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Was that the Mangekyo Sharingan? Kisame's gaze shifted to Izumi's delicate, youthful, and spirited face, and he felt that the Uchiha Clan was simply defying the natural order of the world. The greatest clan in the entire shinobi world – this title was clearly no joke. Even a young girl like this possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.
"What are you all standing around outside for? Come in." Kazuki's voice rang out from within the office, instantly dissolving the strange tension that had been lingering at the doorway. Izumi happily scurried into the office, with Kakashi following behind. Kisame hesitated for only a moment before deciding to enter as well, thoughtfully closing the door behind him.
"Lord Advisor, here's your breakfast. I'll go brew your tea," Izumi said, placing the breakfast on the desk before heading off to prepare the tea. Kakashi and Kisame stood side by side. Though both faced Kazuki, the corner of Kakashi's eye never once strayed from Kisame. Kisame simply chose to ignore this man who had it out for him. He was new here; it was better to keep a low profile.
As Kazuki ate, his still somewhat drowsy gaze swept over both Kakashi and Kisame. This Kakashi fellow – he'd said he'd watch Kisame, and he'd genuinely kept vigil all night long. But wasn't he tired?
"Kakashi."
"Lord Advisor." Upon being addressed, Kakashi promptly stepped forward.
Kazuki smiled and said, "There's no need for you to keep monitoring Kisame personally. I'll have Shisui take charge of that until Itachi returns. So go home and rest easy. For the time being, remain on duty here at the Hokage building to avoid any unexpected incidents. That man Obito seems to have his sights set on you."
"Yes, Lord Advisor." If Kazuki hadn't given the order, Kakashi would have continued watching Kisame on his own initiative. Now that Kazuki was assigning Shisui to the task, Kakashi was content to let go. With Shisui keeping an eye on him, Kisame wouldn't be able to stir up any trouble. Once Itachi returned, Shisui could hand over the responsibility. Having Kazuki personally arrange for someone to supervise Kisame was the best possible outcome, and Kakashi could finally set his mind at ease. After all, both Shisui and Itachi were stronger than him. With the two of them present, Kisame wouldn't be able to pull any tricks. Moreover, Kisame was constantly right under Kazuki's nose. Dare to entertain any sly ideas? He'd likely end up turned into dried shark meat.
After Kakashi departed, Shisui arrived at the Hokage's office shortly thereafter. "Shisui, this is Hoshigaki Kisame. I trust you're no stranger to his reputation. He has now defected to the village and is currently serving as my personal guard. First, take him to find a place to rest. Once Itachi returns, he will take over your supervisory role."
Itachi and Kisame should be able to get along. Though the process of getting there might be somewhat less than ideal. After all, in the original timeline, Itachi and Kisame had been relatively compatible partners, but that was within the Akatsuki. At this moment, Itachi wasn't burdened by all those crushing pressures, nor was his body afflicted with illness. Whether such an Itachi could get along well with Kisame remained an open question. Hopefully, no problems would arise. Still, given Itachi's capabilities, keeping Kisame in check shouldn't be an issue. After all, Kisame respected intelligent people.
"Follow me," Shisui said without any unnecessary words. He nodded at Kisame and led him out of the Hokage building. Shisui harbored no great resistance or animosity toward Kisame, but nor did he pay him any particular mind. While Kakashi had been constantly fixated on Kisame, viewing him as a colossal threat – a bomb that could detonate at any moment – from Shisui's perspective, Kisame's strength was decent enough, but if he tried to cause trouble, this level of strength wasn't nearly sufficient. Therefore, there was no need to keep him under relentless surveillance or treat him with unceasing hostility. Vigilance was certainly warranted, but excessive tension was unnecessary.
Kisame followed Shisui out of the Hokage building. He could sense wariness radiating from Shisui, but unlike Kakashi, Shisui didn't direct outright hostility toward him. At a small breakfast shop, Shisui walked in and gestured for Kisame to follow. After ordering food, Shisui took the initiative to rise and pour two cups of hot water, sliding one across the table toward Kisame. "I don't know why you chose to defect, but since you've made this decision, I sincerely hope you will offer your genuine loyalty and harbor no ulterior motives. The Advisor is willing to give you a chance, which means he will accept you and grant you everything you seek. At the same time, should you entertain any thoughts you shouldn't, I believe the Advisor will personally take action to deal with you."
"You'll see," Kisame replied, not showing the slightest sign of intimidation. He cracked a grin but didn't say much more. Some things were best demonstrated through action rather than incessant talk. He, Hoshigaki Kisame, was not the type to run his mouth. He trusted that his actual deeds would eventually impress Kazuki – would let Kazuki understand his attitude, his stance, and see his loyalty.
"Lord Advisor, you've accepted Kisame. How do we explain this to the Cloud Village?" Izumi asked. They were supposed to be allies, after all. Kisame had just been involved with Obito in the operation that resulted in the death of the Cloud Village's elder, Dodai. Now, immediately afterward, he had defected to the Leaf Village, and Kazuki had accepted him. If the Cloud Village learned of this, they would likely be extremely displeased.
"What explanation do we need to give them?" Kazuki looked up from his documents with an expression of genuine bafflement. "It's true that our two villages share an alliance, but Obito was the mastermind. Kisame was merely following orders. Now he's defected to us. This matter has nothing to do with the Cloud Village. If the Raikage is unhappy, then let him be unhappy. After all, the village hasn't actually committed any act that violates our alliance."
The alliance between the two sides was established on the basis of the war, specifically targeting the Stone Village – not on the basis of whether or not Kisame could be accepted. Those were two entirely separate matters. Even if Kisame had acted against the Cloud Village, so what? It wasn't as if the Leaf Village had dispatched him to do it. Orochimaru had even released your village's Eight-Tails to wreak havoc among you – why didn't we see you screaming for blood then? You didn't know about that? Well then, never mind.
The backlog of accumulated documents had been more or less dealt with, so in less than an hour, Kazuki declared himself off duty. He could finally relax properly. Picking up the scroll Kisame had offered as his pledge of loyalty, Kazuki began to read it with curiosity. He had only given it a cursory glance the previous night, but the intelligence recorded within had seemed quite interesting.
"Heh heh heh. The Akatsuki was truly sincere in their efforts to win Kisame over." Hearing Kazuki suddenly laugh while reading the scroll, Izumi was puzzled. What exactly was recorded in that scroll to make Kazuki laugh so merrily?
Nagato was different from others. When he wanted to win someone over, he would openly declare the Akatsuki's stance and reveal a portion of the organization's secrets. Although Kisame hadn't been a member of the Akatsuki for very long, he was well aware of a number of secrets he ought to know. After all, if you want to persuade someone to join you, you have to show some sincerity. Well, now Kisame had run off and spilled the beans on all kinds of Akatsuki intelligence. This was also the primary reason why Nagato had chosen to relocate the base. The moment he learned that Kisame had been ordered to infiltrate the Leaf Village to capture Kakashi, Nagato knew things could go wrong – with a very high probability. So he decided to move first, lest the organization truly suffer a catastrophic setback on Kisame's account. Naturally, the incident with Kisame had also severely worsened Nagato's impression of Obito.