"I don't understand? My own clan had kept me in a cage, after they were massacred by the village, I had to flee because a bunch of ninja wanted to kill me as well. All of the villagers I met on the way were ready to die if they got the chance to kill me. What do you mean by 'the world doesn't hate me,' that 'Someone was manipulating things behind the scenes for you to feel like that'?" Kimimaro asked with a shaky voice.
"I am not going to say anything about your clan, as you should also know they were not the most understanding people, so let's not talk about them for now. Also for the ninja, let's just say the reputation of your clan is not good, so leaving someone as powerful as you after killing all of your clan can get them a potential lethal threat on their back, so they also had no choice but to try and eliminate you as well. Do you understand?" Kaida spoke as patiently as he could. He already knew these things, and there wasn't much he could say to make Kimimaro feel better.
Kimimaro nodded his head in understanding this part, as nobody knew better than him about the violent nature of his clan. Massacring entire civilian villages just for fun was normal for his clan. It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that they deserved the massacre. As for ninja trying to kill him, that could be understandable as well.
Seeing Kimimaro listening patiently, Kaida continued, as now was the tricky part to explain.
"As for your recent encounter, there was a... rogue ninja who was manipulating all of the villagers' memories so that you would think the whole world hated you. In reality, those people wouldn't even identify you, let alone hate you till that extent."
"Rogue ninja?"
"Yeah, you saw that snake, right?"
Kimimaro nodded.
"That was his summon. He found me on his trail and attacked me. Luckily, he was low on chakra and ran away, otherwise I would have died," Kaida said, as he knew that Orochimaru didn't use his trump cards at all, neither Edo Tensei nor any other weird jutsu of his. Even though the last smile he gave before reverse summoning himself was still giving Kaida goosebumps, he decided to ignore that for now.
"But why?" Kimimaro asked, as he couldn't think of a reason why someone would do this much work just to make him feel miserable. If he had so much power, why didn't he kill him directly?
"Because you are special, Kimimaro. You have strength that he wanted, or to be clear, your body... He is a sick person, and I don't know what he would have done with you, but it looked like he wanted your consent, honest consent for that. So he decided to show you that the whole world is your enemy and you have no hope in your life, and when you would have become truly hopeless, he would have shown himself to give you hope, to live for him and to die for him. Or so I think. There is no accurate way to find out what goes on in that mad man's mind," Kaida said. Now there was no smile on his face; the topic was too sensitive for that.
Seeing the change in Kimimaro's expression, it was easy to see that he was getting the hang of the situation.
Kimimaro remained silent for a long moment, his grip tightening around his own arms as if trying to ground himself. His whole life—everything he believed, everything he endured—was suddenly being turned upside down.
"...So you're telling me... that my suffering, my hatred, my loneliness... it wasn't even real?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Kaida shook his head. "Your suffering was real, Kimimaro. But the reason behind it wasn't. Someone twisted your reality to make you believe the entire world was against you."
Kimimaro's breath hitched. He had never questioned it before. Never even considered the possibility. The pain, the rejection, the fear in people's eyes—it had felt real. It was real.
His fists clenched. "Then... what am I supposed to do now?" His voice was strained, a mixture of frustration, confusion, and something else—something fragile. "I have nothing. No home, no purpose. If I wasn't meant to be a weapon, then what am I supposed to be?"
His jade-green eyes met Kaida's, desperate, searching for an answer he wasn't sure he wanted to hear.
"I don't know, or anybody else in the world. Nobody knows what you SHOULD do from now on. You don't need someone else to tell you how you have to live your life. You don't have to be anyone's weapon, just live the life you want to live," Kaida smiled.
"But I don't know what I want anymore?"
"It's perfectly fine. As you continue to live, you will slowly find what you want to do in future. Though for now, we should leave this country, as having ninja after you in the journey is not ideal to find what you want to do in your life," Kaida chuckled, ruffling Kimimaro's hair.
"But this is my home, my country. Where would I go?" Kimimaro asked.
"You can come with me if you want," Kaida said, since he wanted to bring him along. He was not going to play mental games; it would be a genuine suggestion. If Kimimaro wanted to, he could choose otherwise.
'I will send him somewhere safe,' Kaida thought.
"With you?" Kimimaro asked. Even though he now knew everything till now about everyone hating him was a lie, Kaida was still the first person who had not looked at him like he was either a monster, a weapon, or both.
"Yeah, I am not from this country. My home, though still a ninja village, is much better than yours. Have you heard the name of Konoha?" Kaida asked.
"Yes, the wretched village which is the reason of all of the suffering of this country?" Kimimaro asked, his voice growing weak midway when he thought he was talking about the village of the man in front of him.
"Well, considering Konoha is the enemy village, it is understandable why you would think like that, but I assure you it is completely different from what you have heard. How about it, do you want to give it a try? Though let me make this clear, it is not your only option. If you don't want to do anything with ninja anymore, I will take you to some other place, either at the capital or something similar. You will be able to live a happy life there as well, away from all of the ninja."
Once again, Kimimaro became silent, thinking about his options, though there was not much to think about.
"If possible, can I come with you, please?" he asked meekly. The trained killer, who was the source of fear of various ninja in Kirigakure, was acting like a child for the first time in so long of his life.
"Of course," Kaida said, patting the boy on the head once again. "But first, how about we go to a village for now? You really need to take a bath," Kaida said with a chuckle, seeing Kimimaro going a little red, but still nodding and following Kaida.