The air in the Hokage's office was thick enough to choke on. Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating dust motes dancing over the damning evidence spread across Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk.
Koharu Utatane's hand trembled slightly as she picked up a photograph, her mouth a thin, grim line. "Hiruzen… this is bad. Worse than bad."
She wasn't exaggerating. The files laid out before them were a nightmare made real: experimental data, cold clinical photos, and lists of names—children's names—attached to Homura's insane "super-Shinobi" project. Each page was a nail in his coffin, many bearing his own signature at the bottom.
"Every word in that boy's letter was true," Koharu whispered, the reality of the betrayal finally sinking in.
Hiruzen took a long, weary drag from his pipe, the smoke doing little to calm his frayed nerves. "When I confronted him with this, the fool still tried to deny it. To my face."
"Idiot," Koharu spat, the word sharp with a mix of anger and despair. She took a deep breath, steeling herself. "We cannot let this get out. Not now. If Onoki or Rasa get so much as a whiff of this…"
"Do you think I don't know that?" Hiruzen sighed, the weight of his years pressing down on him. "But how long can we keep a lid on it? They're vultures. They'll circle until they find the rot."
"We stall," Koharu said, her voice turning pragmatic, cold. "We have to. At least until the Chunin Exams are over and the other villages have left."
"Homura…" Hiruzen began, a flicker of old camaraderie in his eyes.
"He's finished," Koharu stated flatly, cutting him off. There was no emotion in her voice now, just cold political calculus. "Even if we wanted to, Tsunade would never let this slide. So we use it. When this blows up, he takes the fall. Alone."
Hiruzen looked at his old teammate, seeing the hardened advisor she had become. "Koharu, that's…"
"Ruthless?" she finished for him. "Do you have a better idea? He made his bed. Letting him lie in it is far more… cost-effective than letting him drag the entire village down with him."
The Hokage was silent for a long moment, the only sound the gentle tock of the clock on the wall. Finally, he nodded, the motion heavy with resignation. "I suppose it's the only way."
"Speaking of Tsunade," Koharu asked, changing the subject. "Where is she? Please tell me you convinced her to be patient."
"I did. She's… in the morgue," Hiruzen said, his tone flat.
—
The antiseptic smell of the morgue was overwhelming. Shizune watched, her face pale, as Tsunade worked with a terrifying, single-minded focus.
"Lady Tsunade? What are you…?"
Tsunade didn't look up from her task, the scalpel in her hand moving with precise, clinical grace over Yuto's remains. "If you're going to be squeamish, take a walk outside, Shizune."
"Did… did you find something?" Shizune asked, bewildered. This went far beyond a standard autopsy.
"No," Tsunade replied after a beat, her voice eerily calm. "I just wanted to see if this brat's insides were any different from a normal person's."
Shizune just stared, her mind a whirlwind of confusion and horror. Unable to take the grisly spectacle any longer, she mumbled an excuse and hurried out, seeking fresh air.
The moment the door clicked shut, Tsunade's focused intensity deepened. Something was wrong. It was a feeling she'd had since they'd 'discovered' the evidence in Homura's basement. The suicide note, the body, the files—it was all too neat. Too perfect. Like a story that had been carefully scripted and staged.
And then, she found it.
Using her forceps, she carefully extracted a small, foreign object from within the tissue of the heart.
A pumpkin seed.
She held it up to the light, her brow furrowed in confusion. What in the world…?
ROOOOAR!
A deafening, inhuman roar suddenly shattered the afternoon quiet, echoing from the village's southern district. The very walls of the morgue seemed to vibrate.
Tsunade's head snapped up, the seed clutched tightly in her hand. "What now?!"
"No need to be nervous. It just means our plan is now in motion."
The voice, familiar yet utterly unexpected, came from behind her. Tsunade whirled around, her eyes widening in shock at the figure leaning casually against the doorway.
"You?!" she gasped, her grip tightening on the scalpel. "Who are you?!"
The woman with wine-red hair smiled, a bright, almost playful expression that didn't match the grim surroundings. "Long time no see, Sister Tsunade."
It was Kushina.
—
At the Konoha guest Rooms
The roar had every foreign shinobi on their feet. Onoki rose from his tatami mat, his frown deepening. "That sound… it can't be…"
The door slid open violently as a Rock ninja stumbled in, panic etched on his face. "Lord Tsuchikage! It's terrible! That… that thing under Hanekawa's watch—it's broken free from the sealing scroll!"
"That incompetent fool!" Onoki snarled, slamming a fist on the table.
"Tch. Since it's come to this, let's just start the party now, yeah?" Deidara cracked his knuckles, a wild look in his eyes.
Kurotsuchi nodded in agreement. "Konoha must have realized something is wrong by now. The chaos is the perfect cover."
Onoki stroked his chin, thinking fast. "We move. But we assess the situation first." He led them out into the hallway, only to nearly bump into the approaching Kazekage.
"It seems the Tsuchikage also heard the commotion," Orochimaru said, a faint, knowing smile playing on his lips.
Onoki dispensed with the pleasantries, his face stern. "Let's not play games, Kazekage. If we cooperate this time, we split the gains sixty-forty. My village takes the larger share."
Orochimaru let out a low, dark chuckle. "I suspect you've been waiting for an excuse to say that."
"I simply don't wish to see Konoha remain the dominant power in the shinobi world," Onoki stated coldly.
"Hmph. It seems we are on the same page after all."
—
*In the eastern district of konoha*
Inside a secluded inn, the atmosphere was just as tense.
"Lord Raikage! An unidentified Creature is causing massive destruction in the southern district!" C reported, kneeling on one knee.
"This is our chance, Raikage-sama!" Yugito Nii said, her eyes shining with excitement.
The Fourth Raikage didn't hesitate. "Bee, you're with me. Yugito, you stay here on standby."
"Huh?" she blurted out, her excitement instantly deflating.
"I smell a rat in all this," A grunted, his voice leaving no room for argument. "If this is a trap, you cover our retreat!"
Yugito's shoulders slumped in frustration. "…Fine."
As the Raikage stormed out, Killer Bee bounced past her, throwing a mocking thumbs-up her way. "Sorry, little lady, stay and play the waiting game, yo!"
The young kunoichi was left fuming, grinding her teeth as she watched them go. She was so angry she could scream.
Shortly after they left, a small, silent figure slipped through an open window behind her.
—
BOOM! CRASH!
The southern district of Konoha had descended into chaos. Deafening explosions rocked the foundations of buildings. Dozens of Konoha ninja, led by a grim-faced Hiruzen Sarutobi, streamed toward the chaos to provide support.
From the shadows, Onoki and Orochimaru watched the chaos unfold, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The arrival of the Raikage and his brother only added to the swirling madness. The Chunin Exams were forgotten; the only thing that mattered was the unfolding crisis.
In the chaos, no one paid any attention to the underground cells. Even the guards stationed outside Homura Mitokado's cell had abandoned their posts, drawn away by the commotion above.
A figure clad in white moved silently through the deserted corridor.
The old man in the cell looked up as the footsteps stopped outside his door. His eyes, dull with defeat, widened in sheer disbelief.
"You?!" Homura Mitokado choked out, scrambling backward. "It's you… you're alive?"
Yuto smiled, a warm, gentle expression that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Indeed. It's been a while, Elder Homura. There's a small matter I need your help with…"
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