Chapter 50: Kabuto
Konoha Hospital.
After the selection matches ended, Kakashi immediately brought Sasuke, whose body was showing abnormalities, here, to an isolated small building in a corner of the hospital.
Kakashi had left the tower anxiously before the selection matches had even concluded.
Sasuke's condition was unstable, with relapses still occurring from time to time. Kakashi was very worried.
Following closely behind him was the young girl, Haruno Sakura, who, after watching Hinata's match, had little interest in the remaining battles.
Although she had already said she had important information to tell Kakashi, now that the time had come, Sakura was a little unsure of how to begin.
Perhaps after checking on Sasuke would be a good opportunity.
Kakashi, his mind solely focused on the safety of his disciple, and the slightly apprehensive Sakura walked in silence all the way.
Until they arrived in front of Sasuke's hospital room.
What greeted them was not a recovered Sasuke, nor the Anbu silently guarding nearby.
But a floor of dead bodies.
And an attack from Kabuto without any warning!
Swish!
Kabuto's sneak attack was blocked by Kakashi without any suspense. The latter's face was ashen as he stared deadly at Kabuto, who was standing in front of Sasuke's bed, attempting to harm him.
"My, my... you've arrived just in time, Kakashi. And, Haruno Sakura." Kabuto, caught in the act, was still able to turn and look back at the two of them with a fake smile, greeting them calmly, as if he were not a spy here to harm Sasuke, but a friend who had come to visit.
"Kabuto, I don't care which country's spy you are, I advise you to drop your weapon and surrender now..." Kakashi said coldly. "Otherwise, I cannot guarantee whether you will be able to walk out of this room alive!"
"With just you, you weakling," Kabuto smiled lightly, "and that useless Genin behind you, you think you can keep me here?"
The named young girl took a step forward, the killing intent in her emerald eyes so cold it seemed it could freeze the air into frost. Her red lips parted slightly as she said coldly.
"Watch your mouth... or sooner or later, I will slaughter you!"
Kabuto did not take the girl's cold words to heart. No matter how the outside world praised her as a genius, in the eyes of Kabuto, whose strength was comparable to Kakashi's, the current Sakura was nothing more than a weakling.
There was no need to remember the words of a weakling.
Kakashi waved his hand to signal the girl to calm down and said in a deep voice, "Who are you, and what are you trying to do to Sasuke?"
Kabuto squinted his eyes and stared at Kakashi. The battle intent of this elite Konoha Jonin, known as the Copy Ninja, was growing stronger and stronger. He seemed to be asking calmly, but he could launch an attack at any moment!
Although he was said to be on par with Kakashi in strength, Kabuto was still unwilling to engage in a direct confrontation with him here. What's more, there was also Sakura on the side, watching like a tiger stalking its prey. If he were hit by one of her Water Cutter jutsus, it would be no joke...!
But it was even more impossible for Kabuto to answer Kakashi's question truthfully.
"Kakashi, Anbu of this level, you'd better prepare at least ten or more next time!"
"Answer my question obediently!" Kakashi ignored Kabuto's attempt to change the subject, his gaze growing colder.
"And if..." Kabuto quietly tightened his grip on his kunai, "I say no?"
"Then—" Kakashi's voice suddenly turned cold, and he let out a roar, his figure charging towards Kabuto. "—I'll have to teach you a lesson!"
Clink— The kunai in Kabuto's hand was knocked away by Kakashi. In the blink of an eye, Kakashi had cleanly subdued Kabuto, pressing him to the ground. A kunai pierced his palm, pinning his hands to the floor!
The familiar sensation of a kunai piercing flesh made Kakashi realize that this was a real body, not a clone made of chakra.
Could it be that his real body was caught by me so easily?
Kakashi felt no joy. Instead, he felt a faint sense of unease!
Immediately after, the two Anbu corpses lying on the ground suddenly leaped up. One rushed towards the door, and the other lunged for the window!
"Trying to run? Do you think you can get away?!" the girl sneered, a shimmering, high-pressure water mass resting quietly in her palm!
"Water Style: Super Water Gun Jutsu!"
The figure lunging for the window was extremely fast, leaping out in the blink of an eye!
The girl was almost certain that this was the real body. At such a high speed, she had no time to worry about whether she could leave him alive. The water line from her hand shot out, cutting the figure in the air in two!
Blood, internal organs, and fragments of the body scattered in the air in a rain of gore!
And on the other side, the Kabuto rushing towards the door was also intercepted by a pre-prepared shadow clone—
Just as Kakashi and Sakura thought they had succeeded and were breathing a sigh of relief, they heard the shadow clone shout, "Be careful, this isn't Kabuto!"
At the same time, in the moment the two of them relaxed, the real Kabuto, who had been lying on the ground pretending to be a corpse, shot up and instantly leaped out of another window!
By the time Sakura and Kakashi got to the window, Kabuto had already disappeared below.
Sakura looked with a cold face as Kabuto, before disappearing, deliberately took off another's mask to reveal his true face, and said nothing.
In fact, she had completely forgotten this part of the plot. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so unprepared.
But then again, even if she had been prepared, what could she have done?
Sasuke was right next to Kabuto. Being in a position where they couldn't risk harming the hostage, it was impossible for them to have stopped Kabuto.
Kakashi checked Sasuke's body and found that Kabuto hadn't done anything to him, only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
He patted Sakura's shoulder. "Alright, although we didn't get him, at least Sasuke is fine. It can be considered a great fortune in the midst of misfortune."
Sakura forced a smile.
Kabuto is Orochimaru's man. There will definitely be a chance to meet again in the future. Sooner or later, I'll have to fight Orochimaru and his group again. I'll get back at them for today's incident one day.
It was just that by then, Sakura probably wouldn't even deign to look at a character like Kabuto.
After looking at Sasuke's peaceful sleeping face, Sakura turned her head and said seriously to Kakashi:
"Kakashi-sensei, I have something important to tell you..."
The girl decided to tell a lie.
"If this is true, then this is no small matter! Are you sure Orochimaru is going to attack Konoha during the third exam?" Kakashi was shocked when he heard the information Sakura gave him!
That's right, the lie the girl told was that during the second exam, after Orochimaru attacked Sasuke, he had also come to her to try and recruit her, and in doing so, had revealed his plan to destroy Konoha!
"I swear on my life and honor, that is what Orochimaru meant! He really does want to attack Konoha!" The girl skillfully organized her words, trying to avoid the element of lying as much as possible, and instead emphasized the real key point.
From this sentence alone, Sakura wasn't even lying.
The highest form of a lie is not nine truths and one falsehood, but ten truths and no falsehoods. Only telling parts of the truth to guide others to the conclusion you want.
Unconsciously, Kakashi had opened his Sharingan and was staring intently at the girl's eyes.
The girl's emerald eyes were clear and bright, without a trace of impurity.
Her gaze was firm and pure. Kakashi couldn't see anything suspicious.
The girl returned Kakashi's gaze with composure, without hesitation, without any shadow of doubt.
That's right, she is indeed my disciple, Haruno Sakura. And she is still a trustworthy Konoha ninja. Kakashi made a judgment in his heart.
A spy would not say such a thing.
Even to gain trust, one wouldn't need to reveal such important information. Gaining trust is something a suspected person needs to do, and Sakura was already very trusted. If she were really a spy, then doing this would be pointlessly over-complicating things.
What's more, if even a ninja with Sakura's personality and background could become a traitor, then Kakashi didn't know how many ninja in Konoha could still be trusted.
However, just because the source of the information was not a problem, it didn't mean the information itself was not a problem.
Why would Orochimaru reveal such information? Is he deliberately trying to mislead us?
It didn't seem likely.
Even if the information that Orochimaru was going to attack Konoha was false and Konoha took it as true, so what? At most, Konoha would be more cautious, strengthen its vigilance, and then have a false alarm. Konoha would not suffer any substantial losses.
Even if Orochimaru hadn't said this, just by him appearing in the Chunin Exams in Konoha, Konoha would have to be on edge for a long time. In fact, in the current Konoha, the old were old, and the young were young. There wasn't even a single Kage-level powerhouse who could stand against Orochimaru.
If Orochimaru really is going to invade Konoha... Kakashi shuddered.
What's more, all the signs, including the attack on Sasuke by Kabuto today, indicated that this was very likely to happen!
This piece of information, even if it only spoke of a possibility, was enough to make Konoha face a great enemy, to be in a state of extreme alert.
Thinking of this, Kakashi no longer hesitated.
"Your information is extremely important. I'll report it as soon as I'm done here."
He patted Sakura's head and smiled.
"I haven't congratulated you on passing the preliminaries yet. Keep it up! The third exam will start in a month. You have to make good use of this time!"
"Roger!"
Sakura nodded heavily!
And at this time, in the tower in the Forest of Death, the Genin who had passed the preliminaries were facing the Hokage, standing in a line.
"Before you are dismissed, there is one last thing you need to do..." the Third Hokage said with a smile, holding his pipe. He waved his hand to signal Anko, who was holding a lottery box, to come up. "Each of you needs to draw a number from this box in order to determine your opponent in the third match..."
Then, Anko held the box and had everyone draw lots one by one, with Ibiki following behind and recording each one.
"Naruto, you need to draw three times. Draw once for Sakura and once for Sasuke!" Anko reminded him when she came to Naruto.
And so, Ibiki recorded—
"Uzumaki Naruto... number 1."
"Uchiha Sasuke... number 7."
"Haruno Sakura... uh, number 2!"
Naruto and the people around him were slightly stunned.
The first match is an internal battle between Team 7's Naruto and Sakura...?
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