Today is October 10th.
Minato had already informed me that Kushina would be giving birth that night, so I would be on alert.
"Are you sure about this, Miss Miyu?" Junko asked, holding Yami, who was sleeping in her arms.
We were in the safest place I had, my personal laboratory, where Hikari was almost ready to be born, but in a different room, a more comfortable one for Yami.
"Something tells me it's best to be here today," I said simply, patting Junko's head, trying to reassure her. "You just take care of Yami for today; you have everything you need if the baby needs it; besides, with your bloodline, I don't have much to worry about."
Junko is from the Chinoise clan, so if one of the ninjas, specifically those with Nen, were to enter the room, in the hypothetical event that this happened, Junko could handle them. After all, it's been a year since she achieved the rank of Jonin, despite working as a secretary.
Furthermore, this place is covered in seals, so no one can detect it or enter; the only way to get here is by knowing its exact location. Basically, I've been here before using a space-time jutsu, so even Obito couldn't get here easily; it would be pure trial and error, searching for the area where the lab might be.
With everything ready, I used the Flying Thunder God Technique to leave my lab's rest area and return outside.
...
The night in the village seemed very peaceful. The sun hadn't set long ago, so the birthing process must be underway or still in preparation.
I was already molding my chakra so that, when the Nine-Tails suddenly appeared, I could quickly control it with the Wood Dragon.
Out of nowhere, I felt a spike of chakra appear, but it wasn't the Nine-Tails. It was far too small to compare to a tailed beast, and I didn't sense it anywhere in the village.
I turned around, looking at the forest, only to see a small explosion that snapped me out of my reverie.
Without thinking, I rushed to where the commotion was.
When I arrived, I saw several dead border ninjas and ANBU scattered about as the forest was ablaze.
I was too late; I saw that one ANBU was still breathing.
"Wait a bit; I'll help you," I said, performing the Mystic Palm Technique to save his life, but what the ANBU said stopped me in my tracks.
"Behind you," he said, before collapsing from blood loss.
Before he could finish speaking, I turned around to see a masked man with a gaping socket in his right eye.
"You arrived faster than I expected, descendant of Hashirama," said the masked man, who was obviously Obito Uchiha; there was no mystery surrounding the truth.
"Kuchau," I said simply, to which Obito, whom we'll call Tobi from now on, stared at me, unsure what to say.
"Cough, cough," Tobi coughed, then looked directly at me. "On this special occasion, our first meeting, I've decided to bring a special guest to join us for this grand gathering."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a vortex formed in his eye socket, but instead of sucking something in, it expelled something—or in this case, a person.
I glared at Tobi and quickly drew a kunai, ready to act.
"Ah, so you think you can act. I see you don't care about this woman's life, considering she's been with you for so many years and helped you when you first became clan leader," he declared, grabbing Hitori's neck, ready to crush her spine.
"I'm sorry, Miyu, for putting you in this situation," Hitori said, her eyes filled with tears.
"It's okay. Later, when we get out of here, you can explain what happened," I tried to reassure her.
"You think you'll get out of this unharmed? Don't be so naive," Tobi said, gripping Hitori's neck tightly and lifting her up, beginning to slowly strangle her.
"Wait!" I shouted, halting the strangulation, at least momentarily. "I imagine you're doing this to kidnap me or something, aren't you?"
"Hmm, quite perceptive," Tobi said, looking at me.
"If you let her go, I'll offer myself in exchange," I suggested, seeing where this was all leading.
The place fell silent; no one said a word.
"I'm not going to fall for your trap," Tobi declared, drawing a kunai and attempting to slit Hitori's throat.
I acted quickly and lunged with mine, trying to plunge it into his heart.
The moment Tobi's kunai touched Hitori, it pierced him, as my kunai simultaneously pierced the masked man.
The instant it pierced him, I quickly realized, checking to make sure everything was alright.
"I see this isn't going well," he said, beginning to absorb Hitori.
With the same kunai I had, I threw it, and, using the Flying Thunder God Technique, I reached Hitori and, grabbing her arm, was pulled in with her, hearing the masked man's last words.
"Or perhaps everything is going as I planned." With those words, I felt the world spin and, out of nowhere, I stopped seeing the forest and instead saw a darkened wasteland filled with geometric shapes that served as
Seeing where I was, all I could do was click my tongue.
I looked at Hitori, who was staring at a specific point.
"Calm down, Hitori, I'll find a way to..." I couldn't continue my attempt to calm her, as I felt a sense of imminent danger.
"Watch out!!" Hitori shouted, and I grabbed her and threw myself forward, dodging a water dragon that was coming up behind us.
Careful not to hurt Hitori, I grabbed the ground to stop spinning and looked up to see who had attacked us, only to see multiple wooden branches attacking us.
Using a quick shunshin, I created a large opening between us and all the chaos.
Looking at Hitori, I glanced at the attackers who were harassing us, only to frown.
Not far from us were the First and Second Hokage, revived by the Edo Tensei.
"I don't think it was Danzo who let Orochimaru escape," I said to myself, looking at the ancient relics of past generations.
"Or it was you," Hashirama said, recognizing me.
"I thought it was you who summoned us again, but I see that wasn't the case; it's worrying that so many people have the Edo Tensei in their hands," Tobirama commented, already forming hand seals.
The fact that these two are here means that Orochimaru was already working for Akatsuki, or perhaps just for Obito momentarily. And seeing that they move but still retain their consciousness, that could mean that he only managed to control their movements but not their minds or that in trying to increase the technique's efficiency, he left them with their emotions.
"Hitori, I need you to hide while I find a moment for us to escape," I explained, seeing that the Flying Thunder God Technique wasn't taking us out of this dimension.
The Flying Thunder God Technique is a virtually instantaneous movement from one place to another regardless of distance, but from what I can see, it must be within the same dimension.
I can't move between dimensions, and with these two throwing jutsu around like crazy, I don't have time to find a way to use the Flying Thunder God Technique and get out of here.
If I were Minato in my position, maybe I could, since that guy knows the technique inside and out, managing to modify it in combat, but I'm not Minato; I have my own limitations.
Since I can't use plan A, I'll have to stick with plan B.
Third-person POV
Miyu swiftly slammed both hands into the ground, creating multiple earthen walls that surrounded her with a leap. She launched several kunai that intercepted the water ball Tobirama threw, and with a hand seal, it exploded.
Hashirama wasted no time and sprinted toward Miyu's position, but she created two shadow clones, using one to propel herself forward, moving away from Hitori's location.
Seeing this, the First Hokage leaped toward the two clones, but his eyes widened as he watched the other clone launch Miyu at full speed toward him. He was unable to avoid the foot that crushed his face and sent him crashing to the ground.
(Note: Remember two things: First, Miyu is currently arguably the strongest ninja of the modern ninja era, reaching the level of Hashirama himself at his peak. Second, Orochimaru did not improve the Edo Tensei, so he only possesses around 30% of his original power.)
Hashirama's body began to recover rapidly, and the moment he regained consciousness, he saw two kunai on either side of his head, only for them to explode the next moment.
Miyu fell on top of Tobirama, but he moved aside, creating an opening. He attempted to strike, but she blocked his attack with her hand, retaliating with a kunai and trying to embed it in his head. However, the Second Hokage acted faster, striking her wrist and forcing her to drop the weapon.
Tobirama grabbed the kunai and tried to plunge it into his chest, but Miyu reacted swiftly, pulling another kunai from her pouch and stopping him.
The fight between the two quickly intensified, with Miyu gradually losing ground.
In a sudden movement, Tobirama, using his foot, knocked Miyu off balance, staggering her for a few seconds—long enough to envelop the kunai with chakra and inflict a moderately serious cut on Miyu.
"I see you lack experience in close combat," Miyu declared, before striking his face with an open palm, sending him reeling backward.
Miyu quickly noticed something on his face, which began to ignite; it was an explosive tag.
Behind her, a fully restored Hashirama appeared, running back to where she was.
Seeing her options, she only had one left. She quickly placed her hand on the explosive talisman, forming a hand seal.
At the same time, Hashirama's arm pierced Miyu's chest, causing her to vomit blood.
"An explosive flash on her face—don't you think that's excessive? We don't want to kill her," Hashirama scolded his brother.
"My body moves on its own; I can't stop it. besides, you can't say that while you're piercing her chest with your entire arm," Tobirama retorted.
"I'll return the favor," Miyu said, striking Hashirama, sending him flying backward, only for her to form a hand seal, causing the spot where she struck to explode.
Seeing this, Tobirama became interested.
"A seal that explodes upon contact—fascinating; I have to admit that's quite useful, something I could study," she declared as she began forming hand seals.
"Thank you for your compliments," Miyu replied as they formed several hand seals. "Wind Release: Dust Storm Jutsu."
Faced with the rushing wind, Tobirama simply threw the kunai into the air, appearing in the sky, holding it and dodging Miyu's jutsu.
"The Flying Thunder God Technique, huh? I should have guessed," Miyu commented upon seeing this, her chest now fully healed, something that did not go unnoticed by Tobirama.
Miyu considered her options; for a moment she thought about using Wood Release, but knowing that Hashirama was in the fight, she decided not to give her opponent an advantage. The wood he created could be used against him at some point if the First Hokage managed to interact with it and vice versa.
The moment Tobirama fell to the ground, Miyu already had her next jutsu ready.
"Fire Release: Fireball Dragon Flame," she announced, spitting out three fireballs that, in this case, didn't separate and went directly toward Tobirama.
He didn't react; he just stood there as a fully restored Hashirama appeared before him, his feet smacking the ground.
"Quintuple Rashōmon," Hashirama exclaimed.
Five gates, one after the other, appeared to block Miyu's jutsu.
The fire dragons destroyed the first three gates, leaving the fourth half-destroyed.
Seeing this, Miyu clicked her tongue.
Hashirama and Tobirama emerged from behind the last gate, their jutsu ready.
"Clash of Waves Jutsu," they both said simultaneously, expelling a massive amount of water capable of flooding an entire village.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation," Miyu quickly responded with a jutsu she had learned from Kosuke several years prior.
The fire and water crackled, creating a stalemate, a wall of smoke and steam that blinded all three of them.
The place fell silent.
"Hasirama," said Tobirama, his brother.
"I know," he replied.
"Summoning Jutsu!" exclaimed Miyu, an explosion echoing in the distance.
"Perhaps—" Tobirama couldn't finish his sentence, as he was sliced in half.
Hasirama reacted in time, dodging the incoming slash.
"Wood Release: Birth of a World of Trees!" Hassirama announced, using his hands to summon thousands of trees to fill the area, while thousands of slashes destroyed the budding forest.
When Tobirama reformed, the smoke had already dissipated, revealing the surrounding landscape once more.
Beside Miyu stood Katsuyu and a shrine with four mouths.
"Tsuyu," Miyu commanded.
"Understood," the silly girl said, causing a smaller katsuyu to emerge from her body, land on Miyu's shoulder, and then vanish in a puff of smoke.
"Well, let's see what we can do during this downtime," Miyu declared, looking at the two revived Hokage.