Chapter 42

Kuzo was in one of Konoha's jails, where missing ninjas, captured spies, resided.

Ibiki, the one responsible for the first phase of the Chunin Exam, was walking Kuzo around.

"Didn't I just leave you as a genin two weeks ago?" asked Ibiki as they walked between the cells.

"What can I say? Kids nowadays grow fast," replied Kuzo with a shrug of his shoulders.

Ibiki chuckled, liking Kuzo's humor. "It's very reassuring to see Konoha has young people like you. I trust the Hokage's judgment more than the test."

"Yeah," replied Kuzo. The Chunin Exam was never mandatory; it was just a way the 2nd Hokage invented so the Senju and the Uchiha could fight again without having to go through war.

"He's residing here," Ibiki pointed at one cell. When Kuzo looked, he saw Kabuto in the middle. Seals around his hands and eyes prevented him from committing suicide.

Kabuto turned to Kuzo and smiled. "Long time no see, my friend."

"Indeed. Long time no see," replied Kuzo, opening the cell and entering. "But I'm in no way a friend to a fucking bitch like you."

Kuzo was here to do two things.

One, seal a part of his chakra and force it into Karin.

It would work like Orochimaru's Curse of Heaven. A fragment of his soul would be in her body, teaching her everything he knew. Kuzo would modify the seal to allow her to do as much.

Second, he needed to kill Kabuto.

Although not skilled at Ninjutsu or Taijutsu like Kakashi, Kabuto had an advantage using Fuinjutsu, kinjutsu, and medical jutsu in actual combat.

Killing him would give him a huge power boost better than those he'd killed in the Village of the Sound combined.

"If that's what you think, then I must say you are hurt to find the truth about me," Kabuto mocked. "Don't be too emotionally attached, Kuzo-san."

"You're annoying." Not wanting to talk any longer, Kuzo punched him in the face, knocking Kabuto out.

Ibiki opened his eyes widely, saying, "Weren't you about to interrogate him?"

"Don't worry." Kuzo picked up a scroll with a few seals written on it.

He then weaved a series of hand signs. The characters in the scroll moved and surrounded Kabuto.

"I'm going to seal a part of his soul, here." Kuzo took that part of Kabuto's soul.

The gluttony seal was about to become active.

Quickly, Kuzo slammed the scroll. In the middle, a character appeared.

Later, he would transfer it to Karin with a seal similar to the Jinchuriki's seal. However, that seal would allow her to see Kabuto's memories.

Kabuto woke up, looking at Kuzo with a pained expression. "That hurt my…" he panted, as if life force was drained from his body.

From Kuzo's palm, a bone extended. Winds circled around it, creating a blade. Kuzo then waved the bone around Kabuto's head, slicing through it as if it were tofu.

Wind release was nothing to mock, for it was the sharpest element out of all of them. With it, he had made Kimimaro's bone release almost perfect.

From Kabuto's body, a spirit flew out that entered his gluttony seal. Kuzo had a huge boost in his power. Not only that, but he gained a variation of medical jutsu and a new jutsu for self-healing.

Kuzo took a bone out of his body and stabbed his own shoulder. Activating Kabuto's jutsus, the cells in his body started dividing, and the wound closed almost instantly.

'Combine that with Sage Mode, and I have almost perfect healing. However, it shortens my life span.'

'It shouldn't be a problem. You could make up for that if you increase the number of stem cells. I know that because I got Kabuto's jutsus. I see.'

Kuzo weaved a series of hand signs. Two razor blades made of chakra wrapped his hand. If he touched anyone with them, he would destroy them internally. Hit their arm, and it would become useless. Hit their heart, and it would stop.

'This is better than the Gentle Fist. Change my mind.' He thought. 'Maybe I can channel it to my whole bones, making it more deadly. Even if someone got a slight cut, they could end up rendered immobile.'

'Too many ideas.' Kuzo put his hand on his head. 'The main one, I can kick Orochimaru's ass without having to transform.'

Ibiki looked at Kuzo with wide-opened eyes, screaming, "What have you done! We have been interrogating him for too long!"

"I have permission to kill him," Kuzo said, "And if you don't have valuable information already, with the Yamanaka clan on our side, you should resign."

"We did. We just didn't get it all." Ibiki replied, his voice tone getting lower.

Kuzo stretched his arms up and replied. "In any case, the Hokage has given me permission to kill him."

After saying that, Kuzo picked up the scroll from the ground.

If there was a chance to reincarnate Kabuto, then it could be done through what was sealed inside the scroll.

But too bad for Kabuto, because it won't happen.

-x-X-x-

Kabuto opened his eyes widely.

'Didn't I just die.'

When he opened his eyes, he found himself inside a large dark space. There was no sun, no moon, no sky. Nothing.

The only thing that was in front of him was cell bars.

When he lifted his head, he could see Kabuto's face. He could see through a faint image in front of him. It was as if he was seeing through someone else's eyes.

He remembered what happened.

'Did he seal my life force and kill me originally.' Kabuto looked at his hand. He should have vanished. However, he was getting a bit of chakra from time to time.

"With this, you have your new teacher sealed in you," echoed Kuzo's face. "I've modified the seal, so you two can look through each other's memories. Learn from them. Oh. By the way, he's quite a cruel guy; hope you don't mind."

"Kuzo-san. When my mom died, they threw her body in my home and took me into the hospital to be brutally bitten by many men. You think seeing something like a cruel guy's memories would disturb me." The woman who had him now was crying. Kabuto, the spy, had an experience of being used by people he trusted, but he'd never been exposed to this kind of cruelty. However, it was not rare in the shinobi world.

"I'm sorry that happened to you, Karin."

So Karin was her name.

-x-X-x-

Seeing that Karin started crying, Kuzo said, "I'm sorry that it happened to you." He hugged her and closed his arms behind her back.

Karin started crying more violently. For her, she always wanted to hear these little words of comfort. Kuzo didn't mind giving them to her. She had lived with him for around 15 days, and he had grown fond of her. Since she helped around the house, he had gotten used to her.

"It's okay. Cry your heart out." He patted her on the back.

Karin pulled back, reached under her glasses, and rubbed her eyes. "Sorry for me to break down like this. As a shinobi, it's embarrassing."

"Don't worry. No one will have to know." Kuzo smiled at her. The reason for that smile was him thinking of Kabuto's reaction.

Karin chuckled. "That's good."

"Anyway. Do your best learning science."

"But how do I call him."

"Focus on your seal and think of what you want."

"I see. I'll do my best to be of use, Kuzo-sama."

"I count on you."

The little girl's cheeks turned red, giving Kuzo the urge to call her tomatoes. But since she was motivated, he didn't say anything and gave her a thumbs up before turning toward the door and walking away.

It was night.

The moon shone brightly, reminding Kuzo of his goal.

It was highly the time to move toward the sand village.

Among the kages, there was an impostor. It's time to find him.

'Why am I imagining the five kages playing Among Us.'