After running through the night without stopping for a single breath, Kabuto finally carried Nonō out of the deep valley and slipped into a hidden, damp cave.
After making absolutely sure no Root assassins were following their trail, Kabuto finally let out a harsh, shaking breath. He slid down the rock wall. "Director, we are safe here. No one will be able to track us in the dark."
He received no answer. Turning his head in panic, he realized Nonō had fallen completely unconscious against his back.
Kabuto gently laid her down on the cold stone floor and quickly inspected her stomach. His brow furrowed in deep, suffocating fear. Her condition was terrible. Because he had been forced to carry her while sprinting through the mountains, the fragile scabs had torn open. Worse, his short blade had sliced far too deeply into the muscle wall.
If a wound that deep wasn't treated in a proper, clean bed, it would fester. And if that happened, even his brilliant healing jutsu wouldn't be enough to save her life.
Kabuto's hands trembled. He was completely lost. He couldn't take her to Danzo; the old man had ordered this execution. He had been living as a deep-cover spy for years and didn't have a single safe house he could trust. Going back to the village orphanage would only put the children in the crossfire.
He needed to find a safe place outside the village. But without proper medicine and bandages, his mother figure was going to bleed to death in this cave. If they stayed hidden, she died. If they ran for a village, Danzo's killers would likely catch them.
"Cough... cough..."
Nonō weakly hacked up a mouthful of blood, her eyes fluttering open.
Seeing her wake, Kabuto swallowed his panic. "Director? Are you with me? Are there any other enemies you know of?"
"No," Nonō whispered, shaking her head weakly against the stone.
"What exactly happened out there?" Kabuto asked, his voice breaking. "Why did you attack me? And... why didn't you recognize my face?"
A sudden flash of bitter anger crossed Nonō's pale features. "It was Danzo," she breathed. "He gave me pictures of a different boy. He fed me lies for years. That is why I didn't know you."
"He sent me into that valley to kill a dangerous traitor. I never knew... I never knew he was sending me to kill my own son."
Hearing the cruel truth, Kabuto's fists clenched so tightly his nails dug into his palms. No wonder she hadn't known his face. He had almost murdered the only person who had ever loved him because of an old man's twisted game.
The terrifying thought sent a cold shiver down his spine.
"But Director," Kabuto asked, his voice thick with tears. "How did you figure it out at the very end? If the pictures were fake, how did you know it was me?"
He didn't want to think about what would have happened if she hadn't recognized him in time. If she had kept fighting, he would have killed her.
Nonō looked at the guilt tearing the boy apart and managed a faint, loving smile. "Do not blame yourself, Kabuto. We are both alive. That is all that matters. As for how I knew... I owe my life to a very kind man in the village..."
Through shallow, ragged breaths, Nonō briefly explained the warning she had received from the blind doctor at the orphanage.
"A doctor named Kei Hyuga," Kabuto whispered, burning the name into his memory.
He had never met the man, but he instantly felt a massive, overwhelming debt of gratitude toward him. The blind doctor had effectively saved both of their lives. If his mother had died in that valley, Kabuto knew his own soul would have died right there in the dirt with her.
"Cough...!"
Nonō violently coughed again. Even though Kabuto had tightly wrapped her stomach with torn cloth, fresh, dark blood was rapidly soaking through the bandages.
Kabuto's hands flared with the bright green light of the Mystical Palm Jutsu. He pressed his glowing hands against her stomach. But closing surface cuts was easy; knitting severed internal muscles back together required time and stillness they didn't have.
"Director, we have to go to a real hospital," Kabuto said, gritting his teeth in desperation. "If we stay in the wild, your body will give out."
Her situation was falling apart fast. Even if it meant risking exposure, he had to fight for her life.
Nonō weakly shook her head. A high, burning fever was already setting in, and her vision was swimming.
"We cannot go to a public hospital," Nonō gasped, fighting the pain. "Danzo's shadows are everywhere. If we walk into a clinic, his assassins will butcher us in our beds."
"But you will die out here without real medicine!" Kabuto cried.
"Go back to the village..." Nonō whispered, her eyes rolling back slightly. "Go to the Sanatorium... find Kei Hyuga."
Kabuto hesitated. "But he is just a civilian doctor! He won't risk his own life to hide us from Lord Danzo!"
Nonō didn't answer. The pain had finally overwhelmed her, and she slipped back into a deep, feverish silence.
Watching the woman he loved slowly fading away, Kabuto finally made his choice. He was going back to the Leaf Village.
He had nowhere else to run. He would just have to gamble everything on this blind doctor. If the gamble paid off, his mother would live. If the doctor refused them, Kabuto would draw his blade and carry her into the main village hospital anyway. Surely, Danzo wouldn't dare order a public execution in the middle of Konoha in broad daylight.
He had to cling to that desperate hope.
Carefully lifting Nonō back onto his shoulders, Kabuto gritted his teeth, ignored his own exhaustion, and began the long, dangerous run back toward the village gates.
Far away, as Kabuto raced toward Konoha, Kei, Kakashi, and Haru were also sailing home through the dark waters.
Standing on the deck of the rented merchant ship, Kei closed his eyes, turning his attention inward to check on the beast sleeping near his spine.
After feasting on the massive ocean of despair trapped within the Box of Ultimate Bliss, the Zero-Tails had grown to a terrifying size. It was now three times larger than before, completely knocked out in a deep, heavy slumber as it digested the dark power.
As the master of the beast, Kei could distinctly feel its raw, heavy aura growing stronger by the minute.
Even Kakashi and Haru, standing a few feet away, could feel the sudden, suffocating pressure bleeding out of Kei's body into the cold sea air.
Kakashi looked at the masked doctor, his visible eye entirely serious. "It isn't going to wake up and tear the ship apart, is it?"
Feeling the wild, dark energy rolling off Kei in waves, Kakashi was genuinely worried the beast might break its chains. He had seen a Tailed Beast lose its mind and destroy a village firsthand. That night had cost him his sensei. Even though this parasite wasn't as strong as the Nine-Tails, if it went crazy out here in the middle of the ocean, they would all drown.
Haru didn't say a word, but she took a quiet step closer to Kei, her posture tense.
"Relax, Captain. The beast will not lose control," Kei smiled smoothly, raising a hand to calm the older ninja. "Instead of worrying about a sleeping dog, we should be discussing the future of the Avengers."
"You purposely left our porcelain masks behind in the ruined vault to build our reputation, didn't you?" Kakashi asked, crossing his arms.
"Shisui has been hunting in the underground exchange for months. He has already planted the seed of our name in the shadows," Kei explained calmly. "By destroying the Blood Prison and leaving our calling card, we are announcing ourselves to the Great Nations."
"We are not strong enough to wage open war yet. But we need every guilty man in the world to know that the 'Avengers' are watching them sleep."
Kakashi slowly nodded, understanding the dark necessity of the fear tactic.
Standing beside them, Haru looked up at the moon. "Kei... once the beast finishes its growth, you will finally possess the power you need. So... when exactly do we burn the Main House down?"
Kei stroked his chin thoughtfully, listening to the waves crash against the hull. "We need the absolute perfect moment. We have to strike fast, finishing the job before the Hokage's personal guard has time to react."
"To pull that off," Kei said, his voice dropping to a soft, chilling whisper, "we need a distraction so massive, so terrifying, that it forces the entire village to look the other way."