Chapter 248.1: Return To Camp, Educating People
In the evening, the sun hid behind the mountain range. Half of the sky was lit up with a fiery red sunset while the other half was immersed in a deep blue backdrop. Hatake Kabuto sat under the eaves holding the container that had his baby brother Hatake Isan.
He was waiting for Uchiha Tonan’s return. Kabuto was after all just a child, who didn’t know what to do after his parents’ sudden death, not to mention how violent their death was. After waiting a long time, he finally heard the sound of footsteps from a distance. He raised his head to look over.
At this moment, Tonan was walking towards him with a cylindrical object in his hand. Even though Tonan was still far away, Kabuto immediately got up and when Tonan came closer, he bowed a little and greeted him, “Tonan-san.”
Tonan smiled slightly and said, “I’m sorry that I kept you waiting. I’ll go and cook a meal for you now. You must be hungry.”
Kabuto was taken aback for a moment. He hadn’t imagined that a ninja as powerful as Tonan could actually cook like any ordinary person. He bowed again and politely replied, “Thank you Tonan-san for taking the trouble.”
Tonan nodded slightly and walked into a room. He casually placed the regeneration core on the coffee table and tied an apron. Then he walked into the kitchen to start cooking the food.
Ta, ta, ta… Kabuto heard the clear and rhythmic sounds of the knife hitting the chopping board coming from the kitchen as if the person in question was an expert in mundane things such as cutting vegetables. Kabuto felt it was inappropriate that he was doing nothing to contribute.
So, he walked over to the kitchen door and stood there, wanting to see if he could find something to help with. The knife in Tonan’s hand was moving rapidly. He was now handling the meat, instantly cutting it into pieces. Seeing his practiced movements, Kabuto was even more surprised.
“Go and sit at the dinner table. You can’t help with anything here,” Tonan instructed without raising his head. Kabuto nodded his head and walked over to the table. He obediently sat down without making any noise. Not long after, Tonan came over with several dishes giving out an appetizing aroma.
Once he pointed to Kabuto to begin eating, the young boy did not hold back. He picked up his chopsticks and reached for the food. This meal was not too delicious primarily because the ingredients were too crude and only salt was used for seasoning.
Also, most of the vegetables were moldy and soggy because they were very stale by now. Tonan did choose vegetables that were still edible to cook but that too was barely fresh. The two still ate their meal without saying anything.
During this time, Kabuto frequently turned his gaze to the regeneration core on the coffee table. His eyes were filled with curiosity but since he did not know Tonan well as yet, and he instinctively felt that the relationship between them was that of superior and subordinate, he didn’t dare to ask any questions.
Instead, it was Tonan who chewed on his food leisurely and said, “You can ask if you are curious. I’m not a man-eating beast, you know. What are you afraid of?”
Kabuto swallowed the food in his mouth and tentatively asked, “What is that thing?” Tonan replied without hesitation, “It is called a regeneration core. It takes out the human heart and brain with a special technique and then with the addition of some special materials, it fuses the two.”
Kabuto nodded his head and asked another question. “What’s the use of this thing?”
Tonan’s chopsticks paused as he explained, “A human being’s soul and consciousness will be sealed in this regeneration core. Because the burdens of other systems in the human body are removed, and it is protected by a special sealing technique from outside, the flesh and blood in the regeneration core can survive for a very long time. It is not wrong to say that the person in this will never die.”
“Never die…” When Kabuto heard Tonan’s words, a hint of yearning flashed through his eyes.
Tonan continued to explain, “Yes, this person is called Sasori. He is a genius puppet master from Suna and he is the one who researched this regeneration core. He wanted to transform himself into an immortal, undying puppet. And since he happened to meet me, I decided to help him. Once I return to my base, I’ll assemble a suitable puppet body for him, so that he can move freely again.”
“That’s amazing…” Kabuto opened his mouth wide. He was greatly shocked. He came from a family where he would hear his parents speak about how ninjas could use powerful ninjutsu such as fireball, water, and similar techniques. But he had never thought that they could actually also do something as nature-defying as this.
Tonan looked at Kabuto’s shocked appearance and said with a gentle smile, “Don’t be envious. There is not just one path to immortality. In my opinion, this path belongs to the heterodox path. When you gain more knowledge in the future, sooner or later, you’ll walk on your path. Let’s eat now. After we are done, we have to hurry on with our journey back through the night.”
“Yes, Tonan-san.” When Kabuto heard that they had to hurry on with their journey, he subconsciously responded by speeding up his eating speed. It was like he never realized that his time to leave the place that was his home for all these years, and where his parents were buried, had come.
