Chapter 332: Is It Male or Female
Kisame was an honest man, and what he longed for was a truthful world. Facing Itachi's younger brother, who had already reconciled with him, Kisame didn't want to deceive him, not even with a well-meaning lie.
So he began to think.
First, what did "liking" even mean?
Kisame didn't understand.
But soon, he recalled a female teammate from his time in the Anbu.
She was the only person who had ever made him feel warmth, the only one who had ever moved his heart. Perhaps that was what the beginning of "liking" felt like.
It was the only faint glimmer of light in his life, and he had extinguished it with his own hands.
"I did, once. But after I encountered Konoha's Morino Ibiki, I killed her to make sure no information would leak."
Kisame spoke as if it had nothing to do with him, his tone calm and indifferent.
And he didn't pretend to like men just to align with Sasuke's possible need for validation.
"Uh… sorry. It's nothing. I'll go now."
Sasuke looked awkward after hearing that.
Morino Ibiki, that was the examiner from their Chunin Exams, wasn't he?
The ninja world was still too chaotic. Just stepping out of the village to buy something, and you could run into ten people who held grudges against your home.
Because of Kisame's answer, Sasuke didn't dare ask anyone else.
What if everyone he asked had some grudge against Konoha? Wouldn't he just be asking for trouble?
And honestly, that possibility wasn't even low.
Sasuke walked toward the ship by the shore, thinking about what Kisame had said.
Kisame was strong enough to partner with his brother Itachi and be a member of the powerful Akatsuki organization.
So when Kisame killed his female teammate, it wasn't just because of ninja rules or the need to protect information. It was simply because he himself wasn't strong enough.
If he had been strong enough to instantly kill all the Konoha ninja brought by Morino Ibiki, then no information would have leaked in the first place.
As expected, power was the only thing necessary to protect the people one cared about.
Sasuke became even more determined to transplant the eyes.
Only by obtaining the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, and eventually the Rinnegan as described by Shiromo, could he gain true power and protect those he cared about.
If he had enough power, then even if his brother lost strength after giving up his original eyes, it wouldn't matter. Itachi wouldn't even need to fight anymore.
On the other hand, if he refused the transplant because of emotional hesitation, and they encountered an enemy they couldn't defeat, the best outcome would be like Kisame's, losing one person. The worst case would be everyone dying.
Sasuke boarded the ship.
After they had sailed some distance from shore, Sasuke asked Itachi the same question:
"Brother, do you like women?"
"?"
Itachi looked over, confused.
He carefully considered Sasuke's question. Was the key point "you", "like", or "women"?
Could it be that Sasuke was thinking about restoring the Uchiha clan?
"Right now, that's not what we should be focusing on…"
Itachi answered earnestly.
"I remember now. What was her name again?"
Sasuke lowered his head, racking his brain to recall the name of that Uchiha kunoichi who had once interacted with Itachi.
"Izumi."
Just like Kisame, Itachi calmly spoke the name.
After Kisame killed his teammate, he had already become emotionally numb, only occasionally feeling a trace of sentiment when recalling it.
Although Itachi seemed to have been closer to Izumi than Kisame had been to his teammate, after everything happened, Itachi was even more resolute. He never even thought about her again.
If Sasuke hadn't brought it up today, the only things in Itachi's heart would have been Sasuke and the village.
Izumi? Who was that? He didn't know.
"Yes, that's it, Izumi, uh…"
With Itachi saying it, Sasuke finally remembered.
He had heard that this Izumi had once mocked him as a child for looking like a girl.
Wait… hold on!
Izumi…
The name immediately made Sasuke think of another, Izuna.
Especially since not long before losing consciousness, he had watched a stage play drawn by Sai using Super Beast Imitating Drawing.
Something about Izuna turning into a woman and becoming his mother after receiving a purple bow transplant.
Sasuke suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
Following that line of thought, he asked a soul-searching question: "Brother, are you sure Izumi is a girl?"
"?"
Itachi fell into confusion once again.
This wasn't even the kind of question someone would ask just to pick a fight.
But his dear younger brother wouldn't ask such a thing without reason.
There had to be some deeper meaning.
"What do you mean?"
After thinking for a long time and still not understanding, Itachi could only ask, somewhat ashamed.
"Have you ever seen Izumi use the bathroom or take a bath?"
Sasuke pressed further.
Sasuke could only ask in this roundabout way. Otherwise, he couldn't just directly ask, "Brother, does Izumi have… equipment?"
"No."
Itachi couldn't figure out the reason and simply answered honestly.
"Just as I thought…"
Sasuke sighed.
It seemed that Uchiha Izumi might also be a boy.
Sasuke completely gave up.
He didn't want to uncover this dark truth of the ninja world anymore.
---
Konoha.
Sasuke arrived at the village, and Itachi secretly sent word that they needed Tsunade's help with the eye transplant.
The two of them waited at a temporary residence outside the village.
After a while, it wasn't just Tsunade and her assistants Sakura and Ino who arrived, Orochimaru and the Sound Four came as well.
After receiving the message, Tsunade felt that Sasuke was technically Orochimaru's disciple, so she decided to inform him.
Thus, Orochimaru used the Sound Four's Flying Thunder Formation to come over.
Itachi didn't have a good impression of Orochimaru, but since both Tsunade and Orochimaru were assisting with the surgery, it was actually a good thing, more reliable.
"Before the transplant, please keep your minds calm and your bodies relaxed. Don't let your thoughts wander."
As Orochimaru spoke, he took out a syringe from a refrigerated container.
"If you can't control yourselves, I can give you a little of this."
"What is that? Anesthetic? But that's already necessary, isn't it?"
Tsunade looked at him, puzzled.
"No, this is a special hormone. It stabilizes emotions, though it has some minor, insignificant side effects."
Orochimaru shook his head slightly, then glanced at the Sound Four outside the door.
"When entering cursed seal form, the mind is filled with violence. But with this, most of one's rationality can be maintained."
"Tell us the side effects first."
Out of caution toward Orochimaru, Itachi interrupted his explanation.
"To be precise, it's only a side effect for males. It promotes the development of secondary sexual characteristics, smoother skin, finer and less body hair, and so on."
Orochimaru didn't mind Itachi's distrust and calmly explained.
"Oh, and not entirely a downside. If a man wants to transition into a woman, this could be quite useful in helping achieve part of that effect."
Out of scientific rigor, Orochimaru added one more point.
(End of this chapter)