"I didn't have a choice before. Now, all I want is to save that man..."
Even if I ruin a major event, so be it. No war would be a good thing, Zeyu thought as he made his way to a rooftop.
Zeyu crouched down and closed his eyes, activating his sensory ability.
I hope I'm not too late, Zeyu thought. Veins bulged on his forehead as his perception spread farther and farther.
"There!"
Through his sensory ability, Zeyu detected a violently stirring mass of evil chakra not too far away.
No doubt about it. Shukaku gets agitated and hard to control on the night of the full moon. That must be Gaara. There's only one other person nearby, so it looks like it's Baki.
Good thing I made it in time.
With that, Zeyu hurried toward them.
Under cover of darkness, Kakashi quietly made his way to Zeyu's rooftop.
"Hm? Who's there?"
Sensing someone nearby, Kakashi immediately pulled out a shuriken and threw it into the bushes behind him.
Before the shuriken could reach the bushes, a senbon struck it with a sharp clang.
"Come out, Genma." Kakashi sighed helplessly.
The bushes rustled, and a figure sprang out. Genma Shiranui landed beside Kakashi.
Genma draped an arm over Kakashi's shoulder. "Honestly, you meet someone this talented and don't even introduce us? Sneaking off to see him by yourself—not cool."
As he spoke, Genma took out a senbon and held it between his teeth.
Kakashi gave Genma a dead-eyed stare. "You followed me here, didn't you? Besides, I only came back to return the kunai."
With that, Kakashi slipped out from under Genma's arm and crept over to the window of Zeyu's room.
He slowly peered inside, the moonlight illuminating the room.
Hm? He's not here? Where would he go at this hour? Kakashi wondered.
No longer bothering to be cautious, he climbed over the windowsill and entered the room.
He looked around at the slightly ransacked room and stood there, lost in thought.
Genma entered after him and began looking around.
I thought I'd get caught and have to face him, or that Zeyu would be fast asleep and I could just put the kunai back. What's going on? Kakashi had a bad feeling.
"Hey, Kakashi. Come look at this," Genma whispered, beckoning him over.
Kakashi walked over and was stunned.
The large desk drawer had been pulled open. Neatly arranged inside were scrolls of every kind, sorted and labeled. They filled half the drawer.
The other half was piled with kunai and shuriken, somewhat messily, as if someone had just rummaged through them. Nearly every kunai bore a Flying Thunder God Formula.
Kakashi picked up a scroll at random. The outside read "Showing Off." Looking puzzled, he unrolled it.
As soon as he saw what was written inside, his pupils widened in shock.
It recorded the hand seals for Chidori and even included a drawing of the technique.
"N-no way! Could it be..." Kakashi murmured. He could hardly believe it. Seeing that there was more on the scroll, he kept reading.
Curious about Kakashi's expression, Genma leaned closer.
"What is it, Kakashi?" he asked, looking over the scroll with him.
Kakashi held the scroll, growing more and more doubtful of everything he knew as he read on.
The rest of it recorded Chidori Sharp Spear, Chidori Senbon, Chidori Current, and Lightning Style: Kirin.
All kinds of Chidori-derived techniques were clearly documented, with rough sketches of each. There were also many drafts on the side, showing the process of exploring and refining the techniques.
"Kakashi, don't these moves look a lot like your Lightning Blade?" Genma asked, puzzled.
"This is terrifying. That kid's a monster. No... there's another possibility..." Kakashi murmured. He rolled up the scroll without answering Genma, his pupils trembling.
He glanced at the drawer. Several more scrolls were inside. He swallowed, cold sweat breaking out across his back.
Genma looked at Kakashi and sighed. "Looks like this guy's no ordinary person. Hey, Kakashi, should we tell Lord Hokage? A talent like this doesn't come along every day."
Only then did Kakashi come back to his senses. He grabbed Genma by the arm.
"No! Absolutely not!"
"We can't afford to provoke this kid. We can't make any decisions on our own!"
"We need to get out of here and find him. We have to talk to him face-to-face."
Kakashi put the scroll back, then pulled Genma out of the room.
The two of them leaped from rooftop to rooftop.
"Hey, Kakashi, you said we should find him. Where are we supposed to look?" Genma asked, watching Kakashi hurry ahead.
"Uh, I don't know..." Kakashi admitted awkwardly. He hadn't thought that far ahead.
Suddenly, a sound reached their ears. It wasn't particularly loud, but in the stillness of the night, it stood out. Under the bright moonlight, they looked toward it and made out a cloud of dust rising in the distance.
"What happened?" Genma asked, puzzled.
"He's got to be somewhere over there! Hurry!" Kakashi said, speeding up.
Some time earlier
Gaara sat atop the roof of a tall old building, one hand pressed to his chest as he felt Shukaku stirring inside him. His mood grew restless along with it.
Baki watched Gaara from beneath the eaves of a nearby rooftop.
"Oh, you're here? Took you long enough," Baki said, looking at Kabuto Yakushi, who had just arrived.
"Sorry. Something came up and held me up for a while," Kabuto said, adjusting his glasses.
Just then, Baki noticed someone walking toward Gaara. He asked, "That person—I remember he's one of your Sound Ninja. What's he planning to do?"
"Ah, he found me and insisted on proving himself, so I brought him along," Kabuto replied. Moonlight reflected off his glasses, obscuring his eyes. A smile played on his face.
Behind them, with one building between them, a ninja leaned against the corner of a wall.
That person's name is Kabuto Yakushi, right? Who's he meeting with? Gekko Hayate wondered. He wanted to get closer and hear what the two were discussing.
Hayate peered around the corner and was just about to move toward the corner of the wall where the two men stood.
Suddenly, someone behind him reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder.
Hayate instinctively went to draw his sword. He reached for the hilt over his other shoulder, but his wrist was seized too, leaving him unable to move.
Sweating and gritting his teeth, Hayate turned around. A man in a white hooded coat and a mask stood beside him.
Hayate stared at Elephant in shock.
Seeing that Hayate had recognized him, Elephant released his sword arm and put a finger to his lips, signaling for him to stay quiet.
Hayate nodded. The two stayed still without making a sound.
By then, Zeyu had reached a spot not far away. He looked at the two men, puzzled.
That's Elephant, isn't it? What's he doing here? Zeyu wondered.
What Zeyu didn't know was that after he punched Shukaku away in the central tower of the Forest of Death, the Third Hokage had witnessed it.
The Third Hokage knew something was clearly going on, but feared alerting the enemy and giving away their hand. So he had sent Elephant to investigate the matter alone and in secret.
As it happened, Elephant ran into Hayate, who was on a reconnaissance mission.
Hayate had followed Kabuto Yakushi because he seemed suspicious.
Zeyu studied the two for a moment, then smiled.
This works out, too. I've thought of a good plan.
Hayate quietly lifted Elephant's hand from his shoulder and tried to move forward, but Elephant grabbed him again. Hayate stared at him in surprise.
Elephant gently shook his head, signaling for Hayate not to go. Then he pointed behind them, indicating that they should leave.
Hayate shook his head too, his gaze resolute. He seemed to have made up his mind and prepared himself to die.
A sound suddenly came from the distance. Dosu had gone up to provoke Gaara, but the agitated Gaara took him out with a single move. Dosu fell among the ruins, with only one bloodied arm sticking out. It was impossible to tell whether he was alive.
The sound seemed especially loud in the silent night.
The two men were startled by the commotion, but before they could recover, a dark figure appeared in front of them and grabbed them both by the arms.
In an instant, they vanished from where they stood.
Then the three of them appeared together in a small clearing in the distance.
Elephant and Hayate were startled to find themselves suddenly in unfamiliar surroundings. They both began reaching for their weapons.
The black-clad man quickly let go of them and jumped back to put some distance between them.
Hayate and Elephant still didn't dare speak. They held their weapons up, facing the black-clad man.
"Wait, don't attack. I'm one of you," Zeyu said through his mask. He lifted the Konoha Forehead Protector at his neck and showed it to them.
"Who are you?" Hayate asked, still gripping his sword with both hands.
Elephant looked around, then noticed the smoke rising in the distance. Realizing that he and Hayate had been transported far away in an instant, he looked at Zeyu in surprise and whispered, "This technique... Could it be...?"
Zeyu pulled the kunai from the ground, put it away, and said to the two of them, "There's no time to explain. Let's get out of here first. This isn't the place to talk."
Elephant rested a hand on the back of Hayate's sword and nodded to him.
Hayate looked at Elephant, then finally put his sword away.
Just as the three of them were about to leave—
"How lively."
Kakashi spoke as he landed near them.
"Hey, good evening," Kakashi said, raising a hand to greet them.
Genma appeared behind him and smiled at the group.
"Huh? Kakashi-sensei?" Zeyu blurted out before he could stop himself.
As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized he'd blown it. He covered his mask and was about to leave.
Kakashi stepped forward and draped an arm around Zeyu's shoulder. He held a hand by his mouth and whispered, "You're Zeyu, aren't you? Don't rush off. Let's have a chat."
Beneath his mask, Zeyu gave a dead-eyed stare.
This is bad. There's no point hiding now. One careless move... I just hope I don't lose.