Starting as a working person from Naruto

Chapter 98 The Akihara Kagura I know isn't like that!

Hidden Rock Village.

Kabuto the Pharmacist's temporary residence.

Kabuto Yakushi and Kakashi Hatake sat opposite each other at the table, gazing at one another, each feeling that they didn't know enough about Akihara Kagura.

"Kagura and I were both children from an orphanage."

When Kabuto Yakushi got to this point, he hesitated for a moment before continuing, "When we were all very young, Kagura disappeared for some unknown reason. Everyone thought Kagura was dead, including me and the headmaster, who had completely forgotten about him."

Kabuto Yakushi was telling the truth.

However, Kabuto Yakushi believes that Akihara Kagura was indeed a child from the orphanage, but disappeared for unknown reasons and was forgotten by everyone.

"I know about this."

Kakashi Hatake actually knew these things, and even offered Kabuto Yakushi the answer to Akihara Kagura's disappearance: "During that period, children kept going missing in villages near Konoha, and later even the village's children and ninjas disappeared..."

Kakashi Hatake sighed and explained, "Because Orochimaru was secretly conducting illegal Hashirama cell transplant experiments, kidnapping many children to use as experimental subjects. The transplant experiment on Kagura was successful, and she successfully awakened Wood Release..."

"I knew it..."

Kabuto shook his head helplessly and continued, "Kagura doesn't think she was kidnapped. She always believes that the director sent her to the laboratory... But I know the director. She would never send away a child from the orphanage."

"Perhaps he's too young."

Kakashi Hatake defended his subordinate, saying, "At that time, Kagura was not mature enough and relied too much on you, which is why she was deceived by Orochimaru or Danzo Shimura into thinking that it was Nonou Yakushi who sent her there."

"Perhaps that's true..."

At this point, Kabuto Yakushi couldn't help but marvel at the strangeness of fate: "After Kagura awakened Wood Release, she stayed with Root to train, but at that time we knew nothing about it, we didn't know what kind of life she was living..."

Kabuto Yakushi once trained in espionage skills at Root.

Kabuto Yakushi knew very well what kind of life those combatants trained at Root lived from childhood—a group of children fighting one-on-one, with only the victors surviving.

"Until five years ago..."

Kabuto slowly began to trace the timeline of his and Dean Nono's entry into Root, speculating on Akihara Kagura's thoughts during that period.

"To raise funds for the orphanage, Director Nonou and I joined Root. It was around that time that Akihara Kagura learned about our joining Root..."

Kabuto Yakushi recalled the hatred and jealousy emanating from Akihara Kagura that day, took a deep breath, and continued, "However, we had long forgotten Kagura. We never saw Kagura when we were in Root, and we never thought of him..."

"The Wood Release bloodline limit is a top secret."

Kakashi Hatake kindly offered a reminder.

Even talents like Yamato were used as secret weapons by Danzo Shimura; let alone a Wood Release bloodline genius like Kagura Akihara.

"but…"

Kabuto slowly adjusted his glasses and brought up something that always made him feel uneasy: "Kagura has always remembered us."

"That's normal..."

Kakashi Hatake, who was also aware of this, answered the question proactively: "Perhaps life at Root was too oppressive, and he will always remember the orphanage..."

"So..."

Kabuto raised his head, staring at Kakashi Hatake, seemingly still wanting an answer from him: "Will he hate us for completely forgetting him?"

"..."

Kakashi Hatake's forehead was covered in sweat.

Kakashi Hatake and Kagura Akihara often went on missions together. Kakashi had heard Kagura Akihara explain his ninja way and witnessed Kagura Akihara rescue Karin in an extreme way. He was convinced that Kagura Akihara's heart, shrouded in darkness, still retained a kind heart.

However, Kakashi Hatake, who believed he knew Akihara Kagura well enough, couldn't help but question her thoughts after hearing Kabuto Yakushi's question.

A child who grew up in the oppressive environment of Root, whose personality was influenced by Danzo Shimura to the point that he could only kill in extreme ways, has no memory of the only people who could influence this child and make him feel that there is still beauty in the world.

"Kagura's personality is quite extreme."

Kakashi Hatake rubbed his temples, sensing the thorny nature of the situation: "No wonder you always thought he wanted to kill you... But that might not be the case. Perhaps Kagura has already forgiven you both?"

Kakashi Hatake recalled Akihara Kagura's words about wanting to kill Kabuto Yakushi, and her words that implied he wanted to save Nono Yakushi, slowly sorting out his thoughts.

"Kagura has deep feelings for Yakushi Nonou. Although she always says she wants to kill you, her real purpose is probably to get Yakushi Nonou out of Root. Yakushi Nonou stayed in Root for your sake, right?"

"That's another reason why Kagura wanted to kill me."

Kabuto's expression gradually became complicated, sometimes showing a hint of shame, sometimes a hint of bitterness: "Because the director always wanted me to leave the darkness of Root, but he forgot that there was a child from the orphanage who had been in Root since he was a child, and he had even been exposed to more darkness and suffering than I had..."

"I received the dean's favoritism."

Kabuto Yakushi recalled the favoritism shown to him by Nono Yakushi, and a warm feeling welled up in his heart, but it was quickly followed by a sense of guilt: "However, the headmaster's love has not fallen on Kagura at all. The headmaster has long forgotten about him."

"I see."

Kakashi Hatake immediately understood Kabuto Yakushi's meaning, and sighed, "It seems Kagura's personality isn't so extreme after all; she hasn't killed you yet..."

"Because he wants to end it all in a more painful way."

Kabuto Yakushi doesn't seem to mind revealing the truth to Kakashi Hatake, who is actively seeking death. Perhaps he also needs someone to confide in, or perhaps he needs someone to give him answers.

Kabuto Yakushi and Kagura Akihara spent very little time together. He had personally heard Kagura Akihara talk about his jealousy and had also witnessed Kagura Akihara's character.

Kabuto Yakushi knew that Akihara Kagura had a childlike nature and harbored feelings for the Konoha orphanage, but also a deeper hatred and jealousy.

"Kagura has been plotting to make me and the Dean kill each other."

Kabuto Yakushi brought up Kagura Akihara's plan and then mentioned Danzo Shimura's conspiracy: "Because I left the headmaster when I was very young, the headmaster could only learn about my life through photos. Danzo Shimura replaced the photos with fake ones, so the headmaster doesn't recognize me at all..."

"Shimura Danzo once mentioned that as long as the headmaster completes his last task, he will allow me to leave Root. However, Kagura was involved in this conspiracy and mentioned that the headmaster's last task should be to kill me, a stranger."

Following up on this conspiracy, Kabuto brought up Akihara Kagura again: "Kagura has always known about this, and she's jealous of the headmaster's favoritism towards me and hates that the headmaster for forgetting her..."

Kabuto sighed, seemingly helpless: "I've received a new mission, and the Dean should have received the same one too..."

"If nothing unexpected happens, our mission is to kill them."

"Now, Akihara Kagura has personally come to the Land of Earth, her purpose being to see the Dean kill me with her own hands, and then to tell the Dean in person who she killed..."

"..."

This plan is truly cruel and vicious!

Kakashi Hatake remained silent, unable to speak. He realized he didn't know enough about Akihara Kagura. This plan not only killed people, but also destroyed their spirits.

Perhaps all along, Akihara Kagura's words about wanting to kill Yakushi Kabuto were the truth; that child did indeed have a dark and extreme side to her heart.

"I see..."

Kakashi Hatake finally understood why Kabuto Yakushi had always believed that Kagura Akihara wanted to kill him; anyone in that situation would have thought the same.

"I thought he always wanted to save you and Yakushi Nonou."

Kakashi Hatake shook his head and continued, "In order to rescue Nono Yakushi, he always wanted to return to Root from the Anbu, to continue serving Danzo Shimura, and was even vying with Itachi Uchiha for the position of future Root leader..."

"This seems somewhat contradictory."

Kakashi Hatake raised his doubts: "If Nonou Yakushi really killed you under his manipulation, even if he later made Nonou Yakushi leave Root, wouldn't Nonou Yakushi still hate him?"

Without waiting for Kabuto's reply, Kakashi Hatake answered his own question: "No, that's normal. Because no matter what that guy does, he doesn't care what others think. He can kill hundreds of people in the blink of an eye, but he won't explain that his original intention was to save people..."

"Isn't there still a chance for things to turn around?"

Kakashi Hatake looked at Kabuto Yakushi and asked, "Now that you know all this, why don't you confess to Nonou Yakushi? If Nonou Yakushi knew that you are Kabuto Yakushi, this scheme would be useless, right?"

Kakashi Hatake couldn't help but become curious: "Speaking of which, when did you find out about the conspiracy orchestrated by Danzo Shimura and Kagura Akihara? The conspiracy hadn't even started yet, and you already knew everything about it..."

"Kagura told me herself."

Kabuto Yakushi recalled the boy with a face full of hatred and continued, "Because Kagura once said that even if I told the headmaster these truths, he would kill me with his own hands in front of the headmaster and make the headmaster taste the pain..."

Kabuto Yakushi looked up at Kakashi Hatake as if he were an idiot: "Akihara Kagura is in the Land of Earth. Even if we foil this plot, what good will it do? Kakashi-senpai, do you really think I'm confident I can subdue him?"

"I'm not sure either."

Kakashi Hatake, recalling the strength of his subordinates, reminded them, "Last year, when we went to Kirigakure for a reconnaissance mission, Akihara Kagura used Wood Release to defeat the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, and even captured him alive and brought him back to Konoha..."

"I remember... Yagura Karatachi was also the Jinchūriki of the Three-Tails."

Upon hearing about Akihara Kagura's achievements, Kabuto Yakushi's expression grew increasingly uneasy.

Kabuto Yakushi had once infiltrated Kirigakure for a period of time. He was one of the few people who survived espionage during the Blood Mist Era, so he naturally knew that the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, was the Jinchūriki of the Three-Tails.

What else can he do?

A Kage from one of the five great ninja villages, and even a Jinchuriki of a tailed beast, was captured alive by Akihara Kagura using Wood Release. There's no way I could be his match...

"It seems I'll have to think of another way..."

Yakushi Kabuto sighed and poured himself a cup of tea.

"Something seems off."

Kakashi Hatake felt something was off, but after hearing Kabuto Yakushi's story, he felt there was nothing wrong: "It doesn't seem wrong at all. Kagura's personality is so extreme, it's normal for her to have thoughts of killing you..."

"Two more days."

Kabuto Yakushi, recalling the ever-approaching mission timeline on the scroll, sighed softly, "The last time I saw Kagura, she told me that whether anyone could stop him from killing depended on my luck. Perhaps the only hope is that the Dean can persuade him?"

"..."

Kakashi Hatake suddenly fell silent.

Why wait until now to say something so important?

Kagura, that brat, doesn't consult anyone's opinion when he actually kills someone. He kills hundreds of grass ninja without a second thought, and doesn't care about the consequences!

Most of the time, Akihara Kagura's ideas are indeed quite extreme.

However, Akihara Kagura's thoughts were in a delicate state. It seemed that whether she killed someone or not was up to her; if someone stopped her, she wouldn't kill; if no one stopped her...

next time…

Try not stopping them yourself and see?

Kakashi Hatake quickly banished the thought from his mind, because if he didn't stop him, that guy would definitely kill someone!

"If Kagura really wanted to kill you, she wouldn't say such things."

"Based on what I know about him, he enjoys killing, but he will never give up on saving people. Even when he was by Shimura Danzo's side, that child still had a kindness shrouded in darkness in his heart."

Kakashi Hatake stared intently at Kabuto Yakushi, cautiously seeking confirmation: "Is it possible that Kagura told you about these plots not to kill you, but to warn you to be wary of Danzo Shimura's schemes?"

"But…"

Yakushi Kabuto was somewhat incredulous.

Because on that day, Akihara Kagura's jealousy and hatred were all too real.

"certainly."

"There is an even greater possibility."

Kakashi Hatake revealed another thought of his subordinate: "Kagura wanted revenge for you forgetting him, and for Yakushi Nonou's favoritism towards you, so she participated in this conspiracy, but she didn't actually want to kill you..."

"There are still two days left."

Kabuto glanced at the calendar on the table: "I have to go to the Tsuchi River Canyon. I hope everything is as you said, and that Kagura was just reminding me and the headmaster to be careful of Danzo Shimura's conspiracy."

Kakashi Hatake asked the question he wanted to know: "Then can you tell me where the Five-Tails Jinchuriki is?"

"They really don't value life..."

Kabuto shook his head and sighed, then continued, "I don't know the exact location either... but the place where the Five-Tails Jinchuriki is imprisoned certainly can't be a place where people gather."

"..."

Kakashi Hatake felt he had wasted some time, but it wasn't entirely a waste.

"I'm leaving now."

Kabuto put on his Iwagakure headband and continued, "Be careful. Iwagakure is very strict. You'd better not hide in my place. If nothing happens in the Tsuchi River Gorge, I'll have to continue lying in wait here."

"..."

Kakashi Hatake had no choice but to accept the offer.

Are these people from the Roots so ruthless and heartless for the sake of their mission?

Compared to others, that little guy Akihara Kagura has a bit more humanity.

"etc…"

"I almost forgot to remind him..."

Kakashi Hatake suddenly remembered something: danger never comes from just one place!

However, when Kakashi Hatake chased after him, he found that he could no longer find Kabuto Yakushi.

"Don't underestimate the threat posed by Shimura Danzo. Akihara Kagura may not want to kill you, but Shimura Danzo definitely intends to..."

First update!

The hidden clues are basically all laid!

(End of this chapter)