Powerful shinobi only needed a single go uand what the other was thinking.

  When Sasuke told Naruto this, it carried multiple yers of meaning.

  But there was some truth to that statement.

  Orochimaru licked his lips. Seeing him like this, Anko instinctively backed away.

  That look... he's found something iing again. Nothing good ever es from this. She was all too familiar with this particur expression on her master's face.

  Masashi activated his Sharingan, the three-tomoe red eyes log onto Orochimaru.

  A genjutsu was cast instantly. However, the illusion, which had rarely failed before, didn't work this time.

  Orochimaru wasn't affected.

  Or rather, he was, but this level of genjutsu wasn't enough to incapacitate him. His body was uhat of an ordinary person, and his chakra pathways were different, allowing him to ehis level of chakra disruption.

  As expected, standard genjutsu won't work on his modified chakra work. Masashi wasn't bothered. This was just a test.

  After all, his current profi genjutsu was limited by the three-tomoe Sharingan.

  "I'm your target, huh," Orochimaru chuckled, his tongue flig out briefly. "The Uchiha is truly to my taste."

  In the instant, his hand darted toward Masashi, two fingers aimed straight for his Sharingan.

  Orochimaru lu the Uchiha, but his feet remained in their inal position.

  Squelch!

  Effortlessly, his two fingers pierced into Masashi's eye socket. But the sensation transmitted through his fingers wasn't that of flesh and blood.

  He withdrew immediately, but it was already too te—Masashi's body burst into a spray of water.

  "Fasating...," Orochimaru mused as a freezing cold that could chill blood radiated from the water s, instantly eng his upper body in ice.

  The frost tio spread.

  With a ch, he stomped his feet, tearing his body in half to escape the icy grip. Two hands emerged from the severed remains, g their way out as he regeed his body.

  Looking up, he saw a massive fireball desding toward him.

  Boom—!!

  A deafening explosio scorg waves tearing through the ground. Crimson fmes bloomed like flowers, redug nearby trees to ashes.

  As the most intense fmes subsided, he burst from the charred soil, his serpent-like eyes log onto Masashi's position.

  He moved like a snake, slithering around the burning areas. He quickly formed hand seals and unleashed a fierce gale from his mouth.

  The howling winds kicked up debris, creating a barrier between him and the Sharingan.

  To Masashi's eyes, the chakra iorm was chaotic.

  The storm's range was vast, but he avoided it with a Body Flicker, drawing his bde. He fought straightforwardly, careful not to reveal too much to the oppo opposite him.

  Two glints of steel collided mid-air. Chips began to appear on his short bde. The bde, fed from chakra metal, was expe fell shainst the Kusanagi.

  Still, Masashi wasn't worried—he had just received a generous payout and could afford a rept.

  With superior speed, he closed in on Orochimaru multiple times, striking from blind spots and leaving cuts on his oppo.

  Both batants' shadow es were shattered several times, their forms dissolving into smoke and water.

  Eventually, quality won out, and Masashi's bde was severed by the Kusanagi.

  Without hesitation, he discarded the broken on. His Sharingaed the sword's trajectory, and he dodged with a she Body Flicker, tering with a powerful punch to Orochimaru's arm.

  The Kusanagi flew from Orochimaru's hand, impaling several thick trees before lodging in the ground.

  His arm twisted grotesquely but didn't break. With a casual flick, it returo normal. "Your taijutsu is quite... iing," he noted, eyes narrowing with curiosity.

  Masashi closed the distance again, employing taijutsu teiques from both the Senju and Uchiha s.

  The Senju style focused on swift, powerful strikes to overwhelm the oppo before they could react.

  The Uchiha style emphasized precision, targeting an enemy's weakness with devastating blows, showg explosive power.

  In his hands, these styles blended seamlessly.

  Orochimaru, a skilled taijutsu user himself, quickly fell behind in close bat.

  But his resilient body, capable of enduring blows that would kill anyone else a thousand times over, allowed him to keep fighting without faltering.

  Masashi attempted to mark him with Flying Thunder God seals several times but found it futile. Orochimaru's unique substitution teique nullified each mark as he repced his entire body.

  "You and your modified body...," Masashi said, retreating from the exge.

  "Oh? That ent makes it sound like you've done your homework on me," Orochimaru sneered, refusing to let up.

  As Masashi retreated, he unleashed a swarm of snakes.

  Striking Shadow Snakes.

  The summoned serpents slithered menagly toward Masashi. Uhe lesser snakes summoned by Anko, these were far more intelligent and ferocious.

  However, intelligence wasn't always an advantage.

  He retreated calmly, and the snakes, sensing his chakra, hesitated before slowing down.

  "Hm?" Orochimaru noticed the ge in his serpent minions.

  For these gluttonous beasts from Ryūchi Cave to act this way, there was only one expnation.

  "You've mastered Sage Mode?" he celed the summoning.

  This sario only occurred between true successors of Ryūchi Cave's teags. His eyes grew even colder. Fag a challenger who turned out to be another Ryūchi Cave ior soured his mood.

  "Snakes seem to like me," Masashi said as he seized the opportunity to increase the distance.

  Both ninjas pleted their hand seals simultaneously.

  Massive chakra surged.

  A water dragon rose to meet a t fire n. The csh created a dense mist, shrouding the entire forest in steam.

  In the distance, Anko stared in disbelief.

  Behind her, a man in the Hokage robe appeared silently, watg the battle unfold without a word.

  "What a mess… Not a single peaceful day in this job!" Minato observed the mist-covered battlefield.

  Being Hokage, he realized, was far less satisfying than leading a jonin team.

  No matter what he did, someone was unhappy. No matter where he stood, he was caught in the middle.

  Barely days into the job, and two of the vilge's most respected shinobi were already fighting.

  Perhaps it was time to stop w about Hiruzen's feelings and take some decisive a.

  Ever since Minato became the Hokage, he noticed something amiss within the vilge.

  The current ANBU was uhe trol of Hiruzen and Danzō, but that didn't mean he was blind or deaf.

  Though he was no lohe leader of the jonin corps, he still had a firm grasp on this powerful tool. Years of building trust and proving his worth had ehat.

  Frankly, each time a Hokage ged, the ANBU would essentially o start from scratch—veterans stepping down, and new recruits stepping in.

  However, the jonin corps was different.

  Every jonin in this unit had their owwork within Konoha's ninja forces. Its members ged very slowly, their bonds fed in blood and battle.

  As a result, whaihe support of the jonin corps became the most iial person in Konoha.

  versely, even if someone was nominated and appointed Hokage by the daimyō, without the jonin corps' bag, they would only be a pceholder Hokage—not officially reized.

  After Minato took office, the jonin corps alighemselves entirely with him, pledging their loyalty to the Hokage.

  Many of them had grown weary of the ime's ways.

  Things hadn't always been this way. The shift began when Konoha's White Fang itted suicide.

  That event drove a wedge between the jonin corps and the Third Hokage's fa.

  Konoha's White Fang, the former leader of the jonin corps, had his shortings but was a man of uionable character. Many in the jonin corps owed him favors, as are not made of stone. After the i, many sought justice for him, fearing something simir might happen to Kakashi.

  They kept a close eye on him.

  Whether it was a spiracy or not didn't matter; what mattered was a shared se among them: Sakumo's aight have caused losses to the vilge, but to refuse to guide public opinion or aowledge his past tributions was uncalled for.

  Did his prior merits mean nothing?

  This ck of passiohem w—if one of them slipped up one day, would they fa even worse fate?

  As a result, the jonin corps became more uhan ever in Konoha's history.

  When both Minato and Orochimaru were nominated as didates for the Fourth Hokage, the jonin corps overwhelmingly supported Minato.

  He was Kakashi's teacher.

  Had it been Jiraiya peting, they might have felt flicted. Against Orochimaru? Not at all.

  Armed with this support, Minato quickly gathered enough intelligence.

  Human experiments.

  dug experiments wasn't ily wrong— the Sed Hokage had done groundbreaking research—but he had experimented on enemies, not allies.

  Yet these experiments involved deceased ninja from their own vilge, both from ninja s and on shinobi.

  It was madness—practically an invitation to civil war.

  From that moment, Minato grew vigint. His first suspect was Danzō.

  Danzō didly have a trustworthy reputation—it was easy to imagine him behind any sinister plot.

  When Minato subtly probed, Danzō nearly backed him into a er, deepening his suspis.

  He trusted the Third Hokage and Jiraiya, from the bottom of his heart. But Danzō? Not at all. Orochimaru, who worked closely with him, was also under suspi.

  Sihen, he and the jonin corps had been biding their time, waiting for the right opportunity.

  And now, it seemed that moment had e.

  He split into two shadow es—one used the Flying Thunder God to notify the jonin corps, while the other teleported back to the Hokage office to inform the Third Hokage and others.

  His real body remaio monitor Masashi and Orochimaru.

  After a moment's thought, he created a third shadow e to notify the Police Force.

  Directly approag the Uchiha would be inappropriate, but involving the Police Force was reasonable. After all, a ninja skirmish fell uheir jurisdi.

  If the Uchiha arrived, they would undoubtedly protect their own, and Danzō would surely show up too.

  Ohe ringleaders appeared, the jonin corps—already prepared—would unch a full-scale assault.

  "Hokage-sama, the jonin corps is in position."

  "Good. Tell them to wait for my signal."

  Minato waited silently.

  Soon, he sensed rge amounts of chakra verging on the se.

  A smile appeared on his face. Today, Minato would rid the vilge of a cerous tumor.

  With su aplishment, Kushina wouldn't refuse him a sed child, right? He had always ehose with siblings. He wouldn't let Naruto grow up with the same regret.

  Behind him, the sound of movement.

  Although his chakra sensing had already identified the newers, he turo greet them.

  "Sandaime-sama."

  "Minato! What's going on here?" Hiruzen, full battle attire, nded first, urgently questioning.

  But I'll soon find out, Minato thought before answering simply, "I don't know."

  Had his disciple lost his mind? Masashi was merely teag Anko a private lesson. Was this about Nawaki again?

  Behind him were Tsunade and Jiraiya.

  Koharu and Homura remai the Hokage building, ensuring someoayed to oversee things.

  The ret series of anomalies in the vilge left Hiruzen feeling increasingly weary.

  His home was desote now, with only Konohamaru bringing him fort. Watg his mischievous grandson was his only soce.

  "What's Orochimaru doing fighting a kid?" Jiraiya frowned, his usual flippancy gone.

  He might act carefree, but he wasn't oblivious—otherwise, he'd have been killed long ago. Over the years, the bond among the Sannin had frayed. He had done his best to restore their camaraderie, but with little success.

  He had grown up relying on Tsunade and Orochimaru. No matter what, he didn't waher of them hurt.

  "An Uchiha kid is no ordinary kid, Jiraiya," Tsuerjected.

  She hadn't wao e at all. She knew all too well how headstrong Uchiha ninja—especially those with Sharingan—could be.

  Masashi might be sidered different, but in her eyes, not by much. See? He was already fighting Orochimaru.

  When she was younger, her uncle had once said, "It takes all kinds to make a world." Not every Uchiha was crazy, nor was every Senju a paragon of hoy.

  But in Tsunade's view, the Uchiha were all maniacs. The Senju, well, had only her rogue uncle.

  He had died because of his antics.

  So what if he had lived a brilliant life? Dead was dead—nothing more, nothing less.

  Thinking of this soured her mood.

  "How long are they going to fight?" she asked irritably. "This isn't a tour. With so many of us here, they should knock it off already!"