The rain had stopped falling, but the ground was still wet when Kakashi stood at the edge of the old temple ruins. The air felt heavy, filled with strange chakra. His eyes narrowed.
"This is the place," Kakashi said.
Beside him, Garaga's massive red-scaled head rose from the shadows. The summoning had been silent all the way here. His golden eyes scanned the area.
"I smell something foul, He's hiding nearby," Garaga said, voice deep and gruff.
Kakashi nodded. His chakra flared just a little, and the seals on his gloves glowed faintly. He had prepared for this.
Hiruko was inside.
After days of waiting, tracking leads, and checking ANBU reports, Kakashi finally cornered the rogue. Hiruko, the one who made the Chimera Technique. The one who tried to steal bloodlines using other bodies.
Kakashi refused to use people like that. But he needed Hiruko's knowledge and Technique.
Tsunade had helped him study chakra integration. Kurenai and Anko supported him without question. Even Sakura and Karin had begun helping with research.
Now, it was time to finish it.
He stepped into the ruined temple.
Inside, the walls were lined with old symbols. Machines buzzed softly, powered by chakra. A figure stood at the far end, hidden in a white cloak. Hiruko.
"I was wondering when you'd come," Hiruko said, voice raspy.
"Hatake Kakashi, The Copy Ninja. The one who dares to covet my Chimera jutsu." Hiruko secretly tried to activate the seal left on Kakashi as he spoke. But he found that it was no longer there and panicked.
That seal gave him the confidence to come out and confront Kakashi. But now that it is no longer there he has to reconsider.
"You made it, and I'm going to fix it and take it for myself," Kakashi said calmly.
"Fix? Fool. You don't understand the price of power." Hiruko chuckled.
"I do," Kakashi answered, then raising his hand.
Lightning sparked with Wind following next. The Vanishing Rasengan formed in his palm, it was silent but deadly. But he didn't throw it yet.
"I want the complete scroll," Kakashi said.
"And what will you do with it? Use it on yourself? Your students?" Hiruko tilted his head.
"No," Kakashi said firmly. "I'll use it on myself. Only myself."
Hiruko's chakra flared. Purple and sickly, it spread across the room. He pulled back his cloak to reveal a body covered in twisted skin and grafted arms. One of his eyes wasn't human anymore.
"You think you're better than me," Hiruko sneered.
"Yes. And I'm stronger, smarter, better." Kakashi responded with a cocky tone.
In an instant, Hiruko fired a barrage of chakra needles from one of his arms. Kakashi vanished, appearing behind him with a flicker of movement.
He slammed the Vanishing Rasengan into Hiruko's back. It tore through one of the grafted limbs and sent the rogue flying into the wall.
Garaga moved next, slamming his tail down to block Hiruko's escape path.
"You're not running," the giant snake growled.
Hiruko coughed, blood leaking from his mouth. But he was already forming hand seals.
"I see now… you're serious," Hiruko muttered. "Then I'll show you my trump card."
His body began to change. The Chimera Technique was activated. Extra limbs sprouted. Scales grew along his back. His chakra surged, but it wasn't enough.
Kakashi was already forming his next jutsu. Lightning crackled along his hand, Chidori. But then he changed it, shaping it into something sharper. He added wind. The blade became thinner, and faster, a modified version of Raikiri.
He dashed in again.
Hiruko tried to block with a grafted arm, but Kakashi ducked low and slashed across his chest. Blood sprayed. Hiruko stumbled.
"You're holding back!" Hiruko shouted. "Why?!"
"I told you. I need the scroll," Kakashi said.
He kicked Hiruko into the wall again and moved faster than Hiruko could react. His fingers formed a seal.
"Binding formula: Chakra Seal Array."
Golden light erupted under Hiruko, trapping him inside a sealing circle Kakashi created using the Formula Reconstruction Technique. It paralyzed the rogue's limbs.
"Now," Kakashi said.
He reached into Hiruko's pouch and took the hidden scroll. The original Chimera Technique document. His Sharingan seal glowed faintly as he resealed it.
"I studied enough to know this was incomplete," Kakashi said. "But now I can make it better for myself."
"You won't understand all of it," Hiruko said, wheezing. "The bloodline links… the memory transference… It's not safe."
"Then I'll make it safe," Kakashi said.
He opened the scroll and copied the entire thing into another scroll using a sealing tag on his glove. He had created this new seal just for this purpose, safe knowledge transfer without reading aloud or activating traps that the scroll may contain.
With the scroll's knowledge now copied and sealed, Kakashi looked down at Hiruko.
Hiruko's chakra was flaring again. Becoming Dangerous.
"You'll try to kill me now, so do it. I won't beg." Hiruko spat.
"I don't need to," Kakashi said, calm.
Lightning appeared on his hand and extended. It struck Hiruko in the chest, right through the heart. He didn't even scream. He died instantly.
Kakashi stood still for a moment. Then he looked at Garaga.
"It's over."
"That one wasn't worth the trouble, he was a weakling." Garaga snorted. He came out for a bloody battle, but instead got this.
"I know but I had to be cautious just in case. And his knowledge was worthy of the trouble," Kakashi replied. He was fortunate that he hadn't gathered all those troublesome bloodlines just like in the original plot.
He took one last look at Hiruko's body. Then he reached into his pouch and pulled out a sealing scroll.
"Rest in peace," he said simply.
He sealed the body away, just in case Hiruko's cells are found by someone. He didn't want Orochimaru to find the remains, as you never know what the snake is up to.
As he walked out of the temple ruins, the rain began again, soft and quiet.
Tsunade was waiting at home. Kurenai and Anko would be worried too.
But Kakashi felt lighter. He had the scroll. He had the knowledge. And he had the strength to use it the right way. And finally, he could start fully working on this technique.