The Windmill Turns Both Ways

Mirror

It was surprisingly quiet in the hideout. Naruto and Obito crept slowly from one hall to the other.

They couldn't move well enough to run yet. Obito was recovering from the poison more slowly than Naruto, and he had to hold onto the wall with both hands for support while they walked.

"I know you said we'd find the way out and everything, but how're we supposed to do that without running into anybody? It's not like we can fight them right now," Obito grumbled quietly.

"That might not happen if we keep quiet," Naruto said, looking up and down the halls as they met a corner. He motioned for Obito to keep following. "You remember what Kabuto told us right before we left. Orochimaru is still busy directing stuff in the war, so he's probably not gonna worry about us too much right now. And if there's only five guards for this whole place, we can definitely avoid them."

"Maybe in here, but what about when we find a way out? They'll be watching the exits."

The younger Kabuto had given them what information he could, but he still insisted they wouldn't make it out without being caught. Only he and Kimimaro were helping Orochimaru inside the base, but the other four guards were outside, keeping anyone from getting out or in. It would take a lot of luck to get by them without being noticed.

That explained why they weren't bothering to keep Naruto and Obito locked up anymore. They were that confident the two wouldn't make it past the guards.

"Heh! I've been sneaking around the ANBU since I was a little kid. This won't even be a challenge," Naruto said, a touch arrogantly.

Obito raised a brow. "So what you're saying is you don't have a plan. Are you sure you're Minato-sensei's kid?"

"Uh, no, not a hundred percent. I told you that already." Naruto scowled. "What's that got to do with anything, anyway? We can't make a plan if we don't know what we're up against. That's why we have to face them head-on now. If we don't make it, then we'll have something to go by for the next time. It's a win-win."

"Sounds like you just made that up."

"Hey, shut up! I don't see you coming up with any better plans."

Obito shifted his body so he leaned on the wall with just one hand, testing out more weight on his legs. "I've got one right now. I say if we do get caught this time, we should cause enough damage to make Orochimaru show up again. We're going to have to fight anyway if the guards catch us, right? So we'd see what we're up against, like you said, but then we can find out more about what's really going on here. I wanna talk to Orochimaru himself and get some answers."

"I guess he hasn't been around because of the war, but... I wonder why he's still bothering with it, anyway. I thought he didn't really care about it."

"What war? You guys keep talking about the war, but in my time there was the war, and I'm really hoping it's not the same one."

"Nah, this one's new," Naruto said, frowning. He paused to look and make sure their way was clear before they turned another corner. "It's... kind of a weird war. It's not the different countries fighting against one another. It's just everybody against this one guy, with Orochimaru helping him."

"How is that a war? That sounds kind of dumb. No offense."

"There's more to it than that, alright? They're the ones behind everything, but they actually have a ton of people—er, things on their side. Orochimaru summoned a bunch of Uchiha as zombies to fight in the war. And these Edo Tensei guys can't be hurt or killed. On top of that, they have those clone-plant things. And the one behind it all is Uchiha Madara."