"Are you sure this will work?" Kabuto couldn’t help but regret boarding Nara Kazuki’s metaphorical pirate ship.
He glanced around, then looked down at the cart he was riding in. Moving at such a snail’s pace—was there really any chance they’d make it to the border safely?
"No real issues," Kazuki replied casually, yawning as he reclined inside the cart. Shisui and Itachi sat nearby, utterly bored, playing a card game to pass the time.
There was nothing else to do. They couldn’t even train.
The identities Kazuki had forged for them were that of an ordinary merchant family with no ties to ninjutsu. So naturally, any signs of chakra training or unusual behavior would raise suspicion. That would ruin everything.
Kabuto’s eye twitched. If Kazuki hadn’t personally dealt with the enemy shinobi before, Kabuto would’ve thought this whole ridiculous plan was a trap to get him exposed.
"Relax. This is the safest way," Kazuki reassured him with a faint smile. He could see Kabuto’s doubt, but he had complete confidence in the plan.
They’d arrived, right on cue, at the town they’d designated as the rendezvous. There, they purchased local products and organized a small trade caravan bound for the Land of Grass. Due to the volume of goods, they hired extra hands and security.
Kabuto’s role? A humble servant among the hired help.
He was nervous, sure, but it was too late to back out now. He’d already boarded the pirate ship—might as well stay the course.
The cart moved slowly, and the roads of the Land of Earth weren’t exactly smooth. By the time they neared the border, it had already been three days since Kabuto’s escape from Iwagakure.
Yet even now, the border was crawling with people.
Kabuto’s heart pounded. Kazuki, by contrast, looked completely calm. As they presented travel documents, Kazuki discreetly slipped a small silver note to the border officer, who accepted it with a beaming smile.
The shinobi did perform a routine inspection, but the goods were all local specialties. Seeing nothing amiss, the officer waved them through without incident.
Kabuto let out a long breath as the Iwagakure ninja faded behind them. They were through.
"Hold up!" a shout rang out from behind.
Kabuto froze. Even Shisui and Itachi tensed. But when Kazuki shot them a look, they all settled down.
"Yes, shinobi-sama?" Kazuki quickly scurried over, grinning like any bumbling town merchant.
The shinobi studied him for a moment.
"You’re with the Kuromoku family, right? I remember seeing you with a caravan that came through recently. Have you seen this woman?" He pulled out a sketch of a face.
Kazuki recognized it instantly. It was Yamanaka Mai—in disguise.
"I have, I have! She came in with Captain Baiyan’s group, I think? We exchanged greetings, but I don’t know her well..." Kazuki’s mind raced. Something happened to Yamanaka Mai? Why would the Iwa shinobi be asking questions about her?
The officer asked a few more casual questions, then waved him off.
"How long did it take you to reach Kurotsuchi Town?" he asked just before letting them go. "Tough road, huh?"
"Not too bad, shinobi-sama. Took us about three days, but we made it in time and managed to stock up on good goods." Kazuki chuckled, rubbing his hands together like a greedy peddler.
The shinobi nodded, then stepped aside to let them pass.
Kazuki kept smiling as he walked back to the cart and resumed the journey.
He wasn’t too concerned about the last-minute probing—it had felt like idle curiosity. His cover identity was solid. But the matter with Yamanaka Mai bothered him.
She had clearly drawn Iwagakure’s attention. If they had her likeness, they might already be onto her. That thirty thousand ryo may have just gone up in smoke. He’d have to collect from the Yamanaka clan instead.
Once they cleared the Land of Earth, Kazuki led the caravan on toward the Land of Fire. While there were towns in the Land of Grass, they were too close to Iwagakure to fetch good prices. Better to sell in the Fire Country and make a real profit.
"I’m heading out," Kabuto finally said, restless. Now that it was safe, he wanted to return to Root, report to Danzō, and hopefully see the woman who haunted his thoughts—Nonō Yakushi.
"Travel safe," Kazuki replied, waving lazily. With the mission completed, Kabuto would be fine—unless fate dealt him a truly miserable hand.
And Kazuki didn’t really care what intel Kabuto had collected. The more you knew, the more dangerous it became. The more tangled you were in ANBU, the harder it was to escape.
Konoha didn’t execute retired ANBU like some clichéd betrayal arc, but those who tried to leave were either bound by secrecy contracts or shifted to low-risk support roles until they aged out.
Yamanaka Mai had chosen the second path.
"Our mission’s done?" Shisui asked, still watching the forest where Kabuto had disappeared.
"Yeah," Kazuki said with a yawn. All in all, the extraction had gone smoothly. Though they’d clashed with Iwagakure shinobi, it seemed the enemy had hesitated. Not all their forces were committed.
Kazuki suspected Iwagakure either had bad intel... or something else had stayed their hand.
Root hadn’t intervened either, which puzzled him. Was this really a scheme of Shimura Danzō’s, or not?
"This guy’s interesting. Should we recruit him into Akatsuki?" In the Akatsuki hideout in Amegakure, Black Zetsu chuckled while poring over a dossier.
Obito glanced at it, frowning.
"He’s ANBU. He won’t defect. How would you even bring him in?" Obito dismissed the idea, but he was intrigued by the strange jutsu described in the file.
"Put him on the watch list," Black Zetsu said, sliding the document aside.
The notes described him in simple but ominous terms: