The cave was pitch black, with a chilly wind whistling through, and the faint sound of dripping water could be heard.
But this darkness was nothing to Uchiha Itachi, who possessed the Sharingan, especially since Kabuto had an unknown light source beside him.
Itachi was still surrounded by enormous, skeletal fists formed from his red ocular power.
He stamped through the dust and smoke, slowly walking into the second cave where Kabuto was.
Itachi heard Kabuto call out his name directly and wasn’t surprised that the other person knew his identity without even looking at him.
He simply replied in the same detached tone: “When you controlled me, I could clearly feel where your chakra was coming from.
That’s the risk of this jutsu.” At this moment, Itachi had a silver-white ring on his left hand, but it looked as if it were covered in dust, no longer shining.
Kabuto, still squatting on the ground, still had no intention of turning to look at Itachi.
Instead, a snake that had emerged from his clothes poked its head out from behind him, staring at Itachi and nodding its head, apparently acting as Kabuto’s eyes.
Though these two were clearly enemies at this point, they were talking as if they were having a casual conversation.
After hearing Itachi’s words, Kabuto replied thoughtfully: “You taught me a lesson.
Because no ninja can escape this jutsu, I wasn’t worried about it at all.” As he spoke, Kabuto seemed to recall something.
He raised his head, still not looking at Itachi.
He tapped his fingers on the chessboard on the ground, knowing Itachi’s purpose in finding him here: “Ah, right, there’s one thing I hope you know…
even if you kill me, you can’t stop this Edo Tensei jutsu.” “But I’m the only one who can stop this jutsu!” Kabuto’s tone was calm and detached, yet filled with the confidence of having everything under control.
He had every reason to prevent Itachi from killing him.
His tone carried a hint of a smile: “Which means, you can’t kill me.” Kabuto’s expression, hidden beneath the shadow of his hat, turned gleeful.
He felt as though he was about to discover the true meaning of life.
Ever since Kabuto accidentally caused the death of his adoptive mother, his mental world had collapsed.
Life and death no longer mattered to him; he only wanted to understand the meaning of his continued existence.
Or rather, who he truly was.
Just then, Sasuke, his younger brother who had been following Uchiha Itachi, caught up.
He slowly approached the cave and saw Itachi standing at the entrance.
He spoke immediately: “I caught up to you.
Why are you in a place like this…” Before Sasuke could finish speaking, his peripheral vision caught sight of the person in the reddish-brown Kabuto hat inside the cave, the snake eyes peeking out from under the hat, and the snake’s head emerging from behind him.
Sasuke’s pupils contracted.
His Three Tomoe Sharingan instantly activated.
With a Shunshin and a slide, he darted into the cave, braced himself on the ground with one hand, and stood on Kabuto’s other side, exclaiming in surprise: “Orochimaru?!” As he spoke, he and his brother Uchiha Itachi formed a pincer to surround Kabuto, blocking his escape route.
Kabuto, still squatting on the ground, hadn’t looked at either Itachi or Sasuke the entire time.
Upon hearing Sasuke’s question, he simply chuckled softly: “Heh heh, not entirely correct.” Hearing Kabuto’s voice, Sasuke immediately recognized the identity of the man in the Kabuto hat squatting before him – Kabuto.
Now certain that it wasn’t Orochimaru, Sasuke spoke without any doubt: “What?!
Why are you two here?!” Kabuto didn’t refuse to answer Sasuke’s question.
Instead, he calmly informed him of the intelligence regarding the Fourth Great Ninja War, as if everything was laid out on the chessboard before him: “It’s not your fault, Sasuke-kun.
After all, while you were recovering with your brother’s eyes transplanted, the world has changed greatly.” Hearing this, Sasuke pondered for a moment, recalling some memories.
He then spoke in a heavy voice, remembering the figure in the orange mask in his mind, interrupting Kabuto: “…Akatsuki started the war, right?” Kabuto’s expression, hidden in the shadows, broke into a smile.
It seemed he had anticipated Sasuke would say that.
Itachi, standing beside him, began to form hand signs, but for some reason, he lowered his hands.
Kabuto replied in a flippant yet surprised tone: “You seem to know some things.
Hmm, that’s right.
Who would have thought Akatsuki was the second-in-command of that organization…” Sasuke seemed unaware of this.
He paused, then frowned in surprise: “Akatsuki?!
The second in command of that organization?!” Where Sasuke and Kabuto couldn’t see, Itachi lightly rubbed his left hand with his finger on the silver-white ring.
“Ah!
That’s right!
The Fourth Great Ninja War.
Akatsuki and I have already declared war on the Five Great Nations.” Sasuke fell silent.
He turned to look at Itachi, whose face was covered in cracks, and then at Kabuto, who had his back to him.
He wondered what was going through his mind.
Kabuto, completely unfazed by what Sasuke was thinking, was close to achieving his goal.
Kabuto seemed somewhat proud: “So, didn’t expect me to be this capable, huh?” Not receiving a response from Sasuke, Kabuto smacked his lips and decided to reveal an even bigger secret, casually recounting intelligence he’d heard from that Zetsu creature: “But this was all Madara Uchiha’s plan from the start.” Sasuke turned his head back towards Kabuto.
Upon hearing Kabuto’s words, he asked in confusion, almost subconsciously: “What do you mean.” Kabuto moved a piece on the chessboard.
He knew there was still one variable on the board – that Rinnegan user who appeared from who knows where.
As Kabuto thought, he said: “Like you, he hated the ninja world, so he devised the Moon Eye Plan.” “To cast a powerful genjutsu on the entire world using the Ten-Tails, and thus dominate the entire ninja world.” “For this, he absolutely needs Naruto’s Nine-Tails, Killer Bee’s Gyuki…
and the missing Three-Tails.” “Perhaps he’s currently raging on the battlefield in search of the Tailed Beasts.” Kabuto’s finger continuously tapped on the chessboard.
Although Kabuto didn’t necessarily agree with the false genjutsu created by Madara Uchiha’s so-called Moon Eye Plan, he found the world he depicted to be beautiful.
Now alone in the world, Kabuto didn’t mind using his own power to participate.
If the Moon Eye Plan could be realized and he could see the final result, that would be the best outcome.
Even if it failed, or if the successful outcome was a completely different scenario, Kabuto wouldn’t mind.
He had already despaired of this world.
Having lost his definition of his own life, he felt no regret in destroying the current world.
If a perfect world could truly be achieved, then he would have won the gamble.
On another battlefield, Ishikawa was unaware that the original ninja world had undergone tremendous changes due to his arrival.
On the battlefield.
Madara and Ishikawa simultaneously stepped out of the swirling steam and smoke, standing in opposition to each other.
Both were still enveloped in residual ocular power.