Chapter 295: Changes
After pulling away Sasuke Uchiha (younger), who had been relying on the advantage of the Sharingan's dynamic vision to pin Naruto Namikaze under him and pummel him wildly, Itachi Uchiha, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, helplessly tucked the two little brats under his arms even though they were still glaring angrily at each other after being separated. He prepared to send Naruto Namikaze home and then properly apologize to Naruto Namikaze's parents for the matter of the two fighting.
And after seeing "himself" with that jealous and awkward expression, Sasuke Uchiha (older) set aside his idea of following Itachi Uchiha. With a subtle mood, he prepared to take a good walk through this Konoha Village, which was quite different from the Konoha he knew, while Itachi brought "him" to apologize at someone's door.
Because the original Konoha Village had been almost razed to the ground during the Konoha Defense War seven years ago, and because the terrain around it had also changed drastically under Rei Kaguya's unrestrained map-wide attack, the rebuilt Konoha Village was somewhat smaller than before. However, this village, which was much smaller than the one in Sasuke Uchiha's memory, displayed liveliness even greater than what he remembered.
Walking through Konoha's streets at dinnertime, one could see merchants from various countries everywhere, arranging and selling their nations' specialties. Travelers wearing clothes with obvious foreign styles also moved naturally through Konoha's streets and alleys, touring this tenacious city that held important meaning in the history of the shinobi world.
At the same time, ninja from other countries wearing the forehead protectors of their respective shinobi villages appeared from time to time within Sasuke Uchiha's field of vision. Although he initially did not think it was anything strange, once he remembered that the era he was in was Konoha Year 58, not Konoha Year 85, he could not help feeling amazed by Minato Namikaze's decisiveness and boldness in driving the development and reform of the shinobi village.
And just as Sasuke Uchiha, with the extremely subtle mindset of a wanderer returning home, wandered aimlessly through Konoha's noisy streets like a traveler from another place, the corner of his eye caught a figure he had no choice but to care about—
"Hmph, I'm so mad… Even Lady Tsunade of Konoha has already admitted that in the field of medical ninjutsu, she no longer has anything she can call herself your teacher for, Senior Kabuto. But when Konoha's medical-nin attended the lecture you held about the development direction of frontier medical ninjutsu, there were still quite a few people who showed doubtful expressions because of your young age. How annoying."
"All right, all right, Sogetsu. Konoha is Lady Tsunade's hometown after all. I am not a medical-nin who grew up under the eyes of Konoha's ninja. On a matter like the struggle over who has the final say at the peak of the discipline, it is inevitable that they would be biased toward Lady Tsunade, whom they are more familiar with… In a few years, after they have more or less managed to enter the new field, such voices will no longer exist."
"But Senior Kabuto's actual hometown is Konoha too…"
"No, Sogetsu. My first hometown is the orphanage where Director Nonou, who took me in, lives. My second hometown is Kirigakure, which accepted me as a spy and gave me trust, training, and a second home. Konoha can probably only be counted as the place where I was born, or perhaps a place where I once stopped during my wandering. After all, I can no longer remember the things before I met the director very clearly…"
Looking at the high-spirited and confident young Kabuto Yakushi, who wore a Kirigakure forehead protector and had a beautiful assistant from the Hozuki clan following beside him, even someone as cold as Sasuke Uchiha could not help revealing an astonished expression.
That lost spy, Kabuto Yakushi, who had remained confused about who he truly was until Itachi broke his obsession with Izanami, and who had acted as Orochimaru's most fanatical believer… how had he become like this?
What about your faith in Orochimaru?
What about your experience as a multi-sided spy infiltrating various countries to gather intelligence?
And what do you mean by "Teacher Tsunade"? What do you mean by "Kirigakure is my second hometown"?
Just what had that Fourth Mizukage, Rei Kaguya, whom he had yet to meet, turned the history of the shinobi world into!?
Probably because Sasuke Uchiha's gaze had not been hidden very carefully, Kabuto Yakushi quickly noticed that line of sight that had remained fixed on him without moving away and looked in Sasuke Uchiha's direction.
I have been noticed… Tch. Is it because I immersed myself too deeply in my reunion with Father and Itachi, so I became too relaxed?
As Sasuke Uchiha reflected on his own carelessness, he swiftly constructed in his mind the explanation he would use to deal with any questions Kabuto Yakushi might ask. But no matter what, he had not expected that after Kabuto Yakushi and that beautiful Hozuki girl approached together, the words the other party spoke would shake his pupils so severely:
"Mm. That chakra, and those eyes that look as if they know me… You are Sasuke Uchiha, the one Lord Mizukage mentioned, who traveled against time from the future, right?"
"You have the wrong person… It was my fault for staring at you earlier. I apologize."
Sasuke Uchiha worked hard to control his expression and answered in a low voice. Then he wanted to leave before the other party could expand the topic further, and find a way to recover his disadvantage in intelligence.
But in the next second, Kabuto Yakushi's hand landed on Sasuke Uchiha's shoulder without the slightest hint of fireworks or aggression. At the same time, his voice, which for some reason could especially calm other people's emotions, reached him.
"There is no need to deny your identity, Sasuke Uchiha… Lord Mizukage and I are neither enemies of Konoha nor enemies of you, a person from the future. Your 'older brother,' Itachi Uchiha, should have mentioned that to you, right?"
"…Itachi did say something like that, but I do not want to get too involved with you people."
Sasuke Uchiha lightly shook off the hand Kabuto Yakushi had placed on his shoulder. While raising his hand to press against the hilt of the Kusanagi sword hidden beneath his cloak, he answered in an icy tone.
"Then I am afraid you will be disappointed, Sasuke Uchiha."
Kabuto Yakushi shrugged. A white little snake that looked harmless to both humans and animals slid out from his sleeve in passing. While teasing the little snake as it flicked its tongue at him, he continued speaking to Sasuke Uchiha's back,
"Lord Mizukage has already entrusted the Akatsuki organization with convening the Dawn Meeting, and he has taken the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to various countries of the shinobi world to borrow the chakra of the Nine Great Tailed Beasts. In two days at most, he will announce the existence of you and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to the representatives of all major forces in the entire shinobi world at the Dawn Meeting, and mobilize every force, large and small, in the shinobi world to take action together in order to find the hidden forces of Isshiki Otsutsuki…"
"Why do you think Lord Mizukage went to the major shinobi villages to borrow the chakra of the Nine Great Tailed Beasts?"
Sasuke Uchiha stopped in his tracks. His brows tightly furrowed as he turned around and looked at Kabuto Yakushi, who was pushing up his glasses and looking at him with a relaxed face.
"What are you trying to say?"
"I only wanted to greet you after meeting by chance."
Kabuto Yakushi revealed a harmless smile that also carried a somewhat chilling desire for knowledge.
"As a physician, there should be no problem with building a good relationship with my patient, right?"