Danzo Again!!

"Thud!"

Kakashi, who had been "trapped" by Gota, suddenly turned into a cloud of white smoke.

"What?!"

Sano Yuji cried out in shock.

He hadn't expected that to be Kakashi's Shadow Clone Technique.

The real Kakashi had already been hiding underground with Earth Release,

long before Sano Yuji had given himself away.

"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"

A cold shout rang out from beneath his feet.

The next second, a hand wreathed in lightning burst out of the ground,

and Kakashi grabbed Sano Yuji's ankle,

dragging him underground with tremendous force.

Only then did Kakashi's real figure shoot out of the earth.

Trapped from the waist down in the soil, Sano Yuji stammered, "Y-You... when?!"

Kakashi formed a hand seal with one hand, his eyes glinting coldly.

"When Pakkun warned me."

He lifted his Forehead Protector, revealing the crimson Sharingan beneath.

"As your captain, I failed to realize in time that you had betrayed the village. That was my failure.

But you won't get another chance."

Sano Yuji dropped his pretense. "Hmph. I haven't betrayed the village.

Everything I've done has been for the sake of a better future for it!"

"A better future for the village?"

Kakashi's voice was as cold as a blade. "You wouldn't happen to be doing all this for some 'greater goal' of Lord Danzo's, would you?"

Danzo again!

Uchiha Yatsuhashi couldn't help marveling at how Danzo seemed to be everywhere.

Sano Yuji shouted to Gota, "Gota! Hold them off! I'll move those 'children'!"

At his words, Gota and the surrounding members of the Iburi Clan turned into wisps of smoke,

surging in from all directions until they surrounded him and Uchiha Yatsuhashi.

Sano Yuji took the chance to break free from the earth.

"Not so fast!"

Kakashi was about to give chase, but Gota gave a sinister laugh and turned into smoke, intercepting him once more.

Kakashi's Chidori exploded in the smoke, but it was like striking empty air.

Physical attacks couldn't do a thing to them.

"Captain Kakashi!"

Uchiha Yatsuhashi calmly pointed out the key. "They're members of the Iburi Clan, and they can turn into smoke,

but smoke is vulnerable to wind. Wind Release can force them back temporarily!"

"Wind Release? Got it!"

Kakashi understood at once. Facing the mist as it rushed at him again, he took a deep breath and swiftly formed hand seals.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

A violent gale burst from Kakashi's mouth.

The smoke that had been drifting all around them immediately grew thin under the force of the wind.

Gota and the others churned violently in the gale.

They were driven back, but clearly hadn't suffered any real damage.

"Heh heh heh..."

"Thanks to Lord Orochimaru, our bodies have been completely stabilized.

A mere gale can't scatter us anymore!"

Before he had even finished speaking, the smoke that Wind Release had suppressed suddenly condensed.

Looking at Uchiha Yatsuhashi, who knew about their clan's abilities,

Gota abruptly unleashed the Smoke Smothering Technique.

Thick, choking smoke instantly swallowed Uchiha Yatsuhashi.

It was poisonous enough to suffocate and kill an ordinary person.

The weak were always the easiest targets.

As far as Gota was concerned, the ninja Kakashi was shielding had to be weak.

Yet the scream he'd expected never came from the smoke.

"Uh... H-How is this possible?!"

Gota was horrified to discover that as he approached Yatsuhashi,

his proudly mistlike body began to tremble violently.

The ethereal smoke was being forcibly condensed back into solid flesh and blood.

"There's nothing impossible about it."

Yatsuhashi's voice was cold as he stepped forward.

Beneath his Eagle Mask, his Three Tomoe had already transformed into an intricate Mangekyō Sharingan pattern.

The next second, a large hand shot out.

He grabbed Gota by the neck, his body solid once more.

"Thud!"

A heavy impact echoed through the valley.

Gota let out a scream.

One punch had folded him up like a flattened shrimp. He curled up on the ground in pain, completely unable to fight.

"Well done, Yatsuhashi!"

Kakashi used Wind Release to escape the surrounding members of the Iburi Clan

and rushed to Yatsuhashi's side.

He looked at Yatsuhashi's Sharingan, which had returned to its Three-Tomoe form.

For a moment just then,

Yatsuhashi had made him feel an unprecedented pressure.

That was because Uchiha Yatsuhashi had briefly switched to his Mangekyō Sharingan,

using his unique ocular technique, Return to Basics,

to temporarily remove Gota's ability to turn into mist.

It had all happened too fast, and Kakashi, who had been fighting off the other members of the Iburi Clan, hadn't noticed.

Suppressing his suspicions, Kakashi reminded himself that enemies surrounded them; this wasn't the time to dwell on it.

Yatsuhashi picked Gota up again and coldly swept his gaze over the Iburi Clan members around them, who were ready to make a move.

"If you don't want him dead, back off!"

Wary of what might happen, the members of the Iburi Clan didn't dare approach.

Just as the standoff continued,

a faint patter of footsteps suddenly came from the entrance to the cave.

A little girl of about seven or eight, dressed in a worn-out dress,

timidly stepped out of the shadows.

Her face was dirty. When she saw Gota dangling from Yatsuhashi's hand,

tears immediately welled up in her wide eyes.

"Please... don't hurt him."

Her voice trembled, but she still mustered the courage to step forward.

"Yukimi!"

Gota, lying on the ground, let out a pained roar and struggled.

"Don't worry about me! Get the others out of here!"

Kakashi and Yatsuhashi exchanged a glance, surprise flickering in their eyes.

Looking at Gota, whom Yatsuhashi had restrained, Kakashi asked gravely, "Why help Danzo kidnap children and aid his evil schemes?"

Yatsuhashi held Gota firmly in place, but he suddenly raised his head.

"Aid his evil schemes? What do you people who live in the sunlight know!

Lord Danzo promised that if we worked for him, the Iburi Clan would have a place to live in the future!"

"Foolish."

Kakashi said sternly, "A man's word means nothing when he's someone like Danzo.

He's only using you. Once you're no longer useful, he'll dispose of you without a second thought, like garbage."

Gota argued, "What do you know! We, the Iburi Clan, were born cursed. We can't control our ability to turn into mist,

and a single gust of wind could make our bodies disperse. Lord Orochimaru helped stabilize our bodies,

so we could walk around like normal people!"

Longing shone in Gota's eyes. "After Lord Orochimaru disappeared, Lord Danzo found us.

He promised to set aside a territory just for us in Konoha one day,

so the Iburi Clan could finally leave these dark caves behind and live in the sunlight!"

"We had no choice!"

The despair carried by his clan for hundreds of years shone in Gota's eyes.

At his words, Kakashi clenched his fists.

This was Danzo's way: exploiting other people's suffering for his own dirty gain.

"We can help you, too."

Gota snorted. "You say Lord Danzo can't be trusted. What makes you any more trustworthy?"

Just then, Uchiha Yatsuhashi, who had been silent all this time, slowly released his grip on Gota.

As everyone watched, he raised a hand and removed his Eagle Mask.

The face beneath the mask

made Gota, Yukimi, and the other members of the Iburi Clan behind her widen their eyes in shock.

"It... It's you?!"

Yukimi cried out, covering her mouth with one small hand, her face full of disbelief.

It was the boy who had once followed Lord Orochimaru

and helped him treat their condition: Uchiha Yatsuhashi!

"Y-You... what are you doing here?"

Gota was stunned. In his memory, the assistant who had been skilled at pharmaceutical experiments had been a Genin with little chakra.

Yukimi recognized him, too. Her little face was full of disbelief.

"You're the big brother who gave us food... But, but now..."

They could all feel the power radiating from Yatsuhashi, and saw the crimson, eerie Three-Tomoe Sharingan in his eyes.

He was nothing like the boy they remembered.

Yatsuhashi looked at them. "Gota. Yukimi."

His voice wasn't loud, but every word carried weight. "I understand Danzo's methods better than anyone. His promises are worthless.

Not a single one of the children you sent to him will come back alive!"

He paused and pointed to Kakashi behind him. "But he's a member of the Anbu, directly under the Hokage.

Lord Hokage, Minato Namikaze, would never exploit you the way Danzo does."

Yatsuhashi looked at Yukimi, his gaze softening. "Believe me. As long as you hand over those children

and stop working for Danzo, Lord Hokage will help you find a real home in Konoha. You won't have to hide in this lightless place anymore."

Yukimi looked into Yatsuhashi's determined eyes.

She remembered that when they were children, Yatsuhashi had gently told them the same thing: that their bodies would get better.

Yukimi stepped forward and tugged on Gota's sleeve, her eyes brimming with tears.

"I believe Big Brother Yatsuhashi. Lord Hokage will help us."

The aggression in Gota's eyes slowly faded, replaced by confusion and uncertainty.

He looked at his clan, then at Uchiha Yatsuhashi, who had changed beyond recognition.

At last, his tense body went slack.

"The Hokage... will really accept monsters like us?"

"Yes."

Yatsuhashi nodded firmly. The Sharingan in his eyes disappeared, leaving them an ordinary black.

"As long as you stop aiding his evil schemes."

Kakashi watched quietly from the side, admiration filling his eyes.

He hadn't expected this new Anbu member to resolve the crisis in his own way.