"I understand that you, Father, and Minato have made this decision for the sake of the village," Mikoto said quietly, her voice carrying resigned acceptance despite the pain evident in her eyes. "I know the reasoning behind it, and I support the necessity of protecting Konoha above all else."
She nodded slowly, but the weight of maternal concern was impossible to hide. Sasuke was her child—her youngest son—and the thought of what lay ahead for him filled her heart with an ache that no amount of logical understanding could ease.
"There is no alternative path available to us," Fugaku replied, his tone heavy with the burden of leadership and the terrible choices it demanded. "As someone who has awakened the Sharingan, you understand better than most the conditions required for its evolution."
His words carried a deeper meaning that both parents understood all too well. The Sharingan was indeed a source of tremendous power for the Uchiha clan, but that strength came at a price that was almost too terrible to contemplate. Every advancement in their ocular abilities, every increase in their capabilities, was purchased with deeper sorrow and more profound loss. The more powerful an Uchiha became, the more tragedy they had inevitably witnessed and endured.
Mikoto's gaze drifted involuntarily to Itachi, and she felt her heart clench with worry. Ever since the devastating attack on Konoha several months earlier, she had noticed subtle but significant changes in her elder son's demeanor and behavior. There was something different in his eyes—a depth of pain and knowledge that hadn't been there before.
As his mother, Mikoto knew Itachi better than anyone else in the world. Beneath his composed exterior and tactical brilliance, he possessed a heart that was kinder and more compassionate than most people ever realized. It was precisely this empathy and love for others that had triggered the awakening of his Mangekyō Sharingan on that terrible day when Nagato's assault had claimed so many innocent lives.
The conditions for awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan were brutally specific—witnessing the death of someone close to you, someone you genuinely cared about, while being powerless to prevent their loss. The intense emotional trauma and overwhelming grief generated by such an experience would sometimes catalyze the evolution of the Sharingan into its most powerful form.
For Itachi, whose compassionate nature allowed him to view every person in Konoha as a friend, companion, or family member, that day of carnage had provided more than enough emotional trauma to trigger his advancement. The knowledge that his son had suffered such profound psychological damage for the sake of gaining power filled Mikoto with a mixture of pride and heartbreak.
Late that evening, while most of Konoha slept peacefully in their rebuilt homes, the lights in Konoha Hospital burned brightly. The medical facility had been among the first buildings prioritized for complete restoration, and its laboratories now boasted equipment that was even more advanced than what had been destroyed in the attack.
In one of the hospital's most secure research laboratories, Tsunade worked alone under the harsh glare of fluorescent lighting. The white object that Minato had recovered from Nagato's body lay before her, subjected to every analytical technique and diagnostic procedure she could devise.
Before her sat a complex instrument array, its multiple screens flickering with rapidly scrolling data as sophisticated analysis programs compared genetic sequences and molecular structures. Tsunade stared intently at the displays, her legendary medical expertise allowing her to interpret the complex information as it processed.
Finally, after hours of meticulous analysis, the comparison results appeared on the main screen. When Tsunade read the data, her face went pale with shock and disbelief.
"How is this possible?" she whispered, her voice barely audible in the sterile laboratory environment.
Refusing to trust such an extraordinary result without verification, she immediately began the analysis procedure again, double-checking every parameter and setting to ensure no errors had occurred. The second test would either confirm her initial findings or reveal some mistake in her methodology.
When the results of the second analysis appeared—identical to the first in every detail—Tsunade's hands began to tremble with the implications of what she had discovered.
After taking a few moments to compose herself and verify her findings one final time, she moved quickly to the laboratory door. Outside, two Konoha ninja maintained their vigilant watch, stationed there by Minato's direct orders to ensure immediate communication when results became available.
"Inform the Hokage immediately," Tsunade commanded, her voice carrying an urgency that made both guards straighten to attention. "Tell him to come to Konoha Hospital right away. This cannot wait until morning."
Minato arrived at the hospital with remarkable speed, having recognized the significance of Tsunade's urgent summons. He strode quickly through the corridors and entered the laboratory, carefully closing the door behind him to ensure their privacy. Moving to stand behind Tsunade, who was organizing her findings into a comprehensive report, he waited for her explanation.
"Tsunade-sama, have the analysis results been completed?" Minato asked, though the tension in the legendary medic's posture already suggested that her discoveries had been both significant and disturbing.
Without speaking, Tsunade turned and handed him the detailed report she had prepared. The document contained not only the raw data from her analysis but also her professional interpretation of its implications.
Minato began reading the report carefully, his expression growing increasingly grave as he processed the information. When he reached the critical findings, his face showed visible shock and concern.
"The white substance covering Nagato and his companions... it's actually..." he began, his voice trailing off as the full implications became clear.
Tsunade nodded grimly, her expression reflecting the weight of her discovery. "According to the DNA comparison results, the genetic material of this white substance matches perfectly with the data my grandfather left in the village's secure databases."
Despite the destruction that Nagato's attack had inflicted on Konoha, critical information like genetic records had been preserved through special protection protocols and backup storage systems.
"What you're telling me," Minato said slowly, ensuring he understood the full scope of the revelation, "is that this white substance is some kind of artificial life form that our enemies have cultivated using your grandfather's cellular material."
The profound shock in Tsunade's voice was still evident as she confirmed his understanding. "I never imagined that the enemy's power would be derived from my own grandfather's legacy. They're using cells from the First Hokage—Senju Hashirama himself."
The implications were staggering. The legendary power that had defined the First Hokage's abilities, the Wood Release techniques that had been unique to him alone, the cellular regeneration that had made him nearly invincible in battle—all of this was apparently being exploited by their mysterious enemies.
"Where could they possibly have obtained such material?" Tsunade demanded, her voice rising with anger and indignation. "Using my grandfather's cells for such purposes is not just a tactical threat—it's desecration of the dead, a violation of everything he stood for."
Her confusion was as great as her outrage. The First Hokage's remains had been handled personally by Uzumaki Mito after his death, and the location of his burial had been kept secret even from his own family members. Not even Tsunade herself or the Third Hokage knew where Hashirama's body lay at rest.
Initially, Tsunade had suspected Orochimaru might be responsible for such research, given his known expertise in forbidden biological experimentation. However, the timeline didn't support this theory. Both the masked man and Nagato had already been utilizing these white creatures during their attack more than a decade earlier, when Orochimaru's research capabilities were far less advanced.
Minato's expression darkened as he contemplated the implications. The First Hokage had been the founder of their village, the embodiment of Konoha's ideals and values. Any individual or organization that would desecrate his memory and exploit his power for destructive purposes represented an enemy that Konoha could never tolerate.
The reality was that Hashirama had been dead for decades. The only conceivable way to obtain his genetic material would be through direct access to his remains. But even the people of Konoha had no knowledge of how Mito had chosen to handle her husband's body after his death.
"Unless..." Minato said suddenly, his voice carrying a note of terrible realization as a new possibility occurred to him.
He had long been puzzled by certain aspects of the historical conflict between Hashirama and Uchiha Madara. If Madara's goal had truly been the complete destruction of Konoha, his tactical approach during their final confrontation had been surprisingly inefficient.
Rather than attacking the village directly and forcing Hashirama to divide his attention between combat and protecting civilians—a strategy that would have given Madara significant tactical advantages—he had chosen to face the First Hokage in single combat at the Valley of the End.
While it was possible to explain this choice as a matter of pride or honor—Madara demanding a fair fight to settle their philosophical differences—such reasoning seemed inconsistent with what Minato had learned about Madara's character and methods.
From everything he had discovered about the legendary Uchiha, Madara was a pragmatist who planned carefully and thought strategically. His actions always served larger purposes, often involving the nine tailed beasts and the secrets hidden within the Uchiha clan's Nanga Shrine.
The information Minato had gathered from the Second Hokage, Third Hokage, and Tsunade all pointed toward some connection between Madara's ultimate goals and the power of the Senju clan.
"Could it be possible," Minato whispered, his voice heavy with the implications of his theory, "that during the battle at the Valley of the End, Madara's objective wasn't simply to defeat the First Hokage in combat?"
He paused, allowing the terrible possibility to crystallize in his mind before voicing it aloud. "What if his real goal was to obtain samples of Hashirama's power during that final battle?"
The hypothesis was shocking in its implications. Madara's strength during that era had been sufficient to dominate the entire ninja world, with only Hashirama standing as his equal. If someone could successfully combine the legendary powers of both the Uchiha and Senju clans, integrating the Sharingan's abilities with the First Hokage's Wood Release and cellular regeneration...
Minato's recent battle with the complete Susanoo had given him firsthand experience of the incredible level of power that Madara and Hashirama had achieved. The thought of those abilities being combined into a single individual was almost incomprehensible.
"If that's truly the case," Minato continued, his voice growing more troubled with each word, "and if Madara actually survived that battle and successfully integrated Hashirama's cellular material into himself, then why has he been operating from the shadows all these years? With that kind of power, he could have emerged at any time and reshaped the world according to his vision."
The question hung in the air like a dark cloud, suggesting that their enemies' ultimate plan might be far more complex and dangerous than anything they had previously imagined. If Madara truly possessed the combined might of both legendary figures, his continued secrecy implied that he was working toward something even more ambitious than simple conquest or revenge.
Whatever that ultimate objective might be, Minato realized with growing certainty that it would threaten not just Konoha, but potentially the entire world.
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