The Good Doctor!

Looking at what was left of Orochimaru Kei simply shook his head a little as his arm shifted.

"… I pity fools like you… like that Sage of yours. Simple facts exist and you still chose to ignore them. But then again, such as the existence of humans in general. They are as brilliant as they are foolish… or is it just ignorance… maybe arrogance... or just an unhealthy mix of all three. Failing to see that they lose... even if they win. Just like you and the Sage fail to see that I win… even if and when I happen to lose."

With a swing, a whip decapitated Orochimaru… but Kei didn't stop there.

A few more swings guaranteed Orochimaru's death as he was cut into multiple chunks. But it didn't stop there, countless little tendrils extended from the whip and launched towards Orochimaru's remains, absorbing them and flowing back into Kei's body.

After a moment everything was finished and Kei looked at what was left of the lab. Holes coming out of every wall, the wall themselves having lost structural integrity after all the chains had spread through them, the room was at risk of collapsing at any time, the only thing supporting it being the chains still inside the walls, the same chains that compromised it.

"Kukuku… if I knew that immortality only required my life…. I would have given it much sooner. Then again, I can now see my limitations better than ever before. I was thinking too little, too small. It will be interesting to meet the me that hasn't experienced this in the future."

The words came out of Kei's mouth as he made his way towards the door, activating a few seals as his eyes glanced at the waste, the futilities, that were his previous experiments. Only now that countless ideas had flashed before his eyes with this new knowledge, this new understanding… did he truly see how blind he was before.

As he left the room, the adamantine sealing chains disappeared, the walls and the room crumbled and what followed was seals blowing the entire place up.

"Another day, another recruit, another world of opportunities." – Kei hummed happily as he strolled outside the ruins unscathed.

------------------------

(At the same time – at an unnamed location.)

A long-white-haired man was kneeling in front of some ruins, seemingly searching for something as he continued to keep small notes on a book in his hands.

Whatever he was searching for, he clearly wasn't finding it judging by the constant shake of his head. Either that or whatever he found wasn't what he expected.

Letting out a sigh the man started to pack his things back into his bag.

Just as he was about to get up he heard a voice coming from behind him.

"Couldn't find what you were looking for… doctor?" – The calm voice was heard as he quickly turned around to find a man sitting on some rubble, his only visible eye fixed at a book in his hand.

As he looked at the newcomer, the doctor recoiled slightly. He had studied medicine, the human body as well as medical ninjutsu for countless years, and yet he had never come across an eye like what this shinobi held.

A metallic purple with multiple black thin circles. From his shinobi attire, he was clearly from Konoha, but that Doujtsu was not the Sharingan.

Looking a little bit more carefully, the good doctor finally understood who he was facing, the trademark gravity-defying hair playing a big role in this discovery.

'Kakashi Hatake… he's supposed to be dead.' – And the good doctor had taken a great deal of satisfaction at the death of one of Konoha's greatest shinobi.

"Ah… you're right I'm afraid. I was wandering outside the village to gather some herbs, but I guess I must have headed in the wrong direction somewhere down the road. I'm embarrassed to say I'm quite lost at the moment. Mind I bother you I you know the way back? It should be relatively close." – The doctor said as he quickly calmed himself, got up, and closed the distance between them, keeping a smile on his face.

He should have known better than to count on some 2nd rate medical-nin to confirm someone's death.

As he looked at Kakashi he brought up multiple scenarios on what the shinobi might have in mind, the main two being either medical assistance or to kill him. Being a good Samaritan was also always possible for any tree-hugger shinobi… but not likely for someone assumed to be long since dead.

Closing the book, the shinobi raised his head as he made an impossible eye smile for the doctor.

"Now, Now… I was actually talking about your inquiry on the sealed demon in this land… doctor Shinno." – He said while keeping his smile.

(A/N: At least I think that Ma, Ma… Kakashi does means now, now… Correct me if I'm wrong.)

Shinno's mind trembled as he realized that the shinobi was here to kill him. It was the only reasonable explanation, maybe his death had also been part of tracking him down.

"I'm afraid I don't…" – Shinno continued as he was suddenly pulled to Kakashi and grabbed by the neck, the shinobi still sitting down on the rubble, now holding a dangling Shinno in one hand.

"We also searched for it you know? Up and down, shrine after shrine. The stone army would have been a great asset in what is to come, hell in whatever came… and yet we found mere fairy tales and folk stories. Were we disappointed? …For a time, yes." – The shinobi said as his eye narrowed at Shinno.

Shinno looked at the man as if he was crazy. Whatever had happened to him was definitely not planned by Konoha.

Shinno pulled out a scalpel, channeled chakra into it, and plunged it into the carotid artery… and was surprised to see the chakra disappear as it neared Kakashi, the blade breaking upon contact afterward.

"But consider our surprise when Orochimaru mentioned you. It was in passing, not even a question to be answered. It makes one wonder what else is out there doesn't it doctor?" – The shinobi asked once again with an eye-smile.