"Kabuto? What is this monstrous genius doing here?" Kaida thought. Then his mind began working overtime, deducing that Kabuto should still be under Danzo's command. Since Danzo was dead, Kabuto must now be under Hiruzen.
"Now, this is a welcome bonus from all that hard work," Kaida thought. It was reasonable for him to be this happy. The person in front of him was Kabuto, the person who had mastered sage mode and become a perfect sage, perfected edo Tensei, and much more.
In a sense, there weren't many people who would have been a match against Kabuto during the Fourth Great Ninja War, maybe not even the Kage from the great ninja villages.
But the most impressive feat that showed how much of a genius Kabuto was to the viewers was when Tsunade used Ranshinshō (Body Pathway Derangement) on him. This technique scrambles the target's nervous system signals, causing them to misfire. As a result, when Kabuto tried to move a specific body part, like his hands, another part of his body would move instead.
This would make a normal person paralyzed, even walking straight would become extremely difficult, let alone fighting. But what did Kabuto do? He simply trained his body in a few minutes to work completely fine and was able to put up a fight against a Sanin in this condition.
During the fight, he was controlling every part of his body as if there were hundreds of switches he had to press simultaneously, and he did that seamlessly. That was the type of genius sitting in front of Kaida.
Kaida simply made his way toward the seat next to Kabuto.
"Were you also called by Lord Third?" Kaida asked.
"Yes, but who are you?" Kabuto asked, a little reserved. He had recently been admitted to Root, and Danzo hadn't had much time to train him. That's why, for the time Kabuto was under Root ninja, he was just surrounded by gloominess and seriousness, which made him a little reserved. Luckily, Danzo hadn't taught him much yet, resulting in him not losing all of his emotions and all that other stuff.
"Oh! Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Kaida Uchiha. Lord Third summoned me here today," Kaida replied, mustering the best friendly smile he could make.
"... My name is Kabuto Yakushi. I am from the orphanage in the outskirts of the village, and yes, Lord Third summoned me here too," Kabuto replied after a little pause, as if he was thinking whether he should even talk with this person or not.
"Oh, I was also from the orphanage too, until my aunt from the Uchiha clan adopted me," Kaida said, but there was a little guilt in his mind. He was trying to become acquainted with Kabuto using his soft spot at this time, but he gave himself the justification that:
'I don't know when I will meet him again. It's better to have a little acquaintance now, so that in the future I could build a better relationship with him.'
Before Kabuto could say anything, the gate of the Hokage's office opened, and a tall, lean man with white hair, a colorful cloak, a mischievous grin, eccentric charm, but contrasting white eyes came outside.
"Were you guys waiting for long?" Jiraya asked.
'Is today my lucky day? Not only Kabuto, now I also get to meet Jiraya the gallant,' Kaida thought.
"No, sir," Kaida replied respectfully.
"That's great then. Now come inside. Sensei is waiting for you guys," Jiraya said and opened the gate a little wider.
"Good evening, Lord Third," both Kaida and Kabuto said. Normally Kaida would have said
"grandpa" instead of "Lord Third," but today it felt like something official was going to be discussed, so he decided to stick with a formal tone.
"Good evening. How are you guys?" Hiruzen asked with his famous grandfatherly tone.
"I am doing great, Lord Third, thanks to you," Kabuto said respectfully. Kaida understood that Hiruzen must have found out the talent of Kabuto and somehow made some moves to show his goodwill to Kabuto, most likely helping with his orphanage in some way. But he kept these thoughts in his mind and let Kabuto finish.
"Good. What about you, Kaida?" Hiruzen turned to Kaida next.
"I am also doing great, Lord Third. I have just learned my first S-rank jutsu with your permission," Kaida replied.
"Good. It's nice to know both of you guys are doing fine. Come take a seat. I have something I want to discuss with you guys," Hiruzen said, pointing toward the seats in front of him while Jiraya sat on the sofa in the office.
"As you guys know..." Hiruzen started recounting the discussion he had already had with Shikaku and Jiraya about how the village suffered humiliation for so long and what were its consequences.
"Now that we have recovered sufficient strength, I am planning on showing the world the true talent of Konoha," Hiruzen said.
'Oh no! If this is going in the direction I'm thinking it is going, then I won't have time to go and "save" those two poor fellows,' Kaida thought.
"So for the next Chunin Exam, I am planning on sending the best talent of our village, and you two are going to be in that team," Hiruzen said with a smile.
"But sir, I am not that powerful and would not be much help in the Chunin Exam," Kabuto said.
"That's not a problem, Kabuto. ... I am personally going to teach you for the next month," Hiruzen said.
Kaida's eyes went wide. The professor was personally going to teach Kabuto. What type of absurd team would Konoha have in the future if his plan became successful?
"Then I will do my best to meet your expectations, Lord Third," Kabuto said, bowing his head.
"I am sure you will. Now what about you, Kaida? Are you ready for this responsibility?" Hiruzen asked.
"Yes, Lord Third. I will also try my best in the Chunin Exam," Kaida said.
"Good, very good. But even though you are already powerful enough, you will still need to train a little to refine your strength and also master the jutsu you just learned.
But since I am teaching Kabuto for this month, I won't be able to help you as well. That's why I arranged someone else for teaching you. Meet Jiraya, one of my students and a Sanin," Hiruzen said, pointing toward Jiraya.
"Yo," Jiraya said, raising his hand up.
"Sensei," Kaida bowed a little. There was nothing more he would like to ask now. He was even worried if there was a fixed amount of luck every person can use in his life. He may have used most of his today.
'The chance of learning sage mode directly came in front of me. Though it would be impossible to ask it right away, but slowly I could make my way toward that for sure,' Kaida thought.
"Since I am going to be your new Sensei, and the reputation of the village will depend on your performance, we will start our training from tomorrow," Jiraya said, patting Kaida's shoulder as he came in front of him.
"Yes, Sensei," Kaida replied.