A year ago.
It was night time. Tsunade accepted her second student and sent him flying a few hours ago.
Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune and Kensei were at the Slug Sannin's apartment to discuss various matters.
"You could have killed him with that stunt." Kensei had a frosty expression on his face as he looked at the blonde woman.
Tsunade snorted with a small laugh. "If you really thought that then you've definitely lost your touch."
Kensei knew what she meant. He knew Tsunade had absolute power and control over her attacks. And moreover from all the spars he had with the kid, he knew just how strong and sturdy Daichi's body was and how much punishment it could take. Even though he was disgruntled about the whole thing he decided to move on since his grandson only had a few minor injuries which were quickly healed by Shizune.
"Try to reign in your temper princess… At least when the kid's around…"
Kensei let out a breath and moved on to the most important topic.
"Are they completed?"
Tsunade nodded her head. She took out two scrolls and tossed them to Kensei.
"One of them has the concoction that you'll need. The other is a body. Medically altered right down to the smallest details."
"How long do I have once the poison is in Isen's system?" It was Jiraiya that asked this question.
"The concoction I created will slow down Isen's heartbeat to one beat per minute. It will also reduce his chakra to the very bare minimum his body would need to survive. He will be in a near death state. After the poison takes effect he will immediately fall unconscious. You'll have a maximum of two hours from that moment. That's the best I could do without giving him any permanent damage. After the two hours his vitals will begin climbing back up but he'll be out of it for another couple days. It's the side effects of the drug." Tsunade replied.
"Two hours huh. That'll work." Jiraiya spoke after thinking about the plans. "Sensei's agent in the prison has been slowly giving Isen the drug you created. It will create all the appearance of an incurable disease. So when he gets knocked out there won't be much suspicion."
"That still leaves the seal Mui placed on him." Kensei had heard how troublesome the chakra sealing jutsu placed on the prisoners by the warden Mui can be.
"Don't worry about it. The contact at the castle knows how to deactivate the seal. And since Isen would be in a near death state and the seal would deactivate upon the user's death, there wouldn't be any doubts about his death. They would quickly move to destroy the body. During that time I'll switch Isen's body with the corpse and escape from the prison."
"I'll be waiting at the rendezvous point." Kensei spoke.
Jiraiya nodded and both he and Kensei made the preparation.
A few days later Kensei and Jiraiya left the capital and headed for the Grass village, while Tsunade and Shizune began training Daichi.
—-
Kensei was able to gather the entry points of the castle and the guard details. With this information, Jiraiya with his infiltration expertise and the help of the toad summons, was able to get inside one of the most secure prisons in the world.
The Hōzuki Castle. Also known as Blood Prison.
Jiraiya easily made contact with the spy the third Hokage planted inside the large castle. It wasn't long before the plan was enacted.
Isen. A former ninja of the Leaf village, close friend and ally of Kensei.
He is a man of large stature, broad shoulders and long white beard and hair. He had an unfocused expression on his face and had drooping eyes.
He suddenly collapsed as he was walking along the corridors. The guard near him happened to be the spy Hiruzen placed inside the prison. He discreetly released the seal and checked the man to make sure he showed no vitals. The guard then took him to the medical examiner of the prison. After declaring the man dead he left the room. At that moment Jiraiya appeared from the corner of the room and quickly unsealed the scroll containing an identical corpse.
Summoning a special toad and stuffing the real Isen in its mouth, Jiraiya quickly made his escape.
—-
A few days later.
Isen was sleeping on a comfortable looking bed while Tsunade was checking his condition.
"Everything seems normal. No serious or permanent damage. The drugs in his system should clear out in a few days… If you're going to unseal his memories I suggest you do it now, Kensei. This is the best time." Tsunade said as she took a step back.
Kensei nodded and placed a paper seal on the sleeping Isen's forehead. He then went through several hand seals and gathered chakra on his index finger and touched the seal.
"Memory Seal - Release."
A complicated seal formula spread from the paper and covered Isen's head.
"Hmm… Sensei told me it would take a few hours for the memories to be acclimated. We should give him some time. Let's step outside." Jiraiya said.
"You two go ahead. I'll be here." With those words Kensei sat on a nearby chair and stared at his sleeping friend.
Tsunade had already left not wanting anything to do with the matter and shortly afterwards Jiraiya followed her.
Several hours went by and the seal formula on Isen's head disappeared. It took a few minutes but the man was slowly regaining his consciousness.
"Wh… Where… Where am I?" With a blurry vision Isen asked.
Kensei stood from his chair and slowly went near his friend. "Hello old friend…"
Isen looked at the man standing near him. It took several moments before he recognized the person.
"Kensei, is that you?"
The old man just nodded and smiled. He saw Isen then looking around the room.
"I'm not in that prison am I?" Isen asked.
"No. And you won't ever be going back there… Don't worry. You're safe here. We're in the Fire capital. Right now you just focus on getting some rest." Kensei said as he held his friend's hand.
Isen nodded but then suddenly made a panicked face. Kensei was alarmed when he saw that.
"What? What is it?" He asked Isen.
"Danzo! Danzo… He's… We have to warn the Hokage."
"Calm down Isen... Don't worry about Danzo. Hiruzen has already sent his men on the task…"
"Hiruzen is investigating Danzo?" Isen asked in disbelief.
"There's a lot that has happened since your incarceration that I need to catch you up on."
Isen calmed down and just laid in his bed. He then looked at his friend. "How is Binami?"
Kensei smiled. "She's fine. Don't worry… And you'll be in for a surprise." Kensei had an almost teasing tone in his voice.
"Just knowing that she's safe is what matters most to me… Kensei… I need to see him…"
Kensei looked at the man questioningly.
"Hiruzen! I need to see him. I need to look him in the eye and get some answers."
Kensei sighed as he heard that. "Get some rest right now. After that, after you hear everything that's happened, if you still want to meet him, then I'll make the arrangements."
Isen nodded in agreement. It wasn't long before he went to sleep. His body, due to many years of inaction and the ordeals it went through, was at the moment weak.
—-
Somewhere in a secret Laboratory.
"Marvelous… Subject 24 shows no rejection or any major malformations in the body. His chakra signature has changed. It's now vaguely similar to Itachi Uchiha…"
Orochimaru muttered to himself as he looked at the small child with pale white skin sleeping inside a large tank. The snake Sannin took the child out of the container and placed him on the examination table.
He used his medical equipment to keep the eyelids of the child open. He placed a seal on the boy's body and forcefully activated the chakra throughout the boy's pathways. Orochimaru directed the chakra to the head and more specifically the eyes of the head.
The black eyes slowly turned into red with a single tomoe. The signature of someone with the Uchiha bloodline.
"Artificial activation of Sharingan in the clone is a success. Single tomoe present in both eyes…."
At that moment the Sharingan disappeared due to the small reserves of the boy.
"Chakra volume is below average. Extracting eyes from the subject and preparing for dissection."
Orochimaru carefully cut out the eyes and placed them in a preservation jar. He then cut open the child and examined every part of the body.
As he examined the body a frown formed on Orochimaru's face. "Chakra pathways are smaller than expected. Muscle and bone density is also slightly lower than average. Based on the current structure of the body and estimated growth developments the subject would have been a Genin at minimum but Chunin at average and low level Jonin at very best… Conclusion… Not viable for Transference Ritual."
Orochimaru extracted as many valuable body parts for studying as he could before disposing of the boy.
At that moment the door to his laboratory opened and a teenager walked in. The most noticeable feature about him was the single Sharingan in his right eye and the four embedded on his right arm.
"Ahh Shin! Excellent timing. I have something for you." With those words Orochimaru gave the boy the container that held the two Sharingan that was extracted a short time ago.
"Thank you Lord Orochimaru. I hope my clones will be able to help you with your research." The boy named Shin replied. He was one of the many devotees of Orochimaru. He was also a test subject for Orochimaru's various experiments.
"Yes. I gained plenty of data examining each of the subjects… Tell me Shin, how goes your experiment? Were you able to advance the power of the Sharingan?"
"Yes lord Orochimaru. It took some intense battle with Kimimaro but I was able to increase the tomoe of all Sharingan eyes. They are now in the second stage. However, they consume more chakra. So I can't maintain them for long." Shin replied as he looked at the 4 two tomoe Sharingans in his right arm.
"As expected. Come. I'll implant these into your arm as well. Your body will acclimate to the increased chakra usage in a short time."
With those words Orochimaru led Shin to a table and began the transplant. After an hour two more eyes were added to Shin's arm, making it six. Once the operation was completed and after taking some genetic samples from the boy, the snake Sannin dismissed him. As Shin left, Orochimaru noted down the observations he made on Shin's body and the Sharingan in his arms.
Some time later he was in front of another Tank with green liquid which had another clone that was created using Uchiha blood and the genetic samples from the boy Shin.
'Itachi! I'll make you pay for what you did to my arm.'
Orochimaru had left the Akatsuki organization a few months ago. He tried to take Itachi's body for himself and lost an arm for his troubles. He fled the organization and was now conducting experiments using the blood Danzo gave him.
'At first I thought I could create a clone or an army of clones with the Uchiha bloodline and awaken Sharingan and transfer my soul into them. But the clones I create are just cheap imitations… Then again, there is Subject Z- 07.'
Orochimaru closed his eyes and thought about the masterpiece he was currently working on.
'But that's not possible right now. I don't have enough data… It will take far too long for that project to be completed... A clone won't have the power I want even if I make the necessary augmentations and Subject Z-07 will take at least a decade to be completed. And that's only if everything goes accordingly. There could always be complications and the project could end in failure.… I need a pure fresh living Uchiha body soon…'
A wicked smile was on Orochimaru's face as he thought about his greatest target. 'I may not have been able to get you, Itachi, but I'm sure your brother would show just as much potential as you. That will also be my revenge. Just you wait Itachi! Once I have Sasuke's body… you're dead.'
He then walked to the next most important test subject.
Subject 'Z-07'
Orochimaru placed his hand on the glass and looked at his latest creation. 'There is still more work to be done on Z-07.'