Forty-five: If I die too, can you take care of the juniors for me?

"Kumogakure has always been a den of bandits; their coveting of other villages' Kekkei Genkai and secret techniques is nothing new."

Sakuya's tone was calm, yet it carried an air of absolute certainty.

"This time, while we are simultaneously at war with Iwagakure and Amegakure, they remain idle, waiting to watch the tigers fight from across the mountain. Now that the war has reached a stalemate, they suddenly sent Blue B and his team to launch a chaotic raid on Konoha and Iwagakure, intending to abduct a few bloodline ninjas. If they succeed, even if Konoha suffers a loss, we would be forced to swallow it for the time being to avoid pushing a Great Nation into total opposition."

"Heh heh... what a brilliant scheme!"

Orochimaru laughed in a fit of cold fury. "These fellows have calculated well, haven't they? Treating Iwagakure and Konoha like their personal prey? How audacious!"

"Look on the bright side, at least they didn't manage to take any of our bloodline ninjas this time."

Sakuya offered a word of comfort. "Although everyone is severely injured, the Kumogakure side didn't fare much better. Blue B was hit by my Fire Style; he is heavily wounded and his tail was severed. He won't have much combat capability for at least a month."

"Blue B... Blue B..."

As he recited the name of the Eight-Tails jinchūriki, a chill settled in Orochimaru's eyes.

"After the Second Shinobi World War concludes, Sakuya-kun."

He looked at Sakuya and said, "I am going to pay a visit to Kumogakure."

"Orochimaru, you..."

Sakuya was taken aback. "What are you planning to do?"

"This debt cannot go unpaid. Blue B has killed so many of our people; he must be made to pay the price."

"Orochimaru, are you intending to..."

"I will find an opportunity to kill him... no, that would be letting him off too easily."

Orochimaru shook his head. "I am going to... release the Eight-Tails sealed within him."

A jinchūriki is a tragic figure who dedicates their entire life to a Tailed Beast.

They use their own flesh and blood as a prison and their soul as a lock, turning that cataclysmic, ultimate power into a weapon the village can control.

And what of the Tailed Beast? Imprisoned within a cramped, fleshy vessel, stripped of its freedom, day after day, year after year—its resentment has long since seeped into every corner of its chakra.

Once the seal is broken, the jinchūriki will surely die.

And that giant beast, imprisoned for decades, will break out of its cage in a frenzy of rage.

It will tear apart everything in its path: the jinchūriki's kin, friends, comrades, their homeland... until every life connected to him has been buried alongside the freedom it once lost.

What Orochimaru wants has never been just the death of Blue B.

He wants that man's "world"—his family, his friends, his village, everything he fought with all his might to protect—to be buried with him.

That is the most ruthless form of revenge against that man.

"...Is that so."

Sakuya remembered that in the original story, Orochimaru had indeed infiltrated Kumogakure and driven Blue B to his death. It seemed that, in this timeline, it was triggered by an event during the Second Shinobi World War?

And in this simulation, because of his own involvement, had it turned into the death of a comrade?

He looked at Orochimaru, who still prioritized his comrades and village, who chose revenge because of a comrade's death—an Orochimaru who appeared incredibly righteous and filled with the Will of Fire—and felt a wave of melancholy.

He was a far cry from the Orochimaru of the future, whose eyes held nothing but Hiruzen Sarutobi and Sasuke.

Time is truly a heartless poison.

It corrodes a person bit by bit, until they are transformed into someone unrecognizable.

"Speaking of which, Orochimaru."

Sakuya spoke up.

"Kato entrusted me with the care of his little niece."

"Hmm."

Orochimaru nodded. "If you don't have the time, Sakuya-kun, you could leave her to Tsunade. After all, it's better for a girl to be raised by a woman. If Tsunade is unwilling, then leave her to me."

"I was merely lamenting."

Sakuya shook his head. "I have no intention of shirking my responsibilities."

"Lamenting?"

Orochimaru paused.

"War is like this. You might see me today, but tomorrow, all you might find is my corpse."

Sakuya looked at him, smiling faintly.

"Heh heh? What kind of joke are you making, Sakuya-kun?"

Orochimaru shook his head. "You possess the Mangekyō Sharingan; you are the most outstanding genius of Konoha's generation, far, far superior to me, Tsunade, or Jiraiya. How could you just die like that?"

"I'm just saying, what if."

Sakuya gazed at the overcast sky. "If one day I should die, Orochimaru, I hope you will look after the juniors of my lineage."

"Sakuya-kun..."

Orochimaru was momentarily stunned.

He sensed something slightly amiss in Sakuya's words, but the feeling quickly dissipated with the wind.

It must have been an illusion.

Yes, it was definitely an illusion!

"Well, among my branch of the Uchiha Clan, everyone else has family besides me, so there's no need for a guardian to look after them like that niece of Kato's."

Sakuya joked, "If that day ever really comes, just keep an eye on him for me. Ah, you don't have to watch him constantly; just give him a little guidance if he ever finds himself in a life crisis."

"Finds himself in a life crisis?"

Orochimaru tilted his head in confusion. "Sakuya-kun, what do you... mean by that?"

"Hmm... for instance, if some fool can't see a way out and chooses to commit suicide, just pull him back."

Sakuya laughed. "Something like that."

"An Uchiha committing suicide because they can't see a way out... Heh, heh heh heh heh heh."

Listening to Sakuya, Orochimaru, who had been feeling somewhat heavy, began to laugh along.

At that moment, he was certain that his earlier feeling had indeed been an illusion.

Uchiha Sakuya was merely joking.

After all, everyone knew the temperament of the Uchiha Clan; how could there be a clansman who would commit suicide because they couldn't see a way out?

How could there be such a fool?

Yet, there was such a fool.

Sitting in his laboratory, Orochimaru gazed at the computer screen on his desk.

On the screen, Shisui Uchiha sat on his bed, eyes downcast, not saying a word, lost in his own thoughts.

Watching Shisui, who was so starkly different from the typical Uchiha, Orochimaru was momentarily dazed, recalling the promise made back during the Second Shinobi World War.

He never imagined that the man's words would truly come to pass, and that today, more than a decade later, there would actually be an Uchiha who committed suicide because they couldn't see a way out.

And it was, in fact... a descendant from that very same bloodline.

"Did you see through the fate of this clan from so long ago?"

Orochimaru sighed with deep emotion.

"Your Mangekyō Sharingan truly saw a future very, very far away..."

"Knock, knock."

The door was rapped.

"Come in."

Orochimaru glanced toward the entrance as he spoke.

"Lord Orochimaru."

His subordinate entered and whispered, "Lady Tsunade has appeared in the town outside our base."

"Is that so?"

A glint flashed in Orochimaru's eyes.

"She has finally arrived."

He stood up and said to his subordinate, "Go call Shisui-kun; let's go meet an old friend."