[ Ding, Rin Nohara, Kurenai Yuhi, and Mei Terumi have been eliminated. ]
Hearing the Inventory System's long-absent voice, they saw Rin and the others transported out as well.
"What happened to all of you in the instance?" Shikaku Nara asked Rin when he saw three people eliminated at once.
That meant the only ones left in the instance were Kirigakure's Hozuki Mangetsu, Kumogakure's Yugito Nii, and Konoha's own Might Guy and Obito Uchiha.
Hiruzen Sarutobi also walked over. After checking on Rin, he asked what he wanted to know.
Had she obtained any information from the past? But Rin hadn't spent much time in the instance and hadn't taken the opportunity to gather information about the past.
And in the final scene, Kakashi had clearly wanted to say something but had been unable to get it out. It seemed the instance space prohibited them from revealing it.
Meanwhile, inside the instance space.
Obito took out his mission scroll again. The mission on it was still to escort Tazuna to the Land of Waves, and they were now close to the village where Tazuna lived.
But what was the deal with the part at the end about ending Gato's monopoly over the Land of Waves? As far as Obito knew, Tazuna's purpose on this trip was to build a bridge connecting the Land of Waves to the outside world, so it would no longer have to suffer Gato's exploitation.
"Obito, what are you thinking about?" Kakashi asked curiously when he saw the thoughtful look on Obito's face.
"Has something changed with the mission?" Kakashi thought something had gone wrong with it.
"No. I was just wondering whether getting rid of this guy called Gato would solve the Land of Waves' predicament too," Obito replied.
Kakashi also noticed the wording loophole in Obito's mission scroll. Unlike Rin's, Obito's scroll didn't specify that he had to eliminate Zabuza, leaving considerable room to maneuver.
According to Obito, they could only stay here for three days, and they had already spent a considerable amount of time on the journey. If they waited for Mr. Tazuna to finish the bridge, the mission deadline would have long passed.
After thinking it over, Kakashi decided it was feasible and resolved to deal with Gato himself once they reached the Land of Waves.
The Land of Waves was in chaos at the moment too. Gato hadn't received word that Zabuza's assassination had succeeded, and he had a vague sense of unease.
On top of that, for some unknown reason, thick banks of fog had suddenly appeared throughout the Land of Waves. Nowhere on the entire island was free from the fog.
That was right. These banks of mist were obviously Hozuki Mangetsu's doing. With the Land of Waves situated by the sea and the Chakra provided by Samehada, the Hidden Mist Technique could cover the entire village.
Might Guy and Yugito had clearly noticed the anomaly too. Neither of them was very familiar with Kirigakure's unique assassination technique.
Even so, the two stayed together to prevent themselves from being picked off one by one, while Gato stopped waiting for news from Zabuza.
These ninja take my money day after day and talk about how great they are, but when it counts, they're still no damn use, Gato thought.
If I'd known Zabuza was this useless, I'd have hired a stronger organization instead. I hear the Akatsuki, which has recently risen to prominence in Amegakure, specializes in this kind of work. I could try hiring them next time.
What Gato didn't know was that Zabuza had long since taken Haku and fled far away. As for the mission Gato had mentioned, bah! Did Zabuza look like the kind of man who would throw his life away for a mission?
And if Gato had hired the Akatsuki, given Kakuzu's obsession with money, I reckon there was an eighty or ninety percent chance he would have dealt with Gato and looted all his money.
Yugito was growing more and more irritable. There was no helping it. How could she stay calm while constantly stuck in an environment like this?
She had never imagined there was someone so skilled in Kirigakure's Ninjutsu, either. That person had to be Hozuki Mangetsu, who had been selected along with her.
With strength like that, he couldn't possibly still be a Genin. He was already close to matching an Elite Jonin.
In fact, that was true. Hozuki Mangetsu had never taken the Jonin exam. Unlike Konoha, where Kakashi lived, Kirigakure had become a little strange lately.
Hozuki Mangetsu was extremely perceptive, yet he didn't know that Lord Madara had already begun controlling the Fourth Mizukage with his Sharingan. Most of the time, the Fourth Mizukage himself wasn't aware of it.
After all, those who knew Lord Madara's Genjutsu knew. If a mere Fourth Mizukage could break free of it, where would that leave me, Madara Uchiha?
Now that an expert with Jonin-level strength, just like Kakashi, had appeared before these small fries, wasn't that just him bullying weaklings?
By this time, Kakashi had taken a boat to the island where the Land of Waves was located.
Something's wrong. Looking at the fog blanketing the entire island, any normal person would know there had to be danger. And this fog covered more than ten times the area of Zabuza's Hidden Mist Technique.
Zabuza had never imagined he would become a unit of measurement: one Hozuki Mangetsu equaled ten Zabuza Momochis. No, the point was, Kakashi, what gave you the right to make that comparison? You were a unit of measurement for Chakra yourself!
"Mister, is the fog always this thick in your village?" Naruto assumed it was the weather and asked Tazuna.
Tazuna was baffled too. How had his home changed so much while he was away?
Kakashi and Sasuke, however, looked solemn. They had clearly sensed that something was wrong.
"Obito, can you see what's going on?" Kakashi wanted Obito to use his Sharingan to take a look. Don't ask why Kakashi didn't use his own; he was out of mana.
But Obito's Sharingan could only make out the Chakra in the fog. It couldn't see anything farther away. After all, it wasn't the Byakugan.
"Naruto, Sakura, keep an eye on Mr. Tazuna. Obito and Sasuke, watch the surroundings," Kakashi instructed.
With that, they entered the fog.
Hozuki Mangetsu was watching their movements from a hiding place. Because he could use the Hydrification Technique, he could turn his body into mist and conceal himself.
"Has someone come in? Looks like I should strike first," Hozuki Mangetsu muttered to himself.
He then directed the mist toward the center of the island. The fog on the outskirts, where Kakashi was, immediately thinned considerably, and Kakashi hurriedly told everyone to pick up the pace.
But around Gato's headquarters, it grew denser and denser.
Gato's legs began to tremble, his heart rising into his throat with anxiety. He was terrified someone would come looking for him and do him in.
No, I can't stay here. Maybe whoever's coming is after those people. I can't stay here and wait to die.
So, while the mist was thick, Gato called a few of his men and prepared to leave first. He had plenty of money, anyway. He could come back after those people fought each other to the bitter end.