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Before Peter could leave, Minato had one thing he needed him to do. Of course, Peter agreed and followed Minato and Jiraiya back to the Hokage Tower.

As they walked, Minato introduced Peter to Jiraiya. "Peter, this is Jiraiya, my sensei, one of the Legendary Sannin."

Peter nodded in greeting. "Nice to meet you, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya gave Peter a friendly smile. "Nice to meet you too. Minato's told me a little bit about you."

After some brief greetings, Jiraiya asked, "So, where do you plan to go after this?"

Peter responded, "I actually only came here to deal with someone. I never planned to stop in this village for long, but things went slightly off the rails, and now I’m here and have two new students to look after."

Jiraiya smiled and said, "I’ve found that life gets much more interesting when you step off the beaten path."

Peter couldn’t help but nodded in agreement as they entered the Hokage building.

Minato asked, "Who do you have to deal with?” To him, it seemed fairly certain that Peter planned to kill someone, which wasn’t very surprising in their line of work, though he wondered who exactly his target was.

Peter shrugged and said truthfully, "I don’t know yet. We’ll see when I find them I guess?"

This answer caused both Minato and Jiraiya to look at him in confusion. Jiraiya asked, "You don’t know who you’re after?"

Peter shook his head. "Nope."

Jiraiya raised a brow and offered, "Well, if you need help tracking them down, you can always ask me. I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I have quite the information network. I could tag along and help you find them, whoever they are."

Peter replied, "No, I can find them myself, though you’re welcome to accompany me if you want. I don’t mind having a companion for the trip. It should be short anyway."

As they talked, they made their way through the Hokage building, descending into subterranean floors locked by seals that Minato had to open, guarded by silent Anbu guards.

Jiraiya was about to reply, but Minato spoke first. "I’m afraid Jiraiya is needed in the village. It’s still very likely that other villages will try to start something upon hearing about what happened last night. We need all the military power we can get, at least until the situation cools down."

Peter raised a brow. "If you need help, then here." From his shadow, a stream of silhouettes rushed out, shooting across to Minato and melding into his shadow, disappearing from view.

Minato and Jiraiya were shocked upon seeing the shadows. Jiraiya was especially taken aback as he recognized one specific shadow that looked a lot like Danzo.

However, before he could question it, Minato spoke. "What… what was that?" He asked.

Peter explained, "I just gave you all of the resurrected Root members, including Danzo. They’ll follow your orders for the time being, as long as they aren’t told to do anything against me, or my morals."

Jiraiya looked between Minato and Peter, his expression one of confusion and curiosity. "Wait, what’s this about Root and Danzo?"

Minato gestured toward Peter. "Peter killed Danzo and every Root member alongside the Uchiha clan. The Uchiha got involved when they learned that Danzo was hiding Sharingan eyes underneath his bandages. Apparently, he had been stealing them for years. He then resurrected Danzo and the Root members he killed with some sort of technique."

Peter chimed in, "I resurrected them as shadow servants.” He revealed, though it didn’t really explain much.

Jiraiya seemed bewildered. "You can revive the dead as shadow servants? That’s... incredible, and extremely frightening at the same time…”

Jiraiya couldn’t say he was sad to hear that Danzo was dead, as he always hated that old mummy. Even for a pervert like him, who routinely peeps on women in the name of research, Danzo was considered a grade-A creep. He just always rubbed him the wrong way, similar to Orochimaru but on a lesser scale.

Jiraiya glanced at Minato before shrugging, ‘If Minato is fine with it, then I won’t make a fuss… It’s not like Danzo is worth it anyway…’

Peter ignored Jiraiya’s comment and finally asked, "So, where exactly are we going? We’ve gone through so many checkpoints and just keep heading lower and lower."

Minato opened one last seal, and they arrived at a prison hold. Inside, Obito lay unconscious, locked behind a cell reinforced with an impressive array of seals. Even Peter was impressed by the complexity and number of seals.

Jiraiya whistled, awed by the intricate work. "Nice job, Minato."

Minato shook his head modestly. "Kushina did most of the work."

“That makes sense…” Jiraiya muttered, knowing that only an Uzumaki could craft something this impressive.

Turning to Peter, Minato asked, "Can you secure our prisoner even more, as you offered earlier? Our seals are strong, but I’d feel safer with your help."

Peter nodded. "Sure." He walked over to the cell, examining it closely.

As he did, Jiraiya turned to Minato. "Who is the prisoner?"

Minato's face darkened. "Obito."

Jiraiya nodded for a moment before freezing, the name registering. "Wait, you mean that Obito? I thought he was dead?"

“Me too…” Minato replied.

As Minato began explaining in more detail what happened during the Nine-Tails attack, particularly Obito's role in it, Peter got to work enhancing the cell's security with his mystic arts. He waved his hands, conjuring dozens of spell circles at once.

Some of these circles reinforced the seals that Minato and Kushina had already set up, while others added entirely new layers of security, incorporating protections that they hadn’t thought of or didn’t know existed in the first place.

Peter paid special attention to creating barriers that would block out Zetsu, knowing that he would be Obito’s only chance at escaping without a full-scale assault on the village. The intricate spellwork glowed as it settled into place, weaving a nearly impenetrable net of mystical protections around the cell.

Once the cell was secure, Peter didn’t stop there. He directed several spell circles toward Obito’s body, sealing his chakra and Sharingan eyes.

While Minato and Kushina had already implemented such measures, Peter’s seal was a second, even stronger layer. But most of all, It was impossible for anyone in this world to break without knowledge of the mystic arts, effectively rendering Obito helpless.

With the final spell circle in place, Peter stepped back, surveying his work. The cell now shimmered with an ethereal golden glow, a testament to the formidable security measures in place. Minato and Jiraiya looked on in awe, still shocked by Peter’s odd form of sealing.

Peter turned to Minato, explaining, "I've reinforced the existing seals and added several new layers of security. I've also sealed Obito's chakra and Sharingan eyes with an additional layer of enchantments, making it impossible for anyone without knowledge of the Mystic Arts to break."

Minato nodded appreciatively, taking in the enhanced security measures. "Thank you, Peter. It hasn’t even been 24 hours since we met, and yet I already feel like I’ve come to rely on you a bit too much."

Peter smiled. "I'm just glad I could help, but If that’s all, I’ll head out now." With a wave of his hand, he conjured a shimmering portal, its ethereal glow lighting up the underground chamber.

Both Minato and Jiraiya stared in shock. “?!”

Peter gestured to the portal and asked Jiraiya, "You coming or not?"

Jiraiya looked at Minato, seeking permission. Minato shrugged, his expression indicating that it was up to him. Jiraiya smirked and turned to Peter. "I'm coming."

Peter nodded and stepped through the portal, beckoning Jiraiya to follow. Jiraiya approached the portal, poking a finger through to test it before leaping through, feeling a rush of excitement.

As he emerged on the other side, he found himself hundreds of miles outside the village, standing alongside Peter. The scenery had changed dramatically, leaving him wide-eyed in shock and awe, which seemed to become a regular thing around Peter.

Allowing him to take it all in, Peter called back into the portal, "We’ll be back soon," before the portal snapped closed behind them.

Slowly getting over his shock, Jiraiya asked, "So, where are we headed exactly?"

Peter looked around for a moment, activating the ability that Death had given him. Sensing the direction that would lead him to his target, Peter started running. "This way. Follow me."

Jiraiya, curious and excited, quickly followed Peter, eager to see more of his abilities.

————

Back with Minato, Peter's voice echoed through the portal just before it snapped shut, waking Obito and causing him to stir.

As he awoke, Obito groggily opened his eyes and groaned, his body aching from his fight with Minato. He glanced around the room, realizing he was in a prison cell. The seals covering the walls were intricately designed, making the cell seem almost impenetrable.

His groan and movement caught Minato’s attention, who silently watched him, unsure of what to say, a conflicted look on his face. “…”

As Obito took in his surroundings, the memories of his identity being revealed and his loss against his former teacher sank in. He scrambled to his feet, instantly attempting to escape using his Sharingan, but quickly realized that he couldn’t sense his chakra, nor could he activate the power of his eyes.

After some futile struggle, a voice broke through his thoughts, saying, "You won’t be able to escape, Obito."

Freezing at the familiar voice, Obito turned to see Minato, his former teacher, standing there, watching him with a sad, thoughtful frown on his lips.

Obito grunted out, "Sensei..."

————

Meanwhile, Tsunade Senju, a striking woman with long, blonde hair tied in a loose ponytails and a prominent diamond-shaped mark on her forehead, and her apprentice, Shizune, a dark-haired woman with a kind and earnest face, arrived at their meeting point, a hidden bunker door, which creepily swung open as the approached.

[Insert picture of Tsunade here]

[Insert picture of Shizune here]

“L-Lady Tsunade…” Shizune muttered, fearfully grasping her master's sleeve. “Maybe we should just leave? You said it yourself, Orochimaru is nothing but bad news. For all we know, this could be a trap…”

“We already traveled all this way. Let’s just see what he has to say first. Besides, even if he’s planning something, I’ll just beat his a*s…” she countered, not nearly as frightened as her apprentice.

Earlier that morning, as she was having her breakfast sake, Tsunade received an unexpected message from her former teammate, Orochimaru, who had surprisingly asked for her help. He even offered to pay off her gambling debts if she would assist him.

Curious and a bit suspicious, as this was Orochimaru she was dealing with, Tsunade ultimately decided to meet with him. After all, her debts were monumental and she doubted Orochimaru held any bad intentions towards her, or at least she hoped he didn’t.

As they stood outside the open bunker door, waiting, a familiar figure suddenly appeared in the doorway, a twisted yet welcoming smirk on his face. “Tsunade, how good of you to accept my invitation…”

Tsunade crossed her arms and eyed Orochimaru warily. "Alright, Orochimaru, I’m here. What's this all about?" she demanded. “You need me to heal you or something? Don’t tell me, did Sensei beat the sh*t out of you again?”

Orochimaru’s eye twitched ever so slightly, though he managed to keep himself under control as he replied. "Always so venomous, huh, Princess? And here I thought I was supposed to be the snake in our group…”

“Enough with the nonesense. What do you want?” Tsunade cut straight to business.

“Let's discuss this inside, shall we?"

A/N: 1964 words :)