219. Interlude: Thoughts

219. Interlude: Thoughts

Minato laid on his bed, his lovely wife sleeping peacefully by his side. Even a week after being brought back from the dead he had trouble believing it. His son was turned into a lovely girl by an accident. Minato could see a lot of both himself and Kushina in her. From her fiery temper to her suny smile.

Naruko had given them the tour of Yggdrasil. To this day Minato still has trouble believing what he has seen. He had flared his chakra on each level, yet, there were no signs of genjutsu, or at least none he could detect or dispel.

Unfortunately Minato got to learn some cruel truths. He had talked with Naruko, questioning her about her life, and the place they were alongside its connection or relationship with Konoha. He came to learn of the gross neglect his daughter suffered. Neither Jiraija nor Hiruzen had taken care of her.

Hell, if it weren’t for the kyubi’s chakra she would have died either from starvation or the many injuries. Then again, it was because of the kyubi that she was treated so badly. He didn’t blame the kyubi though, he blamed himself. He was the one that sealed the kyubi in her. He was the one that left her alone to begin with.

When Minato came to learn all of this the guilt ate him from the inside out. He had profusely apologized, he had expected some resentment from his daughter, even hatred. He got none of that. Instead Naruko was the one consoling him. Telling him that everybody makes mistakes. Telling him that he now had the opportunity to make up for the lost time.

“What a mess.” Minato murmured before a sigh escaped his lips. He felt disappointed in himself, in Jirajia and Hiruzen but above all else, in Konoha. He had considered going back, retaking the mantle of Hokage and making things right. Then again, was it worth it? Not to mention that doing so wouldn’t be easy.

First of all, he would need to find a way to the mainland after escaping from the insides of this gigantic aware tree. Then he would need to find a way of explaining his revival which wouldn’t be easy. No, most likely he would be captured and sent to the T&I department. Well, that is if they do manage to capture him.

No, in the end it wasn’t worth it. Minato had given his life for Konoha and it spat on his sacrifice by mistreating his only offspring. Hell, he had gotten the chance to spar with Naruko, she was barely at genin level. Her taijutsu was a mess that barely worked thanks to her sharp instincts. She didn’t know any ninjutsu besides the academy three and shadow clones.

Hell, she couldn’t even perform the normal clone jutsu properly. Her chakra control is horrible and she has no grasp on genjutsu. Sure, her chakra control is this bad due to her over abundance of chakra but that is a boon not a disadvantage. With proper training she should be able to throw ninjutsu left, right and center. T/his chapter is updated by nov(ê(l)biin.co/m

Not only that but Minato also realized that even her basic knowledge is lacking. Things she should have learned before even entering the proper ninja curriculum. It showed how badly she had been neglected. It made Minato angry, no, mad it made him want to strangle both his sensei and his sensei’s sensei.

Thankfully Kushina is already devising a proper curriculum for Naruko. Having dealt with similar problems due to her over abundance of chakra she was the one best equipped to teach Naruko chakra control. Not to mention that with the over abundance of resources here Naruko could get the best education she could ever need.

Aside from that, Minato still had to consider the proposal Tomoka had given him and his wife. In the end Kushina decided to leave the matter in his hands and so here he is, spending another sleepless night thinking about it. Tomoka had simply asked him for his loyalty, to work for her for “The betterment of the world.”. It sounded too good to be true, yet he could see merit in it. This place is already proof enough.

In the end it was a question of: could he knowingly betray Konoha? Because that was it. If he were to join Tomoka he would be betraying Konoha. Afterall, she had killed the third, and made a mess of the village. That much she had admitted herself. Naruko had also recounted the events of that day.

In the end, Minato made up his mind. Konoha had betrayed him first anyway. He had trusted it to safekeep his daughter, instead it almost killed her. With his mind finally made up, Minato closed his eyes. Tomorrow he would talk with Kushina and then they would join the World wide web as Tomoka calls it.

Elsewhere someone else was caught in though. Satsuki felt cozy and happy, no longer did she feel like her life was cold and devoid of color. The flames of hatred that had burned her life away were now tame, embers kept alive by her stubborn desire for justice and answers.

Satsuki laid on her home’s couch watching tv with Naruko. The latter was currently having her hair combed by Satsuki’s fingers as she rested her head on the Uchiha’s lap. They were currently watching an animated show called Vleach. It was interesting but Satsuki wasn’t paying it any attention.

The past month had been a blast for Orochimaru, he had gotten to play with a bunch of new toys. His own lab inside Yggdrasil was many times larger and sophisticated compared to those he had been working in before. He had no complaints about working for Tomoka. The sheer amount of resources she had made it worth it. Being able to have intellectual discussions with someone his equal in intellect was the cherry on top.

Tomoka had helped figure out what was wrong with his jutsu. Unfortunately, there was no way of fixing it. A flawed jutsu leading to a dead end. Not like it mattered, Orochimaru wasn’t a stranger to failure. Instead both of them used it as a base for something different. Something that would still lead to Orochimaru’s goal.

“Finally, it's ready.” It had taken this long despite his ample knowledge and resources to craft the perfect body. His previous jutsu was flawed for a single simple reason. Soul body compatibility. Taking the body of someone else caused an incompatibility between the soul and body leading to the decay of both.

The body tends to decay faster, that does not mean however that the soul is safe. If he had kept using his jutsu for a decade or two more his soul would have collapsed. He would have died a soul death. Meaning, not even the edo tensei could bring him back.

Instead, he used material from his original body to create a basis for the genetic modifications he would apply to create his perfect body. It was rather hard, both he and Tomoka worked relentlessly on the project. Unfortunately his first jutsu also made the process harder. His soul had been damaged and even his original body wasn’t fully compatible anymore.

Instead, Orochimaru worked with his original genes and those of the people he had taken bodies from to create an appropriate base. Then he implanted as many different genetic keys as he could for kekkei genkais. Sharingan, Byakugan, Hioton, mokuton and anything else he could get his hands on.

Now, only the last step remains. To make sure that both his body and soul adapt to each other he will have his soul implanted into the modified zygote. This zygote will then go through accelerated growth until adulthood. This process will take a week or so. With that thought in mind, Orochimaru closed the door of the machine he had settled himself into.

A push of a button later and Orochimaru lost consciousness as his soul was transported from his current body to its new residence. Soon enough, in the chamber where the zygote laid, fuinjutsu lit up. The little thing began growing, forming a fetus before growing further. A week later the fluid inside the chamber drained as an adult body lay there.

Groggy Orochimaru opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was how great he felt. It wasn’t just about power but aches that had traveled with him from body to body were now gone. Taking a deep breath he pushed the lid of the chamber after pressing the unlatching button. With a hiss the glass panel swung open as the automatic lights in the lab turned on.

“That is new.” Not really, he had inhabited bodies with this feature before, however he didn’t expect to have it on this new body. He was sure that the genetic code of the zygote had a Y chromosome instead of an extra X one.

Walking towards the mirror in the lab Orochimaru appreciated his new form. Long flowing tar like hair. A pair of White eyes with three red tomoe around a snake like slit pupil purple markings around her eyes. Pale white delicate skin on a gorgeous tall body. A delicate diamond shaped face.

Orochimaru was never interested in gender, yet he could still appreciate beauty. He, no, she looked beautiful. Taking a moment Orochimaru let her hands roam her body, enjoying each delicate curve. Her hourglass figure was a delight to be sure.

“Now, how do these eyes work?” After enjoying her new form for a while longer, Orochimaru's interest was piqued by her new eyes. The resemblance to the byakugan was there with the white irises, and anyone that saw the three tomoe would think sharingan.

“Is it just a superposition of one on top of the other or will the combination be something new? testing is needed.” With that thought in mind Orochimaru got to work forgetting her state of nakedness. After all, when science called, Orochimaru would answer no matter what.