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Tobirama stood over Anko with folded arms as her body lay on a bed with sealing formations all around. The Second Hokage focused his senses as his chakra made another probe into the curse mark on Anko's neck.
Immediately he could sense the echoes of a familiar malevolent chakra deep in the seal. A scowl formed on his face and he stopped his experiment. "It's still there."
'Saru.' He immediately established a link to his summoner. 'Call Jiraiya and meet me at my lab. It's urgent.'
Minutes later, the lab doors opened. Jiraiya strode in with his usual casual gait but his eyes sharpened the moment he saw Anko on the table. Hiruzen followed with a calm expression but his eyes were filled with concern.
Anko wasn't the only person unconscious in Tobirama's temporary lab. There were several others nearby restrained to their cots.
Jiraiya looked around at the unfamiliar faces and then turned to the Second Hokage. "Who are they?"
"They were part of the team that attacked Daichi, Genma and Anko during their mission." It was Hiruzen who answered his student. "All these people have some kind of curse seal on them."
Tobirama nodded. "I've been studying them for the last few days and I've made several discoveries."
"What did you find?" Hiruzen asked.
Tobirama gestured at Anko. "This curse seal… I can sense Orochimaru's chakra inside it. His essence or maybe even part of his soul still lingers in her."
Jiraiya's expression hardened. "Wait a minute! Are you telling us that… part of him is alive in there?"
"Not alive, at least… I'm not sure." Tobirama sighed tiredly as he thought about the problem. "What I can tell you is that he's present in that seal. I can sense his chakra but it's only a small fraction."
Hiruzen's hands clenched into a fist. "Can it be removed?"
Tobirama shook his head once, sharply. "No. Not like this. Based on my understanding, the seal is bound to Orochimaru by design. To open it fully or to pull out his chakra, we would need Orochimaru's flesh as the key. Chakra alone is insufficient. Only with the combination of his flesh added to this chakra can we remove this curse seal."
Jiraiya immediately understood the dilemma the Second Hokage faced. "Like the Yin and Yang. His chakra will only respond to his flesh. And without that, any attempt to pry that seal open will trigger a collapse and-"
"-She'll die." The old Kage groaned and rubbed his temples. "Even after death he's such a headache." Hiruzen mumbled as he looked at the sleeping special Jonin.
"I'm not so sure…"
Tobirama's words brought a frown to the faces of the other two shinobi.
"What do you mean?" "What did you find out, Lord Second?" Jiraiya and Hiruzen asked the man.
Tobirama gestured to the other unconscious bodies and spoke. "As I've said, I've been studying the curse marks on these prisoners. I've tested chakra responses, their transformations and their curse mark patterns."
"Learned anything useful?" Jiraiya asked.
"Yes. The seals on these people are variants of a lower class seal when compared to the one on her. These curse marks are crude by comparison. Orochimaru designed them to channel power and erode the host's will. It's parasitic in nature, but manageable. But that's not the disturbing discovery… I've sensed Nature energy in them."
"What!?" The Third Hokage's eyes widened.
"Whoa, whoa, Hold on a minute. They can use Nature energy?" Jiraiya was equally shocked. As someone who knew how to harness that power, he was shocked at that revelation.
Tobirama nodded. "Yes. Based on my observations, the curse seals on these prisoners don't have Orochimaru's chakra like in Anko's but they have some kind of a control mechanism. An imprint of his chakra that I'm assuming is used as a control mark."
"So he could control and manipulate the hosts of the seals…" Hiruzen rubbed his chin and thought about the logical use of such a method and quickly reasoned. "Yes. I understand that part. But how does Nature energy play a role in this?"
"Saru. I've been fighting alongside my brother almost all my life. I may not be able to use Natural energy but I can definitely tell when someone else is using it." Tobirama pointed to the sleeping prisoners. "When they activate the curse seal, it injects some sort of chemical into their body that lets them instantly absorb Nature energy forcefully and add it to the host's chakra."
Jiraiya's eyes widened. "Hence the altered body and the boost in strength."
"And with Orochimaru's control seal, he could make them believe it was his power and make them dependent on him." Hiruzen had to admit to himself that it was a brilliant but vile tactic to cultivate fanatics and loyalists.
Tobirama nodded. "Yes. But I'm assuming most people die when they're branded because they can't handle the imbalance of this energy in their body."
"What about Anko? What about the seal on her neck?" Hiruzen asked the man.
"Her seal, the curse seal of Heaven as you call it, is a much stronger seal. More refined. But it depends on the user's will to use or not use it. But the more you use it the more your mind gets taken over. And based on the notes you gave me and my own observations, her body can't withstand the seal's full power without it killing her. There is also the research value. By leaving her seal inactive but present, Orochimaru could observe long-term effects of the curse mark on the human body and psyche. At least, these are my hypotheses…"
"Okay… But back to our original problem. What do we do with her curse seal?" Jiraiya asked and the three ninjas came near Anko and looked at the seal on her neck.
"I already placed a containment seal on her back when this incident happened." Hiruzen spoke as he looked at the Special Jonin and recalled that terrible day.
"Yes. It blunted the strength of the curse seal and kept the worst behaviors dormant but his influence was never truly gone." Tobirama replied as he had studied the protection jutsu Hiruzen placed years ago.
Hiruzen's voice was steady. "What are our options, Lord Second?"
"Containment and isolation. We build another stronger seal and incorporate it into the one you already placed on her."
Tobirama's reply made Jiraiya nod his head. 'Hmm… I see. So instead of creating another separate seal over the one that already exists, he wants us to create a seal that can be fully integrated with the evil sealing method and make it much stronger. I suppose that's the most efficient move.'
The Second Hokage gave them each a scroll that contained the details for a containment jutsu and the two quickly studied it. Soon, they all got into position.
Without wasting another word, Tobirama's hands blurred through hand-seals. Jiraiya knelt at the foot of Anko's bed and took out his parchment scroll and ink brushes. He began writing special seals all around. The Third Hokage meanwhile stood steady as his chakra flowed smoothly into the seal being woven.
Layer upon layer, a new seal formed — circles upon circles, kanji upon kanji, each designed to weigh down the curse mark like iron chains. The air trembled faintly from the pressure of combined chakra.
Finally, Tobirama pressed his hand against Anko's shoulder. A low hum filled the chamber as the two seals fused, his new seal seamlessly merging into the older one Hiruzen had placed years ago.
Soon two smooth circles formed around the three tomoe. Jiraiya exhaled, wiping sweat from his brow. "That should keep her out of trouble."
Hiruzen nodded but when he glanced at his teacher he saw an unusually serious expression. "What's wrong?"
"If Orochimaru has placed this seal on someone else before he went to capture Tsunade, and if that person has access to Orochimaru's flesh, then…"
The Third Hokage's eyes narrowed. "What are you saying?"
"From everything I've learned about him, Orochimaru is a cautious man. There is a possibility that he could use these seals to… revive himself."
"What?!" Both Jiraiya and Hiruzen were alarmed.
"It's just a hypothesis. It's something that came to me while I was studying her seal. We don't know if there are any other conditions required for such a process, the cost or even what the revived Orochimaru would even be capable of… Without further data, I won't be able to tell much more…"
"But you're saying there is a possibility that he could be back?" Jiraiya asked with concern.
"Yes. A possibility exists." Tobirama replied and silence fell.
"If Orochimaru somehow wanted to revive himself then Kabuto must be the key. Maybe that's why he was taken away from our sights to begin with. If we find him, we'll have our answer." Hiruzen suddenly thought of the fish that had slipped the net.
Jiraiya's jaw tightened. "We've scoured everywhere we could think of, but no sign of him. That little spy sure knows how to hide."
"Jiraiya. We need him. Alive."
Hiruzen's words made the Toad Sage internally groan. 'There goes my research time.' "I'll do what I can, sensei. But no promises. If we couldn't find him by now, then odds are, we won't be seeing him any time soon."
Then Hiruzen sighed. "Do we tell Tsunade?"
Jiraiya frowned, crossing his arms. "She's not even awake yet. And burdening her with this right after she comes out of this nightmare…"
Tobirama's gaze was sharp. "This is important information but so is timing. We will wait until she fully recovers both physically and mentally. Then we can decide what to do."
Hiruzen nodded slowly, his eyes heavy with age. "Very well. We keep this between us, until the time is right."
The three stood together in the quiet chamber but at that moment they heard a small groan coming from nearby. Tobirama immediately put his Anbu mask back on his face.
Moments later, Anko stirred. Her eyelids fluttered, confusion flashing across her face. She murmured something weakly, then caught sight of Hiruzen's calm presence and seemed to relax. Jiraiya moved in and helped her to her feet.
"Lord Hokage. Lord Jiraiya." The Special Jonin greeted the two known figures.
"How are you feeling Anko?" Hiruzen asked the woman.
Anko unconsciously touched her neck and her eyes slightly widened. "Better… A lot better." She looked at the Kage with shock. "Did you…"
Hiruzen shook his head and dampened her enthusiasm. "I'm sorry. I wasn't able to remove the curse seal. But I was able to put a stronger restraint on it. That seal won't bother you as much from now on."
Anko took that as a win and thanked them.
"Get some rest for the next couple of days. After that I'll be assigning you on a new task." Hiruzen spoke and the Jonin nodded. She soon left the chamber and the current Hokage turned to the other unconscious bodies in there.
"What are you going to do with them?" Hiruzen asked.
"I've learned almost everything I can. They're a timebomb. The best thing to do is eliminate them." Tobirama spoke with a cold tone and Hiruzen nodded. "I understand."
Just as Hiruzen and Jiraiya were about to leave, Tobirama spoke. "What's Daichi up to?" He asked casually.
"Hmm… I'm not sure. He's still in his lab. Must be keeping an eye on Tsunade's progress."
The Third Hokage replied and the Second Hokage nodded. "If we're going to tell Tsunade of this unexpected development then perhaps we should also include him as well."
Hiruzen was quiet at that suggestion. Jiraiya looked at the older man and nodded. "He's right, you know. The kid can take care of himself. We saw that for ourselves."
Hiruzen sighed and nodded. "You're right. He deserves to know. But let's wait till she wakes up."
Soon the three shinobi dispersed and went their separate ways.
--
On the other side of the tower, Daichi was hard at work inside his lab going through several blood cultures and analysis.
He took a step back from the microscope in front of him and stretched his limbs. He then looked at his clones and sighed.
"This is gonna take at least another four to five hours. Let's take a break and continue tomorrow." The real Daichi made the decision and the clones nodded.
They quickly took the secret blood samples and gave them to the original who stored them in his inventory. Daichi soon left the lab and made his way home.
After he opened the gates to his home, he saw that his grandfather was sitting on the courtyard.
"You didn't have to wait for me." Daichi greeted and spoke to Kensei.
"I wasn't going to get much sleep anyway. Besides, I wanted to know how it went… With her…" Kensei trusted Daichi's abilities but he was still slightly anxious. The life of Tsunade Senju was hanging in the balance.
Daichi smiled as he looked at the old man. "Don't worry. My serum worked. She'll be fine in a week."
Kensei let out a breath of relief and nodded to the boy. "Well done."
"I'm gonna go get something to eat." The Genin spoke and went in.
Just as he was about to step inside the house, Kensei spoke three simple words.
"Happy Birthday Daichi."
The gamer ninja paused slightly surprised. Despite his incredible memory, he himself had somehow forgotten the relevance of the day. 'I've had so many things running through my head, I forgot that it was my birthday… Then again it's such a small insignificant event compared to everything that's happened…'
"Thanks gramps…" He looked at the old man and smiled. Inside the house, he saw a small cake on the table.
The old man came in and placed a small candle on the cake and lit it. "It's not much but-"
"It's perfect. Thank you." Daichi replied with a big smile.
"I's almost the end of the day but still… Make a wish."
Daichi took a small breath and blew out the candle. He only wanted one wish.
'Wake up soon sensei.'
Author's Note:
In case anyone doesn't know, March 28th is Daichi's birthday.
Next chapter we get to see Kakashi's bell test.
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