At this moment, no one understood why Nonō didn't attempt to assassinate Kabuto, and why she didn't even recognize him in the end.
This caused the belief that had sustained Kabuto to collapse, and at that moment he hoped that the river could wash away the sins on his hands.
But no matter how much you try to justify it, it will never change the fact that Dean Nonō died at his hands.
The blurry reflections in the river made it difficult for Dou to see clearly.
After putting on the glasses, I saw an unfamiliar face, which gradually became clearer.
Suddenly, a pair of arms emerged from the river, startling Dou so much that he kept backing away.
It was Orochimaru.
[Tsunade: Orochimaru, do you always have to be this twisted every time you appear? Can't you be normal for once?]
Orochimaru's former teammate Tsunade was extremely dissatisfied with this. "Everyone's watching, and you suddenly pop up? Are you trying to surprise them?"
Orochimaru simply stared silently at Kabuto on the screen. He seemed to understand why Nonō had attempted to assassinate Kabuto. "Just like you, Danzo," he thought.
So, it seems that his appearance was to help Kabuto resolve his doubts. That's what Orochimaru thought. As for the claim that he was involved in pyramid schemes, that's pure fabrication. Look at all my subordinates; they all have complete faith in me.
In contrast, his mission is to save Dou from the Root of evil.
At this moment, Kabuto also recognized the person in front of him as Orochimaru, who had threatened the headmaster when he was with Danzo.
What he didn't know was that Orochimaru had been monitoring him all along, and the more Orochimaru Byakugan that this guy was a born spy.
"Come with me, and I'll tell you what you want to know!" Orochimaru's seductive voice rang out.
He was confident that Kabuto wouldn't refuse, after all, he had never made a mistake in judging people.
Why Nonō want to kill her, and why doesn't Nonō remember Kabuto?
If you want to know the answers, come on, I'll tell you!
Orochimaru made no secret of his admiration for Kabuto; he believed Kabuto was worth betraying Danzo for.
The two then arrived at a stronghold of Iwagakure, a place where people like Orochimaru had similar strongholds in every country.
Dou was like Grandma Liu visiting the Grand View Garden, full of curiosity about everything around her.
Countless experimental equipment, lab reports, and lab books.
As for why Orochimaru brought Kabuto here, it's because he knew Kabuto was the same kind of person as him, and he needed Kabuto as his assistant.
[Anko: What? Teacher? You mean I can't help you? Why are you looking for that kid named Dou?]
Anko was furious. How could her teacher, who usually took such good care of her, choose someone else as her assistant?
[Nawaki: Exactly! Exactly! Teacher, why can't the two of us be your assistants? I'm not having it! I want to be one too!]
Orochimaru looked at his other two disciples with a headache. As for Anko, needless to say, his laboratory didn't have any Three-Colored Dumplings or Anko, so how could it possibly attract this little Anko?
Needless to say, Nawaki is another story. Would you let Obito and Naruto be your experimental assistants? Those two probably don't even have a complete periodic table of elements.
In comparison, Kabuto is practically the perfect assistant, possessing exceptional intelligence, calmness, meticulousness, and a high level of proficiency in Medical Ninjutsu.
Of course, this doesn't mean that Nawaki and Anko are inherently stupid, careless, or short-tempered.
"If you can clear up my doubts, please tell me!" Kabuto threw off his Iwagakure Forehead Protector, eager to know the answer.
"Then I'll be frank. Root has wanted to eliminate you and Nonō for a long time." Orochimaru revealed Root's intentions.
Kabuto clearly didn't understand what was going on. He had gone through thick and thin for Root, and now Root wanted to eliminate him and the Dean. Why?
"You are exceptionally good spies, and you know far too much intelligence."
Kabuto's expression was one of utter disbelief. Just because we have too much information, they want to eliminate us? Does Root have no conscience at all?!
After all, only dead spies are good spies, and no Root wants such an unstable thing as spies to exist.
When it comes to shamelessness, Danzo-sama is the real Danzo. He threatened people to become spies, and now that he's used them, he wants to eliminate them completely. How come Danzo gets all the good things?
"This... I risked my life to gather intelligence for the village for so long, and now...!"
Kabuto was unaware that his fate was sealed the moment he embarked on the path of espionage; everything they did was unfolding according to a script.
"After you left the orphanage, Danzo immediately told the director the real reason for your departure. In order to obtain the aid funds for the orphanage, you became a sacrifice and entered Root."
"Nonō begged him to return her freedom, and Danzo offered a condition for the exchange—kill a double agent who betrayed Konoha."
"The strange thing is, the assassination target was you, Kabuto."
"That was a condition they proposed to give me my freedom, so why didn't the dean notice me?" Kabuto still looked incredulous.
Kabuto doesn't understand Root at all. Their initial goal was to kill Kabuto and Nonō together, so Root tampered with things.
Orochimaru pulled out a stack of photos and threw them on the ground. They were photos of a person from childhood to adulthood. When he was young, you could still recognize him as Kabuto, but as time went by, the person in the photos became more and more unfamiliar.
"To prevent you from meeting, your infiltration location was arranged very far away. The director can only ascertain your safety through photos."
"But what she doesn't know is that your photo has already been replaced with someone else's."
"The Roots have spent a long time replacing others to become you."
The photo on the ground was so striking at that moment; no wonder the dean wanted to assassinate him, no wonder the dean didn't recognize him.
It turns out that I was no longer myself from the very beginning.
"And you were sent to eliminate the survivors, is that right!" Kabuto glared fiercely at Orochimaru.
After gaining Orochimaru's approval, Kabuto quickly formed hand seals, concentrating his Chakra in his hands.
Orochimaru did not resist and was pinned to the ground by Kabuto. Having lost his mind, Kabuto angrily attacked Orochimaru with his Chakra Blade.
One slash, two slashes, three slashes—each one struck a vital spot.
"I've been thinking about who I am, trying to give myself an explanation."
"I thought I had finally won him over, but because of your Roots, I've lost myself again!"
The Root took away my identity, causing me to lose my bond with the dean, taking away my only dean, and making me lose my only family member. So, who am I, really?
Enraged, Kabuto kept slashing Chakra Blade with his Orochimaru blade, as if doing so would allow him to reclaim his identity.
He originally thought that by working hard for the Root, he could return to the dean's side, but he never expected that he was nothing from the very beginning.
After being stabbed more than a dozen times, Kabuto stopped, panting heavily. He suddenly looked at Orochimaru in horror. Orochimaru, who was already a corpse, suddenly spat out a pool of slime, which then reformed into the shape of Orochimaru in the air.
"What's wrong with not being able to prove yourself?" The newly formed Orochimaru slowly opened his arms and asked.
Kabuto himself doesn't understand why Orochimaru wanted to kill him and then told him all this.
In fact, Orochimaru was also searching for his true self, accumulating knowledge and abilities within himself, and then being reborn as a more perfect version of himself.
Orochimaru expressed his desire to break away from Konoha his own ninja village. At the same time, Kabuto became an excellent assistant, Danzo's influence could not reach Orochimaru no matter what.
Orochimaru will also prepare a new resume for Kabuto: Kabuto Yakushi, son of Nonō, the head of the medical department.
Nonō