Red Haired Supremacy

Chapter 218: Ch-218 Orochimaru's Defection.

Finally, the reunion of Kushina and Minato came to an end. Kushina turned her gaze toward Minato, her eyes soft yet filled with longing, and asked, "Where is Naruto? I want to see him. I want to hold him in my hands. I wasn't able to do that before, at the time when he was born." Her fingers unconsciously tightened.

Minato listened quietly, then nodded with a gentle smile. "Of course. We will definitely go to visit our son," he said, his voice warm. After a brief pause, his expression turned thoughtful. "But before that, I should first talk to your brother, right? He's waiting outside because of us. And according to his temperament, he would have left without hesitation if he didn't have something important to say, especially after finishing the task of safely dropping you here. So let's listen to him first, and then we'll go and meet our son."

Kushina understood immediately and nodded in agreement. Minato then raised his voice slightly and said, "Please, Guy-san, come in."

As soon as Guy, who had been standing outside, heard this, he entered the Hokage office without delay. The door closed softly behind him. Minato turned toward Guy and, without hesitation, bowed deeply. "Please convey my gratitude to the Uzukage for saving my wife," he said earnestly. "And for allowing my son to have the chance to grow under the shade of his mother. Otherwise… he would have missed that entirely."

Guy listened calmly, then shook his head. "You don't need to thank me," he replied. "After all, Kushina is our family as well. We couldn't just abandon her. What we did was simply what a family should do. There's nothing for you to feel grateful about."

Minato straightened and nodded. Even though Guy spoke those words so plainly, Minato couldn't help but feel a deep sense of gratitude well up inside him. How could I not be grateful for this? he thought silently.

After a short pause, Guy's expression grew serious. He looked directly at Minato and said, "I have an important message from Lord Uzukage. He warned you to be cautious of that masked person. He also advised you to closely study those strange ninjas who fought with Benimaru and Yoko, so that you don't fall behind any hidden conspiracies."

Guy continued, his tone firm. "If you're able to study their bodies and integrate whatever you can into your own shinobi forces, then it would be best. Use that knowledge to enhance the strength of your ninjas. Otherwise, it will be a difficult time for you and for everyone in Konoha."

As soon as Minato heard this, his expression grew solemn. His gaze sharpened slightly as he replied, "I have also examined those ninjas, and we are already studying the bodies of those strange shinobi. Please convey my thanks to Lord Uzukage on my behalf for the reminder." His tone was calm, but the weight of the matter was clear.

Guy nodded in response. "Very well. Now that I have delivered my message, I will take my leave." With those words, his figure vanished from the Hokage's office in an instant. A moment later, he appeared at the gates of Konoha. He walked forward a few steps, passed beyond the boundaries of the village barrier, and once again used his spatial movement technique, disappearing as he returned to Uzushiogakure.

…

After Guy had left, silence settled over the office. Minato and Kushina were alone once more. Without wasting any time, Minato activated the Flying Thunder God technique, and in the blink of an eye, he brought Kushina directly to the hospital room where Naruto was being kept. The moment they arrived, both of their gazes were drawn to the cradle.

Naruto lay there peacefully, small and fragile, his chest rising and falling softly. Kushina froze for a moment, then her breath caught. Emotion surged through her, overwhelming and uncontrollable, and tears welled in her eyes as she looked at her son. The hospital ward was filled with a quiet warmth as a gentle, happy family scene unfolded—husband, wife, and child finally together.

…

Time continued to flow.

Just a little over two months after the Nine-Tails' night, Minato uncovered the truth behind the human experiments conducted by Orochimaru. Once his crimes were exposed, Orochimaru was forced to defect from Konoha. Minato initially intended to deal with Orochimaru personally, but Hiruzen intervened. As Orochimaru's former master, Hiruzen insisted that it was his responsibility to clean up his own house. He declared it his obligation to capture Orochimaru and make him pay for all the sins he had committed.

In the end, Minato entrusted the matter to Hiruzen. And just as it had happened in the original course of events, Orochimaru escaped—Hiruzen's hesitation proving to be his undoing. If I had gone myself, Minato later reflected, the outcome would have been completely different. Had Minato been the one to pursue him, Orochimaru would have undoubtedly been captured.

After Orochimaru defected from Konoha, only a few months passed before he was approached by Obito. Obito revealed the existence of the White Zetsu cells and tempted Orochimaru with unrestricted resources for his research—no limitations, no moral boundaries, and complete freedom in human experimentation. Faced with such an offer, Orochimaru did not hesitate.

Thus, Orochimaru became a researcher under Obito.

After Orochimaru began his research under Obito, it was like giving wings to a tiger. Everything he had accumulated over the years—the depth of his experiments, the forbidden knowledge he had already mastered—now converged with the unique nature of the White Zetsu cells. Their connection to Hashirama's cells, in particular, made the process disturbingly smooth. For Orochimaru, who had been researching Hashirama's cells for years, this discovery removed countless obstacles and allowed him to advance rapidly toward his long-held goal: the creation of a perfect body for himself, along with many other twisted ambitions that followed.

Of course, Obito remained highly skeptical of Orochimaru and never placed complete trust in him. Because of that, he did not reveal the true Infinite Tsukuyomi plan. Instead, Obito fed Orochimaru a carefully crafted version of it. The same plan which he had told to Nagato and Konan and will be telling the future joining Ninjas under Akatsuki. He spoke of creating a powerful nation—one with overwhelming strength capable of countering all other nations and bringing an end to war itself. Their ultimate weapon, Obito claimed, would be the Ten-Tails, which they would revive by gathering the Tailed Beasts from the major villages.

In truth, both Obito and Orochimaru were moving with their own calculations, each hiding their real intentions behind layers of deception. Yet there was one point where their ambitions overlapped: the creation of a powerful ninja body. A specimen strong enough to be replicated, strong enough to form an entire army of enhanced shinobi—an army that would give them the confidence they needed to stand against the Uzumakis.

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