Forty-Five: If I Die Too, Could You Look After the Younger Generation for Me?

"The people of Kumogakure have always acted like bandits. Their coveting other villages' Kekkei Genkai and secret techniques is nothing new."

Sakuya's tone was mild, but his words were certain.

"This time, we're fighting Iwagakure and Amegakure at the same time. Kumogakure stayed out of it because they wanted to sit back and watch the two sides fight. Now that the battles are at a stalemate, they've suddenly sent Blue B and the others to take advantage of the chaos and attack the Konoha-Iwagakure forces. They intend to kidnap a few shinobi with Kekkei Genkai. If they succeed, Konoha may take a secret loss, but to avoid pushing another great nation completely into opposition, we'd have no choice but to let it go for now."

"Heh... What a clever plan!"

Orochimaru laughed in fury. "Those bastards really have it all worked out. They think Iwagakure and Konoha are their prey? How audacious!"

"Look on the bright side. At least they didn't manage to take any shinobi with Kekkei Genkai this time."

Sakuya consoled him. "Everyone's badly injured, but Kumogakure took a beating too. Blue B was hit by my Fire Style and suffered a severe injury that cost him his tail. He won't be much of a fighting force for at least a month."

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

Orochimaru repeated the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki's name, a cold glint in his eyes.

"After the Second Shinobi World War ends, Sakuya..."

He looked at Sakuya. "I'm going to Kumogakure."

"Orochimaru, you..."

Sakuya looked surprised. "What are you planning to do?"

"This grudge can't go unanswered. Blue B killed so many of our people. He has to pay."

"Orochimaru, are you planning to..."

"I'm going to find a chance to kill him... No, that would be too easy on him."

Orochimaru shook his head. "I'm going to... release the Eight-Tails inside him."

Jinchuriki were tragic figures who devoted their entire lives to the Tailed Beasts.

Their flesh served as a prison and their souls as a lock, turning that ultimate power of destruction into a weapon their village could control.

And the Tailed Beasts? Imprisoned in cramped bodies, stripped of their freedom, their resentment had long since seeped into every corner of their chakra, year after year.

Once the seal was broken, the Jinchuriki would die.

And the giant beast that had been imprisoned for decades would break free in a fit of rage.

It would tear apart everything in its path: the Jinchuriki's family, friends, fellow villagers, homeland... until every life connected to him had paid for the freedom it had lost.

Orochimaru wanted more than Blue B's death.

He wanted that man's "world"—his family, his friends, his village, everything he had fought so hard to protect—to die with him.

That was the cruelest revenge he could inflict on the man.

"...I see."

Sakuya remembered that Orochimaru had infiltrated Kumogakure in the original story and driven Blue B to his death. Had that also been because of something that had happened during the Second Shinobi World War?

And in this simulation, because of Sakuya, had the death of one of their comrades become the reason?

He looked at Orochimaru, who still put his comrades and village first and would seek revenge for a fallen comrade. He seemed so righteous, so full of the Will of Fire. Sakuya couldn't help feeling wistful.

He was nothing like the Orochimaru of the future, whose only concerns were Hiruzen Sarutobi and Sasuke.

Time really was a merciless poison.

It ate away at a person without their noticing, transforming them into someone else.

"By the way, Orochimaru."

Sakuya spoke up.

"Kato asked me to look after his little niece."

"Mm."

Orochimaru nodded. "If you don't have time, you can leave her with Tsunade. A girl is better off being raised by a woman, after all. If Tsunade doesn't want to, you can leave her with me."

"I'm just musing."

Sakuya shook his head. "I'm not trying to shirk my responsibility."

"Musing?"

Orochimaru was taken aback.

"That's war for you. I might still be here today, and tomorrow you might see my corpse instead."

Sakuya looked at him with a faint smile.

"Heh? What are you talking about, Sakuya?"

Orochimaru shook his head. "You have the Mangekyō Sharingan. You're the most talented shinobi of your generation in Konoha, far more talented than Tsunade, Jiraiya, or me. How could you just die like that?"

"I said if."

Sakuya looked up at the gloomy sky. "If I die someday, Orochimaru, I hope you'll look after the younger generation of my branch too."

"Sakuya..."

Orochimaru was momentarily stunned.

Sakuya's words gave him a faint sense of unease, but the feeling quickly drifted away.

It had to be his imagination.

Yes, it had to be!

"Well, everyone in my branch of the Uchiha Clan except me has a family, so none of them needs a guardian like Kato's niece."

Sakuya joked, "If that day really comes, just keep an eye on them for me. Ah, you don't have to watch over them all the time. Just give them some guidance if they ever hit a rough patch in life."

"A rough patch in life?"

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

"Ummm... Say some fool gets so desperate that he tries to kill himself. You pull him back from the brink."

Sakuya smiled. "Something like that."

"An Uchiha who kills himself out of despair... Heh, heh heh heh heh."

Hearing Sakuya's words, even Orochimaru, who had been feeling rather solemn, started laughing.

Now he was sure that his earlier unease had been nothing but a false alarm.

Uchiha Sakuya was just joking.

After all, everyone knew what the Uchiha Clan were like. How could one of them ever get so desperate that he killed himself?

What kind of fool would do that?

There really was such a fool.

Sitting in his research lab, Orochimaru stared at the computer screen on his desk.

On the screen, Shisui Uchiha sat on the bed with his eyes lowered, not saying a word. No one knew what he was thinking.

Looking at Shisui, so unlike the usual Uchiha, Orochimaru suddenly remembered the promise they'd made during the Second Shinobi World War.

He had never imagined that the man's words would prove so prophetic. More than ten years later, there really was an Uchiha who had become so desperate that he took his own life.

And he really was... a descendant of the same branch as that man.

"Did you see through the fate of this clan from the very beginning?"

Orochimaru couldn't help sighing.

"Your Mangekyō Sharingan saw a future so very far away..."

"Knock, knock."

Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Orochimaru glanced toward the entrance and spoke.

"Lord Orochimaru."

One of his subordinates came in and said quietly, "Lady Tsunade has appeared in the town outside our base."

"Is that so?"

A glint flashed in Orochimaru's eyes.

"She's finally here."

He stood up and said to his subordinate, "Go get Shisui. Let's go see an old friend."