Uchiha Patriarch !

"Can't you just let me go?"

"No."

"I don't want to go to Konoha with you."

"No means no. Even if you cry, it won't work. And besides, you don't even know how to cry."

On the road leading to the Village Hidden in the Mist, two figures, one tall and one short, were walking slowly toward the village. The white-haired child seemed very reluctant, dragging his feet and moving exceptionally slowly, occasionally stopping to argue with the taller young man beside him.

Despite this, the young man with a bandaged right shoulder remained incredibly patient. Not only was he unhurried, but he even spent time indulging the child's stubbornness.

Even though the Hidden Mist Village was already in sight.

They continued their conversation on the road just outside the village.

These two were Uchiha Shisui and Kaguya Kimimaro.

After their battle with Orochimaru, Shisui's right shoulder was severely injured. He also realized from Kimimaro's memories that his mission had already failed. Since he could no longer continue with the mission, he decided to bring Kimimaro back to the Hidden Mist. Along the way, Kimimaro attempted to escape multiple times and dragged his feet, turning what should have been a short journey into a trip that lasted more than ten days.

As the gates of the Hidden Mist Village came into view, Kimimaro felt a twinge of frustration. He had tried to escape nineteen times over the past few days but had failed each time. Even though the man beside him could only use his left hand to eat, he always managed to catch him. Was it because this guy had defeated Lord Orochimaru?

Thinking of this, his mood sank further.

If even Lord Orochimaru had lost, did he have any chance of escaping this guy and returning to Orochimaru's side?

"Why are you so determined to take me to Konoha?" Kimimaro asked, looking up.

"Because I can't stand by and watch a child go astray," Shisui answered matter-of-factly.

Kimimaro wasn't highly educated, but he had already asked Shisui what "going astray" meant. "It was Lord Orochimaru who saved me. My life belongs to Lord Orochimaru. Whether it's the right path or not doesn't matter to me. I just want to return to his side."

*Sigh* "I told you, no means no! Orochimaru saving you and your life belonging to him are two different things. Your life doesn't belong to anyone but yourself." Shisui had said this many times before, but Kimimaro was as stubborn as a mule, and no matter what he said, he couldn't change Kimimaro's mind.

The next second, Kimimaro retorted, "If my life belongs to me, then I have the freedom to decide what to do with it. By not letting me leave your side, aren't you the one controlling my life? You're just trying to fool me!"

"That's not the same thing."

Shisui couldn't help but want to scratch his head.

The kid appeared cold and quiet, but once he started talking, he was sharp-tongued, leaving Shisui at a loss. "I've already said, you're still a child. And I don't plan to harm you. But staying with Orochimaru will only bring you harm sooner or later."

"To be of service to Lord Orochimaru is my greatest wish," Kimimaro said firmly, word by word.

Shisui sighed deeply. Every conversation ended in this unsolvable loop. He couldn't understand how Orochimaru had brainwashed this kid so thoroughly. Despite finding no signs of mental interference in Kimimaro's mind, the grip Orochimaru had on him was undeniable.

And that made Orochimaru all the more terrifying! To manipulate someone's will without using genjutsu or any other mental techniques—especially a child whose mind wasn't fully developed—was truly horrifying. Shisui's intent to eliminate Orochimaru only grew stronger. He even began to regret not using genjutsu on Kimimaro from the start, had he known Orochimaru's soul had such issues.

"Shisui, what are you standing around for? Are you arguing with a child? Isn't that a bit embarrassing?"

A familiar voice from ahead pulled Shisui's attention away from Kimimaro. Looking up, he saw Sougen and asked in surprise, "Sougen, what are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" Sougen rolled his eyes. "Shisui, take a good look at where you are. You're a Konoha shinobi, and you've been standing outside the Hidden Mist's gates for half a day. Do you think the Mist shinobi are blind?" Sougen had just sent off the elder Hyuga Yoshiyuki and was planning to go into seclusion for training when someone reported that Shisui had returned and was standing with a child at the village gate.

Sougen had to postpone his seclusion and came to see what Shisui was up to.

"Did you already find what you were looking for?" he wondered.

"Well, I have my reasons..." Shisui began to explain helplessly. "This kid..."

"Who's this kid?" Sougen cut him off, uninterested in Shisui's explanation. He glanced at Kimimaro, who had taken a defensive stance and showed some interest. "Not bad! His stance looks trained, and his chakra is impressive—both in quality and quantity. Shisui, where'd you pick up this kid?"

"What do you take me for?" Shisui replied, half-laughing, half-crying. "Just listen to me—"

"Hey kid, what's your name?" Sougen squatted down and looked at Kimimaro with his white hair and green eyes. He didn't immediately recognize him as the genius who had tragically passed away from the Kaguya clan's genetic illness. White hair and green eyes weren't unique—after all, the Hozuki clan had white hair, and Kakashi was also white-haired.

Faced with Sougen's question, Kimimaro's instincts told him that the man before him was a monster in human skin. Acting on pure survival instinct, he threw a punch, his wrist sprouting sharp bones aimed directly at Sougen's chest.

"Huh?" Sougen was taken aback.

Whoa, this is... the Shikotsumyaku?

With a quick move, Sougen raised his hand and lightly tapped Kimimaro's wrist just before the sharp bone could pierce his chest. A black curse mark, like tadpoles, spread across Kimimaro's body, rendering him immobile.

"So it really is the Shikotsumyaku?"

Sougen looked at the now-frozen Kimimaro, reaching out to touch the sharp bone. "Interesting. The Kaguya clan was wiped out by the Hidden Mist, weren't they? If I'm not mistaken, Orochimaru took the last survivor with him. Yet, this kid's power is the real deal—genuine Shikotsumyaku."

Could it be that—

"Shisui, what happened to your shoulder?"

Sougen turned his gaze to Shisui's bandaged right shoulder.