Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: [Unknown]
Chapter Title: Kabuto's Farewell
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"Hey! Kabuto, you jerk!"
"Are you just gonna abandon the years we've spent together?!"
Late at night, at the gates of the Konoha Orphanage, more than twenty orphans stood together with Director Yakushi Nono, watching as Kabuto walked toward the cluster of black-clad figures across from them.
The one who had shouted first was the orphan Aki, a few years older than Kabuto. He had some talent for medical ninjutsu and had once gone to the front lines with the director to treat Konoha ninja.
It was also during the Battle of Kikyo Pass that Yakushi Nono had rescued an orphan and given him the name Kabuto.
After Kabuto demonstrated his talent as a medical ninja, he had joined Aki as the director's assistant, heading to the front lines to provide field treatment for Konoha's ninja.
As a result, Aki and Kabuto shared a very close bond.
Uzumaki Menma stood at the back of the crowd, watching the shouting Aki and the departing Kabuto.
His memories began to resurface. He vaguely recalled that after the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War, when Kabuto returned to the Konoha Orphanage to serve as director, the person by his side had been this very Aki.
"Kabuto, why?" Yakushi Nono clasped her hands in a prayer gesture. She couldn't comprehend Kabuto's decision to leave on his own, and her eyes brimmed with worry.
She knew all too well just how filthy the Root Organization was. She didn't want a single one of her children taken away by Danzo.
"I just want to become a ninja, that's all." Kabuto concealed his true emotions and thoughts. As he reached Danzo and Orochimaru, he turned slightly, casting one last glance back at his orphanage family.
Just as Kabuto opened his mouth to say something more, he suddenly spotted the smallest figure shoving through the crowd to the front.
"Kabuto, remember our promise!" Uzumaki Menma shouted to him.
"Menma?" Kabuto was caught off guard.
He gave a wry smile and shook his head.
"Has everyone forgotten the orphanage rules? It's bedtime."
With that, Kabuto turned and walked up to Danzo's side.
Orochimaru, clad in his black robe, narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized the orphanage children. He extended his tongue, sensing the chakra in the air.
But aside from Yakushi Nono and the first kid who'd shouted, none of the others carried the scent of chakra.
Including the child who'd just mentioned some promise to Kabuto.
This left Orochimaru a bit disappointed. It seemed that, apart from Kabuto, none of these orphans had any ninja talent to speak of.
Danzo eyed Kabuto and nodded in satisfaction. Then, he led Orochimaru and Aburame Ryoma away.
Kabuto vanished into the night alongside the trio.
The orphanage's other two caretakers began ushering the children back inside. Director Yakushi Nono remained rooted in place, gazing in the direction Kabuto had gone, her hands clasped over her chest in prayer for him.
"Director."
Menma came up behind Yakushi Nono and tugged at the hem of his gentle foster mother's clothes with his small hand.
"Menma, off to bed now."
Yakushi Nono lowered her head, doing her best to hide her sadness and pain as she spoke softly to him.
While all the other children called her "Mom," this somewhat precocious kid Menma gave Yakushi Nono a bit of a headache.
It wasn't just because he didn't quite fit in with the other orphans. It was also because Menma never called her "Mom"—he always addressed her as "Director."
"I'll bring Kabuto back."
Menma's small face was deadly serious as he spoke.
But Yakushi Nono simply chalked it up to Menma being unable to accept the loss of family.
She was relieved all the same. Menma didn't seem quite so aloof after all—he still had close friends.
"It's okay. Kabuto will come back."
Yakushi Nono squatted down and affectionately stroked Menma's black hair.
She was a little puzzled, though. She remembered that when she'd first found this child, he had blond hair. How had it turned black as he grew?