"The simple lack of her is more to me than others' presence."
-Edward Thomas
The two brothers were able to reach the cave where Kabuto hid himself. The medic smiled menacingly, "I wasn't supposed to obtain my part of the deal before the conclusion of this war. But I suppose that guy won't be angry with me since the 'specimen' made it's way here on it's own." he laughed just like how Orochimaru did which makes Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed in disgust.
"Kabuto, I may need to put a halt to your technique." Itachi said calmly as he took few steps towards the silver-haired.
Kabuto raised one eyebrow "Ku..ku..ku.. Itachi-san, not because you are wise enough to know how to block your summoner's control, could you also release this jutsu. Even though you kill me, the people that I had summoned will still remain, doing the things I had programmed them to do."
The older Uchiha smirked, "Perhaps, but I do possess something more than mere intelligence."
Kabuto frown, Itachi wouldn't know how to dispel this jutsu right? That's impossible. He looked towards Sasuke and back to Itachi. There are two sharingan wielders on the cave with him; even Orochimaru was powerless against one of them. Now Kabuto will have to fight two, but then again, he had already surpassed Orochimaru a long time ago. A plan crossed his mind. He need to seal Itachi and knock the younger brother unconscious, after all he needed his specimen to be healthy and alive. The medic inhaled deeply, performs some hand signs and started an attack.
Two huge snakes appeared and attacked the brothers who gracefully leapt out of harm on the same time. An unknown shinobi appeared in the clearing and landed a punch on Sasuke who dissolved in a pool of snakes. Sasuke looked at his attacker closely, just like his brother, his enemy was a dead shinobi brought back to life because of the endo tensei. When he was still at Sound under the tutelage of the snake sanin, he was able to learn about the basics of this technique but hasn't really tried it. Even with his hatred during those times, he couldn't bring himself to sacrifice an innocent person. Shocked emerald orbs flash on his mind's eye. Sakura, he recalled during his darkest days that he almost killed her, after those encounters he was sure that he would regret killing her. He closed his eyes and cursed. He let himself be consumed by darkness again, that he wasn't thinking who the person he is fighting was. It's Sakura for crying out loud. She is the girl he vowed to protect when they were young, she and Naruto, his precious people. But now, she's dead because of him and Naruto wouldn't probably forgive him for that. Ever. The realization pained him so much. The unknown shinobi throw a kunai with explosion tag at the younger Uchiha and he barely escaped the explosion. He berated himself. He shouldn't be sentimental now. It was his fault, yes, but brooding would not bring back the things that were lost. For the time being, he needed to help his brother on whatever he is planning.
He glanced towards his brother who was fighting against Kabuto. The medic had transformed in an entity he hadn't seen before. He heard him saying that he had already surpassed Orochimaru because he had already achieve the sage mode that even the snake himself failed to achieve.
The unknown shinobi kicked Sasuke's upper arm but he was able to catch his leg and run a chidori on his entire physique. He then throw the shinobi towards the opposite side of the cave as his gaze lingered to the fallen summon for a fraction of second knowing that he'll recover once more after a few minutes or so. He then returns his gaze towards his brother and Kabuto. The latter was standing pretty still with eyes staring straight, unseeing. Sasuke surmised that his brother already captured him in a genjutsu.
The younger Uchiha had teleported himself beside his brother. "What's happening to him?" he asked without leaving his gaze towards the unsuspected snake who become the victim of a crow.
