Kabuto trembled all over, as if he had been struck by a whip.
He raised his head suddenly and glanced at Nonō's face in panic.
Those empty brown eyes were still unfocused, as if the "thank you" just now came from the instinct of a walking zombie.
She held the bowl and moved numbly back into the shadow of the iron door.
"Kabuto? Why do you look so ugly?" Murahashi Hazuki walked over with an empty basket and was keenly aware of the strangeness of his companion.
She saw that Kabuto's face was as white as paper in the dim light, with fine cold sweat dripping from his forehead, and his eyes flashing fiercely behind the lenses.
He even forgot to conceal the huge pain that was surging inside and almost overflowing.
This is completely unlike the usual gentle and calm Kumamoto Kabuto who always has a slight smile.
"No-nothing." Kabuto almost gritted his teeth before uttering these two words, his voice was extremely dry.
He lowered his head suddenly, avoiding Hazuki's probing gaze, quickening his pace, randomly saving a spoonful of the dried vegetables in his hand, and pouring it into the prisoner's bowl on the window of the next cell.
The movements were fast and urgent, with a kind of uncontrollable panic, and the edge of the spoon scraped against the wooden bowl, making a harsh noise.
He needed to do something, anything, to fill the sudden void and panic that almost tore him in half. Yakushi Kabuto forced himself to focus on the food in front of him and the next cell, but he couldn't control the trembling of his fingers.
Nonō Dean's haggard, numb, soulless face, those eyes that were so hollow that it made his heart burst with fear, and that heartless "thank you" repeatedly flashed, amplified, and roared in his mind.
Every flash of it was like a heavy hammer hitting the cornerstone of his belief.
Danzo Master's promise still rings in my ears, as clear as yesterday.
As long as he completes his mission here, as long as he brings back enough valuable information, the dean will be free, and they can get rid of the shadow of the roots and start over in a sunny and warm place.
This is his motivation to endure all disguises, all loneliness, and all dangers, and it is the only glimmer of light he can grasp when he is trapped in darkness.
But now?
The dean is right in front of you!
In Land of Stars's prison! But he can't be recognized!
A cold and biting thought haunted his mind clearly and arrogantly: Dean, she doesn't actually care about me at all?
I joined Root, performed espionage missions, collected intelligence, and played roles. What was the meaning of everything I did in exchange for it in the end?!
Or even - was the promise of "freedom" a carrot dangled in front of the donkey's eyes from the very beginning that could never be reached?
The fear and sense of betrayal brought by this thought were far more penetrating than the coldness of the prison area.
He felt like he was standing naked on the edge of a cliff, with bottomless darkness beneath his feet. The hand pushing him down behind him was vague, but it carried the aura of trust he once had.
The pillar of faith finally made an overwhelming and clear sound of shattering.
"Dang it!"
A sudden crisp sound broke the oppressive dullness in the corridor.
The heavy iron bucket filled with hot miso soup in Kabuto's hand slipped out of his violently shaking hands without any warning, and he completely lost control of his strength, and hit the cold stone ground heavily!
The thick, hot, dark brown soup that exuded a salty smell instantly splashed out, quickly spreading on the uneven stone surface, soaking through Kabuto's trousers and shoes and socks, and also splashed onto the trouser legs of a guard next to him.
"Ah!" The guard screamed when he was burned and jumped away suddenly.
"Hey! Boy! What the hell are you doing!".
Kabuto stood there blankly, feeling the hot and sticky feeling of the soup coming from his trousers.
He looked at the messy, steaming stains at his feet, at the broken spoons and wooden bowls rolled into the corner, at the angry faces of the guards approaching, at the frightened and worried eyes of Hazuki and Junren who came running after hearing the sound. The world seemed to have been pressed in slow motion, the sound was distorted and blurred, the colors faded, leaving only the dirty mess in front of him, exuding the aura of failure and collapse.
This mess was very much like the world that was collapsing in his heart right now.
"I'm sorry, my hand slipped-"
An extremely dry and unfamiliar voice was squeezed out of Yakushi Kabuto's throat, with a false calmness that even made him feel sick.
He bent down, and the lens slid down the bridge of his nose the moment he lowered his head, revealing the pair of eyes that could no longer be perfectly concealed and were full of confusion at the moment.
Painful eyes.
He squatted down and mechanically reached out to pick up the fragments on the ground. His fingers touched the hot soup and the sharp edges of the pottery shards, which caused a stinging pain.
This insignificant pain strangely brought a brief moment of clarity. He needed to cover it up, he had to cover it up!
No matter how his heart collapses, no matter how the world that supports him turns to powder, at this moment, he must still be "Kumamoto Kabuto"!
He forced himself to raise his head, trying hard to put on an expression that was "Kumamoto Kabuto" that was mixed with panic, self-blame and clumsiness.
He looked at the angry guard and the Natsuhi jounin who was walking quickly.
"Teacher Natsuhi, I'm sorry! I was too careless!" His voice had just the right amount of trembling and regret.
Natsuhi frowned, and his sharp eyes glanced back and forth several times between Kabuto's pale face, trembling hands, and the mess on the ground.
She didn't say anything, just nodded to the guard. "We will be responsible for cleaning up. Kabuto, Hazuki, clean up here. Junren, go to the logistics team to get another soup."
Her voice was still calm, and there wasn't much emotion, but she gave instructions a minute faster than usual.
"Yes!" Hazuki and Junren responded quickly. They glanced worriedly at Kabuto, who was still squatting on the ground in despair, and took action quickly.
Kabuto squatted on the cold stone ground, holding a piece of pottery stained with soup in his hand. The tingling sensation on his fingertips could clearly be heard.
He lowered his head and looked at his blurred and distorted face reflected in the dirty soup - the face wearing the "Kumamoto Kabuto" mask.
Nonō Dean's empty, unfamiliar eyes were engraved on his retinas like a brand, lingering, and each flash brought a sharp pain of his soul being torn apart.
His heart was like this prison area at this time, filled with the breath of despair, tightly wrapping him and trapping him firmly in this collapsed ruins.
The belief that he had carefully constructed and had always supported him had completely collapsed under the gaze of those empty eyes, turning into a part of the filthy mess at his feet.
Natsuhi stood a few steps away, his gaze falling heavily on Kabuto's slightly trembling back.
She didn't urge him, she just watched quietly, looking at this student who was usually the most calm and worry-free, as if all his strength had been drained away at this moment.
The heavy banging sound of the iron door opening and closing came from deep in the prison area. It was long and hollow, as if Yakushi Kabuto was in a state of confusion at the moment.
Yakushi Kabuto squatted on the cold stone ground, mechanically picking at the beans stuck in the gaps between the pottery pieces with his fingertips.
Nonō Dean's eyes, as empty as dry wells, burned in the depths of his mind over and over again, and every flash of them brought a soul-rending pain.
The bright future promised by Lord Danzo, the deep-rooted belief pillar, collapsed with a silent "thank you", and the debris flew up, burying him deeply.
He was like a body that had been drained of its soul, relying only on the last inertia of the character "Kumamoto Kabuto" to maintain its crouching position, waiting for a more severe rebuke from teacher Natsuhi.
At this moment, an indescribable feeling of weightlessness that seemed to come from the depths of his soul suddenly came over him.
The solid, cold stone ground beneath our feet disappeared. The angry faces of the guards, the worried eyes of teammates, and the messy stains on the ground were all like reflections of stones thrown into the water, instantly distorted, broken, and dissipated without a trace.
The cold, desperate atmosphere of the prison area was replaced by an indescribable vastness and cold emptiness.
Yakushi Kabuto found himself standing on an endless stretch of water.
The water surface is as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the equally boundless, heart-stoppingly deep night sky above.
Countless stars burn, rotate, and flow on this night curtain, gathering into a dazzling galaxy. The light is cold and pure, reflecting the entire space like a dream.
The water under his feet was not solid, and only extremely weak ripples rippled when he stepped on it, but it clearly reflected his pale and lost figure at the moment.
Absolute silence enveloped him, no wind, no sound, only the silent movement of the stars and the echo of his own heart beating crazily in his chest.
A heartbeat amplified to the point of deafening, full of panic and confusion.
This is--. where?
The huge horror temporarily overwhelmed the feeling of collapse in my heart.
Kabuto raised his head suddenly, his pupils shrinking behind his lenses.
This is absolutely not reality!
Is it an illusion?
What a terrifying illusion that could instantly drag him from the prison of reality into such an unimaginable illusion world?
When was the illusion planted?
"Kabuto."
A clear, calm voice, with a hint of strange childishness, suddenly sounded in this Starry Water Surface silence, clearly penetrating the deafening heartbeat.
Kabuto's whole body was shaken violently, as if he had been hit by an invisible electric current.
He looked around suddenly.
About ten steps away from him, a small figure stood quietly on the water.
It was a boy about five years old.
He has short black hair and handsome cheeks. He is wearing a set of black uniforms and open-toed ninja boots on the water reflecting the stars. He has a maturity that is incompatible with his peers.
The boy's eyes were as dark as a deep pool, and he was staring at Yakushi Kabuto calmly and without any disturbance.
The look in his eyes was so deep that it was completely different from that of a five-year-old child, as if it contained thousands of years of time and endless secrets.
Menma!
Kabuto's breathing suddenly stopped, and his mind went blank.
Why is he here?
"You ---" Kabuto's voice was as dry as sandpaper, with an unbelievable tremor. "You ---. How could you --"
Countless questions crowded and collided in my throat, eventually turning into a chaotic blank.
"Or an illusion?"
He stared intently at that small figure, his body tensed subconsciously and entered the most instinctive state of alert, even though he knew that in this strange space, any alertness seemed so pale and ridiculous.
Menma did not answer his question about space. His dark eyes remained calm, as if he had already seen through all the struggles and disguises deep in his soul.
"Long time no see." The small lips parted slightly, and the voice was clear and steady. Every word was like a cold stone thrown into Kabuto's chaotic heart, stirring up even bigger waves.
"It's been almost two years since we last saw each other. It seems that you didn't have a good life at Konoha Root, and you didn't want to be a medical ninja like you once said."
Kabuto's body shook violently, as if he had been hit hard by an invisible heavy hammer.
"Why do you know this?" Kabuto's voice was hoarse, struggling like a dying animal. "Dean - why is the dean at Land of Stars?"
Yakushi Kabuto knows that Menma in front of you must know exactly what happened!
"Do you want to know the truth?" In the depths of Menma's dark eyes, there seemed to be an extremely weak, almost pity-like glimmer.
He slowly raised his small right hand.
That movement carried a sense of calmness and control that was completely inconsistent with the appearance of a child.
A few flimsy pieces of paper slipped silently from his immature palms.
The piece of paper swirled, floating slowly above the silent Starry Water Surface, and finally, as if being pulled by an invisible force, landed accurately on the water reflecting the bright stars at the feet of Kabuto.
The water rippled slightly, but it didn't wet the paper at all.
Those are some color photos.
Kabuto's eyes were attracted by a magnet, fixed on the photo.
In the first photo, there is a young man wearing round glasses, with a gentle smile and clear eyes.
The outline of his eyebrows, the curve of his mouth - they are 70-80% similar to him! The young man is wearing the uniform of the Konoha Ninja Academy, and the background seems to be a certain street in Konoha.
The second photo shows the same boy, wearing the Konoha medical ninja uniform, showing a slightly tired but still cheerful smile to the camera.
The third photo shows a young man sitting at a table in a dimly lit room with a book open on the table, and he is writing something seriously.
Each photo is somewhat similar to Yakushi Kabuto, forming a young man's growth trajectory.
In just two years, "Yakushi Kabuto" has completely changed into a different person.
"This is not me"
"This is not me!!!"
Yakushi Kabuto's eyes were wide open, staring blankly at the photos on the ground, his face full of shock and unbelievable pain.
He took a step back while kneeling, and violent ripples appeared in the calm water beneath his feet.
He stared intently at the face of the strange boy in those photos. The cold, cruel, and poisonous truth was like the sharpest ice pick, ruthlessly cutting through his chaotic mind.
Danzo·The man who controls Root·
Not only did he use the dean's safety as a lock to drive him, he also used such a despicable and vicious method!
He found a substitute!
A young man similar to him took his place in the dean's heart!
The dean's gentle gaze was attracted by the substitute!
"The dean and you are both naive." Menma's voice slowly came to mind, cold and pitiful. "I naively thought that man Danzo would keep his promise, but little did he know that he was already planning how to make you kill each other, wipe out the remaining kindness deep in the spy, and completely transform it into a tool in his hands."
This cruel truth made Yakushi Kabuto almost breathless.
"Yeah
-A roar that was suppressed to the extreme, like a wounded beast, came from deep in Yakushi Kabuto's throat.
He bent down suddenly and grabbed his hair with both hands, his knuckles turned white from the force, and his nails almost dug into his scalp.
Huge pain, anger at being played with, bone-gnawing regret, overwhelming hatred...
Countless emotions that could tear a person apart crashed and roared in his body like a tsunami.
He got it!
All understood!
Why can't the dean recognize him?
Why are your eyes so empty!
Because in her "memory", "Yakushi Kabuto" is already another person!
If according to the plan Menma said, without him knowing this, Danzo sent the dean to get rid of him. "It was me, it was me who harmed her." Kabuto's voice was broken, full of self-destructive despair and self-blame.
If he hadn't taken it upon himself to follow Danzo, the dean might not have been so passively blackmailed by Danzo.
Kabuto's tears burst out uncontrollably, mixed with snot, and flowed down his twisted face, dripping onto the water reflecting the stars, creating circles of small ripples.