After suffering yet another loss, Kakashi finally understood one thing: power—only with power can you change anything. Otherwise, even if you know everything, it's just fantasy.
In the pitch-black night, several figures suddenly rushed past Kakashi. He focused and saw three men ahead, the one in the middle carrying a sack. A memory flashed. "That's… the Hyūga clan's eldest young lady…" Another figure flashed by his side. Kakashi called out, "Hizashi-dono?"
"Eh—Kakashi?" The figure glanced back, but didn't stop. Kakashi caught up. "Can you tell me what happened?" "This…" "You don't trust me, Hizashi-dono?"
"…All right. Lady Hinata has been abducted by those men."
"As I thought…" Kakashi asked, "Then Hiashi-dono doesn't know yet, does he?" "No. Hiashi-dono was summoned by the Hokage. I think it's about the U—" Hizashi cut himself off. "Right—Kakashi, please don't spread this, okay?" "Uh, what was that? You said Lady Hinata?" "Y-yes." "Then we need to hurry. They're almost at the village border."
"Kakashi, they're too fast—we can't catch them. What do we do? It's over. How do I face Hiashi-dono? Worse, if those Kumo(Kumogakure) shinobi pry into the clan's bloodline limit, it'll be a disaster. …Huh? Kakashi?"
"You're just going to leave like this?" Kakashi appeared ahead of the fleeing men, blocking the road, face casual, leafing through the well-worn "Icha Icha Paradise."
"Who are you?" the three Kumo shinobi frowned.
"Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is—what are you doing?"
"We're here as guests of Konoha."
"Then what's in that sack? Mind if I take a look?"
"Sure, no problem." The Kumo shinobi smirked. Kakashi stepped to the sack. "Let's see what's inside—" Just as he reached, the shinobi sneered, "Goodbye, Konoha shinobi—no, make that 'never again.'" A kunai shot for Kakashi's neck. "W-what— You actually—" Kakashi's eyes widened in feigned shock.
"Heh, you're good—but you ran into us." The man couldn't resist mocking him.
"All right, Itsutsu-mon, let's move, or that person will catch up."
"Heh, even if he does, so what? We've got three jōnin."
"You're too careless. This guy looks like a jōnin too. Killing him might alarm Konoha. If we don't hurry, our plan's finished."
"…You're right. Let's go." The one called Itsutsu-mon prepared to bolt. "You can go. I'm taking the sack back."
"Eh? Wh—how are you—" Kakashi stood there with the sack slung over his shoulder, his left eye cold on the Kumo trio.
"A… Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substitution)," Itsutsu-mon muttered, surprised he'd used it in that short moment.
"Correct," Kakashi said.
"You're… the Copy Ninja, Kakashi!" Itsutsu-mon gaped at the silver-haired man.
"Oh? So even Kumo knows me. I gave you a chance to walk away. Since you didn't, I'll see you off." Kakashi's tone was flat.
"Heh. Big name or not, there are three of us."
"Right, bu—" Before Kakashi finished, lightning crawled over Itsutsu-mon's body. "Raiton — Kaminari Bōsō (Lightning Rampage)!"
"So, lightning-nature chakra." Kakashi watched him without dodging.
"Fūton — Daitoppa (Great Breakthrough)! Katon — Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Great Fireball)!" A sea of fire roared toward Kakashi. "Co-op ninjutsu, huh? Hizashi should be arriving… Carrying someone is a pain."
"Looks like I have to move. Doton — Doryū Kekkai (Earth Flow Barrier)." Kakashi slammed his palms down; earthen walls rose, enclosing the flames. "As expected of the Copy Ninja," a voice came from behind him. "Hm?" "Raiton — Sento (Piercing Current)!" Itsutsu-mon spun like a drill.
"Fast." Kakashi didn't flinch. His left hand came up—"Sharingan"—and his right hand crackled—"Chidori (One Thousand Birds)…" "L-lightning style?" Itsutsu-mon stared.
Kakashi's right hand met the man's head-on. "Y-you absorbed my lightning?" "Not absorbed—nullified. Your body isn't fully adapted to lightning like mine. You can expel lightning-nature chakra, but you can't freely reel it back. I used that to reclaim the chakra into my own body—and nullified your raiton with it."
"I see… I get it. I'll have to train more when I get back," Itsutsu-mon said blankly.
"Do you think you'll get that chance?" Kakashi drew the Blood Sword and cut. "K-chak." Itsutsu-mon's body split in two.
"Wh-what? He took down our village's raiton prodigy so easily… Impossible!" The remaining two Kumo shinobi stared, disbelieving.
"If you don't believe it, come test me."
"You—!" Enraged, one formed seals. "Fūton — An (Dark Gale)!" A black wind howled forth. The other followed up instantly. "Katon — En'an (Flame of Darkness)!"
"More combo ninjutsu? Can you do anything else?" Kakashi's mouth was light, but his body wasn't.
A sweeping black firestorm rushed him. Kakashi thought, surprised, "Similar to Itachi's dōjutsu, Amaterasu—just the color's different." Right then, a voice rang out: "Jūken (Gentle Fist) — Hakkeshō Kaiten (Rotation)!" The black flames bounced away and soon dissipated. Kakashi seized the opening. "Raiton — Rai Sokusatsu (Lightning Execution)!" The technique pinned the target with lightning, then executed them—a brutal assassination art. Hizashi flinched; he hadn't expected Kakashi to use something so merciless. Unlike Kagemane (Shadow Possession), it wasn't an area bind, but it was far stronger. The trapped Kumo shinobi gave one scream and collapsed into gore. Without missing the timing, Hizashi lunged: "Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)! One… two… twenty-four… sixty-four!" "Raikiri (Lightning Cutter)!" Kakashi's blade of thunder shrieked.
The last Kumo shinobi had his heart pierced. It was over.
"Kakashi, why not leave one alive? Kumo's been eyeing us for a long time. We could have taken the chance to extract intel." "Hizashi-dono, have you thought about why they came?" Hizashi seemed to realize something but couldn't say it. "Wasn't it for our clan's bloodline limit?" "At first, yes. But when they fail, what then?" "I… haven't thought that far."
"They'll claim their 'visiting delegation' was assassinated in Konoha, and use it to threaten us with war. We'll counter that they tried to steal our clan's secret—but they'll say we made it up. We could argue, but if we drag them back for interrogation, we hand them a perfect excuse: 'Konoha assassinated foreign visitors to obtain intel on the Land of Lightning.' They were all jōnin—obviously not real delegates—but proving that won't help. To preserve so-called peace, we'd be forced to compromise, no matter how unreasonable their terms. And what terms do you think they'd demand?" "I… don't know." Hizashi shifted Hinata on his back; she stared wide-eyed at Kakashi, as if she wanted the answer too. Kakashi cleared his throat. "Ahem. They'd demand we hand over Kakashi—and Hiashi." Hizashi stiffened—was it him? "That way they'd gain the clan's bloodline… and even a Sharingan as a bonus. Not you but Hiashi, because he's the clan head—and the two of you look alike, which gives them an opening. If I kill them now, with no interrogation, there's no testimony—dead men tell no tales. We can craft a reasonable explanation and also cost them three jōnin. What's the downside?" "…You're right. I was foolish. I should head back."
As expected, Kumo came to make trouble in Konoha—but with no evidence. Konoha argued there were always rogue shinobi about, so Kumo could only complain about "poor public security," and the matter ended there.
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