Outside the rusted iron pipe, the kittens finally seemed to realize what was happening. Desperate, they tried to scramble back inside, but they couldn't get past their mother's body. They let out high, helpless wails, begging to be let back in.
In response, the mother cat yowled back at them. The sound was harsh and aggressive, completely different from the soft, gentle trills she had used to call them to dinner just moments before.
Facing their mother's sudden hostility, the kittens tried to rub their heads against her legs, exactly as they did during playtime. But this time, the mother cat decisively shoved them away, swiping her claws through the dirt as a final warning.
No matter how hard they tried, no matter how pitifully they cried, the mother refused to yield. She relentlessly drove her children out into the alley.
Anko stared at the heartbreaking scene, her brow furrowed in deep confusion. "Why is she doing this? The kittens didn't do anything wrong. Why did she suddenly snap? Does she not want her babies anymore?"
Sensing Anko's distress, Kei spoke softly. "Look closely at the kittens, Anko. Observe their physical development, and then look at the mother cat's condition."
"The answer is written on their bodies. If you look closely, the truth is glaringly obvious."
Seeing that Kei wasn't playing games, Anko refocused her attention on the small family.
At first, she wondered if the kittens or the mother were sick, and if illness had triggered the sudden rejection. But she quickly dismissed the idea. Aside from their dirty, matted fur, the animals seemed healthy enough.
However, as she looked closer, Anko noticed the subtle details.
Both the mother and her children were incredibly thin. Their ribs pressed sharply against their sides, clear signs of chronic malnourishment.
"Is it a food shortage?" Anko asked softly. "They don't have enough to eat."
"If you had been paying close attention from the beginning," Kei noted, "you would have seen how frantically the kittens devoured that single, dried fish. They ate with the desperate urgency of animals that haven't eaten in days."
"It is obvious their food source is highly unstable. That single fish was likely acquired through immense effort on the mother's part. You have seen how many stray cats roam this market. Given the mother's small, frail size, she simply cannot compete with the larger, more aggressive acts for scraps."
Anko looked at the frail mother cat, who was still standing guard at the mouth of the pipe, refusing to let her children return. "So... she is driving them away because she literally cannot afford to keep them alive?"
Kei nodded. "It is a harsh reality of nature, particularly among feral felines. Shortly after the kittens are fully weaned, the mother will forcibly evict them from her territory."
"In her eyes, they are now independent creatures. But the driving force is survival. If they stay, there will simply not be enough food to sustain all of them. The mother is acting out of absolute, helpless necessity."
Anko stood in silence, watching the tiny, frightened kittens huddle together in the dirt. After a long hesitation, she asked, "But if she abandons them like this... won't they just die out here on their own?"
"They will not lose their hope of survival," Kei said firmly.
He pointed his cane toward the huddled kittens. "Look closely at their paws. Their claws are sharp. Their muscles are developed. They already possess the physical capability to survive."
"She has already taught them how to hunt, how to hide, how to survive the alleys. Driving them away forces them to use those skills. It forces them to grow up."
"If they stay hidden in that pipe with her, their survival skills will stagnate. And more importantly, since she cannot provide enough food, they would all inevitably starve to death together. By forcing them to separate, she is giving both herself and her children the best possible chance to live."
Anko didn't speak. She just stared blankly at the kittens as they finally, reluctantly began to back away from their mother.
She wasn't stupid. She knew exactly what Kei was doing. He was using this brutal, natural cycle to draw a direct comparison to her and Orochimaru.
But her situation was different. Orochimaru hadn't abandoned her because he couldn't support her. He had abandoned her because he had transformed into a monster, committed horrific atrocities, and betrayed their home.
"It is a clever metaphor, doctor," Anko challenged, her voice tight. "But it doesn't apply to me. Orochimaru isn't a starving mother cat, and I am not a helpless kitten."
Kei didn't mind her skepticism. He expected it. Every patient he treated fought his logic initially. But in the end, his therapy always took root.
"You are correct. The circumstances of this alleyway do not perfectly mirror your own," Kei agreed easily.
"But as I have told you before, certain fundamental truths are universal."
Leaning heavily on his cane, Kei walked up to Anko and pointed directly at the metal leaf engraved on her headband. "Orochimaru did leave you. In a very real sense, he abandoned you to the wolves."
"But look at yourself, Anko. You are a fully realized, independent, and highly lethal shinobi. Orochimaru carved his own jutsu into your muscle memory."
Aside from standard Academy techniques, nearly every lethal weapon in Anko's arsenal—the Hidden Shadow Snake Hands, the Twin Snakes Mutual Death, even her summoning contract—were all gifts from Orochimaru.
In the brutal reality of the shinobi world, Orochimaru had flawlessly fulfilled his duty as a master. He had forged her into a weapon capable of surviving anything. In that specific regard, he had not failed her.
Anko opened her mouth, desperate to argue, but the words died in her throat. Kei was right. Just as the mother cat had taught her kittens how to hunt before banishing them, Orochimaru had taught her how to kill before he vanished.
Sensing the shift in her defenses, Kei pressed the advantage. "You are an independent force of nature, Anko. You are vastly stronger than the average Leaf shinobi."
"So even though he abandoned you, you possess more than enough power to survive this world on your own."
Anko pursed her lips, her eyes flashing with renewed pain. "But he changed! He turned into someone I didn't even recognize! He wasn't always that monster!"
"Or perhaps... you simply never saw him clearly to begin with?" Kei tilted his head, his voice dropping into a soft, surgical whisper. "The noble, perfect master you mourn might have only existed in your own imagination. People change, Anko."
"Orochimaru walked through decades of war and death. That darkness changed him into a man you no longer recognize."
"You are not Orochimaru, and Orochimaru is not you. You are two entirely separate individuals, and every individual is responsible for their own choices."
"You admitted it yourself just last night. Even if he had begged you to leave with him, you would have refused, would you not?" Kei asked.
Anko's thoughts were spinning. Kei's logic was a vice, slowly tightening around her grief, leaving her with no room to argue. Yet, her heart still violently rejected the outcome.
Kei gave her a moment to let the reality settle, then delivered the final, crushing blow. "Anko, since you could never accept the monster he has become... why are you allowing his choices to destroy you?"
He pointed his cane back toward the alley. "Look at the kittens. When faced with their mother's absolute rejection, do they sit in the dirt and wait to die?"
"They feel the pain of abandonment, just as we do. But ultimately, they will make the only choice that matters. The choice to survive."
Under the morning sun, the kittens took a few steps down the alley, stopping to look back over their shoulders, crying out one last time, hoping their mother would change her mind.
But the mother cat remained silent. She did not call them back. Understanding that the decision was final, the kittens turned around and vanished into the shadows of the market.
Only then, when her children were completely out of sight, did the mother cat's aggressive posture crumble. She sank down into the dirt, her eyes locked onto the empty alleyway where they had disappeared.
It was a look of profound, agonizing reluctance, mixed with a silent prayer for their survival.
Even though Anko projected the image of a loud, brash, unbreakable kunoichi, watching the quiet heartbreak of the mother cat brought a sudden, stinging pressure to her eyes.
In that quiet alley, she saw the tragic reflection of her own life in both the mother and the abandoned children.
"Anko, you must understand that just as the moon waxes and wanes, human lives are defined by joy and sorrow, by connection and inevitable separation."
Kei's voice was deadly serious now. "When faced with a tragedy that has already happened and cannot be undone, we must not paralyze ourselves with grief. We must learn from the strays."
"The kittens did not want to leave. But they were forced out by the brutal pressures of reality."
"They will be terrified. They will be heartbroken. But they will adapt quickly. Because if they don't, they will die."
Anko didn't respond. She just stood there, staring at the empty pipe, letting Kei's words echo in her mind.
"Orochimaru abandoned you. That is an undeniable fact," Kei stated ruthlessly. "But it is precisely because of that betrayal that you must move forward and live a brilliant life."
"He gave you the fangs necessary to survive. Now you must use them."
Anko remained silent, her eyes dark and conflicted.
"If you truly cannot let go of the anger," Kei offered softly, "then you must use it. You must live well, and live happily, purely out of spite."
Anko frowned, finally looking back at him. "Why?"
"Because living a brilliant, unbothered life is the only way to prove that he was wrong to leave you behind."
Anko thought about that. "You want me to prove my worth so he regrets abandoning me?"
Kei smiled, a gentle, almost sad expression. He shook his head slowly. "You do not prove yourself to make him regret his choices. You do it for yourself."
"Orochimaru will never regret leaving you, Anko. Because he understood you better than anyone. He knew, with absolute certainty, that you would never walk his dark path."
"Therefore, standing on freezing rooftops and drowning in sorrow is entirely pointless."
Kei took a step closer, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "Imagine this, Anko. If Orochimaru were to see you right now—broken, miserable, and trapped in the past—it would only confirm his belief that leaving you behind was the correct decision."
"Is that truly the reality you want to give him?" Kei asked.
Anko's jaw tightened. She subconsciously shook her head.
"Then you must fight to live a better life starting today. You must make him understand that his absence did not destroy you. You must prove that without his shadow hanging over you, you can thrive."
Anko's inner conflict raged. The scenario Kei had just painted—the idea of crossing paths with Orochimaru in the future, only for the Sannin to look at her broken state and feel justified in abandoning her—made her blood boil.
She absolutely refused to give him that satisfaction.
Kei sensed her resolve hardening. He turned and began walking out of the alley, his cane tapping rhythmically against the stone.
"You do not have to rush to accept my words, Anko," Kei called out softly before he disappeared around the corner.
"Spend the next few days tracking those kittens. Watch how they face their new, terrifying world. I believe they will give you the answer you are looking for."