Seijuro had been in Ame for a week or so now, so around this part, his other half should have at least crippled Iwa. Oh well, none of his business really.

Iwa quite literally deserved it for what they did to the Uzumaki clan.

Oh well.

He could be seen watching the Ame orphans work out.

He was teaching them the basic stuff—enough to help them survive after he left. While he trusted Jiraiya's teaching, he would more than likely shove more ideology down their throats before he did any actual training.

The Ame orphans practiced a basic water-style jutsu he'd introduced—Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu.

It was simple. Efficient. And just advanced enough to make them feel proud.

"Yahiko, aim forward, not at your sister."

"She's not my sister—!"

"Then stop treating her like a target dummy."

Konan smirked. "Better aim than you though."

Nagato chuckled quietly behind them, but then—

Thump.

The red-haired boy tipped over, passed out in the middle of a stance.

Seijuro blinked, tilted his head slightly. "...Huh."

Jiraiya scratched his head from the other side of the camp. "Kid's been overdoing it. I told him to pace himself."

Seijuro smiled lightly, but his eyes were already scanning—calculating. "I'll carry him to his cot."

Jiraiya simply nodded. Seijuro carried the boy back inside, but didn't do anything drastic. He made sure he was fine.

Checked his chakra to see if everything was correct. May or may not have taken a blood sample—those Rinnegan were doing him more harm than good.

Seijuro was not planning on stealing them—that was a kid. No, he wanted to make the Rinnegan recognize the boy as its master or something. He was nice and all, plus, since Hanzo was dead, Ame needed someone to actually help them—and what better than the Rinnegan?

He should be fine. And also protect him from Danzo, so he may have left a Flying Raijin seal on the boy, which would alert him if Danzo's chakra signature got close to the boy. But apart from that, it was goochi.

Later That Night

Nagato lay peacefully in his cot. Breathing steady. Deep sleep.

Seijuro sat beside him, gloved hand resting just above his brow. Katsuyu's mucus shimmered faintly in a vial by his side, stabilized and enhanced with medicinal chakra.

A glowing array of micro-healing seals hovered beside the vial, each one hand-etched and calibrated to regenerate micro-tissue in Nagato's eye.

"...Perfect time," Seijuro murmured softly.

He reached down, slipped out a hidden sealing scroll and whispered the release.

The first stolen sample of Rinnegan tissue shimmered in a chakra-preserved vial—frozen like violet glass.

He took a second sample, swift, precise.

There was no blood. No damage.

Katsuyu's liquid was applied instantly. Followed by a chain of 100 regenerative seals, each vanishing the moment it touched flesh.

In less than thirty seconds, the wound had never existed.

Seijuro examined both samples under a light genjutsu lens. "Senju and Uchiha... strong soul signatures. Not a mutation. A fusion."

He pocketed the vials.

Then turned to Nagato.

"...You'll do fine," he whispered.

And walked away like nothing ever happened.

The boy would be fine. He wouldn't be hurt at all. Plus, his Rinnegan probably just got buffed.

Time Skip

Yahiko snored against a makeshift blanket. Konan quietly read from a battered scroll by candlelight. Nagato... was still awake.

Something felt off. His Rinnegan, for some odd reason, felt more... like his. As if, the second the original person's soul was kind of removed, his was the one the Rinnegan bonded to. He wondered why.

Sitting cross-legged by the fire was Jiraiya, bottle in one hand, grumbling in the other.

Seijuro stood nearby, arms crossed, watching the flames like they held prophecy.

Then—

Rustling.

From the treeline, a cloaked figure emerged. One of Jiraiya's personal spies—identifiable by the symbol carved subtly into his shoulder guard. A runner. Breathing hard. Handing over a scroll.

The moment Jiraiya read it, his eyes narrowed.

"...Tch."

He handed it to Seijuro, who took it without a word.

The scroll unfurled easily.

It read:

"Aizen Sōsuke has bankrupted Iwagakure.

He took the Beasts, sold them back, and charged them for their own failure.

Demanded the return of stolen Uzumaki scrolls."

A silence settled between them.

Then—

"You think it's revenge?" Jiraiya asked, voice low. "For the destruction of Uzushio?"

Seijuro didn't look up right away. His eyes stayed fixed on the scroll.

His tone was calm.

"If he wanted revenge... he would have burned the Stone to the ground. This? This was... reclaiming."

Seijuro looked at the part where they said the man had red hair. An Uzumaki.

"Reclaiming?" Jiraiya echoed.

Seijuro nodded slowly.

"He didn't ask for blood. He asked for archives. Knowledge. Heritage.

What does that sound like to you?"

Jiraiya exhaled through his nose.

"Someone... taking back what was theirs."

"Exactly."

The older sage leaned back against a tree, taking another swig of his flask.

"You know... if he's Uzumaki, then the boy's probably gonna target everyone who had a hand in what happened to the clan. That's a long list."

"Kumo, Iwa, Kiri..." Seijuro murmured. "But Konoha...?"

A pause.

Jiraiya didn't say anything for a moment. Then:

"...Let's hope nobody here leaked any info back then."

Somewhere in Konoha

Danzo sneezed. Heh. Something was off. Even Hiruzen felt a sneeze. While sure, he didn't leak it, he was aware of the leak... but they didn't do shit about it.

Because his boyfriend was there.

Seijuro might just write a BL story about those two. Anytime the Third Hokage is soft on Danzo, post a new chapter of the book—where Hiruzen was getting the backshots of doom from Danzo. Because clearly, he was the bottom.

Speaking of which, he should get started on the draft.

What would be the first couple of chapters...

....

Meanwhile: Nagato's Quarters

The boy sat on his futon, legs crossed, eyes wide in the dark.

He had overheard everything.

Uzumaki.

That was his clan. His people. The name he barely remembered, except from a faint memory his mother once said.

"Uzumaki... I'm... one of them?"

Aizen Sōsuke... was one too?

Why did he hurt the Stone?

Why did they attack the Uzumaki?

His fingers curled into the sheets.

A/N Shit start getting serious, I think from around here some devious stuff get showed some Boruto stuff happen, like a certain bum who can beat adult sasuke but lost to a Genin Naruto and Jiraya trying to spawn camp