The night over Konoha was unnaturally dark.
Not the gentle kind that settled with stars and lanterns, but a heavy black that swallowed distance and depth alike. Within the Forest of Death, shadows gathered thick between the roots and slopes, clinging to the contours of the land.
At the break of a rocky incline, half-buried in stone, a cave mouth yawned open.
Something moved.
Snakes slid through the undergrowth in slow, soundless coils. Their bodies brushed against one another, scales rasping faintly. One by one, heads lifted. Tongues flicked. Red. Alert.
They sensed disturbance.
High above, silhouettes appeared in the trees.
Masked figures dressed in matte black stepped onto branches without sound, their presence cutting through the canopy like blades slipped from a sheath. The snakes did not react.
"Here," someone murmured.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stood at the forefront, light armor catching none of the moon. His gaze fixed on the cave below. The darkness inside did not reflect light. It swallowed it whole.
"…So this is where," he muttered.
A pause.
"Disperse."
The ANBU vanished.
They spread outward in perfect silence, forming a loose perimeter that closed like a net. Observation. Containment. Elimination routes prepared.
This was their specialty.
Over the past months, genin, chūnin, even ANBU had gone missing. ANBU were not expendable assets. Each loss left a measurable gap. Even with Danzō's efforts to blur the trail, traces remained.
Enough to reach the Hokage.
Enough to make one name surface unbidden.
"Orochimaru…"
Sarutobi lingered only a moment longer.
Then he was gone.
Deep underground, beneath layers of stone and rot, water dripped through an abandoned drainage network. The sound echoed endlessly in narrow tunnels.
Drip.Drip.
Beyond them lay a chamber no natural cave would form.
Smooth walls. Carved channels. Sealing arrays etched into stone. Equipment repurposed and reinforced. A laboratory.
A body rested on a steel table.
Complete. Intact. Silent.
Orochimaru stood over it, golden pupils dilated, breath measured.
"Every time I see it," he said softly, "the construction astonishes me."
The corpse bore no wounds. The face was unmarred. Black hair lay neatly across pale skin. Even the eyelashes remained. It looked asleep.
But the body was dry. Muscles atrophied. No warmth remained in the flesh.
Dead.
And yet not entirely inert.
Orochimaru had seen preserved corpses across the world. Most twisted. Swollen. Deformed. This one was different.
"As expected… Ōtsutsuki."
Ancient records from the Hyūga clan described them as progenitors. A lineage tied to chakra itself. Abnormal vitality. Abnormal souls.
Blood still red, though.
If every organ were transplanted…
His breathing slowed.
Even Tsunade could not accomplish this. Organ replacement at this level required precise cellular dominance. Only one person in the shinobi world could attempt it.
Him.
He turned.
On the adjacent table lay a living subject.
Fifteen years old. Male. Black hair matted with sweat. Pale face drawn tight. A cursed seal burned into his forehead. The mark of the branch family.
White eyes trembled as they met Orochimaru's gaze.
Hyūga Shinya.
He had offered everything. The corpse. The records. Himself.
Hyūga and Ōtsutsuki shared blood. Compatibility would be highest. Rejection risk minimized.
"Only the heart remains," Orochimaru said calmly. "Are you ready, Shinya?"
He omitted honorifics deliberately.
Ownership needed no politeness.
"Yes," Shinya answered. His voice shook, but it did not waver. "Please begin, Orochimaru-sama."
Fear was present. Gratitude, too.
Orochimaru had infiltrated the Hyūga compound to kill the branch elder responsible for Shinya's parents' deaths. A calculated necessity. The subject had to remain conscious during the procedure. Total cooperation was essential.
Once complete, once the curse seal was irrelevant, the body would be his.
He ignored the third presence.
An old man in a white coat stood rigid near the wall. Former director of Konoha Hospital. Codename: Owl.
"Orochimaru," the man said hoarsely, "what exactly are you planning?"
No response.
Seals flared.
Black formula lines crawled across Shinya's body, restraining him while flooding chakra into his system. External circulation engaged. Tubes pierced artery and vein.
Most organs had already been replaced.
Only the heart remained.
A chakra blade formed in Orochimaru's hand.
He opened Shinya's chest with surgical indifference. Blood welled. The heart was removed with fragments of atrial wall preserved.
Then he lifted the Ōtsutsuki heart.
Alive in color. Still.
It was placed within Shinya's chest.
"You're performing a heart transplant?" Owl whispered. "With just the two of us?"
"You will manage," Orochimaru replied. "Or the room will get messier."
The old man stepped forward.
Sutures. Vessels connected. Chakra poured in to force acceptance.
Time passed.
Orochimaru's reserves thinned. The seals held.
"Removing support," he said. "This is the final phase."
Shinya's body spasmed.
The heartbeat returned.
Once.Twice.
Veins bulged across his skin. Readings spiked, then plummeted.
He screamed.
Blood boiled through his system. Capillaries ruptured. Heat radiated from his flesh.
"Control it!" Orochimaru snapped. "Suppress it with chakra!"
For a moment, power surged.
Then everything dropped.
Vital signs collapsed.
Orochimaru cursed.
Even the Hyūga failed?
He raised his blade again.
A sound stopped him.
Thump.
Another.
Stronger.
Orochimaru froze.
Thump. Thump.
The heartbeat stabilized. Then intensified.
Readings normalized. Then exceeded expected human parameters.
"..."
A voice spoke.
"Successful."
Soft. Calm.
Shinya's eyes opened.
Not white.
They refracted light, layered with pale color, neither human nor Byakugan.
Emotion registered at near zero.
Owl staggered back.
Too slow.
A blade passed his neck.
Clean.
His body collapsed.
Blood sprayed the walls.
Shinya sat up.
"I waited," he said quietly, watching blood spill over his fingers. "Long enough."
He looked at Orochimaru.
"On a night like this," Shinya said, "silence is expected."
SYSTEM RECORD
Target: OrochimaruStatus: Mental state destabilizedCondition: Complete belief confirmed
Judgment:Deception Class: Total ImmersionOutcome: Successful
Reward Allocated: 10,000 UnitsRemaining Balance: 10,041
Orochimaru stared.
The mark on Shinya's neck faded.
The boy smiled.
Not fearfully.
Predator calm.