Among the ruins of Otogakure, Kabuto stood face-to-face with Suigetsu, Jugo, and Karin.
The lab was in shambles, but Kabuto didn't care — there was nothing left here worth clinging to.
"Want to hear my thoughts on your little team?" he asked. He was mildly startled by their sudden appearance, but not frightened.
Sasuke was the backbone of their fighting power. Even without Sasuke present, they were still formidable, but Kabuto was confident that he could handle them alone — even if it came at a cost.
"I suggest you get out of my way, or I'll be forced to stuff one of you back in a test tube and bury the rest. What do you think?"
"I think that's actually a great idea," Suigetsu shot back with a smirk. "Three on one? Odds look pretty good for us."
Kabuto pushed up his glasses and smiled.
Orochimaru's presence within him was undeniable because of the vast quantity of Orochimaru's cells he had assimilated.
"You three actually think you can take me on?"
"It's because of you… that Kimimaro died! That's why Sasuke's going to kill you — for Kimimaro!"
Jugo allowed the Cursed Seal to overtake his body, especially his right arm, twisting it into a massive, piston-like appendage.
"You won't leave this room alive!"
Kabuto feigned trembling in fear as he said, "Oh no, looks like I'm trapped here. Please, have mercy!"
Then suddenly, he raised both hands, a mocking smile on his face, and shouted:
"Just kidding! [Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands]!"
Countless snakes burst from Kabuto's sleeves, lurched toward Suigetsu and the others.
Taking advantage of the chaos caused by the swarm of snakes, Kabuto dashed toward the door and fled.
"Sorry about that! Maybe next time!" he sneered as he bolted away.
"Don't run away!" Karin snarled furiously, organizing the group to chase after Kabuto.
"You can't escape me, Kabuto... No matter where you run, I'll find you! You won't get far!" They pursued relentlessly through the endless maze of Otogakure's base.
As they rounded a corner, Karin sensed a new chakra signature — but this wasn't human chakra. From the hissing sound, it was unmistakably a serpent.
"Jugo!"
"I know!" Jugo rushed to the front of the group, his arm still in piston form, and now a jet-like propulsion system had formed on his back.
A massive serpent blocked the entire hallway, its gaping maw wide open, ready to swallow them whole.
"Move aside!" The propulsion system on Jugo's back fired off a powerful blast of chakra, propelling him directly into the giant serpent. He drove his fist clean through the beast's skull and into the wall beyond, carving a path for his allies.
Suigetsu looked down at the fallen serpent with disdain.
"Sorry about that, you oversized worms. To me, you're all just expendable. Consider yourselves lucky. Today's your lucky break… Well, mostly thanks to Jugo being in a good mood today… Otherwise… well, you don't wanna find out."
Karin snapped at Suigetsu's arrogance, her voice laced with anger.
"Can you stop being such a narcissist for once? Let's stop wasting time and chase him down already! I swear I'm going to catch Kabuto today!"
"Jugo's already on him, you idiot," Suigetsu insisted.
Jugo shot forward using his propulsion device, cutting ahead to intercept Kabuto.
As they approached the exit, the thunderous sounds of battle and faint tremors told them Jugo had already caught up with Kabuto.
"I said it before—what use are you in a fight?"
"I won't just stand by and do nothing!" Karin firmly declared, her red eyes fixated on the long-lost sunlight. "That bastard is the one who killed Sasuke-kun!"
When they reached ground level, they saw Kabuto dodging one of Jugo's powerful punches. The punch slammed into the ground, creating a massive crater.
"Tsk tsk, Jugo," Kabuto sighed mockingly. "You have power, but no skill to back it up. What a shame."
Then noticing that the others had also caught up, he chuckled and said,
"How sad. Do you really think this is enough to capture and kill me? I've defeated more than five times your number in ninja. You're simply no match for me—especially now!"
Suigetsu looked around and cursed,
"Damn it! Why isn't there a single drop of water nearby? Not even a puddle! And my blade isn't here either!" With either water or a blade, he'd feel confident facing Kabuto—right now, though, he had neither.
"Poor Suigetsu," Kabuto mocked while continuing to dodge Jugo's attacks. He knew Suigetsu was dying to jump in, but without water, his power would plummet—and without a blade, he'd be defenseless.
Keeping a safe distance, Kabuto waved a hand dismissively,
"That's enough. I have more important matters to attend to. I don't have time to play games with you people."
"He's mocking us!" Karin growled through clenched teeth.
She was about to charge forward when Suigetsu grabbed her arm.
"Let go of me, Suigetsu!" she snapped angrily, but noticed the serious expression on his face.
Walking up in front of Karin, Suigetsu stared hard at Kabuto and asked,
"You're not the real Kabuto, are you?"
The grin on "Kabuto's" face gave him away.
"Sorry, but Kabuto's already gone. As I said before, I have more important things to take care of. No time to waste playing with you."
With those words, the "Kabuto" before them morphed into the lifeless body of a former Otogakure ninja stationed here.
The body fell limply onto the ground, utterly devoid of life.
Jugo released the Cursed Seal state. Karin and Suigetsu stared in disbelief at the dead body used as Kabuto's disguise.
"Now what should we do?"
Karin paused thoughtfully before replying,
"Even if we had captured Kabuto, what could we really do with him? He didn't take us seriously at all... I wish Sasuke-kun were here."
Suigetsu grumbled impatiently, unsure of their next move.
They hadn't even touched Kabuto's revived corpse yet, and if a real fight broke out, they stood almost no chance. On the bright side, Kabuto didn't attempt to take their lives during his escape.
"I need a sword... I need a weapon I can use. Any kind of blade will do—even a temporary replacement until I get one of the Seven Ninja Swords."
Just then, he felt something rising from underground.
"Hey, we found them before Kabuto could take them out!" White Zetsu said excitedly, while Black Zetsu added, "Hmph, he probably thought it wasn't worth his time, so he didn't kill them himself."
Zetsu looked at the group before him and said,
"Anyway, you still have a mission to carry out. You're free now—do whatever you want. It doesn't matter anymore, since you've already failed anyway. I order you to go to Kiri and await further orders. We will be watching you."
With that, Zetsu sank into the ground and disappeared.
After a brief pause, Suigetsu grinned and said,
"That works for me. I've wanted to go back for a while... I haven't been home in ages."
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