Inside Orochimaru’s Lab.

Obito has been slinking around from one room to another for the past 15 minutes. He needs to be faster than that if he wants to succeed, but the most difficult part of infiltrating Orochimaru’s Lab is not being ‘fast’, but not being seen. Sadly, he has come to a confrontation with two chunins already and has been forced to hide their dead bodies.

Thankfully, his killing of the two chunin is yet to be found out. But that won’t last for long.

After so much running around in stealth, Obito has a rough idea of how the facility’s layout works.

Shortly after a minute or two, Obito arrives at his target destination. “This has to be it,” He whispers with a low voice to himself, more of an affirmation of the sight before him. Placed in vats after vats of liquid are the bodies of young boys and girls roughly around five years old.

These children must be part of an experiment by Orochimaru.

The dim, flickering lights in Orochimaru's underground lab cast an eerie glow on the rows of large glass vats that line the chamber. Obito moves cautiously, his Sharingan eyes scanning the surroundings for any sign of movement or danger. As he approaches one particular vat, a cold shiver runs down his spine, and a sense of foreboding grips his heart.

Peering through the transparent liquid, Obito's eyes widen at the sight of the small, motionless bodies within. The innocent faces of children, suspended in a seemingly lifeless state, send a wave of anger and disgust through him. Obito clenches his fists, vowing to end Orochimaru's twisted experiments once and for all.

The righteous indignation however is momentary. Obito wants to do better, and just extract the children from out of here, but that defeats his goal of acquiring what he desires— Hashirama’s Cells for his own use. “I can just leave this to the Third Hokage and Minato-sensei.”

His gaze focuses on a specific vat, and a sense of recognition stirs within him. The memories of the future version of himself flood his mind – the Obito who meticulously planned, strategized, and gathered intel for his designs against Konha has stumbled on Orochimaru's dark secrets…

At that time, Obito is slowly becoming acquainted with Itachi Uchiha. As a gesture of loyalty, Itachi Uchiha did a lot of errands for Obito back then. Itachi Uchiha's involvement in stealing confidential files comes back to the young Obito, and the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

"These children… Hashirama's genetics," Obito mutters to himself, his eyes narrowing with a mixture of sorrow and rage. “In an alternate reality, I thought of this experiment as a danger… With Orochimaru’s prowess, he one way or another will conclude that there is a strong connection between the Uchiha’s and Senju’s Bloodline Limit. In fact, the other me feared Orochimaru recreating the RInnegan.”

The realization hits Obito like a thunderbolt. Orochimaru, in his insatiable quest for power, has resorted to splicing the legendary DNA of Hashirama Senju into the innocent bodies of these young souls.

Obito's mind races as he remembers the information from the stolen files. Hashirama Senju's genetic material is a coveted source of power due to its unparalleled life force and vitality. “To be more accurate, it is not power that Orochimaru desires but immortality.”

The twisted experiments conducted by Orochimaru aim to create beings with unparalleled strength but at the cost of these children's lives and humanity. More than the ‘power’, Orochimaru's obsession with eternal life plays a more concerting role in these... experiments.

Obito takes a deep breath, his Sharingan eyes shutting off to conserve precious chakra. The dim lights in Orochimaru's underground lab cast a haunting glow as he approaches the vat with a sense of urgency. His fingers glide across the cold glass, tracing the contours of the transparent container.

As he peers through the liquid, Obito's eyes widen at the sight of the small, motionless bodies within. There are sixty vats, sixty innocent souls, all of them, each one looking no older than four or five years. The innocence of their faces, suspended in an unnatural slumber, tugs at Obito's heartstrings. He fights back the anger and disgust that threaten to consume him, reminding himself of the bigger picture.

Closing his eyes, Obito starts counting. One by one, he mentally acknowledges each child in the vat. The room remains eerily silent, save for the faint hum of machinery and the occasional drip of liquid. Sixty innocent lives hanging in the balance, victims of Orochimaru's twisted experiments.

As Obito finishes the count, he opens his eyes, a mix of sorrow and determination reflected in his gaze. He turns away from the vat, his Sharingan remaining inactive for now. He can't afford to waste chakra on unnecessary displays of power. This situation requires precision and efficiency.

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“What do I do? Hmmm… Can I rely on Minato-sensei really about this? He is the Third Hokage’s ears, so that can help. But the Third Hokage… Politically, speaking, he will want Orochimaru imprisoned or killed. But that will give Danzo the opportunity to get in touch with Orochimaru and cut a deal with him. This is going to be difficult.”

Calming his heart, Obito convinces himself that speed is crucial. With a swift and silent resolve, he begins searching the underground chamber. His footsteps echo in the cold, damp air as he navigates through the maze of Orochimaru's secrets. The memories of the future version of himself serve as a guide, guiding him toward the hidden truths buried within the shadows.

“Moreover, I cannot really be sure about Minato-sensei. I can totally imagine him soloing Orochimaru and reporting later what happened. Minato-sensei might even go so far as convincing the Third Hokage to opt for imprisoning Orochimaru given Minato-sensei’s connection with Jiraiya… This is a more complicated imagined than I imagined now that I stand here…”

Obito begins tampering with the seals he finds hidden in a corner. “A sealing technique has been used on this,” with great effort, Obito removes the seal and grabs what is inside… “Seriously, that’s more difficult than my actual infiltration.”

There are files, a lot of them, all of them narrating the grotesque experiments that Orochimaru is engaging in. The funny thing is… Obito is aware that Orochimaru will only get sicker and sicker with his experiments from this point onwards. “I am amazed by Orochimaru in the sense that he is yet to go insane with the amount of fucked-up things he had gotten himself involved.”

Obito tucks in the files under his black baggy robes. For Obito, the worst outcome is getting himself exposed or killed here. Meanwhile, the less bad outcome will be Orochimaru ending up imprisoned for what Obito plans for him. Lastly, the best outcome for Obito is to have Orochimaru either exiled or killed, preferably killed with great duress.

But who is Orochimaru? He is the most tenacious ninja Obito has ever known… and that is not in terms of vitality or life force, but simply with how incredible Orcohimaru is one escaping and surviving. The guy is certainly a slimy snake.

Obito's eyes flicker open, the familiar red hue of his Sharingan glowing ominously in the dimly lit chamber. His senses sharpen as he detects the subtle vibrations of approaching footsteps. The personnel enter the room, their white lab coats gleaming faintly in the eerie glow. They move with an air of clinical detachment, their attention focused on the grotesque experiments surrounding them.

A couple of ninjas, clad in the sterile attire of medical professionals, begin manipulating chemicals, scalpels, and various arcane tools. Obito observes them from the shadows, his Sharingan scanning their every move. These must be Orochimaru's associates, accomplices in his macabre pursuits.

As the medical ninjas delve into their work, one of them unfurls a scroll, summoning a grotesque appendage – a 'thumb' that materializes with an otherworldly squelch. Obito narrows his eyes, his Sharingan analyzing the chakra fluctuations in the summoning. “This is…”

Obito's hand instinctively moves towards the hilt of his kunai, hidden within the folds of his black robes. His Sharingan glows brighter, activated with renewed purpose. The need for stealth intensifies as he contemplates his next move. These medical ninjas might not be directly responsible for the atrocities, but they are complicit in Orochimaru's depravity.

“But that thumb,” With careful steps, Obito begins to reposition himself.

The two medical ninjas namely ‘A’ and ‘B’ to Obito’s head, begin speaking among themselves. Obito listens intently.

Ninja A whispers excitedly, “Can you believe it? We're working with Hashirama Senju's cells! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”

Ninja B nods affirmatively as he handles the chemicals with care, “Absolutely. Orochimaru-sama's experiments are beyond anything I've ever imagined. The power contained in these cells... it's surreal.”

Ninja A glances at a certain vat with Hashirama's cells, “Look at that. The First Hokage's cells are adapting seamlessly to the new host. Orochimaru-sama is truly a genius.”

Ninja B smirks, “Indeed. The advancements we've made under his guidance are unparalleled. Imagine the breakthroughs we'll achieve with this research.”

Obito, hidden in the shadows, narrows his eyes at the mention of Hashirama Senju's cells. The significance of Orochimaru's twisted experiments becomes clearer to him. Obito glances at the vat the two ninjas are pointing at… brown hair, fair skin, with root-like veins slithering on his neck.

Ninja A examines the 'thumb' appendage, “What do you think this is? But seriously, Orichimaru-sama sure has a lot of courage to smuggle the First Hokage’s corpse limb by limb… I wonder how he did it.”

Ninja B analyzes the appendage, “I'd say Orochimaru-sama surely had given serious thought about it. Dismantling the First Hokage’s corpse part by part, and then replacing it with a realistic copy… yeah, that must have been what he is doing.”

The thumb is not just an ordinary appendage; it's a piece of the First Hokage – a living relic subjected to Orochimaru's grotesque experiments. “This can work,” Obito grins.

If only he can start hurling a justu now, he can be done with this so much faster. But clearly, he cannot do that since that will endanger the other kids in the vat.

To be frank, Obito’s plan is so much more straightforward— he will infiltrate, locate Hashirama’s cells, bag the Hashirama’s cells, hurl a Great Fireball Technique to create an opening, run for his life, and lastly when outside, he’ll unleash a Great Fire Annihilation to the Facility from the outside to erase his tracks.

Under the forest fire, Obito will then make his successful escape. After that, he will have to do something with the gathered files he has as evidence… but that’s a problem for another time…

The most urgent problem now for Obito is what to do next.

“Hmmm… I should have learned less damaging jutsus, huh?”

This is not a time for regrets.

Knowledge about the future doesn’t make Obito omniscient so this isn’t really on him.

The silver lining to this is being a ninja is not all about casting a jutsu.