Chapter 35

Kuzo was in the Forest of Death, walking alongside Karin in one direction. On their way, they could see and feel the vibes from different battles.

"Be careful. There are a few shinobi hidden there," Karin pointed to one tree.

Kuzo kept his hands in his pocket and walked. "Ignore them. If they attack, they'll die." Once he finished his words, some giant wolf appeared from its hiding. Kuzo ended it with one punch to the head before continuing on his way.

The team that had been hiding kept hiding.

Very soon, Kuzo reached a location where he could spot a white-haired guy in glasses. Next to him were... He couldn't believe he was going to say that, ... his cousin, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke.

"Stay here," Kuzo said to Karin. He then took a wide leap, landing between the four, who seemed to be full of scratches.

"Oy. It's Kuzo-san." Kabuto turned when he turned to Kuzo.

"Oh, you guys know each other," Naruto said, looking between the two.

Sasuke raised his kunai, looking at Kuzo with wariness.

"It's my cousin," replied Sakura. "You know, the guy who approached someone from the grass."

"Shut up," Kuzo replied to Sakura. He then looked at Kabuto, walking toward him.

Kabuto smirked a bit, asking, "May I ask, why are you walking toward me like this, Kuzo-san?"

"To capture you, of course," said Kuzo.

Kabuto shook his glasses. "And why are you using the word 'capture'?"

"By this time," Kuzo looked at Kabuto, "Your master had left the village."

"Sensei. No. He's waiting for me at the other end," replied Kabuto.

"You don't seem to recall what happened the last time we met," Kuzo replied. "Or did the headache make you forget?"

Kabuto opened his eyes widely, seeming to recall something. He patted glasses, saying, "I still remember that night when I woke up in the middle of the bodies. I thought a harsh battle had occurred and everything remained turned into ashes. But you seem to know it more. It was you, Kuzo-san. Who are you?"

"You're a smart guy, Kabuto." Kuzo formed a hand sign, saying, "But don't think I didn't do anything to you."

Kabuto fell on his knees, unable to move. He then started groaning in pain. Black ink marks appeared on his skin, with a kanji of 'Curse' drawn on his head.

"I know a guy like you can't be handled with one curse mark. So, I made sure you have more," replied Kuzo. He wasn't sadistic, but he enjoyed seeing Kabuto like this. Getting Kabuto now meant one thing. The 4th great war won't happen. And Kuzo would still be able to live peacefully once Naruto would talk some sense to Nagato.

"Kuzo! Kabuto is an ally. You don't need to go this far," Sakura replied, holding Kuzo's shoulder. He pushed her. Although the push was gentle, she fell on her butt. Naruto rushed toward her, and he looked at Kuzo with eyes that slowly turned red.

"You guys, leave," said Kuzo. "This doesn't concern you."

A kunai headed toward Kuzo. He held it and looked at the thrower, who was none other than Sasuke Uchiha.

"We won't leave without him," replied Sasuke.

These guys were surely naive to think Kabuto was their friend.

Kuzo sighed and shook his head. "I should have brought Kakashi here. But I guess I should discipline his team on my own." He turned to Team Seven, leaving Kabuto frozen. He vanished, appearing behind Naruto.

Naruto was a Jinchuriki. If he saw Kuzo beating the living shit out of someone, the seal would break. The last thing he wanted was to face a monster who had the power to injure Jiraiya. He hit the back of Naruto's neck, knocking him out.

"I don't know why you're doing this, but I'm telling your mom," Sakura raised her kunai. "Sasuke, I don't know what kind of trick he used, but Kuzo isn't that strong. He failed the graduation exam six times."

For the first time in his life, he felt offended. Sakura was looking down at him. She, out of all people, thought she had the right to trash talk about him.

Unbelievable.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was done weaving a series of hand signs. Then he spat a very large fireball out of his mouth.

Kuzo weaved the necessary hand signs before spitting a huge amount of water, which enveloped the fireball. Sasuke held Sakura and jumped to a tree, avoiding a wave that was coming his way.

While they were in the air, Kuzo extended his hand at them. A spider web extended, holding the genin from their legs. He then grabbed them down.

Kuzo didn't rest here; he grabbed a few kunai and threw them at them. The kunai hit their clothes, pinning them to the ground.

"I'll make sure to make you officially apologize later," Kuzo said.

Sasuke, who struggled to move, said, "You can dream about it."

Before Sakura could say anything, Kuzo shot a spider web at her mouth.

"Thank me later, Sasuke," he replied.

Sasuke looked at Sakura, whose mouth was tied. He then looked at Kuzo. Although he didn't say anything, he just blinked. He didn't disagree.

Kuzo then walked to Kabuto. With another hand seal, the latter fell unconscious. Kuzo held him and put him on his shoulder.

'I'll kill him later, once I extract his knowledge and put it to Karin.'

-x-X-x-

After his last visit to Konoha, Orochimaru, who had wanted to see what the Uchiha was made of, ended up being detected by Konoha, forced to run away.

But he'd discovered something interesting. A little genius, called Kuzo, who had the Kaguya bloodline, immense chakra, and could perform a lot of jutsu without getting tired. Not only that, but he had the bloodline of Jugo's clan, which allowed him to enter an imperfect sage mode without the help of the cursed seal of heaven.

Orochimaru had been planning to get Kimimaro's body, but the latter had been sick. So he gave it up. Now, someone better appeared. What's more, he could sense a seal similar to Tsunade's on Kuzo, which extended his time in imperfect sage mode.

'Maybe getting both of him and the Uchiha doesn't sound like a bad deal.'

By possessing people's bodies, he takes their soul to his dimension. And once they are there, he'd get their powers, and he'd keep it even if he moved to a new body, having them sealed in him for eternity.

Orochimaru appeared in the village of the Sound, emerging from the mouth of a wounded snake. She had surely taken a lot of damage from those spikes. Orochimaru liked it that he smiled.

The snake turned into a puff of smoke.

When the smoke vanished, Orochimaru could barely believe his eyes.

Did he get the wrong location of the Sound Village?

No. He doesn't make mistakes.

But in front of him, there was nothing but a big hole and a few remains of buildings that were shattered into pieces.

'Feels like a large explosion occurred here.' He thought, not believing what happened.

His whole life's work. His research. His lab. And his precious test subjects, all gone.

The village he'd spent his whole life building was no longer.

Orochimaru, despite believing that this life had no meaning, felt like he'd wasted a huge deal of time.

He clicked his tongue, angry and promising to kill those who did this.

Could it be the Leaf? He wondered.

Orochimaru summoned a few small snakes and gave them instructions to go to the nearest facilities so that he could find someone who knows what happened.

Orochimaru stood up in the middle of what used to be his village.

After what seemed to be half a day, the snakes came back and whispered to him in his ear.

All of the hidden facilities near the Sound and near Konoha were destroyed.

The only remaining were a few hidden locations he had in small villages such as the Grass and others.

But since most of his research was conducted in the Sound Village, the damage could barely be repaired.

'So, I lost my army. Not only that, but my research and the chance to have the Uchiha.'

Orochimaru smirked.

Konoha had been waiting for him in the Chunin Exam.

It wouldn't be a wonder to know they found out about his village before they agreed to him coming in.

Once he got to Konoha, they had sent their elites to destroy his facilities.

But the thing he didn't understand was what kind of jutsu could blow up the whole village into dust because it seemed like an explosion did it.

'They did it somehow.' He took a deep breath. Knowing his sensei, he could tell that they have his research and test subjects in Konoha, which meant that they would extract more information about him.

Luckily, not many knew that he'd been controlling the Sand Village, so he could have a comeback.

This time, he wouldn't use his shinobi. Since they were dead, he would use the dead, better ones. He'd revive some kages and S-rank shinobi with Edo Tensei, and more soldiers, who were undead and more useful.

'Truly, mortal people are useless. But before going to Konoha, I'll make sure to improve my Edo Tensei.'

Since he had almost nothing, nothing could distract him. And that nothing didn't exist. Motivated, he walked back to one of his last hideouts, ready for his grave-digging adventure.