Chapter 60
OBITO UCHIHA
Obito was losing patience as he waited for Kabuto. The plans for their final attack had been finalized, and he just needed to get the final pieces. And as he was thinking about this, he heard footsteps and saw a figure enter the cave.
"You are late, Kabuto," he made his displeasure apparent as he glared at their newest member. Though an informal one at this point. After the debacle with Orochimaru and Itachi, Obito was in no mood to expand quickly.
"I am sorry, Madara-sama, it just took a bit more time to get things ready," replied Kabuto, and hadn't he changed?
Kabuto had begun experimenting on his body and had now lost his normal skin. His body had a scaly look, muck like Orochimaru. He still wore his glasses, yet the eyes behind them were no longer human, for they had long snake-like slits in them.
"I hope that a breakthrough has been obtained with all the resources I provided you?" Obito asked, and he could see Kabuto hesitate a little making him frown.
"What is the meaning of this, Kabuto? You promised to show results within a month!" Obito almost screamed, and the man simply raised his hand.
"Hold on. Hold on. I did not say anything. There has been a breakthrough, but we have hit a new hiccup along the way. A small one, I assure you," Obito was still not satisfied with that answer.
"Tell me about the progress on perfecting the Edo Tensei. You are aware of its importance to the mission, aren't you," Kabuto nodded as he took out a scroll from his pocket and passed it to him.
"The cells from the First Hokage you provided proved quite useful, and I was able to perfect the technique, but there was just too little of the material; moreover, they were quite old. So, while I have perfected the technique, we need a new source of cells that are filled with vitality similar to Hashirama-Senju."
Obito skimmed over the report and felt a bit satisfied by the results, but still getting First Hokage's cells right now was impossible. But as he read the report,he noted a small peculiarity.
"Here it mentions that Orochimaru was investigating another candidate to obtain similar results. Who was that?" he questioned because he had a very good hunch about whom Orochimaru was talking about.
Kabuto seemed to ponder it for a second before replying.
"Yes, it was a kunoichi from Kusa. An Uzumaki who had their prized bloodline. It might be possible to use her as an alternative source, given that their Kekkei Genkai gives them similar vitality as Hashirama-Senju," Kabuto replied, and Obito smirked behind his mask. It seems that nature had blessed him once more.
"How many perfect Edo-Tensei shinobi can you summon at the moment?" Obito questioned as he pocketed the scroll.
"Four. Right now, I can summon four shinobi through a perfect Edo Tensei," Obito nodded at this. This was going to be enough. However, Kabuto seemed a bit hesitant as he probed further.
"I still don't understand the particulars of the plan. If you plan to attack the five Great Villages, why aren't we capturing the Tailed Beasts as well? It just seems wasteful to me," and Obito smirked at this. It seems he had not made things quite clear.
"It's not that we aren't going to capture the tailed beasts. It's just that it is not going to be our main focus. Our plan is to hit the villages hard and release the tailed beasts to cause devastation across the continent initially."
"Then Akatsuki can gather them later without too much resistance." Kabuto finished the plan, and Obito nodded.
"Yes, Akatsuki has already been exposed, and if the villages unite against us in their current state, we would struggle even to survive. Yet with this attack, we are going to cripple them all so we can crush them later, either all at once, or piece by piece," Obito finished. Kabuto seemed to understand the plan as he nodded finally.
"That is indeed a good plan, but what are we to do with the Edo Tensei? Have you told the rest of the members of the Akatsuki about this," Obito nodded.
"Yes, most of them don't care about it. Plus, they understand that without this, the attack will probably prove to be quite deadly," and hadn't that been a discussion? Though, Obito had shut down all dissent with his power. He had no more time to waste.
"Alright then, I have the DNA samples for the four shinobi you need to summon," Obito said as he picked up four vials out of his Kamui. He had gathered quite a collection for this purpose.
These four shinobi were chosen for each of them single-handedly could bring down a village. A single shinobi.
He passed them to Kabuto, who began to read the names written on them. However, Kabuto's eyes would widen as he would read the names, more so the name of a specific shinobi.
"This… this…. How did you even get his blood!" he exclaimed, and Obito did not deign it with a reply as he began to push chakra to his Mangekyo. He felt the space around him distort as he began to use Kamui.
"Have everything ready within fifteen days," He added as he left the cave, leaving Kabuto alone as he simply looked at the label on a specific vial once more.
"It seems things are going to be quite interesting," Kabuto muttered as he smirked and pocketed the four vials.
Interesting indeed.
0000
KARIN UZUMAKI
Karin sat with Shinso as the marriage ceremony concluded. The ceremony had been fairly traditional, with both Kurenai-san and Asuma-san wearing Kimonos. She looked around and saw that more almost most of Konoha's top brass were there. The Hokage sat on a table as well, along with her Jiraiya-sama and a couple of older members of the Sarutobi-clan.
"Is there an issue?" Shinso suddenly asked, and she shook her head.
"No, nothing it's fine. I was just looking for Shizune-san. It seems she has already left," Shinso looked around as well.
"Yes, well, she is very busy. Plus, the ceremony is over now. Other people are leaving as well," he added as he tried to straighten out his Kimono again. Seeing his struggle with it, she just smiled and moved forward to help.
"Here, let me help," and she set straightened out the folds in his Kimono. They had both gone with the color blue, each slightly different shade. It was her first time seeing him in a Kimono and his first time wearing one, evidenced by his struggle in it.
"Here, it's all set," she said as she leaned back, smiling at his sigh of relief.
"Honestly, I am not having a traditional wedding. I had never thought that wearing a kimono would be this difficult," and Karin was startled by those words. And it seems that they registered to him as well as he turned to her.
"Ohh, I did not mean it like that. If you want, we could have a traditional one, not that I am saying we need to have a wedding any…." And she just broke down into a laugh at his antics as she leaned over on his shoulder.
"It's okay, I get what you mean," and then she leaned closer to his ear and whispered, "we can have it any way you like, more so,"—and her lips were touching the skin of his ear now—"anytime you want."
He gave her a startled look, and Karin just smiled, and just as he was about to reply, they were cut off by a very familiar voice.
"What a drag. You do know we are not at your wedding yet," came the voice of Shinso's classmate, and Karin immediately leaned back and saw the young Nara clan heir standing behind them with a smirk on his face.
"Ahh, Shikamaru, it is good to see you," Shinso greeted the boy and then turned to face the person by Nara's side.
"And how have you been, Sakura? It has been some time since we met. Come join us, both of you," he indicated to the two empty seats, and they both sat down. Though, the young kunoichi by Shikamaru's side was still giving the young Nara a very mean glare.
"I am fine, Shinso-kun. How have you been?" Sakura asked as Shikamaru greeted her, followed by the pink-haired kunoichi.
"Can you make the ceremony shorter and less boring, Shinso," Shikamaru teased Shinso though Karin did spot Sakura pinching the young Nara's arm. Shinso seemed to take it in good jest as Karin felt her own face flush.
"Ohh, we will see about that later, but from what I am seeing, we might be invited to yours pretty soon," Shinso teased, and it seemed that he had reached the same conclusion as Karin, given the flush on Sakura-san's face.
"Ohh, it's nothing like that. It's just that Yoshino-sama wanted me to make sure that Shikamaru attended the event," Sakura rushed to explain, and Shinso simply replied.
"Ohh, I get it. I get it," though his smile spoke of a very different understanding. Though, Sakura immediately changed the topic.
"So, are you excited to visit Kirigakure, Shinso-kun?" she asked him, and Karin was suddenly reminded of Shinso's next mission. He was to visit Kiragakure with the jounin commander as a part of a team to establish the peace treaty.
"Hmm, well a little bit. After all, it is a completely new village with a very varied history. Are you joining us as well, Sakura?" Shinso questioned the girl, and she nodded.
"No, I will be accompanying Jiraiya-sama as well as his aide. He said that it would be a good opportunity to see how another Great Village operates," and then Shikmaru-san cut in.
"Sheesh, isn't there anything else to talk about? Hell, weren't we talking about your marriage Shinso? So, tell me, when's the special date," He reopened the topic, and Shinso just looked at her and raised his brow.
"Well, I haven't really thought about it at all. We are still young. There is no need to hurry," he replied, making the young Nara heir snort.
"Yeah, tell that to my clan. They have been on my father's back about mine for some time. Moreover, the mother seems to agree with elders over this as well. Hell, it's the first time in over two decades that these two groups have agreed over anything," he complained, making her smirk.
"How is Yoshino-san these days?" she asked about the Nara matriarch, but before Shikamaru could reply they were interrupted once more by another one of Shinso's classmates.
"Hey there, everyone," came a voice that seemed familiar to Karin, and she turned and saw Naruto-Kun standing there. Given his new look, it had taken her a second or so to recognize him.
"Hi Naruto, how have you been? Come join us?" Shinso greeted the familiar blonde kindly as the boy sat down.
And then the table descended into a merry discussion about wide-ranging topics as the village celebrated the union of two of its best shinobis.
Completely unaware of what lay further ahead.
0000
BOOM. This was a setup for the next arc. And we are gathering the pieces and setting up the stage.
Shinso's Karin romance has taught me many things. It was not a very well-done romance, now that I look at it. But still, I have always wanted to write about Karin. So, it is what it is.
Any guesses on which shinobi's vial had surprised kabuto?
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