Chapter 86: Do You Want to Understand the Meaning of Life?
Thump~ Thump~
A figure with gray hair squatted by the stream, hands in the stream water, continuously washing.
And the originally clear stream water gradually became tinged with streaks of red.
"Why... why..."
Yakushi Kabuto's face reflected on the water's surface; the rippling waves made his originally common facial features appear somewhat distorted.
"Why... would the Director forget me... Then all this time, what exactly have I been?"
The Director died, died at his hands.
And, just before dying, she even asked him back: "Who are you?"
In that moment, his everything was obliterated.
"Clearly... she was the one who adopted me, she was the one who gave me my name, even these glasses..." Yakushi Kabuto took off his round-framed glasses.
But the next moment he lowered his head, his body suddenly stiffened.
Looking at the blurry, shattered reflection on the water's surface.
Yakushi Kabuto's eyes were vacant, as he murmured: "Who... am I, really?"
Once, he was Kabuto, a Konoha ninja.
Later, he was an Iwa ninja, a Kumo ninja, a Kiri ninja...
But from beginning to end, the identity of "Kabuto" was the self he always held onto.
The glasses were originally the bond between him and the Director; the name was originally the meaning the Director gave him.
Having nothing, he possessed a self to hold onto, found his sense of belonging.
But now...
All of it seemed to have become a joke.
Just as Yakushi Kabuto's heart was filled with emptiness,
Whoosh~ Whoosh~
A whistling sound echoed from the sky.
When Yakushi Kabuto snapped back and looked up,
He only saw a serpentine summoned beast circling in the air, and a figure leaping down from it.
Under Yakushi Kabuto's shocked gaze,
With a loud thump, the figure landed directly on the ground, smoke and dust rising all around.
"Yakushi Kabuto? In this state... have you lost yourself?"
A voice tinged with amusement also reached Yakushi Kabuto's ears.
When the smoke and dust cleared, a man wearing a three-eyed fox mask appeared before Yakushi Kabuto.
And the massive serpentine summoned beast floated behind him.
"Who are you..."
Yakushi Kabuto reacted instantly, his expression grave as he distanced himself.
Chakra appeared in his hands, condensing into sharp chakra scalpels.
"As an outstanding intelligence operative, you should be able to recognize me, right?"
Yakushi Kabuto frowned upon hearing this, various pieces of intelligence flashing rapidly through his mind.
After just three short seconds, Yakushi Kabuto's body stiffened.
"You... you're that masked man who killed Shisui of the Body Flicker and repeatedly infiltrated Konoha?"
Realizing this, Yakushi Kabuto understood the power disparity between them and turned to flee using Body Flicker.
"Heh, actually leaving your back exposed to me."
A cold laugh suddenly came from behind.
And the words that followed made Yakushi Kabuto's breath catch involuntarily.
"Has Nonō's death made you forget the calmness an intelligence operative should possess?"
Kabuto abruptly stopped, turning to look at the masked man.
"You... how could you know?"
He tried his best to keep his expression calm, but still couldn't suppress the panic in his heart.
However, Menma just shook his head, not directly answering his question.
"If you want to know the truth, then come with me."
He turned towards the Azure Dragon as he spoke: "I will tell you everything you want to know."
Yakushi Kabuto paused: "What is it that I want to know?"
"Why Nonō wanted to kill you, why she didn't remember you, and also..."
Menma stopped, turning his head sideways to glance at him: "Who exactly... you are."
Who... am I?
Looking into the masked man's deep blue eyes,
A cold wind blew past. Yakushi Kabuto suddenly shivered.
Unsure why, before this man, Kabuto felt as if he had been stripped bare.
No matter the secret, nothing could be hidden from this man.
"Why did the Director want to kill me? Why didn't she remember me? And, who am I..."
This person... can he answer my questions?
Huff~
Yakushi Kabuto let out a long breath, his expression gradually regaining composure.
The Director's vacant gaze, being forgotten by the person he cared about most – it made him like a ship that had lost its sail in the vast ocean.
Having lost the identity of "Kabuto", he had nowhere to go, no meaning to live on.
Therefore, he wanted to know who he really was.
"Interesting. Calmed down so quickly?"
Seeing Kabuto quickly calm down, Menma, walking ahead, showed a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth.
When Yakushi Kabuto arrived beside the Azure Dragon,
Seeing Uchiha Shin held in its mouth, he couldn't help frowning.
"Does this summoned beast eat people? Does it even bring its own rations?"
But a glance aside made his eyes widen suddenly.
"Director?!"
Looking at Nonō on the Azure Dragon's tail, Kabuto slowly approached, face full of disbelief.
His training as a medical ninja also allowed him to analyze the Director's current state.
Rosy complexion, steady breathing, wound healed...
If one ignored the bloodstains on her clothes, Nonō looked almost as if she had fallen into a sweet dreamland.
But Kabuto remembered very clearly, the Director was already dead.
Because the murderer who killed the Director was himself!
"You! This?!"
Yakushi Kabuto looked at Nonō, then turned back to Menma, asking helplessly: "How is the Director here? Isn't she..."
"Not already killed by you?"
Menma said playfully: "Your questions are increasing."
Yakushi Kabuto reacted upon hearing this.
Gritting his teeth, he directly tried to climb onto the Azure Dragon's back.
But before he could get on,
Smack!
The Azure Dragon turned its head and swatted him away with its tail.
Seeing Yakushi Kabuto, dusty and dumbfounded,
Menma also shook his head, chuckling: "This fellow's temperament is a bit tsundere. Please forgive it."
Saying this, he formed seals again using Kyūmen Suppāka, summoning the Nine Masked Beast: White Tiger.
"Roar!!"
Yakushi Kabuto clutched his chest and stood up.
Looking at the imposing white tiger, and the nine formulas behind the masked man,
A trace of bewildered surprise flashed in his eyes.
"This summoning technique... could there be seven more summoned beasts?"
The strength of that serpentine summoned beast, just its physical power alone, is probably Jōnin level.
Yakushi Kabuto shook his head and approached.
This time, he successfully sat on the White Tiger's back.
"Hold tight."
Menma's voice fell.
Before Yakushi Kabuto could react, the White Tiger directly sprang forward, rushing into the distance.
Five minutes later.
The group arrived back inside Orochimaru's base.
Yakushi Kabuto scanned the gloomy surroundings.
His gaze fell upon the strangely shaped 'people' soaking in unknown liquids. He couldn't help but feel a chill.
"Don't misunderstand. These are just my spoils of war."
Menma spoke as if knowing what Kabuto was thinking.
Without turning his head, he explained with some disdain: "I don't have the perverse pleasure of transforming people into half-human, half-beasts."
That guy Orochimaru, though he grasps core technology,
But to save his own skin, he really dares to transplant anything onto himself, turning himself into neither human nor ghost.
However...
Yakushi Kabuto in the original story seems to have inherited Orochimaru's bad habits too, right?
"Why did you specifically bring me to a place like this?"
Hearing Yakushi Kabuto's question, Menma placed Nonō, whom he carried, onto an operating table.
Then turned to meet Kabuto's eyes.
"If I hadn't appeared, the one standing before you now would be Orochimaru."
Menma spoke: "From the very beginning, you two were destined for such an ending. Even your mutual destruction was already written in the script."
Yakushi Kabuto paused upon hearing this, frowning as he asked: "What do you mean?"
Menma didn't explain, instead taking out a scroll from his robes and handing it to him.
"Take a look. From beginning to end, it was a deal between Orochimaru and Danzō. And you two were merely an abandoned pawn and a bargaining chip."
Abandoned pawn...
Bargaining chip...
Yakushi Kabuto's heart trembled. He took the scroll.
And seeing the contents inside, his pupils abruptly dilated.
It turned out Danzō had told the Director everything five years ago, after he left the orphanage.
And the Director, to restore his freedom, made a deal with Danzō.
-- Kill a spy who betrayed Konoha.
And without a doubt, that so-called spy who betrayed Konoha was him, Yakushi Kabuto.
"I... I risked my life, gathering intelligence outside for Konoha for years, but they actually..."
Creak!
Yakushi Kabuto crushed the sides of the scroll, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
He suppressed his resentment, looking up at Menma: "Then the Director... why didn't she recognize me?"
If... if the Director didn't mean to kill him, then...
Just as hope rose in Yakushi Kabuto's heart,
Rustle rustle~
Menma tossed a stack of photos before him.
The photos scattered on the ground, leaving Yakushi Kabuto stunned.
"This person... who is this?"
The face in the photos bore a five-tenths resemblance to him, and there were photos from childhood to adulthood.
"This is another Kabuto."
Menma added: "Nonō could only learn of your safety and growth through photos. But she didn't know the photos had been swapped by Root for someone else's. That's why Nonō didn't recognize you when she attacked."
Another... Kabuto...
Thump!
Hearing this, Yakushi Kabuto's legs gave out, and he fell directly to the ground.
His eyes were vacant, his expression disbelieving: "I... was replaced?"
The name "Kabuto" should have belonged only to him!
The glasses should have been the bond between him and the Director!
His relative who would never forget him no matter what happened – that should have been the Director!
But now... everything had changed.
"Then who... am I, really?"
He had always wanted to know who he really was, to find an explanation for himself.
But when he finally found it, it was taken away again by those people.
"Tsk, Danzō, ah."
Looking at Yakushi Kabuto, who had lost his spiritual pillar, a hint of pity appeared in Menma's eyes.
In a way, Yakushi Kabuto was among the most pitiful types of people in the Naruto world.
Orphaned and alone from a young age, he finally met Nonō, who was like his mother, friend, lighthouse...
To keep the orphanage the Director cared about, he even went to become a spy.
And during those five years of endless espionage, he changed countless identities.
But the identity of "Kabuto" had always been his sole anchor point in this world.
And also the strength and conviction supporting him to continue, preventing him from losing himself.
During those five years, he always longed for the day he could return to the orphanage, see the Director, and everyone at the orphanage.
But now...
His only identity had been replaced by someone else.
"Yakushi Kabuto."
Hearing the man's voice before him, Kabuto instinctively looked up.
"Do you want to understand the meaning of life?"
Menma's tone was meaningful: "Want to truly... live?"
(End of Chapter)
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