The roar of the wind ripping through the gorge was deafening, but it was nothing compared to the sheer, concussive vacuum left in Naruto's wake. The moment the golden-haired shinobi launched himself into the dark canopy of the forest in pursuit of Orochimaru, the atmosphere on the splintering Tenchi Bridge shifted. The overwhelming, crushing gravity of Naruto's killer intent faded, replaced by the sharp, surgical, and equally deadly presence of the Copy Ninja.
Kakashi Hatake didn't take a moment to watch his student disappear. His lone visible eye, the crimson Sharingan, was already spinning, its three tomoe locking onto their isolated prey.
"Yamato. Sakura. Sai," Kakashi's voice cut through the howling wind, crisp and devoid of any of his usual lazy drawl. "You heard the Captain's orders. Kabuto does not leave this gorge alive. Full assault mode."
As Kakashi spoke, he twirled a standard issue kunai around his index finger, the metal flashing silver in the midday sun. The sheer casualness of the movement was a terrifying contrast to the lethal promise in his words.
Around him, the squad moved with synchronized lethality. Yamato widened his stance, his hands coming together in the snake seal, the latent Wood Style chakra in his veins beginning to thrum with life. Sai unrolled his blank scroll in a single, fluid motion, his ink brush poised over the parchment like a dagger. Sakura stepped forward, her jade-green eyes narrowing as she cracked her knuckles, the sound sharp and echoing like breaking glass.
Standing alone on the violently swaying planks of the ruined bridge, Kabuto Yakushi adjusted his round spectacles. Beneath his smug facade, his mind was racing at a million miles an hour.
'I can't fight all four of them together,' Kabuto calculated, his eyes darting between the four elite shinobi. 'Kakashi alone is a massive threat. Yamato's Wood Style provides flawless defense and restraint. The Anbu boy provides mid-range pressure, and Tsunade's apprentice has enough raw strength to turn me into paste if I make a single misstep. I need to break their coordination. I need to sever their mental link.'
Kabuto let out a dry, condescending chuckle, letting his hands drop to his sides to project a false sense of security.
"Do you honestly believe this is a wise course of action?" Kabuto called out, projecting his voice over the roaring river below. He locked his gaze onto Sakura, identifying her as the emotional fulcrum of the team. "Do you truly think Naruto can defeat Lord Orochimaru in his dreams? Let us be realistic. He was the dead-last of your class. A noisy, untalented failure. And dead-lasts do not prevail anywhere, especially not against a Sannin."
Sakura's breath hitched. For a fraction of a second, the iron-clad resolve in her posture wavered. The memories of Orochimaru's terrifying presence in the Forest of Death—the suffocating, paralyzing fear of facing a demigod—flooded her mind. She began to turn her head, her green eyes instinctively seeking the dark tree line where Naruto had vanished. 'Is Naruto really going to be okay? Orochimaru is...'
"Sakura. Eyes front," Kakashi commanded, his voice cracking like a whip.
Sakura flinched, her attention snapping immediately back to her sensei.
Kakashi stepped past her, placing himself directly in Kabuto's line of sight. "Naruto will be able to compete with Orochimaru. I have absolutely no doubt about that. He is no longer the boy you remember." Kakashi's Sharingan fixed onto Kabuto, the crimson eye seeming to pierce right through the medic's skull. "My only doubt right now, Kabuto, is whether you can leave here with your life."
Kakashi didn't look back at his student, but his words were meant entirely for her. "And Sakura, do not listen to his garbage. Currently, on this team, the only one who possesses the raw power, the sensory capability, and the sheer lethality to go toe-to-toe with a monster like Orochimaru is Naruto. I would wager all of my thousand copied jutsus on that fact."
Kabuto's smirk faltered. The psychological wedge he had tried to drive into the team had just shattered against Kakashi's absolute faith.
"Well then," Kabuto sneered, quickly channeling his chakra as he realized words were no longer going to save him. "Let's see how well you back up that wager!"
Kabuto inhaled sharply, his chest expanding as he formed the necessary hand seals at blinding speed. "Water Style: Water Gun!"
He expelled a massive, highly pressurized stream of water from his mouth. The water bullet tore across the bridge, carrying enough kinetic force to shatter solid stone, aimed directly at the center of the squad to force them apart.
"I don't think so," Yamato said coldly. He slammed his palms together. "Wood Style: Wood Wall!"
Thick, interlacing beams of solid timber erupted from the planks of the bridge, rising into a curved, impenetrable dome in front of Team Kakashi. The high-pressure water slammed into the wood with a deafening CRASH, splintering the outer layer but failing completely to breach the defensive structure.
The moment the water pressure subsided, the wood wall retracted into the ground. But Kakashi was already in the air. He had used the dome as a springboard, launching himself high above Kabuto's line of sight.
Kakashi's hands blurred. Tiger, Boar, Dog.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
Kakashi exhaled, releasing a barrage of half-a-dozen compressed, blistering fireballs. The flames spiraled downward, leaving trails of black smoke as they homed in on Kabuto.
Kabuto cursed under his breath. The bridge was groaning violently under the thermal shock and the physical damage it had sustained. He expertly shifted his weight, utilizing his exceptional agility to weave through the falling fireballs, dancing toward the right side of the bridge. The flames slammed into the wooden planks, instantly igniting them and causing the bridge to tilt even further to one side.
'I need to get to the tree line! If I can regroup with Orochimaru-sama—'
Before Kabuto could finish the thought, a sharp, tearing sound echoed from his left.
"Super Beast Scroll!" Sai announced flatly from his position.
Having rapidly painted on his scroll during the initial clash, Sai flicked his brush forward. The black ink peeled off the parchment, instantly expanding and taking on a three-dimensional form. Two massive, predatory lions made entirely of dense, chakra-infused ink roared silently as they bounded across the burning bridge, charging directly at Kabuto's flanks.
Kabuto's eyes widened. He immediately activated his Chakra Scalpels, his hands glowing with a lethal, vibrating blue aura. He spun on his heel, his medical ninjutsu turning his hands into weapons capable of severing muscle and bone. With two precise, surgical slashes, Kabuto cut through the ink lions, the beasts losing their cohesion and exploding into a harmless shower of black liquid that stained the wooden planks.
But the lions were never meant to kill him. They were a diversion.
As Kabuto slashed the second lion, he felt the atmospheric pressure around him drop. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and the unmistakable scent of ozone filled his nostrils.
'This is not good!' Kabuto realized, his heart hammering against his ribs. He pumped chakra into his legs, desperately leaping toward the safety of the canopy where Orochimaru had been launched.
But it was too late.
"Lightning Style!" a voice echoed from the blind spot behind Kabuto's left shoulder.
Instead of the piercing, concentrated chirp of a thousand birds thrusting forward like a spear, this sound was different. It was a wide, screeching, horizontal roar of pure, unadulterated electrical energy.
"Lightning Blade!"
Kabuto violently twisted his body mid-air, attempting to contort himself out of the executioner's path. As he turned, he saw Kakashi's eyes—one black, one crimson—utterly devoid of mercy. Kakashi didn't thrust his hand forward. Instead, his hand was flattened, acting as a broadsword made of crackling, high-voltage lightning, and he swung it in a vicious horizontal arc.
The blade of lightning connected.
Kabuto landed heavily on the edge of the bridge, rolling to dissipate his momentum. He gasped for breath, his adrenaline spiking. 'I dodged it,' he thought frantically. 'I managed to evade the vital hit—'
And then, his balance completely failed him.
Kabuto looked down. His right arm was gone.
severed cleanly just above the elbow. The wound wasn't bleeding heavily; the intense heat of the Lightning Blade had instantly cauterized the flesh, leaving a blackened, smoking stump where his forearm used to be.
A fraction of a second later, the sheer, unimaginable agony hit his brain.
"AAAAAAAAAAAH!" Kabuto shrieked, his voice tearing at his vocal cords. He fell to his knees, his left hand desperately clutching the smoldering remains of his right bicep. "What did you do?! What did you do to me?!"
Kabuto looked wildly around, his eyes locking onto his severed limb lying on the wooden planks a few feet away. His fingers were still twitching. As a medical ninja, his hands were his lifeblood. Without them, he was nothing. He scrambled forward on his knees, desperately reaching out for the severed limb, intending to reattach it.
Before his fingers could graze the pale skin of his lost hand, a heavy shinobi boot kicked the limb with brutal force. Kabuto watched in slow motion, his eyes wide with horror, as his right arm flipped over the edge of the bridge and plummeted into the raging, churning river hundreds of feet below.
Kakashi lowered his leg, stepping squarely into Kabuto's path.
"Without your hands, you are nothing, Kabuto," Kakashi said, his voice as cold as ice. "A medical ninja who cannot weave signs is just a civilian waiting to be slaughtered."
Kabuto stared up at the Jonin, his face pale, sweat pouring down his forehead as he fought through the shock and the pain. "You... you bastard! Do you have any idea what you just did to me?!"
"I severed your threat level," Kakashi replied simply. He looked down at the pathetic, kneeling figure, his Sharingan burning brightly. "Tell me, Kabuto. With only one hand, and only the ability to form a partial chakra scalpel... do you honestly think you are at a point where you can go toe-to-toe with me?"
"What... what do you mean by that?" Kabuto gasped, his chest heaving, his vision beginning to blur at the edges from the sheer trauma.
Behind Kakashi, Sakura, Yamato, and Sai landed lightly on the remaining stable section of the bridge, boxing Kabuto in completely. There was no escape.
"Naruto told me something interesting," Kakashi began, his tone almost conversational, though it carried a heavy, oppressive weight. "He told me about the conversation you had with him three years ago. During the mission to retrieve Lady Tsunade. He said that you looked at him, arrogant and smug, and told him that you were on the exact same level as me. Kakashi Hatake."
Kakashi took a slow step forward. The air around him seemed to darken.
"Now, I normally don't let the ego of an enemy get to me," Kakashi continued, his eye narrowing into a glare of pure, unfiltered disdain. "I don't get angry easily. But even I have my pride. And when I am compared to a D-list, sycophantic lackey like you, it offends me. Did you honestly believe that? Did you truly think you were my equal?"
Kabuto ground his teeth together, a hiss of pain escaping his lips.
"I was only holding back during the Chunin Exams, and every time we clashed before, because the orders were always to capture you alive to extract information regarding Orochimaru's networks," Kakashi explained, lifting his kunai. "You survived because I allowed it. Because the village needed you breathing."
Kakashi looked toward the tree line, a deep sense of respect flashing in his eyes. "But today is different. Naruto's orders were absolute. He is the current team leader, and his tactical assessment was flawless. He assured me that he has the heavy lifting covered, and I trust his judgment implicitly. Therefore, there is absolutely no strategic reason for me to let you live."
Kabuto's eyes widened in genuine terror. He tried to push himself backward, but his legs felt like lead.
Kakashi paused, tilting his head slightly. "But, as it seems, I still have a tiny shred of restraint left over from my Anbu days. I prefer a captive to a corpse when possible. So..." Kakashi held out his left hand without turning around. "Sai! Your tantō, please."
Sai, who had been watching the brutal, surgical takedown with a blank, calculating expression, blinked in mild surprise. But he didn't hesitate. He drew the straight-bladed, Anbu-issue short sword from his back and tossed it handle-first to the older Jonin.
Kakashi caught the blade effortlessly. "Thank you." He turned his attention to his right flank. "Yamato. Would you mind assisting?"
Yamato, fully understanding the assignment, didn't need to be asked twice. He slammed his hands together. "Wood Style: Wood Binding!"
Thick, sinewy roots erupted from the planks directly beneath Kabuto. Before the medic could even attempt to stand, the wood coiled around his ankles like pythons, creeping rapidly up his legs and wrapping tightly around his waist. The thickest root surged upward, wrapping around Kabuto's neck to pin his head in place, while another coiled violently around his left shoulder, completely immobilizing his one remaining arm against his torso.
Kabuto thrashed, his mouth open in a silent scream of panic, but the wood was unyielding.
Kakashi stepped within striking distance. He didn't raise the tantō to slash or stab. Instead, he placed the flat edge of the blade directly against the exposed skin of Kabuto's remaining left shoulder.
"What are you doing?!" Kabuto managed to choke out against the wooden binding around his throat.
Kakashi didn't answer. He simply closed his eyes and channeled his chakra.
Unlike the destructive, roaring manifestation of the Lightning Blade, this was entirely internal. Kakashi fed a hyper-concentrated pulse of lightning-natured chakra directly into the conductive steel of Sai's tantō. The blade hummed with a violent, high-frequency vibration.
With surgical precision, Kakashi forced that raw, electrical energy straight through the skin and into Kabuto's arm.
"AHHHHHHH!"
Kabuto's scream this time was not just of pain, but of fundamental, biological violation. The electrical current surged through his left arm, seeking out the delicate, complex pathways of his nervous system. Like lightning striking a delicate spiderweb, the current violently overloaded and fried the motor neurons, the sensory nerves, and the intricate chakra coils that ran down his arm to his fingertips.
The smell of ozone and burning flesh filled the air. Kakashi pulled the blade away.
Kabuto sagged against the wooden restraints, his chest heaving rapidly, tears of absolute agony streaming down his face from behind his cracked spectacles. His left arm hung completely limp, utterly unresponsive to his commands.
"Nothing lethal," Kakashi said calmly, spinning the tantō once before tossing it back to Sai, who caught it and sheathed it silently. "I may not be a master of medical ninjutsu, but I possess enough anatomical knowledge to know exactly how to sever the tendons and fry the nervous pathways in your arm. Unless you get immediate, world-class medical treatment, you will never weave a hand sign, or channel chakra into that limb, ever again."
Kakashi crouched down so he was eye-level with the trembling spy. "And the only person in the world skilled enough to reverse that level of nerve damage is Lady Tsunade. And she would sooner crush your skull than heal you."
Kabuto glared at Kakashi, his eyes swimming with hatred, pain, and total defeat. "You... you monsters..."
"We're shinobi," Kakashi corrected coldly.
Reaching into his flak jacket pouch, Kakashi pulled out a thick, rectangular piece of parchment. It wasn't a standard explosive tag or a basic sealing scroll. The paper was covered in incredibly dense, jagged, almost predatory ink strokes that seemed to pulse with a faint, golden chakra.
Kakashi leaned forward and slapped the paper seal squarely onto Kabuto's forehead.
Instantly, the ink on the paper liquefied. It spider-webbed outward, crawling across Kabuto's pale skin like black veins, wrapping around his head, down his neck, and over his chest until it locked into his central chakra pathway system.
Kabuto gasped, his eyes rolling back in his head for a fraction of a second as the remaining ambient chakra inside his body was violently snuffed out. The paralyzing effect was instantaneous. Even if Yamato released the wood bindings, Kabuto wouldn't be able to move a single muscle below his neck.
"Like it?" Kakashi asked, his visible eye curving into a mocking smile.
"What... what did you do?" Kabuto stammered, his voice weak, strained, and completely drained of its former arrogance. He couldn't feel his chakra network. It was as if his very soul had been locked in a lead box.
"Naruto gave me this last night," Kakashi explained, tapping the paper tag gently. "He told me it was a new, specialized seal designed entirely for high-value capture. And I have to say, Uzumaki sealing techniques are truly a fearful thing to witness in action. This tag completely nullifies your chakra to the absolute core and paralyzes your motor functions."
Kakashi stood up, looking down at the broken, helpless spy.
"Furthermore, the user cannot rip this seal off themselves, nor can anyone else easily dispel it. It's locked to a specific chakra signature. The only one holding the 'key' to unlock that seal is Naruto."
Kakashi turned away, looking back toward the dense forest where the sounds of shattering trees and booming explosions had already begun to echo through the valley.
"So, unless Naruto decides he wants to take that seal off," Kakashi said, his voice carrying the finality of a judge's gavel, "I am absolutely certain you won't be moving from this spot, Kabuto."