Emiya Shirou was in a good mood. Even for a man whose emotional state was usually as placid as a zen garden, secretly obtaining a Ten-Tails was bound to put a little spring in his step.
Black Zetsu was also in a good mood, for entirely different reasons. Wanted posters for Uchiha Obito were popping up everywhere.
To preemptively shut down any awkward questions from village ninjas about why a supposed war hero was now public enemy number one, Konoha's higher-ups had declassified Obito's role in the Nine-Tails Rampage.
The village, which had been busy denouncing the heinous Uchiha Itachi, immediately pivoted to vehemently denouncing the even more heinous Uchiha Obito.
In the Land of Rice Fields, at Orochimaru's new base, Obito and Itachi were on babysitting duty. This little hideout had become the unofficial gathering spot for Konoha's most wanted.
Obito, Itachi, Orochimaru—three S-rank rogue ninjas—plus the not-yet-officially-defected Mitarashi Anko and Yakushi Kabuto, made for quite the lineup. Naturally, they'd all seen the new wanted posters.
"It seems Teacher Minato let a few secrets slip before he died," Obito mused, realizing his old sensei had likely pieced together the truth and shared it before the end.
Itachi's hand secretly tightened around his kunai.
This was the man who caused the Nine-Tails Rampage.
That single event had shattered the fragile trust between the Uchiha and the village, setting the stage for the clan's eventual downfall.
"I don't understand," Itachi said, his voice soft but edged with steel. "Why did you do it? Why cause the rampage?"
"What's so hard to understand?" Obito looked up at the moon, a nostalgic, almost wistful expression on his face. "I wanted the Nine-Tails. Destroying Konoha was just a fun little bonus."
When Rin died, the rest of the world, including his teacher and all his old friends, had ceased to matter.
"It's just like," he added, a casual, mocking tone creeping into his voice, "I can't understand why, just over two months ago, you suddenly invited me to help you slaughter our entire clan."
A flash of red appeared in Itachi's eyes.
"Gentlemen, would you care for some tea?" Yakushi Kabuto appeared, a tray in hand and a pair of smiling eyes behind his glasses, looking exceptionally kind and not at all like a man who regularly assisted with horrific human experiments.
Kabuto had been through a lot lately. He'd been terrified that Orochimaru would blame him for Shirou's disappearance, but in a twist worthy of a cheap play, Orochimaru himself had fallen under Shirou's control.
The master manipulator had been out-manipulated. Kabuto, ever the pragmatist, decided to pretend nothing had happened and resumed his role as Orochimaru's loyal assistant.
Obito, of course, couldn't be bothered with him. To Obito, Kabuto was just a weak medical ninja, utterly worthless. Itachi, however, offered a polite nod. "Thank you, Mr. Kabuto."
"Any sweets?" Anko yawned, snatching a cup of tea. "Which lab is that snake in today? I'm going to go 'watch' him."
Kabuto's smile twitched. "Lord Orochimaru is in Laboratory 3, but it might be best not to try and assassinate him today. At least let him finish one set of experiments."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Anko waved a hand dismissively, drawing her ninja sword and admiring the blade.
For some time now, she'd been relentlessly trying to kill Orochimaru, a fact that everyone in the base had come to accept. She was, by consensus, an idiot.
The very tool Shirou was using to keep Orochimaru in line ironically thought she was on a top-secret assassination mission.
"Mr. Kabuto," Itachi said casually, sipping his tea. "You're heading back to Konoha tomorrow to contact Danzo, right?"
"That's right," Kabuto nodded with a smile. He had his own little side quest planned: a secret visit to the orphanage where he grew up.
Shirou's influence had thrown his life's purpose—blindly following Orochimaru—into question. He needed to figure out who he really was.
"Oh, you're going back?" Anko chimed in. "Bring me back some of those three-color dango from the sweet shop!"
Itachi's expression darkened.
"Bring some for this guy too," Anko added, noticing his foul mood. "I remember seeing him and his girlfriend in line at that shop back in the day."
Itachi's face grew even darker.
"Ahem," Kabuto coughed, sensing he'd stumbled into a minefield. "Is there anything else you need from the village?"
"Kabuto, can you pass on some intel to Lord Third Hokage for me?" Anko grinned. "Tell him that guy Danzo is colluding with Orochimaru. He should deal with him as soon as possible."
Kabuto began coughing violently. That was a message he definitely could not deliver. "I'll just... go pack my things," he said, making a hasty retreat into the depths of the base.
-----
He found Orochimaru in Laboratory 3. "The Akatsuki's surveillance is not tight," he reported in a low voice. "Obito and Itachi don't seem very interested in monitoring you. Should you find a chance to escape after I leave?"
Kabuto didn't mention Anko.
Because Anko couldn't be called a supervisor at all.
"No need," Orochimaru laughed, caressing a hot test tube. "The fact that their surveillance is this lax proves they aren't afraid of me escaping. I won't leave until I've perfected the new cursed seal. When you return, Kabuto, bring those children from the northern base."
"Especially Kimimaro and Jugo. If that Lord Emiya is still willing to help, perhaps Kimimaro's illness can be cured." Even as he plotted, Orochimaru couldn't help but be drawn to Shirou's legendary medical prowess.
Even though Emiya Shirou's disposition had changed, and he had begun to control the direction of the ninja world in the dark to change it, people's attention still seemed to involuntarily remain on his legendary medical skills.
"A pity," Orochimaru couldn't help but think of what Kabuto had once reported to him about Emiya Shirou's research on the Living Corpse Reincarnation. "I heard that when Lord Emiya was studying souls, he had developed a prototype of a soul transfer jutsu similar to the Living Corpse Reincarnation..."
"Indeed," Kabuto confirmed. "It's less of a soul transfer and more of a body replacement. It's meant to be used with a cloning technology to create a perfect, soulless body for a patient, solving incurable diseases like organ failure."
A look of shock flashed in Orochimaru's snake-like eyes.
Isn't this exactly what I want?
While his own jutsu allowed him to steal others' powers, it came with the drawback of his body decaying. A perfect, cloned backup body... the possibilities were endless.
But he knew Shirou probably hadn't had time to perfect the cloning tech. Still, it had given him a new line of thinking.
"Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto asked, "should I secretly report on Lord Emiya's intelligence to Lord Danzo?"
"Don't," Orochimaru rejected the idea instantly, a greedy grin spreading across his face. "I want to maintain a friendly relationship with this Lord Emiya, at least until I figure out this cloning business."
"Besides, if Danzo learns of this now, the Akatsuki will immediately suspect us. Let Danzo send his own men. When they 'discover' the Akatsuki's presence, it won't be considered our leak."
"Yes," Kabuto lowered his head.
-----
Of course, neither of them noticed the White Zetsu clone monitoring their every move, reporting everything back to Shirou. The entire base was a web of surveillance, yet Orochimaru's open conspiracy continued to unfold, seemingly unstoppable.
"How insidious," Shirou sighed to himself, seemingly helpless.
"Do you need me to kill Yakushi Kabuto?" the simple-minded Zetsu clone offered.
"No need," Shirou said softly. "You continue to monitor Orochimaru. I have some time. Let me handle this personally."
On the day of his second resurrection, he had planted a seed of doubt in Kabuto's heart. Now, it was time to see what had grown.
He opened a scroll, revealing a drawing of a gentle, blonde woman—a soul he had once saved in the underworld. He hadn't been lying to Kabuto. He really had saved Yakushi Nono's soul.
"Although I'm not good at being a life mentor," he murmured, "I did promise you that the child named Yakushi Kabuto would find his way out of the sea of suffering, and that someone would take care of your orphanage."
SSS-Rank Request: When Yakushi Kabuto is lost in his life, find a true life goal for him.