Outside an underground Cavern,

Izuna and the Sannins stare at a hidden entrance beneath a large tree. ​​

"This is the place, according to the map," Orochimaru informs us as we stare at the entrance.

"I still can't believe, Hiruko would do such a thing." Tsunade has a conflicted expression.

"We grow up together with him, faced many life and death battles during the Second Shinobi War. Now, we are ordered by Sensei to assassinate him." Jiraiya sighs as he reminisces.

"He is consumed by the darkness and followed the wrong path. We should try to guide him towards the light." Tsunade remarks.

"Let's meet with him first and see whether he thinks the same way as you." I interrupt their thoughts as I draw my Chakra blade.

"Be careful, we have no information about his Kinjutsu. It can be pretty dangerous to engage him in his lair." Orochimaru warns us as he folds the map and takes out a kunai from his holster.

"Let me place some barrier seals to block his exit, in case he tries to run away," I suggest to them.

They nod to my suggestion as I start to place seals around the entrance. After five minutes, I stand in front of the cave as I slam my hand on the ground. Various seals crawl from my position as they fuse with other seals.

'Fuinjutsu: Three Yang Formation'

A crimson pyramidal barrier surrounds the cave. I walk up to the barrier and create an entrance for us to enter. The Sannins enters one by one as I follow them inside.

We enter a large passageway engulfed in darkness. Orochimaru takes out a glow stick from his pocket. He twists it to produce some light and we continue to move forward. I activate my Sharingan in case of danger.

I have no problem in darkness as I have an infrared vision because of my Mutated Sharingan. The cave is very damp and many mosses and fungi are growing on the walls. I activate my X-ray vision as I start to look around. We reached the end of the laboratory, but there is no sign of Hiruko.

"He must have abandoned his lab." Jiraiya remarks.

"From the look of it, seems like he left in a hurry." Orochimaru investigates for any trail.

"Let's search for any information pertaining to his Kinjutsu." Tsunade searches around.

I spot a hidden passage beyond a fake wall as I inform them.

"There is a passage beyond that wall. I think it is an emergency exit. There must be a mechanism to open it somewhere…"

Bang…

Before I could finish my sentence, Tsunade bust opens the wall with a punch.

"It would be too much of a hassle to search for the switch."

Jiraiya shrugs off his shoulder as he enters the passage. I wait for Orochimaru's orders for our next course of action.

"You guys, move on ahead. I will catch up with you, once I find any information regarding the Kinjutsu." Orochimaru instructs us.

"Well, that's what he said. Let's search for Hiruko's trail. Hey, you Uchiha boy, you seem to be an expert in tracking and stealth, according to Hiruzen sensei. Why don't you show your skills?" Tsunade comments as she approaches near me and bends her back to face against me.

I could clearly see those massive mounds of her and the valley between them. I take a deep breath to calm myself down as I answer,

"Leave it to me. I will track him soon. I have some sensory abilities."

I activate my infrared vision and pair it with 'Eye of Insight' of Sharingan as I look for trails. Together with the training from Anbu, I can figure out the tracks left behind. Soon, I found the direction of the escape of Hiruko as I start to follow it.

Jiraiya and Tsunade followed closely as I increased my speed. The incredible perceptive power from Sharingan helped me differentiate between a decoy and the real thing.

"I would have to say, you have some good skills boy. Do you want to follow me and be a part of my adventures?" Jiraiya questions me.

"Rather than following a pervert like you, I would prefer that bad-tempered old lady over there," I remark at Jiraiya's offer.

Tsunade has a tick mark on her forehead as she tries to punch me, but I dodge her attack.

"See, how bad her temper is. Besides, what can you teach me, if I follow you." I ask Jiraiya as I avoid another punch from Tsunade.

Jiraiya contemplates as he mutters,

"Ninjutsu, no he can already create his own S-Rank jutsu. Genjutsu, what I am even thinking? He is an Uchiha, so he is an expert in Genjutsu. Besides, Genjutsu isn't my forte. Taijutsu, I don't think I am good enough in Taijutsu to teach him anything.

Kenjutsu, I never trained in the sword. Huh! I can't really teach him anything." Jiraiya sighs as he hung down his head.

"Wait a sec! Senjutsu. Maybe I can teach him Senjutsu. But for that, he needs a summoning contract with toads. Maybe, I can talk to Fukasaku about it. I don't want to miss an opportunity to get such a powerful underling, can I? He can take care of all of my errands and I can get to enjoy more." Jiraiya is lost in his fantasies as he makes a pervert expression and drools leaks from his mouth.

I ignore Jiraiya as I start a conversation with Tsunade.

"Hey, Tsunade. I heard that you are an unparalleled Medic Ninja. I would like to learn Medical Ninjutsu from you, if possible."

"Call me Tsunade-sama. And yes, I am a very good Medic Ninja. But I want to retire as a Ninja after this mission. I want to roam around the world and find meaning in my life." Tsunade reminisces about her past as tears flow from her eyes.

"I don't know about your past. But if you are hung up on your past, then you won't be able to make much progress in the future." I interrupt her thoughts as I thought of reducing some of her trauma.

Tsunade snaps at me and starts to yell,

"What do you know about me? I lost my only family member and the person I loved the most. Do you think it is easy to forget about that?"

She clutches her necklace as she stares angrily at me.

"Sorry, if I offended you somehow. That wasn't my intention. What I want to say is, you can't change the past, but you can always plan for a better future. Your loved ones would be sad in the afterlife to see you grieve over their death. I am sure they also want you to move forward in your life and be happy and cheerful." I use the famous Talk-no-Jutsu on Tsunade to console her.

Tsunade ponders over my words as she wipes away her tears.

"If your emotional drama is over, then can we focus on our mission?"

A creepy voice interrupts us as Orochimaru pops out from a nearby bush.

"Oh! You caught up Orochimaru. Did you find anything about the Kinjutsu of Hiruko? It must be a non-human technique if Hiruzen-Sensei ordered for assassination."

Orochimaru throws a scroll to Jiraiya as he explains,

"I examined his equipment and incomplete research notes he left behind. His Kinjutsu is called the 'Chimera Technique'.

It is a forbidden technique in the sense that it allows the user to combine separate living bodies of organisms into one combined organism bearing the original characteristics of the organism and therefore create a synthetic body.

I am not sure of his intents, but he seemingly wants to create a perfect being by combining the abilities of other beings. His idea is unique, and I found many research notes which can improve the abilities of a ninja."

"Orochimaru, it is a Kinjutsu. He is using humans as guinea pigs for his experiments and sacrificed the lives of many shinobis from the leaf. The village can't approve of such an inhumane technique as it is against Shinobi morals and code of conduct." Tsunade calms down as she disagrees with Orochimaru.

"Tsunade, the world isn't a perfect place. Humans are just mortal beings who die very easily. There is so much to learn in this world, but we have only a limited lifespan. What if we can control our life and death? Imagine a world where your loved one's won't leave you anymore. Some sacrifices are required to make that possible." Orochimaru entices Tsunade.

"Orochimaru, your beliefs are a little twisted. You want to sacrifice lives to save lives. That's too much of a contradiction. Also, I don't think Life and Death are such matters which we can take so lightly. Every life has a meaning, you just have to figure out the meaning of your life on your own." Jiraiya rebukes Orochimaru.

The atmosphere turns tense as we continue to follow the trails.