Instant kill! Turning Kabuto Yakushi

Even as Yecheng called out, he had already launched a lethal combo against the Root Anbu.

He did not dismiss Great Serpent, instead summoning a second Ten Shadows shikigami at the same time.

"Toad!"

"Ribbit!"

The instant the cry rang out, a thick tongue shot from the shadows and bound the Anbu into a bundle.

At the same time, several translucent jellyfish tentacles reached out together, their barbed tips stabbing wildly, furiously, relentlessly into the Root Anbu!

As they punched several bloody holes in him, they also injected a large amount of venom into his body, draining the last of his strength to resist.

Next came the finishing blow, delivered by Yecheng himself.

Using the chakra shape transformation he had trained to an absurd degree, he formed a Chakra Scalpel over his hand.

Yecheng emerged from the shadow beneath the Root Anbu's feet, his fingers pressed together into a knife hand, and drove it straight through his back into his heart before wrenching it violently!

"Mmph! Mmph!"

As excruciating pain struck, the Root Anbu's eyes widened. He tried to cry out for help, but with his mouth sealed by a jellyfish tentacle, all he could make were muffled whimpers.

Then he stopped struggling, his hands hanging limply as the shikigami held him bound like a suspended rag doll.

A powerful Anbu ninja had been ambushed and killed by a single combo from Yecheng, just like that!

Yecheng controlled Jellyfish Moon to snap his neck with a jellyfish tentacle as well, then dumped his corpse on the ground, wrapped it in shadows, and swallowed it into the shadow space along with the blood on the ground.

Yecheng turned to look at Kabuto Yakushi.

At that very moment, Kabuto finally broke free of Great Serpent's coils and landed in front of Yecheng.

"Who exactly are you? What did you mean by what you just said?"

Without spending even a moment mourning his colleague's death, Kabuto Yakushi immediately pressed Yecheng about Yakushi Nonō.

In the original story, Kabuto Yakushi had lost everything to war, even his memories. He had been brought to the Konoha Orphanage, where Yakushi Nonō had given him a second life.

Yet his exceptional talents had led Danzo to select him as a spy, and later, through Danzo's schemes, he and Yakushi Nonō had been made to fight each other, ultimately killing his beloved family member.

It had been a tragedy through and through.

Now Yecheng himself shared an extremely deep bond with Yakushi Nonō. Whenever he recalled her ending in the original story, he could not help cursing inwardly:

Danzo really was a fucking beast!

He had already intended to rewrite this tragic ending, and this chance encounter with Kabuto Yakushi was a heaven-sent opportunity.

"My name is Megumi Fushiguro."

Dressed entirely in black, wearing Megumi Fushiguro's face and spiky hair, Yecheng gave a faint smile.

"As for what I just said, I meant exactly what I said."

"That's why I'm asking what exactly you meant."

Kabuto Yakushi was extremely agitated, but he did his best to suppress it.

Only fourteen now, he had already spent years struggling in the shadows, all so Danzo would continue funding the orphanage and keep the work Yakushi Nonō had poured her heart into alive.

But today, he had suddenly heard that Yakushi Nonō was in danger. She was his most important bond, his one source of hope, and he absolutely could not allow anything to happen to her.

"Danzo threatened Yakushi Nonō, and she's gone back to working under him."

Yecheng said calmly, "And Danzo has grown suspicious of you, too. He plans to squeeze every last bit of use out of you both, then make you and Yakushi Nonō kill each other."

"That's impossible."

Kabuto Yakushi shook his head. Neither he nor Yakushi Nonō would ever raise a hand against the other, even if they had to defect from Konoha.

One was a mother dearer than anyone, the other her most beloved child. How could they ever kill each other?

Impossible. Absolutely impossible!

Yecheng chuckled. "What if Yakushi Nonō no longer recognizes you?"

"What?!"

Kabuto Yakushi's eyes widened. Those words hurt him more than a knife thrust would have.

"Impossible! Say any more nonsense and I'll kill you!"

Kabuto Yakushi was shaken.

"How many years has it been since you last saw her in person?"

Yecheng took a photograph from his shadow space and tossed it to Kabuto Yakushi.

He had taken it from Yakushi Nonō's room before, preparing for this very moment, just in case.

"People change a great deal in their early teens.

Danzo has been deceiving Yakushi Nonō with this person's photographs all along. In her mind, the real Kabuto Yakushi has long since become someone else."

Kabuto Yakushi caught the photograph with trembling hands. It showed a boy he did not recognize at all, whose only resemblance to him was that they both had grayish-white hair!

"Hah... hah... no! No way! It can't be like this!! She must still recognize me. She must still remember me!"

Kabuto Yakushi broke down completely. He collapsed to the ground, gasping like someone on the verge of drowning, both hands clutching the photograph tightly as his entire body shook.

Deep down, he did not want to believe what Yecheng had said.

But Yecheng's words were reasonable, supported by evidence, and consistent-and he even had physical proof!

Then there was the way Danzo usually operated: vicious, ruthless, unscrupulous, leaving no room for anyone...

In his heart, Kabuto Yakushi already believed most of it!

"It's simple. Go to the orphanage tomorrow and see whether she still recognizes you."

Yecheng did not linger. He turned and left.

"But remember, Danzo is the Third Hokage's right-hand man. Only I can help you."

Yecheng's figure dissolved into inky darkness beneath the night sky. By the time moonlight shone through the gaps between the trees again, there was no trace of him left.

As for what had happened tonight, he trusted Kabuto Yakushi to find a way to cover it up.

With the bond between Kabuto Yakushi and Yakushi Nonō, Kabuto would surely cling to him as his lifeline.

Kabuto Yakushi gasped so hard that his head throbbed and his hands and feet went numb.

I've given everything in the shadows, crossing the line between life and death several times, just to help her, to help the mother who gave me a second life.

And now I suddenly hear this terrible news: every contribution and sacrifice I've made has been credited to someone else!

Then what does that make me?!

The fact that Kabuto Yakushi's resolve had not shattered on the spot, driving him to suicide, was already a testament to his mental strength!

"No, I can't die. I can't die yet.

There are still things I haven't done."

Kabuto Yakushi slowly rose to his feet, murmuring to himself.

"I'll go to the orphanage tomorrow and verify it.

If what he said is true, then that's all the more reason I can't die.

I have to live. I must live. Only then can I protect the director."

Danzo...

Danzo!!!

Flames of hatred flickered in Kabuto Yakushi's eyes.

If everything really is as that Megumi Fushiguro said, if it really is all Shimura Danzō's scheme, crediting everything I've done to someone else...

Even trying to make the director and me kill each other, trying to make me kill my beloved mother with my own hands!

Unforgivable. Absolutely unforgivable!

Danzo!!!

You alone must die by my own hand!

Kabuto Yakushi took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.

He gathered chakra in his palm, formed a Chakra Scalpel, and lightly tapped the back of his own neck.

With his extraordinarily precise chakra control and exhaustive knowledge of the human body, he easily created the appearance of having been ambushed and knocked unconscious, without injuring himself.

He had made his choice.