Unknowingly, half a year had flown by, and it was now January of Konoha Year 48.
During these six months, Uchiha Yuan approached Orochimaru and exchanged two White Zetsu corpses for the Impure World Reincarnation technique.
Learning this technique was quite difficult, and Uchiha Yuan was not particularly talented in ninjutsu, so it took him over three months to barely grasp it.
After that came practice. He used bandits on the Fire Country's border or spies from other villages as test subjects, gradually improving the precision of the Impure World Reincarnation.
Currently, Uchiha Yuan could summon ninjas with roughly 50–60% of their original power.
However, he discovered two uncontrollable aspects of the technique: the summoned ninja's age and physical state.
Some appeared in their prime; others were summoned looking exactly as they did before death.
Uchiha Yuan even consulted Orochimaru about this. Orochimaru admitted he couldn't control the age or body state of the summoned ninja either.
Uchiha Yuan sighed at this—apparently Orochimaru's control over the technique was still inferior to that of Kabuto Yakushi later on.
Kabuto could even "buff" the Impure World Reincarnated version of Madara.
But these flaws didn't affect Uchiha Yuan's plan much. He only needed the soul, not the physical body for combat, so it didn't matter how the body looked.
Aside from refining Impure World Reincarnation, Uchiha Yuan focused most of his effort on the Hawk Faction.
He began by slowly infiltrating from the Third Division, influencing a few Hawk-aligned Uchiha members and encouraging them to affect their family and friends.
These members, while otherwise skeptical, trusted Uchiha Yuan greatly. After hearing his views, they were moved.
Combined with persistent persuasion, all Uchiha members in the Third Division eventually stood with Uchiha Yuan.
Starting with them, more and more Hawk members began to accept his ideology.
Of course, the Uchiha clan ultimately respects strength. Persuasion alone wouldn't win them over.
So Uchiha Yuan revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Upon learning he possessed the Mangekyō, many Hawks who had been on the fence immediately joined him.
The Hawk Faction's numbers dwindled while the Dove Faction finally surpassed them for the first time in years.
But it wasn't the Doves' ideology they followed—it was Uchiha Yuan's—which would greatly aid his eventual plan to dethrone Uchiha Fugaku.
Uchiha Yuan's exposure of his Mangekyō didn't escape Konoha's higher-ups.
The Third Hokage, who still held influence over much of the ANBU, invited Uchiha Yuan to his home.
When Uchiha Yuan arrived at the Sarutobi residence, he found Danzo, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado already there.
After brief pleasantries, the Third Hokage asked about Uchiha Yuan's Mangekyō ability.
Naturally, Uchiha Yuan refused to answer.
Homura frowned, "Uchiha Yuan, don't forget you are a Konoha shinobi. We're speaking on behalf of the village."
"Representing the village? If I recall correctly, the current Hokage is Minato Namikaze, isn't he?"
"This meeting was authorized by Minato as well," Koharu said.
"Is that so? Then bring the Hokage here. If he's present, I'll tell you my Mangekyō ability."
Danzo slammed the table, "Uchiha Yuan, are you saying you don't trust us?"
"That's right. I don't trust you."
The four were stunned. They hadn't expected such a blunt admission.
After a moment of silence, the Third Hokage said, "Yuan, we mean no harm. You don't need to be so defensive—"
"Third Hokage, ANBU from the Hokage's office request to see Uchiha Yuan," interrupted a Sarutobi clansman.
The Third Hokage sighed. "Let them in."
Moments later, Kakashi entered. Ignoring the others, he said directly to Uchiha Yuan, "Uchiha Yuan, the Hokage wants you at Orochimaru's lab. Immediately."
"Orochimaru's lab? Got it. Third Hokage, advisors, I'll take my leave now." With that, Uchiha Yuan vanished.
Kakashi also said his goodbyes and left.
"Hiruzen, this is the man you chose? Minato is clearly acting against us!" Homura said coldly.
"Minato is far too close with the Uchiha. That's not befitting a Hokage," Koharu added.
"Don't forget how Tobirama-sensei viewed the Uchiha—a naturally evil clan. We must remain vigilant," Danzo said.
The Third Hokage, puffing on his pipe, frowned deeper with each word.
—
Back to Uchiha Yuan. When he arrived at Orochimaru's lab, Minato was already there.
"Hokage-sama."
"Yuan, the child fused with the First Hokage's cells has woken up."
Uchiha Yuan turned to look at Yamato, who was under ANBU care.
"What do you plan to do with him?" Uchiha Yuan asked.
"We'll first see if he's awakened Wood Release."
Over the next week, Minato took Yamato home and asked Kushina to take care of him.
Once Yamato stabilized, Minato brought Uchiha Yuan and Yamato to the Fire Country's border.
Minato didn't teach him Wood Release outright but instead handed him a chakra paper to test his nature affinities.
Wood Release requires water and earth elements. If Yamato didn't have both, the rest would be pointless.
Under Minato's guidance, Yamato injected chakra into the paper. It crinkled, then became wet, then crumbled.
"Water and earth!" Minato's eyes lit up—this confirmed Yamato had the potential for Wood Release.
"Yamato, now follow my hand signs and circulate chakra accordingly."
Uchiha Yuan glanced at Minato's hand seals. He was teaching the simplest Wood Release jutsu: Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall.
But Yamato, new to jutsu, was too slow, and his chakra was unstable.
After many failures, Uchiha Yuan lost patience, activated his Sharingan, and took control of Yamato, guiding him through the hand seals.
A burst of chakra filled with life surged, and three saplings, as thick as adult arms, sprouted from the ground.
Seeing Yamato succeed, Minato smiled.
"Looks like he really has mastered Wood Release," said Uchiha Yuan, releasing the genjutsu.
Yamato, regaining consciousness, looked at the saplings and said, "Hokage-sama, if you wanted to see trees, you could've just asked. Why teach me all those complicated hand signs?" Then he opened his palm, and a small tree sprouted from it.
Uchiha Yuan's expression froze. Minato also looked awkward. Neither had expected that.
"Ahem, Yamato, hand seals aren't just for growing trees. They're for using ninjutsu—like this!" Minato demonstrated various jutsu to ease the moment.
After confirming Yamato possessed Wood Release, Uchiha Yuan received consent from Minato and Yamato to extract some of Yamato's blood. He then pricked Yamato's finger and collected a sample.
Uchiha Yuan did not hide anything and told Minato Namikaze that the blood was for Orochimaru to test and let him see if there were any potential problems with Yamato's body.
Yamato was, after all, created by Orochimaru, so it was reasonable to let the creator check on him.
After the blood draw, Uchiha Yuan noticed that Yamato's wound had already healed itself.
Only then did he realize something crucial: in the original story, Yamato's Wood Release was "dead," but now it seemed alive—more like the First Hokage's.
He turned to inspect the saplings.
Through his Sharingan, he saw that the saplings were no different from surrounding trees—except for residual Yamato chakra in the roots.
After a few minutes, even that chakra faded.
Now it was impossible to tell the saplings had been created by a jutsu.
It puzzled Uchiha Yuan. Logically, Yamato'sWood Release should've been like in the original story. Why was it different now?
Unable to figure it out, he turned to ask Yamato about his sensations during the experiment.
But Yamato could only remember the beginning—he'd fallen asleep as the fusion began and knew nothing else.
"Guess I'll have to ask Orochimaru," said Uchiha Yuan.
"Let me know what you find out," Minato replied.
Uchiha Yuan nodded.
After the test, Uchiha Yuan returned to the Land of Rice Fields and handed the blood to Orochimaru.
After a simple analysis, Orochimaru suggested sending Yamato to Konoha Hospital for a full examination and having the report delivered to him.
Uchiha Yuan passed this on to Minato, who immediately agreed.
He took Yamato to the hospital and scheduled a full checkup, waiting outside.
While waiting, Uchiha Yuan ran into two familiar couples:
First were Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto. It was January of Year 48, and Mikoto was almost four months pregnant.
They were here for prenatal care.
Later came Haruno Kizashi and Haruno Mebuki, also for the same reason.
Uchiha Yuan greeted Fugaku and his wife; the Haruno couple simply glanced at him and said nothing.
Just days earlier, Yamanaka Kagetsu had also told Uchiha Yuan that their clan leader's wife was pregnant.
The next generation of Konoha's rookies, the Konoha 12, were about to be born!
Two hours later, Uchiha Yuan received Yamato's test report, handed him off to Minato, and summoned Shadiao to return to the Land of Rice Fields.
After reading the report, Orochimaru said, "This child's integration with the First's cells exceeded my expectations. His constitution is very similar to these white beings. This vitality is practically made for Wood Release."
Uchiha Yuan relayed this to Minato, who was then determined to nurture Yamato well.
Over the next month, pregnancy announcements came from all the major clans.
One day, Minato sent someone from the Police Department to call Uchiha Yuan to Minato's house.
Based on the timeline, Kushina should be pregnant.
Sure enough, as soon as Uchiha Yuan saw her, his Mind's Eye sensed a powerful life force from inside her that was much stronger than that of ordinary children.
"As expected of Asura's reincarnation—strong vitality even in the womb," thought Uchiha Yuan.
"Yuan, you're here! Come in!" said Kushina, now glowing with maternal warmth.
"Yuan, Kushina is pregnant," Namikaze Minato said in a serious and solemn tone.
Uchiha Yuan naturally knew why Namikaze Minato had this expression. When a Jinchūriki becomes pregnant, the seal weakens, risking a Tailed Beast escape.
"Don't worry, Minato-senpai. If worse comes to worst, I'll fight alongside you."Uchiha Yuan smiled.
Then, turning to Kushina, he added, "And congratulations, Kushina-senpai! Your child will surely be a great shinobi."
Kushina's smile became even brighter after hearing that.
Afterward, the couple invited Uchiha Yuan to dinner. Later, Minato brought him into the study.
To be honest, Minato now only trusted Jiraiya and Uchiha Yuan among the Kage-level powerhouses in Konoha. And since Jiraiya was nowhere to be found, he had no choice but to confide in Uchiha Yuan.
(To Be Continued...)