Orochimaru, who had been watching from a distance all along, was now puzzled.
Kabuto Yakushi should clearly have had the upper hand in that last exchange.
So why was he standing frozen in place now, as though he had lost?
As one of the Sannin, Orochimaru had a keen eye and could make out every detail of Lin Mu and Kabuto's clash.
But he could not see what Kabuto was thinking.
Inside, Kabuto's thoughts were already in turmoil. What did that brat just say to me?
"Could you tell me, Senior Kabuto, how it feels to kill the person you care about most with your own hands?"
To kill... the person I care about most with my own hands.
Kabuto had always hidden his heart beneath layer after layer of disguise, encasing it in armor. Now he felt the deepest scar within it being torn open again.
No... no one should know about this.
At the very least, this Lin Mu standing before me couldn't possibly know!
Then why did he say that to me, looking so certain of himself?
Lin Mu snorted inwardly. He knew Kabuto's background and everything he had experienced over the years perfectly well.
Kabuto Yakushi had once been a war orphan. Nonō had taken him in, and he had lived at the orphanage for a long time.
He had studied medical ninjutsu under Nonō, earning money by treating injured ninja.
During that time, he had caught the attention of Danzo and Orochimaru. Later, Danzo had recruited him into Root and sent him to the major nations to gather intelligence while posing as their ninja.
However, during his final mission in the Shadow Village, he had accidentally killed Nonō, the woman who had once saved him!
He had watched the benefactor he cared about most, the