Kabuto Yakushi naturally did not know that, at this very moment, two heavyweight figures—Orochimaru and Rei Kaguya—were thinking about him at the same time.
Right now, he only cared about one thing.
Whether he still had any chance of returning to Konoha.
He had indeed accepted Danzo Shimura's order and infiltrated Kirigakure as a Root spy to collect intelligence.
But the problem was, after he had finally relied on spies Root had previously planted in Kirigakure to forge a reasonable identity for him, then entered the Ninja Academy as a war orphan—
Danzo Shimura himself, along with a large number of Root elites, had surrounded the current Fourth Mizukage, Rei Kaguya, with several dozen men during a mission, failed to defeat him, and unfortunately been wiped out.
With that, Root, which had always operated strictly according to Danzo Shimura's orders, was thrown into chaos all at once.
Even though the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had promptly taken over Root, he still had not been able to completely calm the internal disorder.
It was precisely because of this that, after Kabuto received an order from the superior who had infiltrated Kirigakure together with him to continue lying low, he completely lost contact with Root and Konoha.
Losing contact with Konoha was not actually a major issue.
After all, when he accepted this mission, Kabuto had already prepared himself mentally for it to be a long-term assignment.
But what Kabuto could not understand was this.
Konoha had clearly already signed an armistice agreement with Kirigakure. The war had also temporarily ended. Yet no one from Konoha had come to contact him, announce the end of his mission, or tell him what intelligence he should collect next.
It was as if Konoha had already forgotten that they had planted a spy called Kabuto Yakushi in Kirigakure.
At the same time, the bit of ninjutsu talent he had deliberately displayed back then in order to successfully enter Kirigakure's Ninja Academy as a war orphan had begun bringing Kabuto some small but troublesome problems.
"Hey, hey, Kabuto. Did you write down all the medical ninjutsu knowledge the teacher taught just now?"
"Huh? Mm. I basically memorized it… What, are there parts you two didn't understand, Sōgetsu, Rangetsu?"
"Ehehe, you saw through us~"
A pair of twin sisters from the Hōzuki clan naturally and affectionately leaned close to Kabuto.
Their eyes carried undisguised admiration and goodwill as they enthusiastically took his hands and asked, "Can you help tutor us in medical ninjutsu after school? After all, you're so amazing, Kabuto. According to the new rules Lord Fourth issued, you should be able to graduate early from the academy as a medical-nin before too long. When that time comes, we won't have anyone to ask anymore…"
Looking at the pair of pretty twin girls with blue-white hair in front of him, their expressions sincere and their desire to build a good relationship with him completely serious, Kabuto's heart fell into confusion.
Kabuto Yakushi was indeed a spy sent out by Root.
However, he had not had all emotion and humanity erased by Root.
Faced with this kind of frank and pure goodwill from girls, how could an orphan who had only recently passed his eighth birthday truly treat it as if it did not matter at all?
"…If the two of you listened properly in class, you wouldn't actually need me to explain anything extra, right?"
Kabuto pushed up the glasses Nonō Yakushi had given him, trying to make the two of them give up on continuing to pester him.
"But compared to the teacher, your explanations are easier to understand, Kabuto… Originally, we could have asked that guy Mangetsu for help, but ever since he carried out a mission personally assigned by Lord Fourth, he started researching deeper Hydrification healing techniques on his own. We can't see him at all throughout the day…"
Hōzuki Sōgetsu and Hōzuki Rangetsu exchanged a glance, then answered in unison with perfectly staggered voices.
"Sigh… Fine, fine. You win, all right?"
Kabuto sighed and nodded in resignation, accepting the request from the Hōzuki sisters.
"Yay~ Then today's dinner is on us, Kabuto~"
The Hōzuki sisters raised their hands in perfect tacit understanding and cheerfully high-fived the helpless-looking Kabuto.
Then they hopped back to their seats and started whispering to each other.
Kabuto, meanwhile, turned his head and looked out the window at Kirigakure, which had become much livelier because of the many new policies Rei Kaguya had issued.
Silently, he began missing the orphanage that had once taken him in.
Director, I'm doing fairly well here. I wonder if you received the funds needed to keep the orphanage running… Although Danzo Shimura was the one who made that arrangement, since the Third Hokage has taken over Root, surely he won't refuse to honor even that small promise, right?
…
"Priestess-sama, leave… me behind. I can't… go on anymore. I can't keep up with you…"
Beside a quiet riverbank, a man dressed like a samurai collapsed weakly to the ground.
The armor on his body was already badly damaged. The bandages wrapped around his wounds had also been soaked through with crimson blood.
Seeing the man's faint, dying appearance, Shion, who was being held in the arms of the current priestess Miroku, buried her face in her mother's chest and sobbed.
"Mom, can't you save him?"
"I'm sorry, Shion…"
Miroku shook her head and looked toward the direction they had come from.
Although the sky had gradually darkened, the soaring flames and rolling black smoke in the distance clearly reminded the priestess and the attendants around her of one fact.
The capital of the Land of Demons had already fallen to Mōryō's ghost army.
"Damn it!"
One of the samurai who had protected the priestess and her daughter during their escape punched the tree beside him with all his might, his face full of unwillingness.
"If not for… if not for those shinobi bewitched by Mōryō joining the battlefield, we definitely could have held out for longer. If we had held on a little longer, we might have been able to wait until shinobi from Konoha, Sunagakure, or Iwagakure arrived to support us."
"Perhaps something happened to the messenger pigeons we sent."
Miroku shook her head and sighed with a solemn expression.
"Although we sent at least five messenger pigeons to each village, they still need time to receive the request, select people to carry out the mission, then rush to the Land of Demons to provide support…"
"Then what should we do now, Priestess-sama?"
A middle-aged samurai tightened the bandages around his arm and asked in a low voice.
"Although we have temporarily escaped Mōryō and his minions' encirclement, judging by his strange obsession with you, Mōryō will never let us go…"
"We split into two groups."
Miroku did not think long before making that decision with a resolute expression.
"If we only flee in disgrace and wait for reinforcements, that would be far too passive. Since we cannot be sure whether any shinobi received our request and are coming to support us, we can only find a way to resolve Mōryō and his ghost army ourselves."
"Kurokawa, Asano, Higashihara, Taruho. You four take Shion and leave. Find a way to rendezvous with the shinobi who come to support us. I have already handed the bell that proves the priestess's identity to Shion. If we fail in the end, then she will be the next priestess of the Land of Demons, and the only hope of defeating Mōryō."
"As for the rest of you… I'm sorry. I may need you to risk your lives and accompany me to the Land of Swamps to find a way to deliver the final blow to Mōryō."
"Mom!? No, I don't want to separate from Mom…"
When the little girl with white hair heard that her mother intended to leave her behind and face danger alone, her already unstable emotions immediately became even more intense.
She tightly grabbed her mother's collar, unwilling to separate from her.
But Miroku used a gentle yet irresistible force to lift her out of her arms, then looked into her eyes and said, "Shion, this is something Mom must face as the revered priestess of the Land of Demons. I cannot watch the people who believe I can protect this country suffer beneath Mōryō's trampling while I hide at the side because I fear death, trembling as I pray for someone else to resolve this crisis that may destroy the Land of Demons."
"Leave with Taruho and the others. If Mom fails, then you will become the only hope of the Land of Demons, and even the entire shinobi world."
"Mom…"
Little Shion choked on her tears.
Unwilling though she was, at least she did not struggle as the youngest of the guards, Taruho, took her from her mother's arms.
Then she turned her head reluctantly and shouted at her mother, from whom this farewell might separate life and death.
"You have to come back, Mom… You have to…"
"Shion…"
Miroku clenched her teeth, trying her hardest not to let the resolute expression she had barely managed to put on collapse because of her daughter's tears.
Then, just as she slowly turned around, wiping away the blood flowing from the corner of her mouth because she had bitten down too hard, preparing to embark on a road of no return with the few remaining guards beside her—
A towering pillar of water suddenly burst out from the calm river nearby.
"Protect Priestess-sama!"
The battle-hardened guards quickly formed a formation and shielded Miroku behind them.
Then they saw two figures in black robes embroidered with red clouds flash out of the water pillar and land lightly on the riverbank not far from them.
"Who are you!?"
Looking at these two strangely dressed young shinobi, who did not seem to come from any well-known shinobi village yet had displayed Water Release ability, the priestess's guards nervously swallowed and gripped their battle-worn blades tightly as they shouted.
Shisui Uchiha turned his head aside.
He did not want to answer a question that would only make him feel awkward right now.
Kisame Hoshigaki pushed up the Kirigakure forehead protector on his brow, which had not been slashed through. While flicking the blood from his ninja sword, he grinned savagely and gave an answer that exceeded everyone's expectations.
"Us? We are Kirigakure shinobi, here under the Fourth Mizukage's orders to accept the priestess of the Land of Demons' request and help you defeat the lunatic Mōryō, who is trying to ignite war again."
Behind the two of them, the towering pillar of water crashed heavily back down onto the river.
A large amount of blood quickly spread across the water's surface.
And three corpses that looked rather familiar to the priestess's guards floated up with it.
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