The Man Who Almost Kicked His Way to the Ending

The mysteries were growing, and so were Uchiha Sasuke's doubts.

Uchiha Sasuke gradually realized that this world seemed completely different from what he had learned at the Ninja Academy.

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What he had learned at the Ninja Academy seemed far too childish.

"You're after the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox inside Naruto, aren't you?"

Hatake Kakashi recalled what Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, had mentioned to him before—a terrifying organization known as Akatsuki.

Its members were all highly notorious Rogue Ninjas like Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki. It even included Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin who had just attacked Konoha and whom Kakashi feared immensely.

There were nine people in the organization. Of the three known members, Kakashi could not defeat Orochimaru, while Uchiha Itachi could easily handle him. If they truly fought, Kakashi feared he would stand no chance.

Especially since Uchiha Itachi was skilled in genjutsu and could likely take him out without causing much of a disturbance.

That was the nature of genjutsu users.

And from Kisame Hoshigaki's brief display alone, he was at least an Elite Jonin-level opponent.

At present, Kisame Hoshigaki had yet to reveal the terrifying combat strength of his true humanoid Tailed Beast form. Kakashi's assessment of him had certainly been lowered by a tier because of that, but he was still at the Elite Jonin level.

If everyone in that organization was like this, then it was an extremely dangerous organization.

Even Konoha would have no trouble gathering Elite Jonin, but assembling Kage Level ninja was no simple matter.

Having even one Kage Level powerhouse overseeing things would make a village stand out beyond the Five Great Ninja Villages. Take the Demi-God of the Rain Country, for example—he had once bestowed the title of Legendary Sannin upon the three of them. To outsiders, it was an honor, but to them, it was undoubtedly a humiliation.

So how many Kage Level fighters were among the remaining six members who had yet to appear?

If there were another two or three, then this organization would be truly incredible.

At least in terms of its reserve of experts, it would already be no weaker than the Five Great Ninja Villages. For the current Konoha, which was suffering from a gap in talent, it would be an enormous problem.

"Naruto? The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox? What's that?"

The Uchiha Sasuke outside the screen had no idea that Naruto had the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox inside him.

Or rather, he did not know what the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was. Because the Konoha Higher-ups had deliberately concealed it, ordinary people knew very little about the Demon Fox.

Even someone like Sasuke, after losing his clan's systematic teachings, only knew that more than ten years ago, there had been a terrifying Demon Fox that had taken the Fourth Hokage's life.

But he did not know what that had to do with Naruto.

No, Sasuke immediately remembered that some people called Naruto a Demon Fox brat.

He had heard that name more than once, used by both children and adults.

He had never taken it seriously before. How could he possibly believe something as absurd as Naruto being transformed from the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox?

But from Hatake Kakashi's words, Naruto had not been transformed from the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. Instead, there was a Nine-Tailed Demon Fox inside Naruto?

"I know that it isn't just the two of you acting. Your organization is called Akatsuki, right?"

Hatake Kakashi pressed his probe further.

At those words, everyone present was shocked.

Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki were shocked that Hatake Kakashi knew of Akatsuki, while Sarutobi Asuma and Yuuhi Kurenai were shocked that the two of them had never even heard this organization's name before.

"Kisame, take Kakashi away. As for the others, make them disappear," Uchiha Itachi ordered directly.

Just as Kisame Hoshigaki was about to make his move, a figure sent him flying. The newcomer was none other than Konoha's Blue Wolf, the taijutsu Jonin, Might Guy.

When Might Guy appeared, another comment from Kitahara Kaede floated across the screen.

[Woohoo, the man who almost kicked his way to the ending has appeared!]

Neither Uchiha Sasuke nor Hatake Kakashi knew what it meant to almost kick one's way to the ending. They merely took it as another one of Kitahara Kaede's twisted jokes.

"Don't look into his eyes!"

Sarutobi Asuma hurriedly warned from within the scene.

Might Guy said directly, "I figured that out long ago. To deal with Kakashi, I've already studied how to counter the Sharingan. You can open your eyes."

"When fighting someone with the Sharingan, you only need to avoid making eye contact. You can still observe their feet to discern their intentions, then act accordingly."

Might Guy shared the tactics he had developed over many years of training to fight Hatake Kakashi.

The reason he and Hatake Kakashi could generally fight to a draw without either of them going all out was precisely because of this technique designed to counter the Sharingan.

Although Hatake Kakashi's Sharingan was undoubtedly far inferior to Uchiha Itachi's, the general method was still much the same.

Faced with this sudden Konoha's Blue Wolf, Uchiha Itachi had no intention of dragging things out, especially after the other man stated that he had already alerted the Anbu.

Uchiha Itachi called Kisame Hoshigaki to a halt. This time, he had returned not for the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox inside Naruto. That had merely been an excuse for outsiders, and through that action, he was also sending certain information to Konoha.

His true purpose was to return and see Uchiha Sasuke, while also conveying a message to the Konoha Higher-ups: he was still alive, and they could not lay a hand on Uchiha Sasuke.

Naturally, Hatake Kakashi and the others did not understand this, because they had not reached that level. They were merely ordinary members of the Jonin Council.

Though in theory, the Jonin Council was Konoha's highest authority, and even the Hokage was elected by the Jonin Council.

But among the four Hokage, the only one who had genuinely been elected through a Jonin Council vote was the Fourth Hokage.

There was no need to mention the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama—he had been a founder in the truest sense. Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage, had also naturally succeeded to the position of Hokage, so neither case had anything to do with whether there was an election.

Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen had been personally designated by Second Hokage Tobirama Senju on the battlefield; the Jonin Council had no part in it whatsoever.

It was not until the era of Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze that the Jonin Council played a role for the first time, choosing Minato Namikaze over Orochimaru.

Yet behind that vote lay the will of Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, not the true will of the Jonin Council itself.

So, logically, the Jonin Council was Konoha's highest authority, but in reality, the people with the most power in Konoha were still the Hokage and that small group of Hokage advisors.

The fact that Uchiha Itachi was a spy was something even Nara Shikaku, the head of the Jonin Council, probably did not know, let alone the few who were merely ordinary members.

After watching Uchiha Itachi leave, they could not help but let out sighs of relief.

Only then did the video finally come to an end.