Chapter 173: A Genius in the Rough
Yakushi Nonō walked over to Kabuto. She knelt, her movements slow, trying to compose herself.
She gently patted his shoulder, her voice choked with an emotion she couldn't quite suppress.
"Kabuto," she whispered, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "When you go to Lady Tsunade... you must study hard. You must learn everything you can."
She pulled him into a quick, tight hug. "Do not let Lord Hokage's efforts... this chance he has given you... be in vain. Do you understand?"
[This is it,] she thought, her heart aching. [I am giving him up. But I am giving him up to a future. A future I could never have provided.]
"Yes! I understand, Yakushi Nonō Mama!" Kabuto nodded heavily, his expression far more serious than that of any normal child. His small hands clenched the strap of his bag.
[I will not fail. I will not disappoint her. I will become someone useful... someone indispensable to Lord Hokage.]
Uchiha Akira watched this heartwarming, somber scene unfold from a respectful distance. He did not interrupt, his face impassive.
He gave them enough time to say their goodbyes.
A few minutes later, the farewell was complete.
Yakushi Kabuto's belongings were... sparse. He had simply packed a small, threadbare bag. It contained only two changes of faded clothes and one well-worn, dog-eared book: 'Fundamentals of the Chakra Scalpel'. It was a basic text, but to him, it was a treasure he had read dozens of times.
He stood beside Uchiha Akira, a small, pale figure next to a pillar of power. He turned and bowed deeply to the woman who had raised him.
"Yakushi Nonō Mama, I'm leaving!"
"Mmm. Go on."
Yakushi Nonō stood at the orphanage doorway, surrounded by the other children, who watched in silent, envious awe. She waved, a relieved, proud, and heartbreakingly sad smile on her face.
Uchiha Akira turned, his Kage robes rustling, and led Kabuto away from the orphanage.
The two walked down Konoha's bustling main street.
The change in atmosphere was immediate. The orphanage was gray and quiet. The village was a riot of sound and color.
Merchants shouted their wares. The air smelled of grilling fish, sweet dango, and hot metal from the blacksmith's forge. Civilians and shinobi walked side-by-side, their chatter filling the air.
Kabuto, who had spent his entire life in the muted, impoverished halls of the orphanage, followed behind Uchiha Akira, his eyes wide behind his round glasses. He was curiously, and analytically, observing everything.
[This is the village under his control,] Kabuto thought, his mind working rapidly. [It's clean. It's orderly. The civilians don't look afraid. The shinobi patrol with purpose. It feels... safe.]
This feeling was new and wonderful.
[All of this... Lord Hokage brought to me. He brought order. He brought me a purpose.]
Kabuto looked up at the tall and reliable figure in front of him. He wasn't just a man; he was the savior who had pulled him from the shadows of Danzō's future, a future that would have erased his very identity.
His eyes were filled with a profound admiration and a deep, binding gratitude.
Soon, the two arrived at a large, new, and imposing white building. It was not the old, cramped Konoha Hospital. This was a new structure, built with clinical precision, bearing the sign of the "Konoha Medical Corps Headquarters."
"Stop!"
Two Chūnin guards at the entrance, wearing new flak jackets bearing the combined Uchiha fan and Konoha leaf, snapped to attention and blocked their path.
"This is a restricted area for the Medical Corps! No unauthorized personnel allowed, by order of—"
The lead guard's eyes traveled up from the small, silver-haired boy... to the man standing in front of him.
He saw the white Kage robes. He saw the iconic red-and-white Uchiha fan on the back.
The guard's face went bone-white. His tirade cut off into a strangled gasp.
"Fifth... Fifth... Fifth Hokage-sama!"
The two immediately snapped to a salute, their bodies ramrod straight, trembling in either fear or reverence. "Forgive our impertinence, my lord! We did not see you!"
Uchiha Akira just nodded, his expression unchanged, and walked straight in, his presence parting the staff in the lobby like a ship through water.
He led Kabuto through the clean, sterile-smelling halls, directly to the Director's office on the top floor.
He didn't knock.
Tsunade was sitting behind a massive desk, so buried in a mountain of documents and scrolls that she looked like she was drowning in paperwork.
Beside her, Shizune was frantically busy, organizing files into massive stacks, her feet barely touching the ground, while Tonton, her pet pig, slept peacefully in a corner basket.
"Tsunade."
Uchiha Akira's voice rang out from the doorway.
Tsunade looked up, her eyes bleary from lack of sleep and sheer frustration. When she saw it was Uchiha Akira, her brows instinctively furrowed, and her entire body tensed.
[That... bastard.]
The memory, sharp and unbidden, flooded her senses: the humiliation on the plain, the helplessness, the rhythmic, stinging slap, and the final, condescending pat on her head.
Her face flushed with a hot, familiar anger.
"What are you doing here?" Her tone was clipped and deeply unfriendly.
Although she had already succumbed to his "tyranny" and accepted this position, every time she saw this man, she couldn't help but recall that unbearable, spirit-breaking experience.
"I've brought someone for you."
Uchiha Akira stepped aside, revealing the small boy who had been partially hidden by his robes. He gently pushed Yakushi Kabuto forward into the room.
Tsunade's gaze fell on Kabuto, and she scrutinized him from head to toe. A scrawny, pale kid in worn-out clothes and taped-up glasses.
"Who is this kid?" she demanded.
"Yakushi Kabuto," Akira said simply. "I found him at the orphanage. He is a promising talent."
He locked eyes with her, his voice leaving no room for argument. "I plan to have him be your disciple."
"My... disciple?"
Tsunade stared at him for a beat. Then, she let out a short, sharp, barking laugh, as if she had just heard the biggest joke in the world.
She put down the document in her hand, leaned back in her chair, and crossed her arms, looking at Kabuto with an openly scrutinizing and dismissive gaze.
"Are you kidding me?" she sneered. "You, a man who solves his problems by hitting them, are suddenly an expert on identifying medical talent?"
"You just pick up a random kid from the orphanage—a stray—and want to shove him onto me as a disciple?"
She gestured around the chaotic office. "What do you take me for? A junk collector? A babysitter for your new pet projects?"
Her tone was filled with undisguised sarcasm and disdain. Was it that easy to become her disciple, the disciple of a Sannin?
This Uchiha bastard actually wanted her to take an orphan who hadn't even grown all his hair as a disciple?
Dream on!
Shizune stood by, looking absolutely helpless. Her face was pale as she watched Tsunade, who looked ready to explode at any moment.
[Oh, please no... Lady Tsunade, don't provoke him! Not after last time! Please!]
She secretly, desperately, tried to give Uchiha Akira a meaningful look.
"Ah... Lord Hokage, Lady Tsunade is in a... a very bad mood today. She's been reorganizing the entire medical logistics system for two days straight, she hasn't slept... perhaps... perhaps you should come another day?"
Uchiha Akira, however, seemed to completely ignore Shizune's frantic hint. He just looked calmly at Tsunade.
"I said, he is a promising talent."
"As for whether he's qualified to be your disciple, why don't you test him yourself and find out?"
"Test?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow. A slow, malicious smile spread across her face. "Alright. Fine."
She leaned forward, her eyes glinting. "I want to see just how much this 'promising talent' of yours is truly worth."
She shifted her sharp gaze from Akira to the boy. "Hey, kid. Your name is Yakushi Kabuto?"
"Yes, Lady Tsunade." Kabuto bowed slightly, his voice quiet but clear, "It is an honor to meet you."
He was neither subservient nor arrogant.
[This is her,] Kabuto thought, his heart pounding far more nervously than he appeared on the surface. [The Legendary Sannin, the strongest Iryō-nin in the world. Her chakra is... immense. Even resting, it's a sea. But it's... chaotic. So angry.]
"Hmph. He looks scrawny and not at all clever," Tsunade said, loud enough for everyone to hear, pouting venomously. "Is that Uchiha fellow blind to have picked you?"
Kabuto lowered his head and did not retort, simply standing and waiting.
Shizune, unable to watch any longer, quietly reminded her, "Lady Tsunade, he's still a child..."
"So what if he's a child? There are kids who graduate from the Ninja Academy at six years old!" Tsunade glared at Shizune, silencing her. "To be my disciple, you need real skill, not just the Hokage's personal endorsement!"
She was full of distrust, and she was eager to prove Akira wrong—to get one small, satisfying victory over him.
"Alright, kid." Tsunade turned, scanned her messy shelves, and then casually pulled out a thick, heavy scroll. She threw it on the desk in front of Kabuto with a loud thud.
"'Advanced Applications of Chakra Flow: Cellular and Pathological Treatments.'"
"You have one day to read this. Tomorrow at this time, I'll test you. If you can answer all my questions, I'll temporarily take you in."
"If you can't answer..." Tsunade's lips curved into that mischievous, cruel smile. "Then go back to where you came from. And tell your master to stop wasting my time."
Shizune gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.
"'Cellular and Pathological Treatments'?!" she whispered in horror. "Lady Tsunade, that's..."
[That's a Jōnin-level medical text! It's famously dense! It details complex theories of chakra scalpels and cellular regeneration that most Chūnin medics can't even understand! It took me three weeks to get through the first chapter!]
"To make a child who has never even touched medical ninjutsu read and understand it within one day?"
"This isn't a test! This is an impossible task!"
Shizune felt that Lady Tsunade was truly going too far this time. This was clearly intentional. It was designed to make him fail.
Kabuto, however, just looked at the scroll. He showed no fear, no despair, no complaint.
"Yes, Lady Tsunade."
He bowed to Tsunade, then silently walked to a corner of the office, found a small stool, sat down, opened the massive scroll, and... actually began reading.
Tsunade watched his calm, immediate obedience, her brows slightly furrowed.
[This kid... he's quite good at putting on an act. No hesitation at all.]
Tsunade snorted inwardly, turning back to her mountain of paperwork. She didn't take the matter seriously at all.
[This is just a nuisance. But it's an easy one to solve. When this kid can't answer a single question tomorrow, I'll have all the reason I need to throw this nuisance out... right in Akira's face.]
Initially, Tsunade paid no attention at all. She was overwhelmed with the logistics of the Medical Corps reconstruction, a task that Akira had demanded be done in an impossibly short time.
But an hour passed.
The boy in the corner still maintained his original posture, utterly still.
Another hour passed.
The sunlight outside the window changed, shifting from the intense white of midday to a softer, warmer yellow.
Tsunade paused in her writing. She looked over.
Yakushi Kabuto's page-turning speed... he was turning the page. His eyes were scanning, fast. His brow was furrowed in complete, absolute concentration.
Focused. Extremely focused.
Tsunade put down her pen. She picked up her teacup, but her gaze remained fixed on the silver-haired boy.
[He's... still at it. He hasn't fidgeted. He hasn't sighed. His focus is... perfect.]
"Putting on an act," she muttered to herself, finding an excuse.
[How could a child be so engrossed in such a dry, profound medical classic? It's impossible.]
[It must be that Uchiha bastard. He must have taught him beforehand. Taught him how to look like a genius to impress me. Yes, that must be it.]
But a small, irritating seed of doubt had been planted.
The afterglow of the setting sun cast a warm, orange-red hue over the entire office, filling it with long shadows.
Shizune, completely exhausted, was already slumped over her desk, fast asleep, Tonton curled on her back.
The office was silent, save for Shizune's soft breathing... and the steady, quiet rustle of Kabuto's scroll.
Tsunade wasn't working anymore. She was just watching him. She wanted to see how long this kid could keep it up. She was waiting for him to fail, to give up, to cry.
He did none of these things.
Just then, there was a soft knock on the office door.
Tsunade didn't bother to answer, but Uchiha Akira walked in anyway, as if on schedule.
His gaze swept the room. He saw the irate Tsunade, the sleeping Shizune, and the still-reading, completely absorbed Kabuto.
A flicker of a satisfied smile touched his lips. "It seems he hasn't disappointed you."
Tsunade snorted, turning away and refusing to reply, her face flushing in annoyance.
"That's enough for today," Akira said, his voice calm, directed at Kabuto.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Instantly, as if a switch had been flipped, Kabuto stopped reading. He carefully closed the scroll, placed it aside, then stood up and stretched his somewhat stiff body, his joints popping quietly.
Tsunade watched this. The boy was not just smart. He was disciplined.
The first step to shocking Tsunade had been taken.
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