Book One: The Rise of the Blue-Haired Devil.

      The corpse of Izuna's assassin hissed as if it only consisted of explosive seals that set everything on fire at the same time. We jumped back a distance of three or four metres before we could do anything. The body transformed... its skin peeled off, exposing white flesh that began to slough into the ground with a slurping sound. All of this was accompanied by a nasty smell in the air due to the vapours that evaporated from the body.       - Acid! - shouted Tobirama, realising what was happening to the body now. We reacted instantly, taking a few more leaps backwards, after which the corpse simply exploded, spraying a strange substance in all directions. When this substance touched metal, wood, or other things in the room, these substances began to fizzle. Their volumes shrank before your eyes, and a bubbling layer of acid was visible on their surface. After about a minute, everything stopped.       - Shit! - I spat out unpleasantly, as I began to realise something.       - What? - said the albino standing a step away from me.       - If we don't find anything in the collected substances, we'll reach a dead end. - I exhaled. It's unpleasant, but who knew a corpse could explode with acid? What the hell was that? I've never seen such a powerful acid before. Eh, until I study the composition of the substance, I can not even guess.       - I see. - Senju gave me an Uchiho-like response. - Go to the next room. Do your work, and I'll tidy up in here. - He added in a commanding manner, after a few seconds of thought.       I didn't answer him anything, simply heading in the direction my partner pointed. The room I entered was notable for its comfort. Comfort in terms of work, not relaxation. There was nothing superfluous here. Only instruments to analyse this or that substance, and a notebook. Since Tobirama wasn't here, I had to start by looking at the corpse's DNA. My worst fears turned out to be correct. It scared me somewhere in the back of my mind, though outwardly I remained completely calm. The substance I had taken from Izuna's killer's corpse turned out to be very toxic and dangerous even to me, but that wasn't even the point... it was even trivial compared to what I later discovered. When my partner arrived, I was finally able to start comparing DNA. The amazing survivability of the corpse's cells surprised me greatly, so I compared it to Hashirama's DNA, since that was the only person with such abilities. The results provoked a storm of indignation from Tobirama.       - How is it a ninety-eight per cent similarity? Are you sure you didn't make a mistake anywhere?! - The albino shouted across the lab, beginning to doubt my skills, but when he performed three experiments in a row, he became completely convinced that it was true. After about an hour of research with the killer DNA we came to some very disappointing conclusions. Someone was using the cells of the first hokage to create and grow humans or introducing his DNA into living humans. Both turned the person into some sort of humanoid with power over the element of wood, as well as the ability to merge with trees. He was simply impossible to detect. Such an enemy will have to be caught very long and painstakingly, because he himself will not come out. He would have to come up with a cunning plan against this super scout, but even that would not guarantee his capture, because as his behaviour showed, this creature... there was no other way to call this ninja... very clever... even too clever. By staying in the shadows, it was able to ruin the lives of two Shinobi Gods. What will happen when it reveals itself to the world? It's scary to imagine.       I decided to compare Kagami's DNA to both Madara's and Izuna's. Madara's DNA was already 50 per cent similar, which was a red flag, but Izuna's DNA was 75 per cent similar to Kagami's. Damn, my good old friend, what don't I know about you yet? When did you become a father? At sixteen, are you serious? Is that so? Eh... so many questions and so few answers. The albino, upon learning this information, grimaced as if he'd swallowed a lemon at once. As I later learnt, the Hokage teaches several students of the ninja academy the art of shinobi. One of them is, you guessed it, Kagami.       - I hope he doesn't become the second Madara. - Tobirama said with uncertainty in his voice at the end of his story about Kagame and his students, of which there weren't many. Hiruzen Sarutobi is the son of Sasuke Sarutobi. The boy had grown into a real bloke with terrifying amounts of chakra. Albino spoke of him as a kind and honest man, but even he didn't know how his student would react to being close to his father's killer. In case anyone had forgotten, I was the one who had taken Sasuke Sarutobi's life, because the latter had tried to use me as a bargaining chip to get more money for the clan. It was hard to blame him, however, I couldn't give myself away without a fight. In a fairly fair (no) fight, I defeated him, even if the price was high. Danzo Shimuro is the future head of the diminutive Shimura clan. The ninjas of this clan centred around the element of wind in the land of fire. It was given to them very easy and simple when mastering it. In character, this teenager was secretive and quiet. Never standing out from the crowd, trying to always walk beside Hiruzen. He aspired to the power of the young head of the Sarutobi clan and it gave him a strong incentive to develop. Kagami Uchiha - Head of the Uchiha Clan. A fourteen year old teenager who was distinguished in the clan by his dojutsu. The boy had learnt from an early age how to handle sharingan so well that not every jounin of the Uchiha clan could afford it. Perhaps this was one of those Uchiha who could put even a seasoned cursed-eye wielder into an illusion. This spoke volumes in terms of his development on the path of genjutsu. Mitokada Homura was a young, rational, and sober-minded teenager. He was never the first to go into battle, preferring to study his opponent and prepare tactics against him. He had no clan of his own, but Hiruzen respected his cold mind, which spoke volumes. Utatane Koharu, a young girl who was the only female among Tobirama's students. She was good at making traps that even skilful jounin fell into. She didn't need any equipment to create dangerous traps. She used improvised items available in any ninja's pouch. Explosive seals and cold weapons were at the core, but the most important thing about her traps was the effect of surprise. Even the Hokage had a hard time determining the location of a trap in advance, let alone the rest of the ninja. Senju's last apprentice was a clan boy with great promise as a ninja. Akimichu Torifu had a very strange body structure. It allowed him to use Akimichi clan techniques as early as five years old, but everything had a flip side of the coin. Torifu ate twice as much as the average Akimichi, which was astounding. To feed this guy, you had to cook for 24 hours a day. We were so immersed in the DNA research that we stayed in the lab for more than twelve hours without leaving it. Time flew by.       When we left the lab, my body didn't need to rest, but my mind was tired, so I decided that I would go to a workout to exhaust myself. Arriving at the nearest vacant range, I began my warm-up, which lasted about ten minutes. Despite my morale, I decided not to skip the warm-up, as it would affect my upcoming workout. Once all of my muscles were warmed up, I began to exercise by putting extra weight on my arms, legs, and torso with the help of weight seals. This helped me create the required body load quickly enough to advance my level of physical strength and speed. Over the last few years, I started incorporating weights only in my workouts. It just became a necessity, because if you wear them all the time, your body gets used to them. Yes, you'll fly like a ball of fluff after wearing them and that's the main problem. You'll have a hard time coordinating your movements during turns or any sudden movements.       I finished my training already closer to ten in the morning, after which I bravely went home... Wait... home? Where to? I had slept at Mito's house once before and in the hospital, however, that wouldn't be the case today. Uzumaki now has a husband who can't stand my person. It would simply be impractical to break into their house with such requests, and even in the morning. I had to bother the albino again, but to my surprise, Senju wasn't angry with me. He was even indifferent to me, just tossing me the keys in a bunch with a keychain that had the address on it. The house was found quickly enough. I only asked one resident to find the right road. Tobirama handed me the keys to a new dormitory flat. Small, but quite cosy for one person. However, there was one big and unpleasant BUT... there were many boxes at the entrance, each with strange writing on them that began to stress me out. All the notes indicated that these were parcels from the Land of Iron. Their final delivery was this very flat...this very dormitory. Am I missing something? No, I'm terribly curious about what's in them, and I'm also very eager to read the letter on the kitchen table, but the desire to sleep now prevailed in me, so, without even straightening the bunk, I collapsed into the soft bed, sinking into a much-desired sleep....