Yakushi Kabuto pushed up the round-rimmed glasses on his nose, his gaze behind the lenses profound, like a bottomless pool of deep water. He smiled gently, attempting to regain control of the conversation.
Naruto's ice-blue pupils did not reflect the man opposite him, only the cold light of the sky.
He did not answer that question.
He merely began to dissect another matter, his tone factual and devoid of warmth.
"Orochimaru's wrath has always been directed at the Third Hokage."
"Because the Third Hokage did not pass the Hokage position to him, but to Minato Namikaze."
"His plan was to destroy the Third Hokage's rule, and on the ruins of Konoha, prove to the entire Ninja World how foolish a mistake it was not to choose him."
Yakushi Kabuto's smile remained unchanged, but the wariness in his eyes deepened further.
These were things that high-ranking Ninja could more or less guess, but hearing them articulated so clearly by a twelve-year-old boy felt entirely different.
Naruto took a step forward, the sand under his feet making a slight rustling sound.
"And Danzo wants to be crowned on the same ruins."
"An 'ally' who waits for you and the people behind you to exhaust all your main forces, only to then emerge as a savior to clean up the mess, is more dangerous than the most vicious enemy."
Naruto's voice was flat, yet it was like a saw-knife, neatly slicing open the superficial layer of 'cooperation,' revealing the bloody calculations of self-interest beneath.
He paused, his gaze piercing through the lenses, looking directly into Kabuto's eyes.
"Orochimaru wants him dead more than I do, doesn't he?"
This sentence, like a stone dropped into a deep pool, finally caused a ripple in Kabuto's deep-water-like eyes.
The nature of the conversation quietly changed at this moment.
It transformed from Naruto's unilateral demands into a confirmation of mutual interests.
Kabuto's defensive smile disappeared completely for the first time.
Before he could organize his thoughts, Naruto took another half-step forward, shrinking the distance between them to a highly oppressive range.
Naruto's gaze, which had been analyzing Orochimaru's interests, suddenly shifted to Kabuto personally.
"But you want him dead more than Orochimaru does."
Boom.
Kabuto felt as if his brain had been violently struck by an invisible heavy hammer.
The muscles in his body tensed in an instant; it was the most primitive fight-or-flight response when being targeted by a natural predator.
Naruto ignored his momentary lapse, his tone still steady, but every word struck at the heart.
He began to reveal Kabuto's past, which he had inferred based on his Political Commissar interrogation experience and scattered intelligence.
"During our last encounter in the Death Forest, I observed your taijutsu."
"That style, which attacks the enemy's vital points even at self-detriment to achieve its goal, is ruthless, precise, and leaves no room for error."
"It bears very clear traces of having been trained by 'Root.'"
"At the same time, you are proficient in medical Ninjutsu, intelligence gathering, psychological manipulation, and multiple identity disguises, which perfectly meets 'Root's' standards for cultivating top spies."
"Furthermore, you are one of Orochimaru's few subordinates who could infiltrate the Chunin Exams as a Konoha Ninja without any hindrance."
"This indicates that your identity file truly exists in the Konoha archives and can withstand any scrutiny."
With each sentence Naruto spoke, Kabuto's face grew a shade paler.
He felt like a person stripped naked, standing in the snow, all his disguises, all his secrets, exposed beneath those ice-blue eyes, with nowhere to hide.
Naruto's voice continued, as if reading a pre-written verdict.
"An orphan with a real file in Konoha, yet raised by 'Root' from a young age."
"Molded into a tool with no name, no past, only a codename."
"Then, after his value was exploited, he was treated as a disposable pawn, assigned to Orochimaru to carry out a life-threatening undercover mission."
"Your identity, your past, every trace of your existence, was personally erased by the man hidden behind the bandages."
Naruto spoke with such specificity, such certainty.
Because in the 'Root' organization, he had seen too many tools with similar backgrounds and empty eyes.
"You serve Orochimaru simply to find a new identity, a new 'master' to give meaning to your existence."
"But the root cause of all your initial suffering is Danzo."
Kabuto's body stiffened uncontrollably for a moment.
His pupils behind his lenses suddenly constricted to pinpricks.
His greatest secret, his own personal hatred that he had never revealed to anyone, was so casually exposed by a boy he had considered his prey.
This was no longer intelligence analysis.
This was monstrous; it was a terrifying insight almost akin to mind-reading.
His brain, for the first time in a long while, went blank for a brief moment.
Scenes he had buried deep in his memory surged uncontrollably to the surface.
The warm light of the orphanage.
Yakushi Nonou's gentle hands.
And... on that cold, rainy night, when he personally plunged a kunai into the body of the woman he regarded as his mother, the bewildered expression on her face.
"Click."
Kabuto clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white from the excessive force, emitting a faint crunching sound.
For the first time during a mission, he lost control of his expression and movements.
That gentle, harmless mask shattered into pieces.
Naruto took in all of Kabuto's subtle reactions.
He knew his judgment was absolutely correct.
He did not continue to apply pressure, as that would only make the target choose to flee out of fear. Instead, he stepped back, removing the suffocating sense of oppression, and brought the conversation back onto the 'transaction' track.
"So, this isn't me unilaterally purchasing intelligence from Orochimaru."
Naruto's voice returned to its previous calm.
"This is a collaboration between us."
"A joint operation to eliminate a common threat."
Collaboration.
Joint operation.
These two words, like a lifeline, allowed the nearly out-of-control Kabuto to regain his footing for thought.
He slowly unclenched his fists, took a deep breath, his chest heaving violently a few times before he managed to calm down.
He pushed up his glasses again; this habitual gesture helped him regain a bit of composure.
"What do I need to do?"
Kabuto's voice was somewhat hoarse; he abandoned all pretense and cut directly to the chase.
Naruto looked at him like a general giving orders to his soldier.
"I need you to arrange an encounter between Danzo and me. Of course, I will be in the shadows; Danzo will not know of my existence. The reason for facilitating this situation is up to you."
"The location will be specified by me."
"I need a clear, unobstructed observation view."
Kabuto's pupils constricted again.
"You want to assassinate him?"
This plan was too bold, too insane.
Assassinating the leader of 'Root' within Konoha Village was tantamount to suicide.
"No."
Naruto shook his head, a pure, emotionless look of inquiry, like an engineer examining experimental material, flashed in his ice-blue pupils.
"This is not an assassination."
"This is a... firepower test."
"I want to see with my own eyes what exactly is hidden beneath that bandaged arm and that covered eye."
"And how strong an attack that thing can withstand.
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