"What did you say? Jūgo escaped?"
Orochimaru leaned back in his chair, his snake-like eyes narrowing in surprise as he listened to the report.
"Lord Orochimaru," the subordinate said with a bow, "a few days ago, Jūgo went berserk after learning of Kimimaro's death. He killed two of the shinobi assigned to monitor him and disappeared into the forest. We had assumed he would calm down after a few days—Kimimaro had personally said goodbye before heading out on his last mission. But... he never recovered from the loss."
"We assigned a few scouts to follow him from a distance," the ninja continued, "but their bodies were later found. All of them were killed. We believe Jūgo has vanished into the wilderness again."
Orochimaru frowned. "That child... I know him well. Kimimaro had prepared everything for Jūgo—stability, purpose. He wouldn't abandon his promise. Unless…"
He fell silent, eyes glinting.
"…The only one who could shake Jūgo's resolve is Kimimaro himself. But Kimimaro is dead."
Regret briefly flickered across Orochimaru's face. Kimimaro had once been his most loyal follower—and the ideal vessel for his soul transfer technique. Unlike the others, Kimimaro had willingly offered himself, even dragging his dying body into battle to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke.
The Shikotsumyaku—Kimimaro's Kekkei Genkai—wasn't just rare; it was ancient. Orochimaru had discovered through his experiments that it carried remnants of the Kaguya clan's primordial bloodline. But Kimimaro's mysterious terminal illness, possibly tied to the very power in his bones, made him an unsuitable host. A waste of potential.
He waved his hand. "You may go."
Once the subordinate left, Orochimaru summoned Kabuto Yakushi. The silver-haired medic arrived promptly, pushing his glasses with a faint smile.
"You called for me, Lord Orochimaru?"
"I did. Tell me… did you recover Kimimaro's body?"
Kabuto stiffened. "My lord, I—"
"There's no need to lie. I know your nature, Kabuto. You wouldn't let valuable samples go to waste—especially not from the Sound Four. I understand. I would've done the same."
Kabuto bowed his head. "It is exactly because of that understanding, Lord Orochimaru, that I serve you."
"Then answer me plainly."
"…We recovered the bodies of the Sound Four, but not Kimimaro."
"Why not?"
"The two shinobi we sent to retrieve him never returned. When we found them, they were dead. Their wounds were self-inflicted—or appeared to be. It's possible they were controlled or panicked. But something... or someone... got there first."
Orochimaru closed his eyes in thought. "Kimimaro… Even weakened, he could kill two average shinobi. But that should be impossible. He's dead. Unless... someone used Edo Tensei. Or…"
He opened his eyes slowly.
"…someone has activated the Earth Curse Mark again."
Somewhere far from Orochimaru's lair…
Two figures moved through the forest. One was a tall boy with orange hair and tribal markings on his skin. The other, a pale youth with long white hair, walked beside him, his steps steady but slow.
"Kimimaro," Jūgo asked, "are you okay?"
"…I'm fine," Kimimaro answered after a pause. He had felt it again—a faint burning where his Cursed Seal of Earth had once been. It was brief, like a phantom itch.
"If you're tired, we can rest."
"No need. Let's keep going. I'm not ready for battle, but walking is fine."
Kimimaro took a deep breath. His body—this new body—was still fragile. Not long ago, he had opened his eyes in a cold, blood-soaked forest. His memories were fragmented: flashes of battle, Orochimaru, pain. And then—nothing.
Before that, he had been someone else. A normal young man from another world. He died in a car accident, the last thing he saw being a bloodstained copy of Naruto manga that had fallen from his bag.
And now, somehow, he had been reborn… into the dying body of Kimimaro.
But he was not the same Kimimaro who had once offered his life for Orochimaru. He carried two souls, merged—Kimimaro's dying will, and the soul of the transmigrator.
Their fusion had triggered something extraordinary: a system embedded into his soul—the Bloodline Evolution System.
And in the moment he awoke, he remembered the first words spoken to him by the white-haired boy beside him.
"This time… live for yourself."
Jūgo had unknowingly given Kimimaro a second chance.
Now, with a system in his soul, a body reborn from the brink of death, and a will not bound by fate, Kimimaro walked forward—not as a weapon for someone else's dream…
…but to write his own story.
Kimimaro was alive again—resurrected, but not restored. The illness that had plagued him in life still lingered, a curse embedded deep within his Kaguya bloodline. According to the system that had guided his return, his Shikotsumyaku kekkei genkai could now only be used for a total of one hour—cumulative, not continuous.
Time was running out.
The system's prompts were clear: to stabilize his body, he needed to find a way to repair or replace the genetic flaw in his bloodline. His first step was to gather genetic material from others of the Kaguya clan.
But therein lay the problem—the Kaguya clan was extinct.
At least, they were supposed to be.
Still, if even one survivor remained, Kimimaro had to find them.
He wasn't alone in this search. Jūgo—his loyal companion and the only person who truly understood him—had been the first person Kimimaro sought out after his resurrection. Jūgo, who had descended into madness after Kimimaro's death, had miraculously regained clarity upon seeing him again.
Their destination: Kusagakure, the Village Hidden in the Grass.
"There's no need for both of us to go," Jūgo suggested. "Let me handle it. You shouldn't fight in your condition. We just need someone with Kaguya blood, right?"
Kimimaro shook his head, calm but firm. "A true shinobi doesn't shy away from danger. Besides, it's not that I can't fight. I just can't rely on Shikotsumyaku too much. If we're lucky, we'll find someone quickly. Then this body… this curse… can be dealt with."
He had also learned something curious through the system's knowledge archives: in this version of the world, the Kaguya clan wasn't merely a violent fringe group from the Land of Water. Rather, they were distant, degraded descendants of the Ōtsutsuki clan. Though their bloodline had diverged significantly, traces of that ancient DNA remained—especially in those who had awakened the Shikotsumyaku.
According to the system, a blood sample from a Kaguya descendant could be used to produce a serum—something capable of integrating compatible genetic material into his body to repair or override the degenerative aspects of his kekkei genkai. But he had only one test tube—a single-use genetic extractor. That made failure not an option.
The Sound Village was far behind them. Now, deep in the Land of Waterfalls, surrounded by steep cliffs and roaring rivers, danger was always just behind the next tree.
Like now.
From the foliage stepped two rogue ninja, clad in mismatched gear with stolen headbands from various villages. Their eyes gleamed with greed.
"Half a day, and all we get are two kids?" one sneered. "What a waste. They probably don't even have anything worth stealing."
Kimimaro stepped forward slowly, his eyes calm and lethal. "What good fortune. Two donations walking straight to me."
Jūgo, silent but alert, stood ready at his side.