After learning that Orochimaru had been secretly constructing a human experimentation facility on the front lines, Sarutobi Hiruzen acted immediately.
Hyuga Satoru had always seen Hiruzen as an old man too attached to power, but there were still certain lines the Third Hokage refused to cross—and one of them was allowing Konoha's own shinobi to harm their comrades without cause.
Back when it came to Danzo, the Third hadn't gone all the way to punish him. But that was only because Danzo's actions hadn't yet led to truly irreversible consequences.
This time was different. Orochimaru had used his own village's ninja as test subjects. The fact was already undeniable—and, worse, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, knew about it.
Judging by Minato's tone, he would never cover for Orochimaru.
And there was another reason pushing Hiruzen to act: Orochimaru was his student. If the matter were to fully come to light, it would inevitably stain his own reputation.
That was something the Third Hokage absolutely could not allow.
Now, the only way left to salvage his image was to "slay his kin for righteousness"—to destroy the problem before it destroyed him.
He had ruled Konoha for decades, stepping down only because of the massive losses in the Third Shinobi War. If another scandal of this magnitude erupted, his already-precarious prestige would collapse completely.
Personally, he could accept that—he was old, half-buried in the earth already—but his sons, his clan… they still needed to live in this village. He could not allow them to become targets of public scorn.
Having thought everything through, Hiruzen wasted no time.
He ordered his eldest son to lead an Anbu squad to the front lines and seal off the discovered laboratory. Meanwhile, he personally wrote a letter summoning Orochimaru back to the village.
But even now, the Third Hokage's heart was soft.
He didn't accompany the Anbu to make the arrest—essentially giving Orochimaru the chance to flee.
Or perhaps… deep down, Hiruzen wanted Orochimaru to flee?
"So that's your answer, Third Hokage…"
Minato Namikaze had been quietly keeping track of the Third's movements. Though he hadn't assigned anyone to directly monitor Hiruzen, he had access to the gate guards' records—enough to confirm that the former Hokage had dispatched Anbu on a secret mission.
From that alone, Minato could easily infer his intentions.
Orochimaru had already killed the Anbu who investigated his base. Now he was receiving a summons from Hiruzen.
Knowing Orochimaru's nature, there was no way he'd allow himself to be cornered.
Hiruzen's actions spared him the agony of personally fighting his own disciple and prevented further losses among the Anbu under his son's command.
In the end, the only victims were the Konoha shinobi who'd unknowingly been used as test subjects—and the Anbu who'd died uncovering the truth.
And just as Minato predicted, before Orochimaru even received the Hokage's letter, he disappeared. His front-line base was discovered—and within days, he was gone without a trace.
Because the Mist Village had already taken a defensive stance, the front-line forces experienced no chaos despite Orochimaru's disappearance.
It wasn't until three days later that the mid-level officers even noticed something was wrong. Only when the weekly briefing came with no Orochimaru to lead it did they realize their commander was missing.
They immediately reported to the village, still unaware of the truth. Many assumed Orochimaru had been assassinated by the Mist.
Minato kept the truth quiet to prevent panic. He dispatched Nara Shikaku to the front to stabilize morale while discreetly issuing a village-wide bounty order on Orochimaru.
But the "manhunt" was little more than a formality. Konoha had no idea where Orochimaru was. The so-called wanted notice was simply a public gesture.
Among the upper ranks of Konoha, the news caused a stir. But for the average villager, life went on as usual.
Only those who had personally known or worked with Orochimaru were truly shaken.
Mist frontline.
A week after Orochimaru's disappearance, Danzo finally learned of it through his intelligence network.
He was stunned. His connection with Orochimaru had been deep, and he had no idea how much the village had discovered.
But since no one had come after him yet, Danzo understood that their knowledge must still be limited.
At the very least, they didn't know he had funded and participated in Orochimaru's human experiments.
Had the experiments been conducted solely on prisoners or outsiders, Orochimaru might not have had to flee.
His fatal mistake was using Konoha's own shinobi as test material.
So Danzo chose silence—chose to lie low. Any movement or words from him could draw unwanted suspicion.
Yet the moment Orochimaru's defection began to circulate among the upper ranks, Minato's eyes naturally turned toward Danzo.
But since Danzo showed no signs of reaction, Minato had no grounds to act against him—at least, not yet.
The turmoil in Konoha never reached Mount Myoboku. Coincidentally, Jiraiya wasn't there either—he'd slipped away out of laziness.
He was gathering "material" for his writing in various bars and clubs—places full of vice, but also full of information.
Minato hadn't suppressed the news of Orochimaru's defection. Every jonin had received the bounty notice, and talk of Orochimaru spread through Konoha's nightlife like wildfire.
Most spoke with disbelief and regret. For someone of Orochimaru's status to defect—it was incomprehensible.
Jiraiya overheard the rumors by chance. At first, he was as stunned as everyone else. But after confirming the truth with his credentials as a Sannin, he rushed back to Konoha.
He was one of the few people who truly cared about Orochimaru. He refused to believe that his lifelong friend and comrade would abandon the village.
Once he learned the truth, he felt both an obligation and a responsibility to bring Orochimaru back—just as Naruto would one day try to bring back Sasuke.
Before leaving, Jiraiya made sure to inform Minato of Kushina's current training progress at Mount Myoboku.
Minato didn't stop his teacher. In truth, he had no right to.
Losing someone like Orochimaru—who possessed both genius-level intellect and overwhelming strength—was a heavy blow to Konoha. And now, with Jiraiya distracted chasing him, the village's power clearly dipped.
Fortunately, the Mist were already exhausted. Their continued fighting had been largely due to Orochimaru's constant aggression for "research material." With new leadership at the front, Konoha shifted to a defensive strategy, consolidating its hard-won gains.
The Land of Whirlpools, once a battlefield, was now under the Land of Fire's control—serving as its first defensive line and symbolizing the tangible rewards of war.
With the Mist conflict settled, thousands of shinobi returned home. The sudden influx of decorated veterans with strong spending power revitalized Konoha's economy, turning its commercial district lively once more.
Meanwhile, in the north, the Cloud Village—having learned of Konoha's victory—found its border deployment pointless.
The two sides had been locked in a propaganda war ever since Konoha killed the Cloud emissaries, but the public had long since grown tired.
Withdrawing now wouldn't harm the Cloud's reputation, and keeping their forces deployed only wasted resources. Their citizens cared far more about the threat of their own tailed beasts and declining trade than some faraway feud.
Under domestic pressure, the Cloud withdrew its troops, leaving only the regular border patrols behind.
Konoha, relieved, reported the development—but Minato made no move to recall Danzo's Root. Instead, he called back several chunin and genin teams first.
The elites would stay on standby; the "fodder" could go home.
At last, Konoha had truly stepped out of the quagmire of war and could begin rebuilding in earnest.
With both warfronts settled, Minato held a round of commendations and promotions. Many new chunin and jonin rose through the ranks—and naturally, those promoted under Minato's leadership became his loyal supporters, extending his personal influence within the village.
The influx of returning shinobi also solved his manpower shortages. Minato even began secretly organizing his own Anbu unit.
The old Anbu remained firmly under Hiruzen's control—its current commander being Hiruzen's eldest son. To Minato, that was a tool he could use, but never trust.
Thus, founding a new Anbu was necessary.
This new unit would have no central commander—only temporary team leaders assigned per mission. The intent was clear: decentralization, ensuring no future "commander" could turn it into a personal power base.
Every member would stand equal, serving only the Hokage's will.
To quickly bring the new Anbu up to strength, Minato personally invited Kakashi—his own student—to join.
He also reached out to Hyuga Hiashi and Uchiha Fugaku, asking each to recommend elite clan members for service.
For the Uchiha, this was unprecedented. For decades, they had been confined to the Konoha Military Police Force—never allowed access to the Hokage's inner circle.
Now, Minato had opened a new path for them—an opportunity for glory beyond the police.
The Uchiha responded enthusiastically, sending twenty elite jonin—including Shisui and Fugaku's own prodigy son.
Minato personally met with them, explaining the structure and purpose of his new Anbu.
When the Hyuga clan heard of this inclusion, they were equally surprised.
Previous Hokage had always been wary of the Hyuga—especially the Branch House system, which placed obedience to the clan head above all. For that reason, key positions in the village had always been closed to them.
But Minato broke that tradition.
Hiashi could hardly oppose it; in fact, he publicly supported his clan members joining the new Anbu to serve the village.
With elite Uchiha, Hyuga, and battle-hardened veterans filling its ranks, Minato's new Anbu grew rapidly—soon reaching nearly a hundred operatives.
That was more than enough to monitor all of Konoha—and, crucially, gave Minato an intelligence network no longer riddled with Hiruzen's spies.
Konoha's political landscape had changed drastically.
But overall, everything seemed to be moving in a better direction.
Meanwhile, back on Mount Myoboku, Kushina had adjusted her training regimen.
Unable to control the Four-Tails state, she focused entirely on Sage Mode. Thanks to the unique environment of Mount Myoboku, Minato could easily summon himself there to visit—sometimes alone, sometimes bringing Naruto along.
Their visits added warmth to Kushina's otherwise lonely training life.
As for Satoru and Shisui, they were still in the prime of growth; training anywhere would yield results.
Over time, Kushina finally grasped the use of senjutsu chakra. As her control improved, she began sparring to adapt to the new power.
Originally, her training partners were the elder toads, Fukasaku and Shima—the only ones who could match a sage's strength.
But before long, Satoru—armed with the Flying Thunder God and the Eight Gates—proved himself capable of keeping up.
When he opened the Fourth Gate, he could even overpower Kushina in her fledgling Sage Mode. His strength impressed even the Great Toad Sages, and from then on, the role of Kushina's sparring partner fell to him.
Lost in the thrill of his ever-growing power, Satoru barely noticed time passing.
He only knew he was getting taller, stronger, his chakra swelling by the day. His combat instincts sharpened, his movements smoother.
As Kushina grew more adept in Sage Mode, Satoru's ability to face her calmly only improved.
He had already broken through to the Fifth Gate.
His progress was even faster than Kushina's own growth with senjutsu.
And so, without realizing it, several years quietly slipped away.
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