Jin and Itachi continue to run ahead with Sasuke chasing after them, it is not long before they find themselves in a cave. The deeper they go, the darker and the damper it gets; as they go further in they see a dead end, but Jin knows what’s really there and runs ahead of Itachi.

A golden yellow aura surrounds the young Uzumaki; as a skeletal figure forms around Jin, his body begins to tremble in intense pain. It’s as if every cell in his body is on fire, in acid, and being electrocuted all at once.

Ngh! The Susanoo still hurts like hell, but I need to keep using it to make it stronger…! Jin winces in agony, his eyes twitch with discomfort. This sucks ass!

The susanoo punches at the wall, the force behind the ethereal avatar’s fist causes the wall to collapse, shattering into countless pieces of debris. Behind the false wall is a new cave area with a cloaked Kabuto in the center of the room, a shogi board and an unconscious Anko lay on either side of him. With his Rinnegan and sensory abilities, Jin detects snakes scattered all over the area, the reptiles all share Kabuto’s chakra signature.

“I’m impressed you were able to break through my barrier and find this place.” Kabuto says as his snake tail sways from side to side, sniffing the air with its tongue.

“Itachi pinpointed your chakra when you were controlling him.”

“Yet another risk of this jutsu… though you won’t survive to remember for next time.” Itachi adds while entering the cave chamber.

“Thank you for the tip, I wasn’t worried because I didn’t think anyone was capable of defying the jutsu as you have done… Oh by the way, there’s also something I’d like you to know… this reanimation jutsu will not come und–”

“I know!”

“Itachi!!” Sasuke yells as he bursts into the room. “I caught up, why are yo–?!”

Noticing who else is in the room, Sasuke swiftly moves several yards to the left; he’s clearly been put on edge as he reaches for his sword, confusion is written all over his face.

“Y… You’re… Kabuto…?!”

“That my compensation for participating in the war would show up on his own at this particular moment? I’m so lucky…”

Prepared for a fight, Jin and Itachi begin molding their chakra. Jin poises himself for an assault.

“What’re you talking about? What are you three doing, meeting here?!”

Jin ignores Sasuke’s outbursts and says, “Undo your jutsu and we’ll be on our way… or we fight and we turn you into a vegetable and have you do what we want anyway.”

“Heh heh heh… What makes you think that your threats can intimidate me?” Kabuto sneers.

“Let’s just say that I have a very particular set of skills, skills that I have acquired over a very long career… skills that make me a nightmare for people like you.” Jin’s tone quickly changes from amicable to cold and callous.

“Your scare tactics don’t interest me in the slightest.”

“Say what you want. You will still die here.” Itachi adds.

“Sasuke, your personal demon stands before you once again. Are you sure you two won’t team up with me to take down Itachi? We share the same snake power and the same mas–”

“That thing wasn’t my master!” Sasuke interrupts. He composes himself and steps forward. “Itachi, you always lied… You always told me ‘later’ and ‘next time’... And then you died. So this time… I’ll make sure you keep that promise!”

Sasuke stands side by side with Itachi and Jin, all three stare Kabuto down. Kabuto smiles, licking his lips; more snakes come out of his robe, tracking all three intruders' movements. Orochimaru’s disciple covers his head with his robe’s hood.

“A genjutsu countermeasure.”

“Those snakes can sense where we are.”

“Reptiles can sense the body heat of other animals and some snakes and lizards can smell the air with their tongues” Jin appraises. Kinda weird how stuff I learned back in grade and middle school are helping me now… lucky me, I guess…?

“Are you some kind of snake expert, Jin?” Itachi asks.

“I trained under the White Snake Sage before joining Orochimaru and Sasuke studied to take down Orochimaru.”

“Hmph.” Sasuke keeps his focus on Kabuto.

The snakes coming from Kabuto’s robe grow in size and rear up into an S-shape position. They quickly strike with their fangs bared, but Itachi catches them with his susanoo’s hands; two of the four snakes are severed at the neck by Sasuke’s susanoo.

“Too aggressive, Sasuke. Rem–”

“Relax, that certainly wasn’t enough to kill him.” Jin interrupts.

Itachi’s susanoo pulls at the snakes. “Sasuke!”

“The hood, I know!”

Sasuke rushes for Kabuto, his susanoo’s purple fingers tear at the robe only for more snakes to come out. The snakes scatter all across the cave floor, preventing everyone from detecting Kabuto’s movements and whereabouts.

“All you have you took from Orochimaru. You’re still nothing.” Sasuke berates the Orochimaru wannabe.

“You underestimate me, Sasuke… Then again, I was listed lower than you on the danger scale in the bingo book. And of course, I’m nothing compared to Orochimaru.”

“Kabuto, stop hiding and face us. I’m sure you’re eager to boast and show off your new powers.” Jin calls out into the cave’s dark abyss, feeling out Kabuto’s chakra. Orochimaru, the Sound Five, The Taka, and…? There’s something else…

“...Heh heh heh! Very well… Tremble before my power! The power of a Sage!”

One of the multitude of snakes begins to quickly slither toward Jin, sage chakra emanates strongly from it. Once close enough, the reptile opens its mouth and spews out Kabuto; the bookworm rears his arm back for one mighty punch.

That’s i–!? Suddenly put on edge, Jin summons a rib cage to protect himself.

Just before making contact with Jin’s susanoo, dark chakra emerges from Kabuto and coats him in black chakra which takes the appearance of flickering flames. His hair grows wilder and much longer.

Kabuto’s fist connects, breaking through the susanoo and punching Jin in the stomach. The force is so great, Jin coughs up blood as he is sent flying through a stalagmite and into the cave wall.

Sasuke is stunned by what just happened. “What was that? What have you done to yourself, Kabuto?!”

“I did what Lord Orochimaru could not, I have become a perfect sage.”

“Ugh… Th-That… That doesn’t explain how you broke through my susanoo…” A wincing Jin groans, landing clumsily on the ground. I think he crushed some organs…! If I didn’t have a healing factor, I’d sure as hell be dead right now…

“You surprise me Jin, didn’t you fight him just the other day?” Kabuto sneers.

Huh…? Fight who rec--Aww fuck…

“Thank you, Jin for retrieving the Body Activation jutsu; I was able to improve upon it. And with the residue from Shinno’s corpse, I was able to acquire the power of dark chakra.” An ecstatic Kabuto explains. “I am the closest thing on Earth to being the Sage of Six Paths! I am the ultimate being, THE PERFECT LIFEFORM!!”

The snake sage proceeds to build up his chakra, the ground shakes and a few stalactites fall as he powers himself up.

“Sage Art: White Extreme Attack!!”