The Chūnin Exams were in full swing when two figures—one tall, one short—appeared on the streets of Konoha.
Both wore wide-brimmed straw hats that hid their faces. But the telltale black cloaks patterned with red clouds, and the black nail polish on each finger, gave away their true identities.
They were members of the Akatsuki.
"Itachi-san, the leader didn't say anything about the two of us going to Konoha," said the shark-faced man carrying an enormous weapon on his shoulder.
This was Hoshigaki Kisame, an S-rank missing-nin from the Hidden Mist.
The man he addressed as "Itachi-san" was none other than Uchiha Itachi—an S-rank missing-nin from Konoha itself.
Though Itachi was younger than Kisame by several years, Kisame spoke to him with respect, always using honorifics.
"This mission was assigned to Kakuzu's team and Sasori's team," Kisame continued, flashing a mouthful of razor teeth as his beady eyes locked on his companion. "It doesn't seem very appropriate for us to be here, does it?"
Whether intentionally or not, his words hung with a hint of curiosity.
"Or is it that you, Itachi-san, have… other business in Konoha?"
"…" Itachi didn't answer. He simply stood at a high vantage point, quietly gazing down at the bustling village below.
Ever since joining the Akatsuki, he'd had a persistent sense of being watched. Whoever it was used methods so subtle he could find no trace of them.
Not long after defecting from Konoha, he had once visited the secret contact point agreed upon with the Third Hokage—only to be ambushed there.
Realizing something had changed, he cut off all attempts at contact and devoted himself to deep-cover work inside the Akatsuki.
Three years had passed like that.
When Itachi stayed silent, Kisame thought perhaps he'd annoyed him, so he tried to smooth things over with a chuckle.
"Just kidding… You wouldn't mind, would you, Itachi-san?"
"…"
Still nothing.
Then a deafening cheer rolled over the village from the direction of the Konoha Arena, catching both men's attention.
The roar of the crowd marked the end of the first match—Neji versus Naruto.
Kisame seemed to recall something.
"I heard your little brother's taking part in this year's Chūnin Exams," he said softly. "Apparently he's one of the top favorites."
"Is that why you're here, Itachi-san? To catch a glimpse of your brother… Uchiha Sasuke?"
He threw another sidelong glance at Itachi.
"After all, the Uchiha—"
"Don't mention that name again." Itachi finally reacted—only when Kisame spoke the clan name. "I've already been struck from its records."
"Heh…" Kisame gave a strange, unreadable chuckle at finally getting any response out of him.
"Let's go, Kisame," Itachi said with his usual calm. "The leader's plan proceeds as scheduled. We'll lie low for now—and in the meantime, we can confirm the location of the Fourth Hokage's legacy."
"As you wish." Kisame's grin stretched wider. "So… where to first?"
"We'll get some dango."
"Hm?"
Before long, the two passed a white-haired man in the street.
The white-haired ninja—Jiraiya—watched them go, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
Meanwhile, in the Arena, Neji and Naruto's battle had raised the Chūnin Exams to an entirely new level. The fight had been so intense that it spoiled the nobles and dignitaries present—after watching such a match, it was hard for them to take interest in an ordinary ninja duel again.
They had witnessed competition at its most extreme—competition elevated to an art form.
In short: Konoha's culture of over-achievement was on full display. If there was a title of Over-Achievement King, Konoha would take it—and crush the competition with it.
The "injured" Neji and Naruto were carried away on stretchers by the medical unit, bound for Konoha Hospital.
Seeing Neji taken off, Hyūga Hiashi could no longer sit still and headed straight for the hospital.
Because the fight had heavily damaged the arena floor, repairs were needed before the next match could start. With earth-style ninja on hand, this wouldn't take long—so the audience enjoyed a brief intermission.
Land of Fields – Sound Village Base
Yakushi Kabuto pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and began sealing away all the laboratory's equipment and test samples into storage scrolls.
The floor was littered with the corpses of Sound-nin.
This was a critical phase of the plan; almost every capable Sound-nin had been sent to the front lines. The base's defenses were at their weakest—and Kabuto knew them inside and out. To him, the so-called security was like paper.
He moved through the facility with practiced ease until he reached Orochimaru's forbidden jutsu vault.
Among the wall-to-wall collection of scrolls, he found a small one marked with the kanji for "corpse." He tucked it carefully into his robe.
This was the real reason he was here—and the task Hattori had assigned him.
Or rather—his offering of loyalty.
Without so much as a glance at the other forbidden techniques, Kabuto shut the vault door behind him.
"To think that the world-famous, unimaginably wealthy…"
"…would turn out to be the long-dead Fourth—"
Kabuto's thoughts drifted back to a month earlier.
Led by Karin and the others, he had been brought to meet the man they called "Mr. Hattori."
When the man revealed his true face, even Kabuto—ever composed—was stunned.
It was the Fourth Hokage, who had died twelve years ago in the Nine-Tails' attack.
The Fourth seemed to know him well—and valued him enough to risk premature exposure in order to "invite" him over.
The offer was simple: join him.
For a career spy like Kabuto, working for one person or several made little difference. He already served more than one master.
But the Fourth didn't value his espionage skills.
It was as if he could see straight through Kabuto's thoughts.
Then he made a promise—one that brought Kabuto to the brink of surrendering himself completely.
And finally, the masked man standing at the Fourth's side spoke the words that shattered his last restraint.
"Kabuto… you want to see her again, don't you? To see her alive. To see the person she once was. To spend long nights talking with her, to run the orphanage together, to touch her hand, to hold her in your arms. To finally say 'I'm sorry'… and to finally say 'Thank you.'"
The man—his voice steeped in temptation—was like the devil offering a pact, like the serpent coaxing Adam and Eve to taste the forbidden fruit.
But to Kabuto, he was no devil. He was an angel. A god.
Because "she" was his foster mother—Yakushi Nonō.
Kabuto had survived the Battle of Kikyo Pass, but at the cost of his memories. Found by Konoha ninja, he was sent to the orphanage.
Arriving in the village with no memories, Kabuto had been lost and aimless—until Nonō took him in.
She gave him a name. She gave him a home.
Those days had been the happiest of his life.
But that happiness didn't last. Someone had set their sights on the orphanage—on Nonō's talents.
Known as "the Walking Shrine Maiden," Nonō was Konoha's most skilled spy.
To protect her, Kabuto stepped forward, volunteering to take her place as a Root spy.
Unfortunately, he was dealing with Danzō.
And Danzō didn't do either/or.
"Why not take both spies?"
From then on, Kabuto served as a spy traveling between the Five Great Villages, gathering countless secrets.
But knowing too many secrets carries its own danger—eventually, you're eliminated.
Danzō's choice was to "kill the donkey once the millstone work was done."
He sent assassins after Kabuto.
Kabuto killed his attacker—only to discover, to his horror, that it was Nonō herself.
Worse, she had looked at him in confusion.
"Who are you?"
That single question stabbed him again and again.
It was all Danzō's plot—forcing two spies who knew too much to kill each other.
To make it possible, Danzō had falsified Kabuto's history so thoroughly that Nonō wouldn't recognize him.
If there were ten measures of blame in the world, Danzō held nine-point-nine. The rest of humanity shared the remaining sliver.
After Nonō's death, Kabuto became an empty shell once more—until Orochimaru appeared, giving him a reason to exist.
From then on, Kabuto imitated Orochimaru, trying to find his own meaning.
Whether it was right or wrong, he didn't know.
But… what if Nonō could be brought back?
What if she could stand before him again?
What if he had the chance to make amends—to choose differently this time?
In the shinobi world, life and death weren't as reversible as in Dragon Ball—but neither were they absolute.
Plenty of people had been resurrected in the original story.
Even Naruto knew several methods.
One of them was recorded in the forbidden scroll Kabuto had just taken from Orochimaru's vault.
Removing his glasses, Kabuto felt tears slide down his face unnoticed. His hand gently caressed the frame—his most treasured possession, a gift from his most treasured person.
The metal was beginning to corrode. No matter how carefully he cherished it, time would still claim it.
"For our shared dream…"
His voice rose—then softened to a whisper.
"…and for my mother."
If Obito could destroy the world for Rin, then Kabuto could give everything for Nonō.
PS: The anime once included an original scene where Itachi was ambushed, serving as a "patch" to explain why he sent no information back during his years undercover. Unfortunately, the patch was worse than leaving the hole—it pinned the blame on Danzō yet again, instead of letting the Third Hokage take it. Sometimes, without a little darkness on the Third, the logic just doesn't hold.
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