"Haha, I did it!" An old man in his sixties burst into loud laughter, his eyes locked on the rat before him, its scarlet eyes gleaming with 3 spinning tomoe. A mad grin stretched across his face. How could he not smile, after finally cracking the genetic code of the Naruto universe?
After more than sixty years of relentless research, collaborating with brilliant minds like Orochimaru and countless others, he had finally turned his dreams into reality.
Take the rat in front of him, for example. It was once an ordinary creature, born without the slightest trace of chakra. But through meticulous genetic editing, he had granted it the Uchiha bloodline ability—the Sharingan.
And after three months of study, his conclusion was clear: this rat's Sharingan was indistinguishable from that of any pure-blooded Uchiha.
Of course, the rat didn't have enough energy to keep its eyes open for long. It was still just a rat at the end of the day. But even so, this proved the massive potential of what he dreamed of achieving.
He then turned his attention to the 15 tubes lined up nearby—each one containing the DNA of some of the most talented individuals in the shinobi world.
Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha, Sasuke, Naruto, Itachi, Kakashi, Might Guy, Neji, Orochimaru, Minato, Kushina, Nagato, Shisui, Hiruzen, and Tsunade.
He had long since discovered the gene linked to talent. For years, he dedicated himself to unraveling the genetic code of the shinobi world—all for one simple goal: to take the talent genes from all 15 individuals and rewrite his own DNA. His aim wasn't just to gain the most powerful Sharingan, but to create something beyond it.
He planned to use the genes of Hashirama, Sasuke, Madara, and Naruto to reconstruct the original bloodline shared by the Uchiha and Senju—the Ōtsutsuki bloodline.
It was the existence of this ancient race that convinced him such a feat was possible. After all, the Ōtsutsuki possessed something known as the Karma mark, a technique that rewrote the genetic makeup of those it branded, allowing them to reincarnate into Ōtsutsuki vessels.
There was also the matter of the Ōtsutsuki's unique connection to death. The Sage of Six Paths' children, Asura and Indra, were locked in a cycle of eternal reincarnation, fated to battle one another across generations. It was a dangerous bloodline, and the risks were high. He had no intention of granting such power to a mere rat. What if it killed him?
"The Fourth Shinobi War should be happening soon… It's a shame Orochimaru isn't here," he said softly.
He had grown close to Orochimaru over the years. In fact, it was Orochimaru who had secured many of the genetic samples now in his possession. For a time, he had even been Orochimaru's teacher—but eventually, they became equals, working side by side in pursuit of one goal: immortality.
When Orochimaru defected from the Hidden Leaf Village, he didn't follow him, but they continued working together in secret, helping each other whenever possible. After all, without Orochimaru running around digging up graves or daring to confront some of the strongest shinobi alive, how else was he supposed to acquire their DNA?
Getting Itachi's DNA had been easy—he was friends with Itachi.
As for Nagato, that was even simpler. He acted personally, stealing Nagato's DNA right after he used Rinne Rebirth to bring everyone in the Hidden Leaf back to life.
He wasn't powerful—barely above the level of a Chunin—but like Orochimaru, he was a cockroach: hard to kill, always crawling back. More importantly, he had mastered stealth to such a degree that even the Byakugan couldn't detect him. He could go anywhere, unseen and unchallenged.
But now, it was finally time—not just to become immortal, but to become overwhelmingly powerful while doing it. So, he got to work.
It only took a few days before he suddenly paused. Why?
Because he realized something—he could perfect the twelve bloodlines in his possession. Take the Uchiha bloodline, for example: he could enhance it, strengthen it beyond its natural limits, and strip away every flaw and restriction encoded into it.
Could he push the Uchiha bloodline to rival that of the Ōtsutsuki? It was a question he had to answer for himself, and with the Fourth Shinobi War only a few days away, he began preparing to acquire Kaguya's DNA.
He didn't need much. A single hair. Even a drop of her saliva would carry enough genetic material.
'That reminds me… the Nine-Tails can bleed,' he thought, a realization surfacing. 'I'd forgotten, since the Nine-Tails is a being made entirely of chakra…'
His mind raced with the possibilities. The war would be a goldmine of DNA—powerhouses like Onoki, Mei, and countless others would all be there. If he wanted to become the most talented person in history, he had to collect everything he could.
And so, he went out to do exactly that. Invisible to all senses, he slipped onto the battlefield the moment the war began. Guided by his knowledge of the plot, his first destination was the desert, where the Five Kage would soon arrive to confront Madara after his resurrection.
There, he waited in the shadows. He observed as the war unfolded, events playing out almost exactly as he remembered. Long ago, he had come to understand that fate was real, some things were simply destined to happen. And whenever he had tried to change those fated events, he found himself at risk.
So, he learned to stay hidden, to never interfere in ways that might endanger him.
So, he simply watched.
Madara's return. Madara single-handedly overwhelmed the Allied Shinobi Forces. The arrival of the Five Kage to stop him, only to be defeated one after another. And finally, Madara's retreat from the battlefield.
Once Madara vanished, he moved in quickly, collecting DNA samples from the fallen without hesitation. With that complete, he turned his focus to the main battlefield.
Everything proceeded smoothly—until Hashirama arrived. To his shock, Hashirama was able to sense him. It was the first time anyone had ever detected his presence.
For a moment, panic threatened to rise—but Hashirama didn't focus on him. The First Hokage had bigger problems to deal with… like the Ten-Tails.
He watched as battles capable of leveling nations unfolded before him. Fights he had once only seen in the anime were now taking place right before his eyes… yet he made no move to intervene. He simply sat there with a blank expression, waiting for Kaguya's arrival.
Then it happened. The Infinite Tsukuyomi was cast, blanketing the world in an all-powerful genjutsu. Everyone was caught in its grasp… everyone except the reanimated shinobi, those shielded by Sasuke's Susanoo, and, of course, him.
He had come prepared for this. The Infinite Tsukuyomi was a genjutsu so powerful it could even affect beings without chakra. It was considered the most powerful genjutsu, capable of covering the entire planet. But he was ready.
He had developed a pill that granted immunity to genjutsu for twenty-four hours, one of his many precautions. Naturally, it came with a price. Since genjutsu affected the senses, the pill dulled them for a full week once the effect wore off. A small price to pay for what was coming.
Then it happened—Madara was consumed and transformed into Kaguya. Kaguya seized Naruto and Sasuke with her hair and flung them aside. Just as in the original timeline, Sasuke reacted with lightning speed, using Chidori to cut through her hair. And that was the moment he had been waiting for.
The instant the severed strands hit the ground, he moved, grabbing hold of them before vanishing into the shadows. He didn't look back—but he felt it. Kaguya's head slowly turned… towards him.
He was, of course, stunned that she could sense him. But he wasn't about to stick around to find out what she planned to do with him.
Using every ounce of chakra he had, he activated the Flying Raijin and teleported away, reappearing in his hidden lab. The moment he arrived, he collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath.
He didn't have the chakra reserves to use the technique as freely as Minato, but it was enough for him to use the jutsu at most twice a day. That was all he needed.
For the next few days, he did nothing. The side effects of the anti-genjutsu pill hit him hard, and he needed time to recover.
Meanwhile, Naruto and the others defeated Kaguya, saved the world, and all that. He didn't care. That was never his concern. While the rest of the world celebrated, he spent the following week recovering from he side effect of the pill. And once he had recovered… he got to work.