Kabuto Yakushi

The next day.

When school began that morning, everyone in class knew Sasuke Uchiha would not be coming. Over the past few days, many girls had even gone to the hospital to visit the unconscious Sasuke.

When Iruka called attendance, he skipped Sasuke's name outright. Old Sarutobi had taken leave for Sasuke, after all. But when he reached Lin Chuan's name, he called it several times without anyone answering.

Only then did Iruka realize that Lin Chuan had not come to class either. He had only skipped afternoon classes before, but now he was even skipping in the morning. This was truly outrageous.

But class still had to continue. After finishing the morning lessons, Iruka took advantage of the lunch break to visit Lin Chuan's home.

When he knocked open the wooden door and saw Lin Chuan's mother with two tear tracks on her cheeks, he asked in confusion, "Mrs. Lin, Lin Chuan didn't come to class this morning. Is he sick...?"

"Oh, Teacher Iruka? Lin Chuan isn't sick. Lord Danzo took him away..."

"What? Danzo took him away?" Hearing this news, Iruka felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He had thought Lin Chuan was merely skipping class, but being taken away by Danzo was far worse than that.

Who was Danzo? What kind of place was the place Danzo stayed in? It was Konoha's darkest place. Even Chunin like them had heard of it. That was not a place for people to stay.

No, he had to see the Third Hokage. How could he let Lin Chuan go to the ANBU Training Class? That child was only seven years old!

Before Lin Chuan's mother could say anything else, Iruka turned and left, heading straight for the Hokage Tower to find Hiruzen Sarutobi and tell him what had happened.

But the answer Iruka received was the same one Lin Chuan's father had received: he was told to go back and wait for news.

Back at the Ninja Academy, Iruka remained dazed. He did not even know how he had walked back. His two finest students—one was hospitalized after being devastated by the destruction of his clan, while the other had been taken by Danzo to the ANBU Training Class.

Why had things turned out this way? He did not understand. What had happened to the village? It felt strangely unfamiliar to him. He did not understand...

Root—

Lin Chuan had arrived at Root the previous night. The Root dormitories housed two people per room. There were two others who had arrived here, both older than him. Both had appeared in the anime: Kabuto Yakushi and Fū Yamanaka.

Unfortunately, he had been assigned to the same dormitory as Kabuto Yakushi. He wondered whether Kabuto had already killed Yakushi Nonō at this point, but he could not exactly walk up and ask. Kabuto Yakushi was a psychopath with an extreme lack of security, and he had even lost himself later on.

Whether Kabuto Yakushi had killed Yakushi Nonō or not did not affect his presence in Root at all.

Kabuto Yakushi, before killing her, had originally been Danzo's subordinate—a good child who loved the orphanage and only wanted to help Director Yakushi Nonō ease her burden.

If he had already killed her, then there was only one reason for him to be here: it had to be because of the shady deal between Danzo and Orochimaru. As a double agent, Kabuto traveled between Orochimaru's Otogakure and Konoha's Root.

Later, Orochimaru would arrange for Kabuto Yakushi to enter the Ninja Academy, infiltrate Konoha to participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams, gather intelligence on outstanding graduates from every village, and provide Orochimaru with experimental materials.

The moment he entered the dormitory and saw this senior undercover agent, Lin Chuan stood straight and called out, "Senior, I'm a new recruit. My name is Chuan. Senior can just call me Chuan. Please take care of me from now on..."

He had brought nothing with him when he came here. Seeing daily necessities placed on the bed as soon as he entered, he finally relaxed. Root even prepared living supplies in advance. That was rather considerate!

"Chuan?" Kabuto Yakushi did not even raise his head. With the pencil in his hand, he pointed at the neighboring bed and said quietly, "That's your bed. Make it yourself. If you're hungry, go to the cafeteria. If you want to train, go to the training ground. Loud noises aren't allowed here..."

"Yes, Senior." Lin Chuan walked directly to his bed and began making it. He knew suspicious Kabuto Yakushi had to be watching him, so he made no other moves.

After making the bed, he changed into Root's standard black shirt and black pants. They were similar to the uniforms of the ANBU directly under the Hokage, and there were two sets for washing and changing.

He definitely could not wear his own clothes here, so he tossed them straight into the trash can. Then he quietly sat on his bed, watching Kabuto Yakushi work.

He waited for a full three hours, though he could not tell the time. There was no clock here, nor any window through which to watch the sunset. There was only the desk lamp on Kabuto Yakushi's table and the lights in the corridor outside the door.

"Whew, finally finished." Kabuto Yakushi stretched, then turned around and seemed somewhat surprised to see Lin Chuan still sitting on the bed.

In truth, he had been watching Lin Chuan the entire time. Seeing that Lin Chuan had made no moves, he had gone about his own work. Yet Lin Chuan had continued sitting properly. He was a child who could keep his composure.

"Hungry? I'll take you to look around the cafeteria." Kabuto Yakushi smiled and called for Lin Chuan to get up and leave. Seeing Lin Chuan follow from the corner of his eye, the corners of his mouth rose slightly.

"Yes, Senior." Lin Chuan hurriedly agreed. He had not even eaten dinner before leaving home, and after the afternoon's training, his stomach had long been growling with hunger.

"You don't need to call me Senior. My name is Kabuto. Just call me Kabuto." Kabuto Yakushi appeared somewhat lazy, but in reality, his muscles could exert force at any moment, allowing him to seize a kunai and stab forward. It was merely an illusion to mislead others.

"Alright, Senior Kabuto." Lin Chuan knew none of this. Seeing Kabuto act somewhat lazy, he did not dare imitate him. In only a few short hours, he had encountered several major bosses. As someone with a beginner account, he had to be careful, careful, and even more careful around such major bosses.

"Don't be so serious. We'll all be companions from now on." Seeing Lin Chuan's solemn expression, Kabuto Yakushi immediately found it rather boring. He had wanted to tease this new recruit.

Who knew where this kid had heard those rumors? Root was not serious all the time. When Danzo was absent, everyone was quite casual. Only the missions and training quotas had to be completed on time and in full.

"Yes, Senior." Lin Chuan knew Kabuto Yakushi's smile was fake. At the moment, the enemy was in the open while he was in the dark. He did not dare become Kabuto's companion. Aside from being utterly loyal to Orochimaru, this man had no trust whatsoever in anyone else. Who knew when he might stab someone in the back?

Thus, the two said nothing along the way as they arrived at Root's main cafeteria. Besides them, many Root ninja who had finished training were also eating a late-night meal there.

After the two ate a simple dinner, they returned to the dormitory. Kabuto Yakushi even told him that training here was very difficult, but that he would help him and the like, comforting him as a newcomer.

Lin Chuan responded to Kabuto Yakushi's every word. No matter what Kabuto said, he only answered yes or no. If Kabuto asked other questions, he would choose to tell him what he could. Kabuto Yakushi did not trust him, and likewise, he did not trust Kabuto Yakushi. The two returned to the dormitory, lay on their beds, and went to sleep.

But Lin Chuan could not sleep at all. Lying beside him was Kabuto Yakushi—the jack-of-all-trades, the genius with a high IQ, the master of disguise, the dream-maker of the ninja world, the many-faced spy...

[Kabuto Yakushi]