During dinner,
Nohara Rin, who had been busy with the medical team all day, also appeared. Following closely behind her was another figure—Yakushi Kabuto.
After several days, the bandages on Kabuto's face had already been removed. However, because the surgery had only recently been completed, his vision had not fully recovered yet, so his steps were still somewhat uneven. Rin had specially prepared a guiding rope and led him over to eat every day. It looked like she was walking a puppy… cough, cough, like she was leading a child.
Obito was very jealous of this.
Clearly, he had been here first. Whether as a childhood friend or as a teammate… why did this kid get to be led by Rin with a rope? He wanted Rin to lead him like that too!
Of course, although he was jealous inside, Obito was not petty enough to hold too much hostility toward a child. He only snorted somewhat unhappily, then waved at Rin.
"Rin, we're over here!"
"…Coming."
Rin looked over. Her gaze stopped briefly on Obito, then turned to Yuu. She walked over with a smile and sat on the bench beside him.
Kabuto also sat down with her, placing both hands on his lap like an obedient child, looking timidly around him.
Clearly, Asuma and the others had also seen Kabuto many times before, so they were not unfamiliar with him. Kurenai handed over a plate of rice balls along with two bowls of miso soup, inviting Rin to eat.
After observing Kabuto's eyes for a moment, Yuu casually asked, "How did this child's surgery turn out? Can he see clearly now?"
"It's alright."
Rin replied, "Teacher Hebishi has already helped examine him. His retina is recovering well. It's just that this child has been used to being nearsighted since he was little. Now that it's suddenly been corrected, he's not quite used to it yet. He'll probably need some time to adapt."
After a pause,
Rin smiled slightly and added, "Yuu, you don't know this, but this child's memory is really amazing. When we casually mentioned the names and quantities of medicinal ingredients while preparing medicine, he remembered them after hearing them once. And his sense of smell is also very sharp. He can accurately distinguish different medicinal ingredients just by scent…
"Teacher Hebishi said he's a natural seedling for medicine. After the peace talks end, he'll recommend him to study in the medical training class. Even if he can't become a powerful ninja in the future, becoming an excellent doctor would still let him make a living."
"…Oh? Is that so?"
Yuu glanced at Kabuto.
The latter seemed a little nervous and subconsciously shrank behind Rin again.
Yuu was not surprised by what Rin said.
After all, Kabuto's talent was a fact. In the original story, when he was only in his teens, he could fight the twenty-six-year-old Kakashi evenly, and later almost killed Tsunade when she was suffering from hemophobia.
Although there were some objective reasons involved, it still did not hide Kabuto's ability.
Also, considering that Kabuto had first stayed in Konoha's orphanage for two years before being chosen by Danzō, and after that had always been trained as a spy, he had probably taken plenty of detours. If he had been taught according to the normal ninja system from childhood, with instruction suited to his talents and gradual progression, his growth speed would probably have been even faster.
Of course, whether his upper limit would be higher was hard to say. After all, "Sage Kabuto" was a freak born from a pile of coincidences. If he grew normally, he might not necessarily reproduce that result. But with Kabuto's aptitude, reaching quasi-Kage level at minimum should not be a problem.
"Huh, really? This kid is actually that amazing? Is he another genius?"
Asuma leaned closer, half-believing Rin's words, while also noticing another matter.
"Speaking of which, this kid also has white hair, just like Yuu. If someone didn't know better, they might think he was Yuu and… cough, cough, someone's illegitimate child."
"…"
Rin froze for a moment, her face turning slightly red.
Not far away, Kurenai's expression also stiffened. Then she glared at Asuma.
"Hey, Asuma, what nonsense are you mumbling? How could Yuu possibly have a child this big? Besides, doesn't Kakashi have white hair too? Why don't you say it's his?"
"?"
Kakashi, whose name had been mentioned, raised his head and frowned slightly.
Why was this suddenly involving him?
After a few jokes and interruptions, Rin coughed lightly and said, "Actually, Teacher Hebishi likes him quite a lot. He half-jokingly said before that he wanted to adopt him as his son, but this child didn't want to. Instead, he kept staying by my side and calling me older sister, making everyone think he was my little brother…
"Right, Yuu, do you think we should help him choose a name? 'Inumaru' is only a nickname. Once we return to Konoha, he still needs an official name."
"A name?"
Yuu raised an eyebrow and said without hesitation, "Then let's call him Kabuto. Yakushi Kabuto."
"Yakushi?"
"Mm. It comes from Yakushi Ruriko Buddha. He is the great king of medicine in Buddhist legends, able to remove all illness and suffering. It fits Kabuto's talent and potential in medicine perfectly. What do you think?"
Yuu said.
He did not mention Yakushi Nonō.
However, Buddhism did indeed exist in this world, and there was also indeed someone called Yakushi Buddha. According to Yuu's guess, perhaps he had been an ancient monk skilled in medicine who was later mythologized into this figure. Maybe the matter was even somewhat related to that old man, the Sage of Six Paths.
Rin thought Yuu's suggestion was good, but she still turned around and asked Kabuto himself for his opinion.
The little guy showed a somewhat shy smile.
"I'll listen to Sister. If Sister agrees, then from now on, I'll be called Yakushi Kabuto."
Since the person himself had no objection, there was nothing else to say.
Among the group, Obito quietly poked Kakashi's arm and whispered, "Hey, Kakashi, you read a lot of books. What's this 'Yakushi Ruri' thing? Is it a ninja from some village? I've never heard of it."
"…Have you heard of the Sage of Six Paths?"
Kakashi had originally wanted to say that Yakushi Buddha, like the Sage of Six Paths, was a figure from mythology and legend.
But Obito became even more confused. "Who's that? Which village is he from? That's pretty arrogant, daring to call himself a sage… compared to Lord Jiraiya, who's stronger?"
"…Just eat."
Kakashi sighed and gave up on explaining further.
With Obito's intelligence, he could basically say goodbye to scholarly things.
On the other side,
Yuu vaguely heard the conversation between Obito and Kakashi. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, but he paid it no mind. Instead, he observed Kabuto's bare nose bridge. Then he casually picked up a piece of wood from the side and used his finger like a knife, carving a few times to make it into the shape of a pair of round-framed decorative glasses.
"Here, Kabuto. Try this."
"?"
Kabuto accepted the glasses in confusion and, under Yuu's instruction, placed them on the bridge of his nose.
"Mm… now he looks much more right."
Yuu nodded slightly.
No wonder he had always felt that Kabuto's appearance did not quite resemble his adult self from the original story, and had even once suspected whether he had found the wrong person. So it turned out he had been missing these glasses…
Now that the main body had returned to its place, Kabuto's childish little face gained a hint of bookishness. He looked exactly like a miniature version of his adult self, only with a little less sinister air compared to that period.
Rin found it a little strange that Yuu had suddenly made glasses for Kabuto to wear, but the effect looked pretty good, so she did not say anything.
After dinner,
Obito dragged Asuma to the training ground for extra practice.
Kakashi also followed, preparing to think more about Lightning Release Chakra Mode so he could perform well the next time he sparred with Yuu.
Only Rin and Kurenai were left at the dining table.
At this time, Rin leaned closer to Yuu and asked softly, "Right, Yuu, I never asked you before… during the time you took leave, did you go out to carry out some secret mission? When you came back, you looked a little dusty from travel."
"No. I just happened to learn about a summoned beast clan and wanted to try my luck. Because that place was in the desert of the Land of Wind, quite far from Kikyo City, the round trip took some time. That's why it took over a week to come back."
Yuu explained.
Strictly speaking, this trip to the Death Desert was not really a secret. If nothing unexpected had happened halfway, he could have told them about traveling with Pakura.
But…
since he had encountered Sasori and the Third Kazekage puppet in the middle, the nature of the matter had changed.
According to the plan, Yuu had decided to erase himself from the battle with Sasori and attach the achievement of defeating Sasori entirely to Pakura, thus ensuring Pakura could rise to the position of Kazekage and pay him the bargaining chips for their deal. Since that was the case, the various circumstances and details of this matter were not suitable to reveal to outsiders.
If he really wanted to say it, he could wait until the situation in Sunagakure stabilized later, then privately tell Rin or Kurenai and have them keep it secret.
However…
"Speaking of this… I recently noticed something a little strange."
Kurenai frowned slightly and also joined the conversation.
"During the time Yuu took leave and disappeared, that jōnin Pakura from Sunagakure also seemed to vanish suddenly. And after Yuu came back, she started appearing in the peace talks again, together with Elder Chiyo…
"Yuu, you weren't acting together with her before, were you?"
"?"
Yuu froze, then immediately understood.
Indeed.
He and Pakura had left and returned almost one after the other, with very little time difference. Presumably, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and even Chiyo had also had suspicions about this. They simply had not said it as directly as Kurenai did.
But this matter could still be a coincidence. As long as he did not admit it, suspicion would remain just suspicion.
"Cough… So Pakura disappeared for a few days too? I didn't know that. She's an important combat force for Sunagakure. If she suddenly vanished at a time like this, she was probably carrying out some secret mission for Suna, right? As for me, mine was a private trip. It was probably just a coincidence in timing."
Yuu said.
Kurenai looked a little unconvinced. Her probing gaze wandered over Yuu's face.
Rin, meanwhile, rested her chin on one hand and sat to the side. Following the topic of Pakura, she sighed softly.
"Speaking of which, Pakura really is an outstanding female ninja. She's so strong and impressive on the battlefield, and her figure is also very good… It really makes people envious."
When Rin said this,
Kurenai seemed to think of something too. She could not help glancing at her own still-youthful chest, whose curves were not yet very prominent. Her cheeks turned slightly red.
"Um, Rin… didn't you learn medical techniques from Lady Tsunade? Did you ever ask her about the secret to 'development'? After all, Lady Tsunade is so big…"
"Pfft—"
Yuu nearly sprayed out a mouthful of water.
Good grief…
Asking Tsunade about the secret to physical development… That really was asking the right person.
When Tsunade was a girl, her figure had actually been very ordinary. Not exactly "flat as a plain," but there really had not been much fluctuation. Yet after becoming an adult, Tsunade had suddenly risen like an inflated balloon, developing all the way to one of the most majestic levels in the ninja world. It was hard to imagine all of that was merely the result of natural development.
With Tsunade's medical ninjutsu skill, developing one or two Yang Release techniques capable of manipulating hormones and glands inside the body to stimulate specific areas, or figuring out a special acupoint stimulation method, probably would not be difficult.
But considering that the two disciples she later trained, Shizune and Sakura, were both standard aircraft carriers with flat decks, that point was somewhat doubtful…
On the other side,
Rin's face turned red from Kurenai's words, like a ripe apple.
"Kurenai, what are you saying? Yuu is still here…"
"Cough, cough. I'll take Kabuto out to play for a while. You two keep talking."
Yuu said.
Honestly,
Kurenai really did not need to worry about her physical development. After all, although she would not reach Tsunade's cheat-level proportions as an adult, she would still definitely become a well-developed, curvy older-sister type. Rin was harder to say, because in the original story, she had not lived to adulthood…
Rin was already shy about this topic. Seeing Yuu speak, she quickly stood up too.
"Um… I'll go wash the dishes."
"I'll go too."
Kurenai followed her.
After the two girls left, Yuu exhaled deeply. Then he turned his gaze to Kabuto, who was sitting on the nearby bench with an innocent, confused expression, and lifted his chin.
"Kabuto, want to learn some basic fighting techniques? I'll teach you."
"…Okay."
Kabuto nodded, then was led by Yuu to the small training field at one side of the camp.
…
The dinner conversation was only a minor interlude.
Several days later, Konoha and Sunagakure finally signed an official peace treaty in Wildfire City. The treaty included more than twenty clauses of various sizes, marking the end of the war between the two ninja villages and the restoration of their "alliance" relationship, though only outwardly.
Mm… for now, it was still only outwardly.
But after some time, once Sunagakure's Fourth Kazekage was officially decided, there would probably be some changes.
Early that morning,
Yuu once again came to the cell where Rasa was imprisoned.
After many days, the injuries Rasa had suffered in the Battle of Mount Kikyo had basically healed. But his mental state was not good. His reddish-brown short hair drooped, and he looked somewhat defeated overall.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Rasa reacted slowly for two seconds before raising his head. But the moment he saw Yuu, his eyes narrowed, revealing undisguised hostility.
"It's time, Rasa."
Yuu said.
"…Time for what? My execution?" Rasa frowned.
"Wrong. Time for prisoner exchange."
Yuu pushed open the cell door, allowing more sunlight to spill in and illuminate the brown-haired man sitting in the dark corner.
"The war is over. Konoha and Sunagakure signed a ceasefire agreement last night and restored their alliance. You and the other Suna prisoners will also be released back."
"?"
Rasa was clearly stunned.
"Over? Impossible. How could it be so fast… I see. Without me, the Fourth, commanding them, Sunagakure really would find it difficult to prolong this war… Sigh, such a good opportunity. What a pity."
"…"
Yuu was a little speechless.
"No, have you been locked up so long that your brain rusted? 'Fourth'… heh. You're an acting Kazekage who led Sunagakure into a crushing defeat and got captured yourself. How much face do you have to think you're the key to determining the war situation?
"I advise you to hurry home and hug your child instead. Stop thinking about becoming a Kage. That way, maybe you'll live a little longer."
Honestly, Yuu was saying this out of kindness.
After all, Rasa really did not have much talent for being a Kage. His only two talents were becoming a gold miner and having children. To be fair, Rasa and Karura's children all had pretty good talent and character. They could be considered good bamboo shoots growing from a rotten bamboo.
However…
to the current Rasa, these words were clearly an insult. His expression instantly became ugly. His fists clenched at his sides, knuckles turning white.
"Alright, stop acting fierce over there. Who are you trying to scare?"
Yuu waved his hand impatiently.
"Hurry up and pack your things, then get out of here. The prisoner exchange is at noon today, and I'm responsible for escorting you over. I don't have time to waste with you."
"…"
Rasa's chest rose and fell violently. His eyes were almost blazing as he stared at Yuu. He took a deep breath and forcefully suppressed his surging emotions.
"Mikami Yuu, you will regret this. I, Rasa, swear that one day, I will…"
"So much nonsense."
This time, Yuu was too lazy to even let Rasa finish. He yawned directly and said lazily, "Just tell me whether you're leaving or not. If you don't want to leave, that's fine too. Stay here. When the time comes, you can return to Konoha with us and mine gold. That's also a decent career path."
"…"
Rasa stared at Yuu with an iron-blue face and finally swallowed his anger.
"I'll! Leave!"
…
No matter what, as a prisoner, Rasa had no right to negotiate with Konoha.
And in front of the dismissive Yuu, he truly did not dare make a move.
There was no other reason. Yuu's previous slash had carved a psychological shadow into him. No matter how harshly he spoke now, it could not hide the fact that he was afraid inside. He could only comfort himself with thoughts like, "Even if I killed Yuu, I wouldn't be able to escape Konoha's inescapable net," pretending that he was not afraid.
Yuu did not know these thoughts. Even if he did, he would not bother caring.
After all, since he could defeat Rasa once, he could defeat him a second time. A mere acting Kazekage was not even a proper threat in his eyes. Unless this guy truly worked hard, trained bitterly, and became an even stronger "strongest Kazekage" than the Third Kazekage, then perhaps there would be a chance.
But achieving that alone would be harder than ascending to the heavens. If Rasa had that ability, he would not have been run over like a speed bump by Orochimaru and become the shame of all previous Kazekage.
At once,
Yuu brought Rasa outside, met up with Kakashi and the others, then followed the large force led by Jiraiya and Orochimaru out of Kikyo City toward the scheduled exchange location.
In the blink of an eye, it was noon.
The small square at the center of Wildfire City had been heated by the sun. A tense calm filled the air. On both sides of the square stood two clearly separated groups.
Konoha's side was led by Jiraiya and Orochimaru.
Both wore Konoha flak jackets. The former had rarely put away his usual laziness and wore a serious expression. The latter looked as gloomy as ever, with a faint curve at the corner of his mouth. Behind them were orderly ranks of Konoha ninja troops and around three hundred prisoners.
Across from them,
the leaders were Chiyo and Pakura, followed by Karura and other Suna ninja. There were also fewer than one hundred Konoha prisoners, many of whom looked pale and thin.
Although Konoha was stronger than Sunagakure, and the Battle of Mount Kikyo had been a great victory that nearly broke Sunagakure's spirit, not everyone on Konoha's side was capable of fighting. Some people had still accidentally fallen into Sunagakure's hands during missions, only now finally seeing the light of day again.
Pakura and Yuu's gazes briefly met in the air for a few seconds, then both moved away and nodded toward Jiraiya and Orochimaru.
There was no need to say much about the prisoner exchange.
What was worth mentioning was that because Sunagakure had far fewer hostages than Konoha, according to the agreement, Sunagakure also compensated Konoha with around sixty million ryō in gold and silver, equivalent to the heads of two Asumas. These gold and silver ingots filled several large chests and were carried over to Konoha's side.
Medical ninja, including Yuu and Rin, quickly took over this group of newly released wounded.
As for the treaty clauses related to things like "trade ports," those would be matters for later and needed to be implemented gradually over the coming months.
Once everything had been handed over,
Jiraiya stepped forward and spoke on behalf of Konoha.
"Konoha confirms that our personnel and compensation have all been returned. We ask Sunagakure to withdraw from Wildfire City and the other surrounding strongholds according to the agreement. Only after everyone has completely left the border of the Land of Fire will the alliance between Konoha and Sunagakure truly take effect."
Chiyo looked at Pakura.
The latter took a deep breath and spoke in a clear, ringing voice.
"All forces, listen… From this moment on, withdraw from Wildfire City. We're going home!"
"…"
The Sunagakure ninja, including the prisoners who had just been released, began withdrawing from the city in an orderly manner under Pakura and Karura's command.
Rasa had originally wanted to raise some objections.
He had even wanted to exercise his authority as acting Kazekage and shout, "All forces fight to the final moment and kill yourselves to ascend to heaven." But Chiyo and Karura glared at him at the same time, forcing this self-important acting Kazekage to shut his mouth and silently merge into the crowd.
~~~
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