After examining the experimental subject thoroughly, Asahi carefully returned the child to the incubator and meticulously cleaned up the experimental table. Every piece of equipment was restored to its original state, ensuring that no trace of his interference remained.
Of course, with Orochimaru's cunning, the moment he returned to this laboratory, he would immediately notice that someone had been here and tampered with his materials. But Orochimaru was also aware of one crucial fact—Asahi didn't possess the skill or access necessary to break through the complex seals on the laboratory door.
That left only one suspect: Shimura Danzo.
After all, it was Danzo who had betrayed Orochimaru by reporting his forbidden jutsu experiments to the Third Hokage. Their relationship had completely fractured. As long as Danzo kept quiet about his secret dealings with Asahi, Orochimaru would never suspect the latter's involvement.
On this point, Asahi was extremely confident.
Returning home, he immediately began reorganizing his handwritten notes—detailed records of the fusion process between the experimental subjects and the Hashirama cells. He then cross-referenced them with previously obtained data from Orochimaru's early experiments. From there, he began a delicate process: reverse-engineering the method Orochimaru had used to force compatibility between normal human bodies and the overwhelming vitality of Hashirama's cells.
Simultaneously, Asahi began research on a possible antidote—a vaccine to resist the extreme cytotoxic effects brought on by the infusion of Hashirama cells. Using the known properties of cellular toxins, he started developing a counteragent.
Time passed swiftly.
A full month had gone by.
And finally, the news Asahi had been most concerned about reached him.
Nohara Rin was dead.
According to the reports from the frontlines, Kirigakure shinobi had captured Rin and used her as leverage—threatening Kakashi to assassinate Might Guy in exchange for her life.
Faced with this cruel dilemma, Kakashi had hesitated.
But before he could make a decision, Rin took her own life.
The details of what happened afterward remained unclear. Kakashi refused to speak of it. From what Might Guy recounted, it seemed that after Rin's death, both he and Kakashi engaged in a fierce battle against the Kiri-nin. Defeated and critically injured, they collapsed.
When Konoha's reinforcements finally arrived, only Might Guy and Kakashi were still alive. Over twenty elite Kirigakure shinobi lay dead around them, each one brutally killed.
Might Guy insisted he had lost consciousness before Kakashi did, meaning the massacre must've occurred while both were supposedly incapacitated.
Kakashi, however, claimed that he had been struck down by the Kiri-nin and remembered nothing.
Both Konoha and Kirigakure dispatched investigation teams, but no conclusive evidence was found. The case was closed as an unresolved mystery.
Speculation abounded. Some in Kirigakure believed it was the work of Senmei Asahi or even Namikaze Minato. But neither theory held up—Asahi had been in Konoha the entire time, and none of Kakashi's team had any of Asahi's special-marked kunai on them. There was no way he could have intervened.
For Asahi, the incident was a grim reminder.
A bond, once severed, could not be mended.
The only thing that could prevent such loss was overwhelming strength.
…
Land of Hot Water—nestled between the Land of Fire, Lightning, and Water—was a natural battleground in the ongoing Third Great Ninja War.
Following an agreement between Onoki and the Third Hokage, Iwagakure had sent a covert force to catch Kumogakure by surprise.
As part of the strategy, the Third Hokage issued a direct order to Asahi: head into the Land of Hot Water and provoke Kirigakure. The goal was simple—draw the attention of Kirigakure's shinobi, bait them into pursuing him, and divert their forces from the main conflict.
Given the intense hatred Kirigakure held for Asahi after the Three-Tails incident, this plan was almost guaranteed to succeed. The Kiri-nin loathed him. If he appeared on the battlefield, their reaction would be immediate and violent.
Once Kirigakure redirected its forces to pursue Asahi, Konoha would have a perfect excuse to shift troops from the Kumogakure frontlines and back up Iwagakure. The resulting clash between the Iwa and Kumo villages would weaken both, and when the timing was right, Konoha would deliver the finishing blow to Kumogakure.
It was a complex chessboard of war.
But Asahi had his role to play—and he was already moving the pieces.
…
*Puff!*
A Kirigakure shinobi gasped and clutched his throat as he fell, a look of disbelief frozen on his face. Blood bubbled from his mouth. Even in death, his limbs twitched as his body refused to give up.
Asahi didn't waste time watching. He looked past the corpse to the three remaining Kiri-nin, tightened his grip on his kunai, and dashed forward once more.
All day long, he had been doing this—seeking out Kiri patrol teams, ambushing them, and leaving just enough survivors to spread the word.
Sometimes he let one escape. Sometimes he slaughtered them all.
It didn't matter. The result would be the same.
News would reach Kirigakure. That name would echo through their ranks again—Senmei Asahi.
The specter who had once almost destroyed their village.
The monster they could neither forget nor forgive.
They would come for him. Asahi knew it. He counted on it.
Once they mobilized, Konoha's trap would be complete.
…
The Kirigakure still regarded Asahi as the prime culprit behind their village's humiliation—the man who had torn through their ranks during the Three-Tails disaster. If not for his long absence in Konoha, Kirigakure would have sent hunter-nin after him already.
As long as he lived, he was a walking reminder of their failure.
A mountain they could not climb.
Kirigakure's pride wouldn't allow it. And the shinobi world had not forgotten either. So long as he lived, people would whisper that the Kirigakure village was weak—that even a boy had once crippled them.
So when word reached Kirigakure that Asahi was on the move—and that he was once again killing Kiri-nin—their response would be swift and ferocious.
And when they poured out of their hidden village in pursuit, Konoha's mission would be a success.
…
Eventually, the war would end.
Once Kumogakure's forces were exhausted and their leadership fractured, the Third Great Ninja War would draw to a close. While other nations might continue with small-scale skirmishes, Konoha would emerge the clear victor—undamaged, and unmatched.
But that moment of strength would not last.
With the death of Namikaze Minato, the flight of the Legendary Sannin, and the catastrophic losses during the Nine-Tails attack, Konoha would rapidly decline.
In that weakened state, it would even be forced to compromise when Kumogakure kidnapped Hyuga Hinata—a stark contrast to the past, when they had dared to abduct Uzumaki Kushina and paid for it with their lives at the hands of Minato.
Back then, no one from the Kumo had even dared to protest.
Now, things were different.
Konoha's golden age was over.
But Asahi wasn't concerned with the village's future.
His thoughts were already far ahead.
He was planning his next move—how to acquire the Ryūchi Cave's Summoning Scroll when Orochimaru eventually defected.
Because when that moment came, he would be ready.
And unlike the rest of the ninja world, Asahi wasn't playing catch-up. He was always thinking five moves ahead.
*****
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