"Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"
Kakashi folded his arms and stared at Gu Qi with a stern expression.
Gu Qi clicked his tongue, clearly displeased. "What do you know? Over the past few days, at least a dozen groups of people have gone in and out of my lab.
"They've gone through my records and manuscripts who knows how many times. If I didn't teach those guys a lesson, I'd lose face."
"Ugh." Kakashi rubbed his forehead, looking troubled. "Even so, you've offended quite a few people all at once.
"Given what I know about Anbu, it won't be long before they find an excuse to search your lab."
Kakashi had served in Anbu, so he understood the situation well.
Gu Qi replied with complete confidence, "Don't worry. They'll come begging me."
He was absolutely certain no one in this world could crack a biochemical gas and then work out an antidote.
Kakashi didn't say anything more. Since Gu Qi had a backup plan, he might as well wait and see what happened.
"Damn it! Kakashi Gu Qi actually attacked the village's ninjas! Hiruzen, let me send people to bring him in!" In the Hokage Building, Shimura Danzō said angrily to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen Sarutobi leisurely blew out a ring of smoke. "Cut the act, Danzō! Don't use this as an excuse to bring Kakashi Gu Qi under your control. He's part of the village!"
At Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, Danzō's angry expression instantly turned blank. "Hiruzen, you're still as soft as ever! Kakashi Gu Qi is a genius. If he isn't kept in check, aren't you afraid he'll become another Orochimaru?"
At the mention of Orochimaru, Hiruzen Sarutobi's hand paused.
"At least everything Kakashi Gu Qi has done so far has benefited the village. And with Kakashi Hatake around, I believe he won't become another Orochimaru," Hiruzen Sarutobi said calmly.
Danzō snorted. "Suit yourself!"
Knowing he couldn't do anything to Gu Qi this time, Danzō left without looking back.
"Danzō has a point. If we don't keep him in check, we might really end up with another Orochimaru."
At some point, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu had come to stand before Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep drag on his pipe, then slowly exhaled. "The Ninja Academy will open in a few months. It's time to let the next generation of young people carry on the Will of Fire."
"But will that really work?" Utatane Koharu asked with a frown.
Hiruzen rose and stood by the window, gazing out at Konoha in the night. "He's not like Orochimaru. At least he still has Kakashi Hatake as family.
"Might Guy and the others have been asking for Kakashi to leave Anbu for a while now. Perhaps it's time."
"Understood." They were all smart enough to know that some things were best left unspoken.
"Even so, what Kakashi Gu Qi did was rather excessive. I propose we bring his lab under Konoha's control," Mitokado Homura said.
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't reject the idea outright. After a moment of silence, he said, "Let's wait a little longer."
He didn't explain what they were waiting for.
Three days later~
"This is the Anbu report. The people who broke into your lab earlier were spies Orochimaru had left behind in Konoha. The Anbu were chasing those spies and accidentally entered your lab."
Kakashi placed a top-secret file on Gu Qi's desk.
As he set it down, Kakashi couldn't help glancing at the thick stack of papers in front of Gu Qi.
The pages were covered in data so dense they gave Kakashi a headache.
"Do you believe that?" Gu Qi asked, sneering.
Leaning against the window with his arms folded, Kakashi said, "The matter's been settled. You don't need to dwell on it anymore."
Then Kakashi couldn't help asking, "What are you designing?"
As soon as he heard the question, Gu Qi handed him the papers. "I'm designing a bracelet that can shoot out webbing. I'm comparing the data on different spiders' silk."
"A web-shooting bracelet?" Kakashi said, surprised.
"Yeah! Once it works, even if we run into a sheer cliff or some other impassable obstacle, we won't be helpless anymore.
"Unfortunately, a lot of the equipment isn't available for purchase, so my data is incomplete.
"I have to compare everything bit by bit and find a suitable spider."
"If that's what you need, I might be able to help."
As he spoke, Kakashi took out an envelope. "This is compensation from the village. You can use it to buy any equipment you need here."
"So what do I have to give in return?"
"An antidote! Also, in the future, you can bring any business to the village first," Kakashi said.
"Over there." Gu Qi pointed casually at some syringes on the bookshelf. "One shot per person. Inject it within five hours."
"Got it. I'm off." Kakashi picked up the syringes and prepared to leave.
"Take care. I won't see you out."
"Oh, right." Kakashi turned to look at Gu Qi. "I've left Anbu. Starting tomorrow, I'll be staying in the village as a jonin instructor."
The news surprised Gu Qi. He looked up. "So you'll be around the village a lot from now on?"
"That's right!" With that, Kakashi left.
"What a pain..."
Gu Qi set down his work with a troubled sigh and rubbed the space between his brows.
He had too many secrets. If Kakashi ever discovered them, it would be hard to explain.
It had been fine when Kakashi was in Anbu. He often went on missions and couldn't stay in the village for long.
As long as Gu Qi adjusted his schedule, he didn't have to worry about Kakashi finding out.
But now things were different. Gu Qi remembered that, aside from the future Team 7, no graduating class had ever passed Kakashi's test.
On top of that, Kakashi was rather lazy. Aside from missions assigned by the village, he never went out of his way to take on any.
That meant Gu Qi would have to be careful when entering the special space from now on.
At the very least, he couldn't just disappear during the day whenever he had nothing to do.
Picking up the envelope Kakashi had left behind, Gu Qi couldn't help sighing. "Looks like I'll have to start using the underground lab."
The underground lab had originally been meant as a cover, but given the situation, he had no choice but to use it as a real lab.
That was the only way to keep some of his research from falling behind.
Of course, some of the more horrifying research still had to stay inside the laboratory space.
"Forget it. The more I think about it, the more of a headache I get." Gu Qi shook his head and went back to work.
But he hadn't worked for long before he propped his chin on his hand and muttered, "Strange. Why do I feel like I've forgotten something?"
Meanwhile, the three forgotten Ninja Dogs were in the Inuzuka Clan compound, enduring extra training from Hana Inuzuka.
Before you continue