I had finally gotten someone to use my modified animals. It took much longer then I wanted it to and my modified pigs were banned but things were finally on the move.

I only wish it hadn't taken so long. The year was almost over and I needed to start preparing for the Nine-Tails attack.

It had slipped my mind until I saw a very pregnant Mikoto in the market one morning. It made me realize that I was completely forgetting the attack.

According to my notes, Naruto should be conceived within the next few months and born in October. Meaning I had a little more than ten months until things kicked off.

If they kicked off...

Rin was very much alive and I hadn't heard anything about Kiri in a long while. It likely that Obito wasn't undergoing his transformation into Tobito.

I figured Madara was crafty enough to turn Obito even if Rin wasn't dead. But nothing was currently happening.

So, I settled in for more waiting and some planning. Once the Nine-Tails attack was out of the way, I'd get started on my travel to the moon.

I just needed to decode Minato's Flying Thunder God and adjust it to myself. Then it was just a matter of getting something to the moon.

Things would start coming together within the next few years, I was close to acquiring the Tenseigan and could hardly wait.

...

"Why is there such a variety between the genes each child is getting, wouldn't it be better if they all get the best possible genes?" Minato slid the stack of paper across his desk and to me.

I grabbed it and tucked it under my arm.

"We are trying to create people who are strong and individual, not strong clones that are all the same." I held in the sigh that wanted to escape. "Different people will make different skills and will add variety to Konoha's arsenal."

It would have been better if I could enhance some Clan kids. The Hyuga finally pushing out some notable shinobi would be nice. Or even the Inuzuka, they could use some good genes.

"I'm trying to create diversity by giving them each different strength's, it's better to have different and unpredictable ninja then it is to have one-hundred of the same." Or at least that was my thought.

One-hundred Raikage-level ninja would be nice but it was nearly an impossibility anyway. Most wouldn't have the will to train enough to get past Kage-level even if they had everything the Raikage had.

"How many aspiring mothers do we have anyway?" The more we had the more ninja Minato would get.

Minato's face momentarily shifted into a frown, dimming my hopes.

"Twenty." I stared blankly at him. I was unsurprised but disappointed.

It wasn't enough, especially if they weren't ninja families.

"Are they at least from ninja families?" If they were civilians, they wouldn't get the necessary training to become good. I might as well give up if that's the case.

"Yes, I reached out to ninja first." He nodded and I exhaled in relief.

At least then they'd have a head-start and expectations on what they were getting into. Hopefully, that would keep then in the ninja program.

"That's good but not enough." Bluntness was always the best approach. "Ask ninja who are infertile if they want to raise a kid. Or even order some ninja to have children."

Minato blinked at me.

"Keep finding people. We need fifty ninja-raised kids." Fifty ninjas of Kage caliber was a dream come true for any village, but I didn't think Minato would be able to find that many.

Nor did I think all of them would live to become Kage-level. At best we would have ten or so by the time this batch of kids grew up.

"The idea is to have them at least spread their genes. Even if they aren't strong, their kids will have the chance to be."

I wanted to slip some clan DNA in there too. A few Uchiha or Hyuga not born in the clan would benefit the village.

Especially if their eyes didn't match the typical Hyuga or Uchiha coloring.

"Any luck on acquiring bloodlines from the other villages?" Minato nodded causing my spirits to lift.

I wanted some more bloodlines but was too lazy to chase them down. After all, why couldn't I make Minato get them for me?

"Mud Release and Explosion Release was all we were able to acquire." I blinked, feeling underwhelmed.

I was hoping for something like Swift Release. Or something interesting like Steel Release. It was a letdown, I had expected more.

"Neither of those are worth using." Though Explosion Release had its charm.

Said charm being possible self-detonation.

"It might just be better if I gave everyone two or more affinities." It was easy to grant someone a bloodline before birth, it was after their childhood where there were problems. "I'll see what I can come up with though."

I felt like I was wasting an opportunity by not making some children with bloodlines.

"It seems I need to do some more work." Minato hunched over his desk and steepled his fingers together.

I shook my head. I was ok with other people knowing about what we were doing. Minato wanted to keep it a secret.

"Orochimaru already knows what we're doing, so it's not all that hidden." Minato's eyes widened slightly before quickly returning to normal. "Get someone else to do some of the work, it's not a secret anyway..."

I trailed off as I realized how much work it would be to create twenty super children. It would eat up a good portion of my time unless I let a bunch of clones do the work for me.

Which sound good in my head but was usually bad in practice. Clones weren't always sane, or well-intentioned.

"We can talk more about it later when we have more willing mothers."

Minato rested his head on a palm, looking tired.

"I'll contact you soon." Minato lazily shooed me away with his palm, not at all acting like the Kage he was.

I bowed and retreated from the room, with thoughts of super children on my mind. I wanted Konoha to be better off then it was in canon, though it might already be.

Time would tell if what I was doing was working, I had a lot of hope that it would.

...

As much as I liked Aomi I still didn't trust her. She was one of the first to get her mind read after I was sufficiently confident in using the technique.

She wasn't a traitor, just an ass kisser. By answering the Hokage's she hoped to gain his favor or at least make a good impression.

It was annoying, but not traitorous. She wasn't working against me, nor was she trying to hinder any of my progress.

I couldn't murder her for wanting to curry favor. I still liked her too much to distance myself. So, things would continue as they were.

"Not bad." I lied, shamelessly. Aomi had butchered the DNA she was working on, rendering it unusable.

Aomi had gotten excited or nervous and ruined a lot of the DNA she was working on. She was slowly getting better, just not fast enough for my preferences.

"I panicked and mushed it..." Aomi looked down at her feet.

I shrugged not seeing the problem. The DNA wasn't valuable nor was I expecting her to do it perfectly.

"You had the gene in the right place, you just panicked when you were linking it back together." Emotions affected chakra, Aomi likely got excited or panicked. "It's just repetition from now on, soon you'll be good enough to work on your own projects."

I was generous when it came to teaching Aomi. She probably got more access to information then I did when learning under Orochimaru.

"You still need to spend a lot more time on Fuinjutsu though." Aomi really wanted to get into DNA manipulation. She felt she was missing her chance to improve herself.

She was right. The longer she took the less she would gain from messing with her DNA. The body wasn't as malleable after a certain age.

"Fuinjutsu is almost half of what's required to edit DNA. I can't be making the seals for you, you need to learn to do them yourself."

Aomi nodded seriously.

Yawn* I threw my head back and yawned loudly, not bothering to cover my mouth.

"I think I'm done for the day." I stepped away from the mess of seals that occupied the table. "Feel free to continue, there's plenty of seals in the cupboards."

Aomi nodded and stifled a yawn of her own. I smiled in amusement and made my way to the stairs.

"On second thought, come eat." I turned and waved Aomi over. "We can get some take out."

Aomi had been down here with me for the last eight or so hours. She could use something to eat.

"Sure." Aomi nodded and jogged to join me at the stares.

I stopped myself from yawning and made my way up the stairs with Aomi in tow.

I had some more Fuinjutsu practice with Kushina this evening. Though I wasn't feeling up to it at the moment.

...

My life into a comfortable routine and I had many friends, it was more then I expected from my post-war life.

Nobody was trying to bother me nor was anyone plotting against me. Life was ideal as far as I was concerned.

"Wouldn't it be easier to make existing children genetically stronger? Why go through the effort when you can already modify existing and known children?"

Minato threw the idea out, breaking the silence that had befallen the office.

"I guess we don't even need to make that many new children." I eventually decided. "We can do lots of testing to see if their mentality is stable, and their fit for duty before we give them the ability to reach Kage level."

Making talented but genetically weak children stronger was probably the best way to do it. It was a better idea then what I had come up with.

"I guess this is why scientists gather and discuss their plans." I said to buy myself some time to think. "What's obvious to one might not be obvious to another."

I'd have to a little less 'rough' with older children, but that was fine. A bunch of little gene edits was faster anyways.

"We could also 'sponsor' talented children from civilian families and have them receive group training. It would make their strength explainable."

I nodded, not paying attention. It sounded more like a Minato problem and wasn't something I would have any say on.

"Think about genetically modifying the Inuzuka's dogs, the Inuzuka could use a leg up." Minato nodded but it looked non-committal.

Minato wanted me to stay away from modifying the clan's bloodlines. I felt the same way but for different reasons.

I didn't want to make anyone stronger than myself. It wasn't something I worried about before, but now it was on my mind.

After all, who wanted to be killed by their own creations?

"Alright, let's do some of both. We make some super children and enhance those who are talented but lack potential."

Minato nodded and I bowed before leaving.

This was becoming more work then I wanted. But at least, Konoha would be stronger when it was done.

It would just take a few years to bear fruit...

...

"So, this is the little guy eh?" I bounced mini Keiji on my knee while noting the similarities between the two. He got Keiji's looks and facial structure, but he had his mother's blond hair.

"Are you sure you want him enhanced?" I asked for what was probably the tenth time.

Keiji nodded easily and without much emotion.

"Either he gets strong and lives a long life or he dies a young prodigy." Keiji paused and scratched his beard. "I want my child to be great, not another name carved into the monuments."

I nodded, half paying attrition. I was more focused on the baby who was currently trying to stick my finger into his mouth.

"Kids who are modified will be pretty much forced into ninja-hood, by doing this you are taking away the choice from your child."

Keiji rolled his eyes not looking bothered.

"If he decided to be a baker, I'd beat the love of pastry's out of him anyways." Keiji smirked. "He can become whatever he wants when he's stronger than me anyway."

I nodded and let some plans roll around in my mind for a moment. Keiji named his son Eijiro, in some delusional hope that the name would grant him some power.

'Sharp Newborn Son' was a funny name when translated literally. Sharp was probably exactly what Keiji wanted his child to be.

"I'll have your child be the last in line, I'll have enough experience to not mess up by then." Not that there would be any messing up.

I was pretty good at doing things right on the first try.

"Thanks, brat." Keiji didn't know what to do and settled for a thankful nod.

I nodded back and handed him the baby.

"Alright, I'll keep in touch."

I gave him a cheery wave and Shunshined away, not wanting to say goodbye.

...

There was a noticeable lack of combat, death, blood, and gore in my life lately. It filled me with a vague dissatisfaction and longing for the 'good old days' where I got into heart-pounding fights near daily.

The fight's now days didn't make my heart pound like they used to. Not that most of the engagements could be called fights, they usually turned into a chase of some kind when my enemies fled.

"So, she's moving in then?" Mom and been trying to broach the topic for the last week or so.

I had been busy training and getting ready to create my 'super children' and hadn't been around. So, she decided to corner me in my lab while I enjoyed my lunch and daydreamed about the good old days.

"Yes, but only if you're comfortable with it..." She trailed off and looked away as my eyes narrowed on her.

Not because I was angry or anything. I was just weirded out that I had a choice in the matter. It was frankly more courtesy then I expected to get from someone.

"Yes, that's fine. I just need to get used to being dressed in the house." Walking around the house wearing nothing but boxers might be a thing of the past...

Mom snickered and stared off becoming lost in thought for a moment.

"You'll need to take clothes to and from the shower too, no more running to your room naked."

I didn't blush but it was a near thing.

"I will." I promised. Both for my dignity and in the hopes that I wouldn't scare Asano off with my frequent nakedness. "I'll stay as dressed as I can."

I wouldn't want to chase away mom my somewhat likable future step-mother.

"How are we on groceries?" I opted to change the topic to something less embarrassing.

Mom blinked with a knowing look.

"Good, we just need some eggs if you are out and feel bored."

I nodded easily and we drifted into a comfortable silence. I went back to eating and mom hovered around the lab looking at my projects with minor interest.

...

Konoha's clans mainly taught their Hidens by elder members of their clans through speech or oral means. The Hidens were never writing down, preventing them from being stolen but also causing the clans to lose some of their Hidens during times of great strife.

Most Hidens were rooted in Yin or Yang Release and thus were hard to learn without the required affinity or body type.

The Akimichi, Nara, and Yamanaka were prime examples. They didn't have bloodlines, but bodies that were adapted over generations that enables them to use their Hidens to great effect.

But if someone else had the required chakra type then learning the Hiden was easy. Hence why the clans never wrote down their Hidens.

I was trying to track down and corner Chōza so I could read his mind and find out about the Akimichi clan's juicy knowledge on Yang Release.

I hadn't had luck in the past week, but I'd keep trying. I wanted the knowledge very badly.

"Found it!" The clone pushed his notebook into my face, showing me what work he had been doing with the Hyuga DNA.

He was looking for the reason that the Hyuga were limited in terms of Jutsu. It turned out to be genetics, which was exactly what I expected.

"It's a mix of our ancestors not using ninjutsu and some weird mutation in our chakra density." I nodded, in understanding.

The Hyuga gained the ability to block chakra points but lost the ability to use Ninjutsu. The trait bred true through the generations and eventually, the Hyuga could no longer use Ninjutsu as effectively as their fellow ninja even if they didn't have said gene.

"It's a mix of genes and disuse of Ninjutsu." The more I used Ninjutsu the more range I seemed to have. So maybe I was awakening dormant genes, through my Ninjutsu use? "It's lucky that had a very mild version of the gene."

Which was a mutation, from mom's family. Lucky me, I guess.

"So, I probably don't have to do anything, just keep using Ninjutsu then?" My clone nodded in the affirmative and snapped the notebook shut.

He waved the closed notebook in my face.

"Or you can just get throw some DNA together and increase your range artificially." I pushed the notebook out of my face and scowled at the clone.

Why did he always want to resort to DNA manipulation?

"Stop trying to push unneeded Overwrites on me." I made my way to the stairs, to get away the clone.

I shook my head and bounded up the stairs in a few steps.

Creepy clone always wanted to mess with my DNA...

...