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When Kagaya asked Haku to sense their surroundings, he hadn't actually detected Kakashi and the others nearby. After all, he wasn't using his Sharingan at the time, and his sensory abilities weren't particularly outstanding.
However, Haku's subsequent response made Kagaya feel that something was amiss. Haku had calmly shaken his head and replied, "I don't sense anyone approaching."
This instantly alerted Kagaya. If it were the real Haku, and he found no one after being asked to sense, he should have reported it to Kagaya with a hint of disappointment, saying "I didn't sense anyone".
But that "Haku" was too calm, unnaturally so.
Therefore, Kagaya secretly created a shadow clone, while his real body used his extreme speed to move away and hide. Then, from the shadows, Kagaya activated his Sharingan to observe the surroundings. Sure enough, he clearly saw the chakra signatures of Kakashi's group with his Sharingan.
Having nothing better to do, Kagaya began observing how Kakashi and the others planned to deal with his clone.
Eight Jōnin in total, each a top-tier Jōnin, including Kage-level combatants like Kakashi and Guy, plus a mind like Shikaku's, which was among the best in the shinobi world. Even Kagaya would find a head-on fight against them a headache.
So, gathering some intelligence before the fight was absolutely necessary.
If Shikaku hadn't discovered Kagaya, he would have planned to leisurely let his clone face off against them for a while longer.
Shikaku's sudden discovery left Kagaya with no opportunity for a sneak attack, forcing him to use his speed to quickly subdue Inoichi Yamanaka.
Nearby, Shikaku smiled wryly.
The moment he heard Kakashi say Kagaya's hand seal speed was very fast, Shikaku realized that the Kagaya in front of them was most likely a clone!
Because it was highly abnormal for Kagaya to practice for a full hour without forming a single hand seal to practice the techniques, especially if his seal speed was known to be fast.
Before knowing about Kagaya's fast hand seals, Shikaku could have assumed Kagaya had hit some bottleneck, hence not attempting to practice for a full hour.
But upon learning about Kagaya's swift hand seals, a conjecture immediately formed in Shikaku's mind: What if this guy used a jutsu to hide his real body without us knowing?
This conjecture wasn't necessarily correct, but what in the world is absolutely certain? Shikaku's intuition told him his guess was right!
Therefore, Shikaku didn't hesitate to shout "Scatter!"
Otherwise, it wouldn't just be the immobilized Inoichi caught; at least one or two more of these Jōnin would likely have been injured to some extent.
A kunai appeared in Kagaya's hand, pointed at Inoichi's neck. He looked towards Haku (controlled by Inoichi).
"You'd better return now. Otherwise, you'll never get to return!"
The Mind Body Switch Technique, simply put, sends the user's consciousness into another person's body, forcibly controlling it. Once successful in a 1v1 situation, it's almost a guaranteed victory.
But it has a fatal flaw: once the technique is activated and hits the target, the user cannot control their own body!
This is why, just moments ago, all the other Jōnin scattered, but Inoichi remained completely still, allowing Kagaya to capture him.
However, Haku (under Inoichi's control) raised his own hand, pointing it at his own neck, and spoke to Kagaya.
"I believe we should have an equal exchange."
Inoichi's meaning was that Kagaya could kill him, but he could also kill Haku. Kagaya shouldn't think he could use Inoichi's own body to threaten him.
Kagaya narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Do you want to test who is faster?"
If Kagaya killed Inoichi first, Inoichi naturally wouldn't be able to control Haku to commit suicide.
"You can try!" Inoichi, however, did not back down.
Kagaya fell silent. He couldn't gamble with Haku's life. Over that short distance, he wasn't sure if he could be significantly faster than Inoichi.
"Then what do you propose? Don't tell me you want to threaten me instead. Unless you truly have a death wish."
For Haku's sake, Kagaya could compromise with Inoichi. But if Inoichi tried to turn the tables and threaten Kagaya, that was impossible!
Currently, Haku (under Inoichi's control) was generally avoiding eye contact with Kagaya, so Kagaya couldn't use genjutsu and had limited options against Inoichi. But if pushed too far, Kagaya still had Shisui's Kotoamatsukami! At worst, he could use it and then find Orochimaru to get some Hashirama cells to shorten Kotoamatsukami's cooldown.
"First, move away from my body!" Inoichi demanded.
Kagaya didn't bargain. He directly moved to stand beside Haku's body and spoke to Inoichi.
"Get out. I've moved away from your body. I advise you not to try any tricks."
Kagaya was now far from Inoichi's original body. If Inoichi tried to renege and continue using Haku's body to threaten Kagaya, it was still possible.
Haku's eyes lowered slightly; he (Inoichi) was considering whether to continue threatening Kagaya.
Kagaya watched the silent Haku and narrowed his eyes.
He silently broke the skin on his hand, letting blood slowly flow.
If Inoichi dared to go back on his word, Kagaya would summon the crow Shisui had given him, the one imbued with Kotoamatsukami!
Kotoamatsukami could control others without needing eye contact!
He would control Inoichi's mind, and then... he would make Inoichi experience what it meant to wish for death!
Shikaku keenly noticed Kagaya cutting his hand. Although he didn't know what Kagaya intended, seeing Kagaya's increasingly dark expression, Shikaku instinctively felt that if Inoichi didn't return soon, something very bad would happen.
"Inoichi, return!" Shikaku commanded.
Inoichi was startled, but obeying Shikaku's order, he dutifully returned to his own body.
"Huh?" Haku, now conscious again, looked around in confusion. "Kagaya, who are these people? How did things suddenly become like this?"
"Enemies," Kagaya replied succinctly.
Then, he looked at Inoichi and spoke coldly, "You saved your own life."
The feeling that Inoichi had been considering reneging on their standoff made Kagaya extremely angry! Trying to harm someone important to him again? To be honest, if Inoichi had delayed just a few seconds longer, he might have become Kagaya's puppet.
Kagaya wiped the blood from his hand and looked at Kakashi.
"So, Kakashi, you're here for the Scroll of Seals, right?"
Kakashi nodded and spoke, "I hope you will return it to Konoha, Kagaya."
Kagaya was slightly taken aback. Kakashi's familiar tone was exactly like in the past, unchanged. Did he still consider Kagaya his student?
"Return it to Konoha?"
To be honest, Kagaya could return the Scroll of Seals to Konoha now without issue. He had already memorized everything he needed to learn from it; having the physical scroll was irrelevant.
"Yes! I'm asking you to!" Kakashi said.
"And if I refuse?" Kagaya looked at Kakashi and spoke coldly.
Kakashi raised his left hand and lifted the headband covering his left eye.
"Then this teacher will have to take it back personally!"
Kagaya's gaze lowered slightly.
"Teacher, is it... Come then, Kakashi. The last time we fought one-on-one was when you became my instructor. After more than four years, can you still defeat me?"
Kakashi let out a bitter laugh, opening his left eye to reveal the three-tomoe Sharingan.
"The student from back then has now become so strong. Just the pressure you emit forces me to go all out. You have truly become very, very strong! To be honest, I'm not really confident about defeating the current you."
Kakashi began forming hand seals, speaking as he did so.
"But, how will we know if we don't try? Shikaku, everyone, don't intervene! Let me test this child's strength! Lightning Cutter!"
A mass of brilliant blue lightning appeared in Kakashi's hand, extremely dazzling.
Kagaya smiled slightly.
"Haku, don't intervene. I'll face my former teacher myself."
After speaking, Kagaya also began forming hand seals.
"Chidori!"
The Sharingan can copy ninjutsu, but only those for which the user possesses the corresponding chakra nature. Kakashi, being an all-nature user, earned the nickname "Copy Ninja" thanks to his single Sharingan. Other Sharingan users, lacking the requisite natures, couldn't copy every jutsu like Kakashi.
Facing Kakashi's Chidori, it happened that Kagaya possessed the Lightning nature. Therefore, he could copy Chidori!
Shikaku watched the identical Lightning Cutters in the hands of the two and muttered to himself, "Copied using the Sharingan... I wonder which chakra natures Kagaya possesses. He even copied Kakashi's Chidori. This is going to be troublesome."
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