Ch. 27: Timeskip
It had been four years since his mission in Kusa, where he teamed up with a Root Agent, an Anbu and two civilian Jounin.
If he was not a part of the joke, he would've laughed at the setup of the gag. An Anbu, A Root Agent, Two Jounin and an Orphan walked into a bar!
But, given the success of the mission and the cohesive team work, Hokage had pulled the Root Agent and Anbu from their respective corps and made the five of them the new Team Seven.
The previous team seven had faced off the God of Shinobi Ame no Hanzo and lived to tell the tale.
In return the team of Tsunade Senju, Jiraiya and Orochimaru was now dubbed as the Sannin. Their fame and adoration was well earned, as they saw their futile effort against Hanzo as a motivation to push harder and become better.
For Tsunade, it meant to counter any and all poison so that never again would she suffocate when toxic fumes from Hanzo's breath were released in her face. She had earned herself the title of the Greatest Iryo-nin as she could seemingly heal any and all injuries no matter how critical or fatal they are.
For Orochimaru, he worked hardest with his summons and his side along experiments as he delved deeper into forbidden rituals and Kinjutsu which offered power but at a cost. He had also earned himself the name of the Snake of the Grass when he slaughtered sixty Suna ninja with his summons by himself.
He was responsible for Suna to halt their encroachment into Konoha's territories, and with Tsunade countering Suna's poisons, they had signed an armstice and allowed Konoha a breathing space as the war on Kumo and Kiri front was beginning to pick up.
Jiraiya, to his credit after a brief respite with the Ame orphans, had began to exclusively work with the merchants and other tradesmen to establish a comprehensive spy network to exchange information.
And he had succeeded, as he had established himself as the prime source of intelligence for the village.
For Arashi, this put things in perspective. He had a rough timeline to work with, as there were too many overlapping and self contradicting information on the anime and in the manga.
But now that Hanzo had dubbed the trio as Sannin, Arashi had a working timeline to finally act.
His first act of truly affecting this world on a significant scale was when he used genjutsu on Chunin Administrator who handed the mission report which sent the Sannin to Ame.
He had followed from afar, as he knew the trio and Hanzo in particular were excellent shinobi and very capable sensors. He waited for the three to fail, then for Hanzo to christen them and allow them to retreat.
As they came across the Ame Orphans, he saw that Orochimaru wanted to put the orphans down as life would be a misery for the three in this war torn region.
But Jiraiya wanted to care for the children and he set the children down in a shack and began to care for them. He saw as the three children were taught the art of ninjutsu and they had soaked up the lessons like a dry sponge.
After Jiraiya left the three to their life, and left for the village, Arashi looked down at the Clay Gourd which was layered with multiple seals and bindings.
It held Black Zetsu which was Arashi's prime objective as he waited for the puppeteer of the world's conflict come to keep an eye on the Rinnegan.
Flashback
Arashi was somewhat doubtful if he could sense the chakra from Black Zetsu, and found that he couldn't. He knew that Madara and to some extent, Black Zetsu itself wanted to keep an eye on Nagato, as he was a lynchpin to their plans. So Arashi had waited discretely hoping to not spook the zetsu before he was dealt with.
But Arashi was surprised, when he could sense the White Zetsu to which Black Zetsu had attached, and quickly deploying barrier ninjutsu, trapped the White Zetsu and the Black Blob that had separated from the White Zetsu which had a Venus Flytrap on its shoulders.
"Let us go, Uchiha. We are not enemies, there is no need to hold us prisoner. We could aid you if you want to grow strong." The Black Blob spoke in a defenseless tone.
Arashi for didn't bother replying, and instead activated his Mangekyo Sharingan. With that, he saw that Black Zetsu was merely a blob of chakra given form, just like a Bijuu. But it had miniscule chakra as it was merely a parasite.
Not answering to the treacherous mastermind of the Naruto World, Arashi brought out his master stroke, the Gourd which was layered with strong and capable seals which was based on the Container of Shukaku before he was sealed into a Jinchuriki.
The Gourd was designed to withstand chakra corruption and attacks, and it was capable of containing chakra as large as six tails'.
When he saw the blob get sealed inside the Gourd, he had relaxed and shot a kunai through the White Zetsu Clone. Storing the body for later purposes, Arashi waited for Jiraiya to leave.
Flashback ends
When he saw that Jiraiya bade farewell to the orphans, he wondered about the gross discrepancies with the plot.
The fight with Hanzo, Nagato being manipulated by Obito all happened as if it was happening consecutively. But Minato wasn't yet a student of Jiraiya, and Obito must not have even been born.
Thus what was confusing to Arashi as quietly arranged the events roughly, he realised that Ame Orphans take some time before facing Hanzo, but it couldn't have happened for a decade or so. Given that the Obito plot won't come until he is crushed under the boulder, Arashi wondered what the heck Ame Orphans were doing for so long.
Their regrouping of various ninja to fight for peace took too goddamn long for Hanzo to notice!
But that is secondary to the Age difference between Nagato and Obito.
But putting those thoughts aside, he waited for Konan to go to the river to fill water, and Yahiko to hunt for something and forage for fruits and vegetables.
Nagato meanwhile waited for them as he cleaned the house and the shed.
Arashi quickly snooped behind the boy, jabbed his senbon in Nagato's neck and watched listlessly as the boy collapsed.
Using a special syringe, he extracted the DNA sample from Rinnegan and used his Healing chakra to heal any damage to the optic nerve due to his invasive sampling.
Quickly injecting the antidote, Arashi put a sack of fruits and vegetables as well as fresh meat and some other necessities for the three children as a thank you by the side.
Satisfied with a job well done, Arashi looked for the other key aspect of his current "vacation". He had to find Madara Uchiha's layer, and gain as much as possible under his tutelage.
The war had all but come to end, as Konoha dominated its war with Suna, Iwa and Kiri. Kumo was an outlier who had to deal with their Raikage facing the 10000 Iwa shinobi and crushing them into utter defeat. But in return, the heroic Third Raikage died due to succumbing to his innumerable wounds and injuries.
That had made Kumo withdraw from their war as the Sandaime Raikage was seen as an undefeatable man. His ultimate offense and his ultimate defense made him an unstoppable man in war. And Iwa losing almost all its 10000 shinobi had made Iwa recoil back from the war.
Kiri had faced with Iwa too, and had lost their Mizukage who hailed from the Hozuki clan. This made Kiri withdraw from war with Iwa, but also strengthened their attempt at subterfuge as they mounted a large scale offensive at Land Of Whirpool.
But after losing three of their Seven Ninja Swordsmen to Sakumo Hatake, who relished in taking Kiba, Himakirei and Nuibari from their cold dead hands, Kiri tried to send a force to Konoha to attack the village and retrieve their swords.
But sadly, their pathetic attempt was for naught as Orochimaru was sent to the scene and he quickly had five of the thirty shinobi run back to their village with the corpses of the remaining four ninja swordsmen and their swords. Orochimaru haf already found his Kusanagi and had no need for the unwieldy swords which he was told to let go, to prevent Kiri's retaliation.
But Konoha 'retaliated', by sending the new Team Seven who met with Sakumo and assassinated Daimyo of the Land of Water, set fire to Nobles' houses, infiltrated Kiri and slaughtered the elders of the village. Their bodies were chopped and blood sprayed on the walls as a subtle message.
The next day Kiri retreated from the war, as the Mizukage was forced to step down by the highly influential Clan Councils.
The end of war meant a lot of paperwork and bureaucratic paper pushing, made somewhat easy by Arashi's new system to prioritize information.
Never again would the Hokage have to look at civilian's request to open a tea house in the Merchant District and wonder why must such a small thing be brought to his attention for approval. Or why the request from some two-bit upstart Merchant to redevelop 'One of the many unnecessary unused patch of land' others call TRAINING GROUNDS into 'Entertainment House' (a polite legal term for a brothel) to allow relief to tiring Ninja. He had sent his missive to Danzo to take care of the pest and appropriate his possessions to 'redevelop' the Training Ground Three for advanced training for Chunins and above. A fitting punishment for the arrogant cunt, who was recently found to be selling information to Takigakure in exchange for a shipment of young girls for his chain of brothels.
Now Hokage found himself with plenty of time to manage his work competently, and even decided to hold personal meetings with every Shinobi Clan in the village to get to know his people and their concerns better.
This personal time for clan meetings allowed Sandaime Hokage to inspect the clans and take note of their promising shinobi while scouting for potential recruits for various specialised tactical groups he wanted to create.
Arashi had been a capable planner and his plans had made the Shinobi Council wonder how he would manage the village when he becomes the Hokage.
There was absolutely no doubt that despite his age, Arashi was seen as a prime Hokage candidate. Danzo had backed the boy, despite his previous misgivings about his Uchiha origin.
Despite what some might think, Danzo Shimura lived and wished to die for the village. He was the most loyal and fanatic follower of Tobirama Senju. His shady under the table dealings and his work in the shadows had always been to improve the strength and prestige of his village. And to have such a man support the Uchiha, many saw it as a new dawn of an era, when an Uchiha could claim the seat of Hokage, they have desired for far too long.
Besides, there were equally competent other candidates like Sakumo Hatake, who despite his slight loss of popularity due to the failure where he chose his teammates over his mission, it was surprisingly Arashi who spoke for the S-Rank ninja and changed the view of the people with his impassioned speech.
"We are all shinobi of the Leaf. Konoha is our home, our comrades our family. Mission is important, clients are critical to our way of life. But nobody comes first than my family. I am an orphan, and with kindness and mercy, I was allowed to call this village my home. And I shall do whatever I can to keep my family, if not in blood then in bond, safe from anyone who means harm. If doing that, I fail a mission, then all is accepted, as long as my family is safe!"
Still remembering the speech from a surprisingly vocal Arashi, Hokage couldn't stop but be thankful to Kami that the future of his village was secure when there were so many talented shinobi burning brightly with their Will of Fire.
His own students the Sannin had earned themselves new heights as they were spoken of with fanatic glory. And he wasn't worried as Arashi was only sixteen years old now. He had a lot of time to prove himself and perhaps in time others like him would rise to raise their villages to unseen heights.
But as he sat with a stoic Hyuga clan who showed the results of Arashi's secret correspondence with the clan who wielded Byakugan, he saw the effect of his work, as the Caged Bird Seal was removed from use as it was useless against someone stealing the eye from an alive but incapacitated man.
The new seal however, sealed the eye and also released a dose of nature energy into the enemy who tries to transplant the eye. The sudden burst of Nature Energy was seen to have deadly effects on people as exhibited by the petrified face of the test subject in front of him.
"This is an ingenious seal, Hokage-sama. Even if we cannot remove the existing seal formula of Caged Bird Seal imprinted on the branch members, we can already imprint the new seal all too easily. And since it has no controlling aspect, we even imprinted the seal on the Main Branch Member after extensive testing." Hearing the gleeful praise, Sandaime had to nod in agreement. With this new seal the power imbalance in the clan would be restored and the Branch Family would rise to more than mere slaves and pets of the Main Family.
"I think so too, but I must ask. How are the elders of the clan responding to this news?" He wondered, as petty old fools tend to stubbornly hold onto their source of power.
"They had no basis to stand on, when Arashi-san extracted the eye from two volunteers from the branch clan and then interchanged their eyes after the transplant. A few dissidents needly to be dealt with a firmer hand, but the elders have no say, when it could protect our clan secrets."
With a sigh, Hokage nodded and enjoyed his tea, as he wondered if he could just hand the hat over and enjoy his time with his dear wife.
All of it was of no concern to Arashi as he stood outside the cave, where he knew Madara was hiding!
He had informed his mother who was hale and hearty even after such a long life, and now that Arashi had begun injecting her small doses of Senjutsu chakra made potent by a small amount of Hashirama's Chakra and DNA.
He saw his mother had also tied up the seal which held the fox to her body and allowed the Kyubi's chakra to flow through her veins.
She was an insanely competent seal master and now that he would not need worry about her long life catching up to her, and no immediate war on the horizon, Arashi had asked for an indeterminate period of leave.
He had of course entrusted his mother with his plans, and coaxed her to accept his decision.
Now as he saw the giant boulder shift as the stuffy cave opened to reveal a white humanoid with yellow eyes, Arashi smilef inwardly. 'This is going to be a mess or too much fun!'
The White Zetsu Clone gestured him in as he stood in front of the ridiculously massive Demonic Statue which had tethers going into the chair, where a decrepit man withered beyond age sat while his wrinkly hand rested on the armrest of the throne like chair.
"Who are you Sir?" asked Arashi as he looked at the man. The man was a dangerous opponent in all aspects, and lying and treachery would be nigh useless.
He heard a chuckle as he glanced at the young man who stood before him. "I sense blood of Uchiha in you. And it has been a while since I saw someone use armour like that."
He looked at the young man, who could very well pass off as his son.
"I don't know. Flak Jackets are stupid. They can't protect from Kunai or Shuriken and are cumbersome than necessary. Plated Armour on the other hand, can protect from explosive shrapnels and smaller jutsu. They take time getting use to their weight, but they are well worth the effort."
Arashi spoke as he looked at the man, holding his gaze.
"I know young Uchiha, I wore something similar myself. Why, I am impressed you were able to see such an overlooked detail. But enough about trivialties, tell me how did you come to this place?" The old man asked curiously as he knew the cave was very well hidden. It was sensing the Sharingan in the other person that made Madara order the Zetsu clone to open the cave.
"Well, I was on a mission nearby, I wanted to look around and see the place as it was too deserted. I walked for quite some time, before I felt something from the cave. I felt the same way when I was in Uchiha District, so I assumed someone from Uchiha clan would be needing my help. So I came closer."
The Old man sighed. "It has been a while since I saw another face. Must be fate that the first person I meet in decades would be an Uchiha. And that too someone, who looks like me, uses a Gunbai like me, and prefers to fight in Plated Armours."
Arashi asked curiously. "What are you talking about old man? Who are you?"
The Old man seemed to have ignored the question, as he asked instead. "Tell me young Uchiha, how far have your eyes evolved? Have you awoken your Sharingan?"
Arashi had instantly recognised the ploy, and knew how to answer to this seemingly innocent question. "I have awakened Mangekyo Sharingan Old Man."
Madara seemed to be pleased, as he knew that anyone who has awaken their Mangekyo Sharingan at such a young age would truly hate this world.
"Tell me young Uchiha, What do you think of this world?"
Recognising the question as the Make or Break it was, Arashi vlosed his eyes to allow him to recollect all the negative memories of his life. He had to lie to Madara Uchiha and convince him of his convictions.
He could not stumble at this critical juncture, as even though he looked decrepit, Madara is to never be underestimated.
Thinking of his life before he met his mother, the constant fear of losing her, the dread he felt when he thought his mother would join the Uzumaki to defend her home, the feeling of helplessness, when he failed to achieve his plans.
Bringing it all to his forefront, Arashi looked at Madara with a stare that would make a grown man piss himself.
In the darkness of the cave, Arashi's eyes shone bright like a light as he looked at the old man with his Mangekyo Sharingan. "This world is hell. I want to wake up from this nightmare, and hope this is all a really bad dream."
His words seemed to please Madara as he gestured Arashi to come closer. "I am pleased someone so young realises how rotten this world is. Young Uchiha," the Old Man smiled as he looked back with his hard stare pronounced by his own Mangekyo Sharingan activated, "I am Madara Uchiha, and I have waited for someone like you for a very long time. I hope that after our talk, I have passed on from this decrepit husk, and you have taken my name and my mantel and my knowledge to bring about the plan to escape this hell."
Smiling inwardly, Arashi grinned as his canines shone through."When do we start?"
I plan to end the Naruto arc in a few chapters and make a new fic which has the new world in it. It will act as a second book to this fic, and I can revisit this fic if I gather enough muse to work on it.