In a remote mountainous area far away from Konoha, on a slightly flat terrain, there is a simple courtyard.
Although the house made of wood is dilapidated, it is enough to provide shelter from wind and rain.
In the courtyard, a group of children, ranging in age from five to ten years old, were playing and having fun. Their clothes were shabby and their resources were scarce, but being able to live here still made people feel satisfied and happy.
After all, this is a privately built orphanage.
The people who can live here are children who have been displaced due to the war. Without this place, it is difficult to imagine whether they can survive alone.
Under the corridor in the courtyard, a white-haired boy with big round glasses was playing with some kind of medicinal herb with a simple tool in his hand.
The boy with short white hair is about six or seven years old. He is skilled in processing medicinal herbs and obviously has some pharmacological knowledge.
"Kabuto, what are you playing around with? Why don't you come and play with us?"
In the distance, a boy wearing a black hat suddenly ran towards us and asked breathlessly.
"These are the herbs that the dean picked when he was out a few days ago. They can be processed into simple medicines and should be able to be exchanged for some money..."
The tools in his hands kept busy, and while Kabuto continued to concentrate on processing the herbs, he responded without raising his head.
The boy in the black hat looked at it curiously for a while, then lost interest.
"You are so amazing. You are the only one who has mastered the skills taught by the dean..." After saying that, he once again joined the group of children playing in the courtyard.
Although he received praise, Kabuto was not happy about it.
He did all this just to help the orphanage and help the director share the financial pressure.
Compared to the group of children playing in the distance, only he knew that not long ago, the director and two managers of the orphanage had begun to worry about managing the operating funds of the orphanage.
In order to work hard to maintain the normal operation of the orphanage, the director who built this safe haven on his own initiative was often busy outside.
He used his medical ninjutsu to help nearby villages. During the fierce wars in the past few years, he went to the front line without fear of danger and treated wounded ninjas in the logistics medical department to earn money.
Subsidize this orphanage.
It is worth mentioning that he was lucky enough to live here because he met the gentle dean two or three years ago.
"Child...your name is Kabuto, right? I didn't expect that we would meet again here..." came a low and hoarse voice.
Kabuto looked up and saw that a man wrapped in a black robe had appeared in front of him at some point.
And with a somewhat creepy expression, he looked at him curiously.
"You are..." Kabuto pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose, and then he took a closer look at the appearance of the man in the black robe. He had pale skin, purple eyeshadow, and golden pupils. This appearance immediately gave him some memories, "Are you that?"
Konoha ninja at that time?"
"It seems you still remember me..." Orochimaru smiled evilly.
The two of them met during the war more than a year ago.
Kabuto, who had just learned medical ninjutsu, followed the director to the frontline logistics medical department. While treating the wounded, he met the gloomy-looking man in front of him.
At that time, Orochimaru was extremely surprised when he saw that Kabuto, who had no theoretical knowledge of ninjutsu, could use simple healing techniques brilliantly.
Because he just wanted to stay with the director and live with everyone in the orphanage, Kabuto flatly rejected the man's opportunity to train him to become a ninja.
Just when Kabuto was about to ask more questions, two similarly dressed people came in from a distance with Orochimaru.
Among them, the old man holding a cane was already talking to the two managers who came out of the house to check.
"We are ninjas of Konoha. We have important matters to discuss with the director of this orphanage."
"Sorry, our dean is not here at the moment." An old man with short white hair, one of the administrators, replied with some fear.
"It doesn't matter, we'll just wait here..."
Danzo Shimura and another man wrapped in a black robe, after saying this indifferently, found a place and waited.
"Vice dean..., what should I do?" Another manager was a fat, middle-aged woman.
Seeing that Danzo and the others seemed to be coming with bad intentions, she couldn't help but secretly pulled the white-haired old man aside and asked worriedly.
"Let's wait until the dean comes back..." The deputy dean also looked worried. The orphanage was chosen to be located here, of course, taking into account the security environment.
Under normal circumstances, at least you won't encounter bandits or anything like that here.
And since these three people claim to be Konoha ninjas, they must be right.
However, it might not be a good thing if the ninjas of Konoha suddenly come to visit. Because this orphanage was established privately, during times of economic hardship, you can occasionally go to Konoha and apply for assistance funds from the village.
However, aid is not always available.
In most cases, it depends on Konoha's face, and there are even more cases where he will find excuses not to distribute the money.
Therefore, all the circumstances indicate that it is probably not a good thing for Konoha ninja to suddenly come to our door.
But now no matter what, we can only wait until the dean comes back...
Kabuto silently carefully packed and stored the medicinal materials processed in his hands.
Then, like all the children in the orphanage, they observed the three unkind people in the orphanage from a distance and talked quietly.
Most of the children in the courtyard are not interested in the identity of ninja, and some even resist this identity.
After all, most of the people who come here are orphans who were displaced because of the war, so few people have a good impression of the ninja profession that caused the war.
As for Kabuto, he was indifferent to it.
It doesn't matter whether he is a ninja or not. He just wants to stay with the dean and everyone...
Danzo and others waited until late at night for the director of the orphanage, Yakushi Nonou, to return.
There is a prescribed schedule in the orphanage, and you must turn off the lights and go to bed at nine o'clock in the evening.
Lying in the dormitory of Datongpu, Kabuto listened to the even breathing of the children around him. He got up with a heavy heart and secretly glanced at the lights in the room on the other side through the window next to him.
I felt a little more uneasy in my heart.
He could have a premonition that the three Konoha ninjas who suddenly visited during the day might not bring any good things to the orphanage.
After some hesitation, he put on his clothes decisively and slipped out of bed.
After leaving the dormitory, he headed towards the brightly lit room in the courtyard, which should be the living room.
After arriving at the side of the window with ease, Kabuto carefully eavesdropped on the faint conversation coming from inside the house, and then heard the voice of the old man from Konoha.
"I didn't expect that you, known as the wandering witch, would now become a nanny."
