Chapter 600: Kabuto
Throughout the entire Naruto story, the most twisted relationship is perhaps that between the superior and subordinate, Orochimaru and Kabuto.
Who exactly is Kabuto?
On the surface, he was a spy planted by Sasori among Orochimaru's subordinates.
But in reality, under Orochimaru's instruction, he pretended to follow Sasori, becoming his subordinate, and then acted as a double agent planted back at Orochimaru's side.
However, what makes it even more complex is that Orochimaru was originally meant to be Kabuto's executioner, and both the former and Kabuto were once subordinates of Danzo.
The beginning of everything stems from when Kabuto, injured and amnesiac in his childhood, was taken in by the orphanage director, Nono Yakushi.
Nono was once the most genius spy under Danzo. After retiring, she established the orphanage for peace of mind. Danzo did not like her retirement and used the orphanage to threaten Nono into returning. Kabuto then stepped forward, volunteering to join Root for the sake of the director and the orphanage, thus beginning his life as a spy.
Since then, Kabuto traveled through various countries as a spy, gradually losing his identity. The only person who could anchor his soul, Director Nono, was unable to recognize Kabuto after being deceived by Danzo for years. At that time, Danzo cruelly arranged for him and the director to kill each other. In the end, Kabuto, who accidentally killed Nono, completely lost his meaning to live.
Orochimaru was originally assigned by Danzo to eliminate Kabuto, but after seeing this lost young man, he changed his mind and ultimately took him in.
However, did Orochimaru truly trust Kabuto?
A person with no desires or demands, who has lost the meaning of life, is indeed the least likely to rebel.
Because no one knows what chips to use to buy off such a person.
Powerful strength? Bizarre secret jutsus? A high and mighty status?
No, none of those.
Kabuto seemed completely uninterested in those temptations, or indeed, in anything at all.
But on the flip side, trying to control such a subordinate is as difficult as ascending to heaven.
Even someone as powerful as Orochimaru often did not know what this extremely intelligent and capable subordinate was thinking. He could give Kimimaro the warmth of family, offer Dosu and the others the temptation of power, and use both grace and might on the Sound Five to make them unfailingly loyal to him. But Kabuto was always an exception.
Orochimaru was a person with very strong and clear desires and goals; he and Kabuto were completely different kinds of people.
What exactly did Kabuto want to get from him? And on what grounds did Orochimaru obtain his loyalty?
Therefore, from the very beginning until now, Orochimaru had never trusted Kabuto.
However, he also did not believe Kabuto would betray him.
Even if... the one tempting Kabuto was the Akatsuki organization, which was far stronger than him.
No one knew what kind of conversation took place between Orochimaru and Kabuto at the end of that corridor, right when Sakura Uchiha and Sasuke were about to attack their doorstep.
No one knew what Kabuto Yakushi had said to Orochimaru.
But in the end, Orochimaru chose to believe Kabuto.
Perhaps it was because Kabuto provided an impeccable reason. Or perhaps it was because Orochimaru understood Kabuto well enough to know that Akatsuki could not give him what he wanted.
Or perhaps... it was simply because Sakura Uchiha's blazing chakra, like the scorching sun in the midday sky, was already imminent.
In short, when the two individuals from Konoha responsible for the frontal assault finally encountered Orochimaru and Kabuto, the youths could not see the slightest hint that these two had just had a conversation that nearly tore their relationship apart.
"We meet again, Haruno Sakura, and... Sasuke Uchiha."
Orochimaru did not hide in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to ambush like a snake; instead, he appeared grandly and openly before the two.
Kabuto followed behind him, wearing his usual temperatureless fake smile, his eyes hidden behind his lenses.
Sakura Uchiha and Sasuke stood high upon the hill on the other side. A smile emerged on their slightly impatient faces—
"You finally came out... Orochimaru!"
She crossed her arms over her chest, the hem of her clothes rising and falling slightly with the mountain breeze. With lowered eyelids, she looked down at Orochimaru and Kabuto below.
An astonishing aura of chakra emanated from the young girl without any concealment.
Looking up from Orochimaru's position, the girl's clothes fluttered in the wind. Her gaze was vibrant and spirited, her grace charming and elegant, looking just like a goddess descending to the world!
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly.
Ninjas, after all, are not goddesses...
Orochimaru would not be so easily shocked either.
On the contrary, he only felt that this posture of the girl looked extremely stylish. It was certainly beautiful, but if facing an enemy, he feared that before she could even pull her hands out to form hand seals, the enemy would have already closed in on her! Standing like this had absolutely no practicality in actual combat; instead, she was full of openings all over her body. It truly did not seem like the action of an experienced ninja!
For "Haruno Sakura" to dare face him like this, was it overconfidence, a deliberate show of weakness, or could it be...?
Orochimaru maintained his composure, but his left hand, resting behind his back, twitched slightly.
A glint flashed across the lenses of Kabuto Yakushi's glasses.
There was no need for words; their tacit understanding from years of cooperation already let him know what he needed to do.
"You traveled thousands of miles to find your way to my door. I presume it is not to reminisce about the past?" Orochimaru gave an "evil, charming smile"—his smile was truly full of malice. "Or is it that you have only just now come to settle the score for the attack on Konoha from a few years ago?"
Sasuke frowned, his eyes instantly filling with a bit more murderous aura. He was about to speak, but was stopped by Sakura Uchiha. The latter smiled slightly, but not the slightest hint of amusement could be seen in her eyes.
"You are at death's door, yet you still have the mood to flap your lips..." She smiled extremely coldly, her brows and eyes full of killing intent. "Are you tired of living, Orochimaru!"
It was precisely in the midst of this conversation, the instant Sakura Uchiha's words fell, that a sudden change occurred!
Puff—!
Sand and stones splattered, and rocks shattered. The ground beneath the girl's feet suddenly exploded, and a figure rushed out. A blinding blue light shone in his hand, turning his palm into a blade, and slashed viciously at Sakura's calf!
It was none other than Kabuto Yakushi, who, taking advantage of the time they were speaking, had secretly manipulated a corpse to launch a sneak attack!
The young girl's reaction was already extremely fast, abruptly lifting her foot to evade, but she still failed to dodge this sudden, unavoidable assault. With a sharp Smack!, that blade shadow radiating blue light chopped down onto the girl's delicate ankle!
Chakra Scalpel, direct hit.
Perhaps because Sakura's reaction was so fast, the full force of this strike did not land solidly; it merely produced a crisp Smack! sound. However, the Chakra Scalpel itself was not a Nintaijutsu that relied on fierce physical strength to be effective. On the contrary, the profound blue light attached to the palm blade was where its true lethality lay. Just a light smack of a touch was enough to easily sever an opponent's tendons!
This also meant that Sakura's left leg was temporarily disabled.
In an instant, everyone cast their gazes upon Kabuto.
"Hehe, got her!" The white-haired youth pushed up his glasses and casually walked out from behind Orochimaru.
Among the heavyweights present, his presence was the lowest. And it was precisely because of this, coupled with his flawless Earth Release, insidious and swift attack, and the sharp lethality of the Chakra Scalpel, that allowed Kabuto's ultimate strike to succeed.
Kabuto began to laugh.
This time, it was no longer that skin-deep, meat-unmoving fake smile, but a genuinely somewhat smug smile—the pride of successfully ambushing an opponent while fighting as the underdog against the strong. "You shouldn't underestimate me, Haruno Sakura!" he said with a sneer.
Somewhat contrary to Orochimaru's and Kabuto's expectations, the female ninja did not fly into a rage at being sneak-attacked by Kabuto. She calmly and unhurriedly maintained her posture. There was not much anger in the gaze she fixed upon Kabuto; instead, it was closer to a kind of... pity.
"Kabuto, you are still just as insidious..." She paused for a moment. "And useless."
The white-haired youth's expression suddenly turned cold.
"Back then, you confidently believed that you had reached Kakashi-sensei's level..." Sakura Uchiha said coldly. "But now Kakashi has already crossed the threshold of Kage-level, while you are still repeating the same old tired tricks. You truly haven't made a bit of progress!"
Kabuto's face instantly sank like still water!
Even Orochimaru's expression changed slightly. For Kabuto to be evaluated like this also caused him to lose face!
"A poisonous bug on the ground might temporarily threaten an eagle that has landed, but if it uses that to believe it can stand shoulder to shoulder with the eagle, that is truly laughable! The eagle will one day spread its wings and soar high, while the poisonous bug can only watch helplessly as it gets left further and further behind!" Sakura Uchiha mocked unceremoniously. At the same time, her raised left foot slammed down abruptly, viciously stomping on the ground. Her movement was steady and fierce, showing absolutely no sign that her ankle had been severed by Kabuto!
"Monstrous Strength: Heavenly Foot of Pain!"
Boom—!
It was as if a massive earthquake had struck. In an instant, the great earth shook, rocks shattered, the surface caved in, and the entire ground split open with several deep crevices!
At the epicenter—the spot where the girl had stomped her foot—radial cracks expanded wildly across the earth, centered around a deep footprint and extending dozens of meters away. As for the corpse manipulated by Kabuto, it had long since been reduced to minced meat, obliterated deep within the earth!
"Kabuto's attack," Orochimaru said as the corners of his mouth hooked up. He walked a few steps forward, once again shielding Kabuto behind him. "So it didn't hurt you after all..."
The young girl let out a disdainful cold snort. "Orochimaru, you didn't really think that an attack of this level could do anything to me, did you!"
That seemingly brilliant Earth Release technique could fool ordinary people, but how could it deceive Sakura Uchiha, who was extremely sensitive to chakra? Even if it could deceive her, attacking from underground ultimately required too much movement. How could it possibly truly hit a young girl whose reaction speed was accelerated to the extreme after activating "Sakura Impact"?
To put it bluntly, these kinds of tricks were fine for ambushing average ninjas, but using them on a Kage-level or higher battlefield simply meant Kabuto was recklessly throwing his life away! [Note]
However...
Although Kabuto's sneak attack was an absolute failure, his probe had allowed Orochimaru to glean a lot of interesting intelligence.
"I never expected Kabuto to actually be able to hurt you. Furthermore..." Orochimaru stared fixedly at the young girl, voicing his own conjecture.
"You are not Haruno Sakura, are you?"