Yuu knew that Orochimaru had always had a sharp eye for people.
Kimimaro, Karin, Suigetsu—people like them had all been discovered by him when they were still very young and brought to Otogakure. Almost every one of them had grown into jōnin-level, or even near-Kage-level, fighters while still in their teens.
Even the Sound Four, who were used as disposable tools, had overall qualities above the average ninja. If they had been placed in Sunagakure or Amegakure, they would have been worth some focused cultivation.
His eye for selecting subordinates was indeed impressive.
But…
Kabuto Yakushi should only be five right now, right? And he was born a civilian, knowing nothing about the ninja world. Even someone like that could catch Orochimaru's attention?
How exactly did Orochimaru judge that he had a promising future?
Or was he only mentioning it casually, the kind of "cast the net whether there are fish or not" approach?
Yuu's thoughts shifted rapidly, but his face remained calm and unreadable.
"I understand. I'll go look for him later. If that child really has talent in medicine, then with proper training, maybe he can become fresh blood for the medical team and contribute to Konoha."
"Heh… that's true."
Orochimaru let out a low chuckle, then continued the experiment.
Yuu set aside the slight unease in his heart and helped beside him according to Orochimaru's instructions, while quietly thinking things over.
…
There was no need to say much about assisting Orochimaru with experiments.
The next day, Yuu found some time to visit the settlement for the villagers from Mount Kikyo. There, he found the young, ignorant Kabuto Yakushi. After briefly explaining the situation, he brought him to the camp's medical team.
At this time, Jaji was busy performing surgery on a wounded soldier, so she could not meet Yuu right away.
But Yuu could already be considered a regular here, almost half a temporary worker. Rin, meanwhile, had been helping here frequently during this period. So as soon as she saw him, she hurriedly put down what she was doing and trotted over. She glanced at Kabuto.
"Huh, this child looks familiar…
"Oh! I remember now. Is he the child we saw in the village in Mount Kikyo Valley last time? He was with that old village chief back then, right?"
"That's him."
Yuu nodded and got straight to the point. "This child seems to have some vision problems. I brought him here for an examination."
"Vision?"
Rin crouched down and stared into Kabuto's eyes, then stretched out a hand and waved it in front of him. Throughout the process, Kabuto's eyes looked unfocused, constantly drifting around as if he were looking everywhere and nowhere at once.
"Hmm… there does seem to be a bit of a problem. It feels like both eyes have some astigmatism?"
Rin thought for a moment and said.
"I noticed that too."
Yuu nodded slightly and added, "I suspect the issue is with his retina, though I'm not sure yet whether it's congenital or acquired. Let's examine him with the instruments first and assess the possibility of surgery to remove the root cause. If the risks are too high, then we'll consider other options."
"Okay."
Rin nodded, then stood and led the way. "Come with me."
Since he had already brought Kabuto here, Yuu intended to see the matter through. He wanted to try and cure Kabuto's eyes once and for all, so the boy would not have to wear glasses from childhood into adulthood.
Also, he wanted to take this chance to raise Kabuto's favorability a little, so that he could intercept him from Danzō and Orochimaru in the future and keep him by his side as an assistant. If that didn't work, he could always send him out as a spy. Kabuto would certainly be good at that too.
However,
Kabuto himself did not seem to understand what was happening at all. He kept looking around with scattered eyes, appearing dazed and silly, making Yuu wonder if he had found the wrong person.
But…
white hair, five years old, from Mount Kikyo, and now nearsightedness. If only one or two of these traits matched, there might still be some uncertainty. But with all of them stacked together, it was unlikely this was anyone other than Yakushi Kabuto.
"Forget it. Let's treat the illness first."
Yuu made his decision.
That afternoon, the vision test results came out.
The initial judgment was that Kabuto's problem was congenital. As a five- or six-year-old child, he should not normally have moderate nearsightedness. It was very likely that his deceased parents also had poor eyesight, which had been passed on to him.
In theory, this could be solved through surgery.
However, Kabuto's surgery was postponed.
First, the surgery carried risks. Especially for a young child whose body was still developing, one slight mistake could damage the optic nerve or even cause blindness. It was better to be cautious.
Second, there was another more important matter about to begin.
According to the agreement, tomorrow was the day Konoha and Sunagakure would conduct their second round of negotiations.
Yuu's Minato Squad would continue to serve as guards and participate in this negotiation.
Morning.
It was still the same watchtower. Representatives from the two ninja villages sat opposite each other.
Chiyo was the first to speak.
"After discussion by our village council of elders, Sunagakure agrees in principle to Konoha's demand for troop withdrawal. The Suna forces stationed in Wildfire City and the surrounding strongholds will complete their withdrawal within twenty days and return the occupied land to the Land of Fire."
"A wise choice."
The corner of Orochimaru's mouth curved slightly. "Then, regarding compensation…"
"We cannot accept the compensation amount. Sunagakure also suffered heavy losses in this war, and our treasury is empty. However… we agree to the bilateral trade framework your side proposed. Only some specific details need to be modified, especially the clauses concerning the promotion of specialty products from the Land of Wind."
As Chiyo spoke, she pushed a new scroll to the center of the table.
Nara Shikaku took it and quickly browsed through it.
"…Sand sculptures?"
"That's right. They are one of the Land of Wind's specialty crafts. The material is desert sand treated with a special adhesive. It is highly moldable, beautiful, and durable. There are many similar specialty products. If we can open the Land of Fire market, it will benefit both sides."
"…Heh."
Orochimaru sneered and spoke in a raspy voice. "The idea is good, but too vague. You wrote 'assist with promotion,' but what specific form will that take? How much manpower and material resources will Konoha and Sunagakure each invest? What will the profit-sharing ratio be? Also, the definition and quality standards for sand sculpture artworks must be clarified…"
"Additionally, there are tariff concessions for specialty products, and the sharing of transportation costs…"
A new round of verbal sparring began again.
But this time, it was no longer simply arguing. Both sides truly intended to end the war, so every condition had to be confirmed one by one to avoid unnecessary disputes and trouble.