headquarters and pin Sasuke to the land!
Sasuke didn't even flinch. Spinning mid-air as he landed on the edge of the broken roof, his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan spun wildly!
"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!"
A concentrated beam of roaring, high-intensity fire erupted from Sasuke's lips, piercing straight through the falling oil! The moment the flames touched the oil, the air exploded into a towering wall of blazing fire, lighting up the entire night sky above the Police Headquarters!
Through the wall of roaring fire, Sasuke's dark cloak whipped wildly in the scorching wind. His sharp, crimson eyes tracked every movement through the flames, completely focused on the Legendary Sannin and the giant toad!
Through the roaring wall of orange fire, Sasuke's crimson Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan spun with deadly precision.
Even while surrounded by blazing heat, his vision pierced right through the smoke, scanning the dark shadow of the Police Headquarters building.
'He's gone...' Sasuke thought sharply.
His sharp gaze locked onto the shattered doorway of the underground cell. Hikaru's chakra trace was completely fading into the darkness below. Hikaru had used Jiraiya's chaotic arrival as the ultimate cover to slip away with Shinnachiku!
A cold flicker of annoyance passed over Sasuke's face. He needed to follow him now, but standing right in front of him was a giant obstacle that wasn't going to let him step past easily.
SWOOSH!
Without giving Sasuke a single second to breath, a gigantic steel blade sliced clean through the wall of fire!
Gamabunta had drawn his massive short sword, swinging it downward with enough force to split a small mountain in half! The wind pressure alone blew the surrounding flames completely flat!
Sasuke didn't panic. He shifted his weight and leaped backward, landing across the wooden roof tiles like a shadow just as the massive blade crushed the entire roof section into splinters!
CRASH!
"Don't look away, kid!" Jiraiya's voice barked from above!
Jiraiya leaped off Gamabunta's head mid-air, his hands weaving seals at blinding speed!
"Senopo: Kebari Senbon!"
Jiraiya's thick white hair hardened instantly into thousands of razor-sharp steel needles, raining down over the courtyard like a deadly, relentless storm
Sasuke drew his Kusanagi blade in a split second. Purple lightning coated the steel, extending into a sharp blade of pure lightning!
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
With terrifying hand speed, Sasuke spun his sword, deflecting dozens of lethal hair needles per second! Sparks flew everywhere in the dark night as the needles shattered against his lightning-infused blade!
The moment the needle rain ended, Jiraiya landed heavily on the courtyard ground, his right hand already spinning a ball of wild, blue chakra!
"RASENGAN!" Jiraiya yelled, blitzing straight toward Sasuke through the dust!
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. His dark purple lightning transformed into Blue White Lightning into his free palm, the high-pitched shriek echoing off the stone walls like a flock of thousand birds!
CHIDORI!
Both shinobi lunged forward at maximum speed!
BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!
---