The rampage of a tailed beast was supposed to be a dire crisis—but right now, Hyuga Satoru and Shisui were chatting and laughing together, completely at ease. Not a trace of tension could be felt from either of them.
Even Yamato, who had nearly been torn apart by Kushina moments ago, had his nerves soothed by their calm demeanor. His fear seemed to melt away.
When Jiraiya and Kushina finally finished talking and walked over, everyone stopped their casual post-battle discussion. Seeing that Kushina had regained her energy, Satoru smiled and asked:
"Teacher Kushina, you're fully awake now? Do you plan to continue trying to control the Four-Tails' power?"
His question made Kushina and Jiraiya exchange a look. Kushina's confidence wavered. After the Four-Tails' chakra had completely erupted earlier, her mind had been overwhelmed with hatred and bloodlust. That power… was far beyond what her current will could restrain.
As the "leader" of this training mission, Kushina's progress was fully overseen by Jiraiya—Minato's trust in him was absolute. Yet upon hearing Satoru's words, even Jiraiya fell silent.
The problem, above all, was risk. Jiraiya wasn't someone who acted recklessly. Even in the original timeline, when he helped Naruto train to control the Nine-Tails, he had cut that training short after just one rampage.
That was why, even after two years away from the village, Naruto's basic skills had improved greatly, but his use of the Nine-Tails' chakra remained entirely passive.
Now, facing the same situation with Kushina's training, Jiraiya wouldn't rely on luck. Though no one had been hurt this time, that didn't mean he'd gamble again.
"Let's pause for now," he said at last. "Training can't be rushed."
"I've already contacted the Toad Sages of Mount Myoboku. It's time to begin the next stage—Sage Mode training."
"As for the Nine-Tails… we'll shelve that for the time being."
After some thought, Jiraiya voiced his decision. The whole purpose of mastering tailed beast power was to become stronger. Since they'd hit a wall there, shifting to Sage training made sense.
As a member of the Uzumaki clan, Kushina possessed immense chakra reserves. She had the perfect constitution for learning senjutsu. If she succeeded, her strength would rise dramatically.
Minato had never fully inherited Jiraiya's Sage abilities—if his wife could master them instead, all the better.
"Sage Mode, huh…"
Hearing them discuss it, Satoru's gaze flicked over with interest. One of the main reasons he'd joined this mission was precisely because of Sage Arts.
But… his relationship with Jiraiya wasn't yet close enough for him to just ask to be taught. Making such a request prematurely might even sour things between them.
So he quietly withdrew his gaze, choosing not to say or do anything presumptuous.
The opportunity to learn Sage Arts wasn't in Jiraiya's hands anyway—it lay with Kushina.
He and Kushina had a strong bond. He'd mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique thanks to her guidance, and during that process, she had also taught him quite a few sealing techniques.
In terms of connection, Satoru's ties with Kushina and the Minato couple ran very deep.
"Teacher Kushina, if you're going to Mount Myoboku to train in Sage Mode, should we disband for now?" he asked. "If it's Myoboku, I don't think we need to follow you there, right?"
If it was Sage training, there was no risk of another tailed beast rampage. And with sages like Fukasaku and Shima around, Kushina's safety was well assured.
Besides, Satoru had no desire to spend weeks eating bugs and flies in the mountains.
"Hmm…"
Jiraiya hesitated. Satoru and the others were outsiders, after all. And with Kushina having signed a summoning contract with the toads, bringing outsiders into Myoboku wasn't exactly appropriate.
But before Jiraiya could speak, Kushina cut in, protesting loudly:
"What?! No way! I'm not going to Mount Myoboku all by myself—that's way too boring!"
Clearly, she knew all too well what Myoboku was like. The moment she heard they'd be training there, her face had turned sour.
Before Satoru could react, Kushina zipped behind him, threw an arm around his neck, and declared, "You're coming with me!"
Then, in a whisper right beside his ear, she added, "Hey, Satoru—you're my favorite student! Your master's in trouble. You wouldn't abandon me, would you?"
Satoru's mouth twitched. "What kind of trouble could there possibly be at Mount Myoboku? With your strength, Kushina-sensei, you won't have to worry about the Nine-Tails going berserk there. I'm not seeing the 'trouble' part here."
But his logic did nothing to shake her resolve. Loosening her grip slightly, she whispered again:
"Come on~ accompany your teacher to Myoboku, and I'll keep teaching you sealing arts in your free time. I even got my hands on a new jutsu from Tsunade-nee recently. Maybe I'll teach you that too!"
Kushina's grip tightened again—half playful, half pleading. She didn't want to go through that hellish training alone. And more than that, having Satoru nearby gave her a sense of security.
After all, during her rampage earlier, it had been Satoru's intervention that prevented disaster. If anything went wrong again—even during Sage training—having him there as insurance was only prudent.
If worst came to worst, Satoru could use the Flying Thunder God to teleport the Nine-Tails elsewhere.
She was, in her own way, buying herself an insurance policy.
"Tsunade-sama's jutsu?" Satoru's eyes lit up. "Medical ninjutsu, perhaps?"
Because the Minato couple hadn't died in any Nine-Tails disaster, many things had changed. Though Tsunade spent most of her time outside the village, she still kept close contact with Kushina.
After all, Kushina had once lived under Uzumaki Mito's care—Mito being Tsunade's grandmother. The bond between them stretched back over a decade.
That was also why Tsunade cared so deeply for Naruto. He wasn't just a boy who resembled her late brother Nawaki—he was Kushina's son, her only remaining family in the world.
If that new jutsu really came from Tsunade… Satoru couldn't help but feel intrigued. How might Yang Release chakra enhance medical techniques?
"Interested, huh?" Kushina grinned. "Come to Myoboku, and I'll teach you!"
Just like that, Satoru was caught. Kushina knew her disciple well—she knew how much he yearned for strength.
Satisfied, she patted him on the shoulder and turned toward Jiraiya.
"Well then," Jiraiya said, glancing over the group, "we'll all go to Mount Myoboku."
Forming a hand seal, he linked their chakra together, signaling the toads for reverse summoning. With a puff of white smoke, everyone vanished.
Back in Konoha, inside the Hokage's office, a small messenger toad appeared on Minato's desk, spitting out a scroll before vanishing again.
Minato unrolled it, his expression tightening.
The training to control the tailed beast wasn't going well. Though Kushina was now heading to Myoboku to study Sage Arts, it wasn't the ideal path he'd hoped for her.
As he pondered her future, a knock came at the door.
"Come in," he called.
A masked Anbu with a death-god mask stepped silently into the room.
"Lord Hokage, we've nearly completed that investigation. Here's the report."
Minato's face darkened as he accepted the scroll and began to read. His expression grew heavier with each line.
"…Are you certain?" he asked quietly. "This really involves Orochimaru?"
"There's no mistake," the Anbu replied, voice low and strained. "We lost four comrades uncovering that laboratory. The intel they died to deliver is accurate."
Minato's blue eyes hardened. "Have you told the Third Hokage?"
"Not yet."
"Good." Minato rolled up the scroll and handed it back. "Deliver this to the Third. Tell him—"
He paused, his tone calm but cold.
"Tell him Orochimaru is his disciple. He should decide how to handle this himself."
The Anbu stiffened. Minato's gentle aura was gone, replaced by a suffocating pressure. Bowing deeply, the operative vanished in a blur.
In recent years, Kirigakure's actions had become more restrained. Ever since the Kaguya Clan's failed coup had been brutally suppressed, the borders had quieted.
And yet… Konoha's casualty reports from that front remained oddly high.
Four or five disappearances and deaths per day.
That was the same rate as during open conflict.
By contrast, the Cloud front—overseen by Shimura Danzo—looked completely normal, with only the occasional casualty every few weeks.
The disparity immediately caught Minato's eye.
He was a veteran of the battlefield and trusted his instincts. Those reports weren't normal.
So he'd dispatched Anbu to investigate—who soon discovered an underground lab near the border. Inside, they'd found clear signs of human experimentation.
When they finally saw the lab's master in person—Orochimaru—they were discovered, and most of them perished just to send word home.
But they succeeded.
Orochimaru's research spanned many forbidden arts—Hashirama's cells, the White Snake's regeneration, and the Edo Tensei technique—all requiring human test subjects.
Not just enemy shinobi, but wounded Konoha ninjas too. Those "missing in action" reports? They were his victims.
By the time the retired Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, received the report, it was late afternoon.
As he read, his expression shifted from disbelief to fury.
If the intel hadn't come from Anbu loyal to both him and his son, he would've suspected forgery meant to smear Orochimaru.
But no—this was real.
"Orochimaru… how dare he!!!"
Hiruzen's voice trembled with anger. Whether it was disbelief or rage at being deceived, the fury burning in him was genuine.
After a moment's hesitation, the Anbu relayed Minato's message word for word:
"Lord Fourth said… Orochimaru is your disciple. This is for you, as his teacher, to decide."
Hiruzen froze. To him, it sounded less like respect—and more like mockery.
"…Heh. Good. Very good."
A cold light flashed in his eyes. Within seconds, his mind was made up.
"Tell the Fourth to summon Orochimaru back to the village," he ordered, voice sharp.
The Anbu bowed silently and disappeared.
Mount Myoboku.
With the Great Toad Sage's approval, Satoru and the others were allowed to stay and accompany Kushina.
Sage training was monotonous work. Watching someone else train in Sage Arts was even worse.
And Jiraiya, being who he was, wasn't exactly patient. After asking Fukasaku and Shima to take care of everyone, he quietly slipped away—off to enjoy his "research."
In other words, he was slacking off.
He assumed there would be no danger—after all, Sage training posed no threat of a tailed beast rampage, and with two Toad Sages present, what could possibly go wrong?
He had no idea that back in Konoha, the scandal of Orochimaru's human experiments had begun to spread.
Minato had no intention of covering for him. He hadn't made it public at a jonin meeting to avoid leaks, but he'd deliberately informed Hiruzen and the Elder Council.
His reason was simple—to bring the truth into the light.
If Orochimaru somehow learned of this in advance and fled… well, the number of people who could have leaked it would be very small, wouldn't it?
Minato Namikaze was no political novice.
He simply hadn't wanted to play that game—until now.
But since the chains were tightening around him from all sides…
…he had decided it was time to break them all.
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