Intelligence Overwhelming, the Reversal of Hunter and Prey

The night wind happened to scatter the clouds at that moment, and cold moonlight cut straight into the dark forest, illuminating part of it.

The figure atop the tree canopy was outlined by the moonlight. His silver-white hair was slightly tousled by the wind, most of his face hidden behind an Anbu animal mask. His right eye, uncovered by his forehead protector, radiated cold killing intent.

That was the captain of Konoha ANBU Sixth Squad, the cold-blooded killer renowned throughout the Shinobi World, Kakashi Hatake.

Kakashi's right hand hung naturally at his side, yet a violent mass of high-density Lightning Release chakra was frantically gathering in his palm. Blinding blue-white arcs lit the surrounding trunks a ghastly pale, while dense, piercing crackles completely shattered the forest's silence.

This was the opening stance for a killing blow: Lightning Cutter.

"The Uchiha Clan has been completely sealed off tonight. Anyone who dares leave the village without authorization... will be treated as a deserter. Stop immediately. Are you looking to die?!"

The cold glow of Lightning Cutter reflected beneath Kakashi's mask.

Just then, the cold mechanical voice rang out in his mind again.

"Ding. Detected that the host is being pursued by Konoha elites. Selection triggered."

"Option one: Immediately kneel and beg for mercy, claiming you came out for a walk. Reward: Basic Substitution Technique mastery. Predicted outcome: You will be taken back to the Interrogation Department, have your memories forcibly read by the Yamanaka Clan, then be executed."

"Option two: Use the Body Flicker Technique to flee frantically and pray that Lightning Cutter does not pierce you. Reward: ten Soldier Pills. Predicted outcome: Your chakra will be exhausted, and you will be surrounded and killed by an Anbu squad."

"Option three: Strike directly at the opponent's psychological trauma, reverse the hunt, and capture one accompanying Anbu alive. Reward: top-tier counter-surveillance and trap mastery, as well as the B-rank ninjutsu Lightning Release: False Darkness."

Ye raised his chin slightly, an extremely dangerous gleam flickering in his black eyes.

"System, I choose three."

The instant the reward merged, vast amounts of advanced knowledge concerning trap placement, trace concealment, and Lightning Release chakra nature transformation flooded into his mind. His once-ordinary hands gained the muscle memory of countless life-and-death battles, and his control over any ninja tool reached a precise, masterful level.

He looked at Kakashi, poised to strike from the tree canopy, and suddenly laughed. The sound was abrupt amid the dense noise, carrying a mocking edge that made one's scalp prickle.

"Desertion... Heh, you really know how to slap that label on someone."

A voice dark to the extreme rang out. Ye completely ignored the Lightning Cutter that could pierce his heart at any moment and stared at Kakashi's left eye, hidden beneath his forehead protector.

"Senior Kakashi, you wear that Sharingan stolen from our Uchiha Clan every day... Feels pretty good to use, doesn't it?"

Kakashi frowned slightly atop the tree canopy, and the hand gripping Lightning Cutter tightened unconsciously.

But this was only the beginning. Ye's speech suddenly quickened, every word precisely stabbing into the painful corners of Kakashi's heart that he least wanted to face.

"Back then... when you used that Lightning Cutter to pierce Rin Nohara's heart, did you use that same Sharingan to watch her breathe her last?!"

The mental impact of those words was immense. Kakashi's mind went blank in an instant.

Kakashi's once-steady right hand began trembling uncontrollably. The bloodstained hands buried deep in his memories, the girl who had died smiling in a pool of blood, and her final words—kill me—instantly shattered every one of his psychological defenses.

"What do you know... What do you know?!"

Kakashi's voice had completely lost its earlier coldness, replaced by extreme suppression and pain.

A shrill sound like a short circuit rang out. Due to the violent disruption of his chakra, the Lightning Cutter in his palm actually collapsed midair into a few weak sparks and vanished.

His turmoil had sent his chakra completely out of control. Kakashi's defenses had been utterly broken.

Now.

Ye's gaze turned ice-cold. Without the slightest hesitation, he pulled out three specially made smoke bombs and smashed them viciously at his feet.

Three dull thuds rang out.

Ye's figure was completely swallowed up as thick, pungent white smoke exploded outward in an instant.

But this was absolutely not a simple escape. In the single second the smoke spread, Ye's system-enhanced top-tier trap mastery came fully into play. He swiftly stuck three explosive tags onto the blind side behind a tree trunk, then connected five poisoned senbon with transparent wire to create a triggered chain trap.

At the same time, he forced out an imperceptible wisp of poison gas from his fingertips and blew it precisely toward the pug below.

"Cough, cough... Arwoof..."

Pakkun, who had been preparing to pursue by scent, suddenly charged headfirst into the faint cloud of paralyzing poison. After letting out a miserable cry, every muscle in his body instantly stiffened. Foam spilled from his mouth as he crashed to the ground and convulsed violently.

His proud scent-tracking system was completely paralyzed.

"Pakkun! Damn it..."

Seeing the fallen ninja hound, Kakashi forcibly suppressed his painful memories beneath extreme fury. He bit through his tongue and used the sharp pain to force himself calm, then abruptly opened his Sharingan and frantically searched the darkness with his red eye.

Found him.

A black figure was racing toward the outskirts at high speed, right at the edge of the dense fog.

"You won't get away!"

Lightning Cutter gathered in Kakashi's palm again. Wrapped in blue lightning, he dove from the tree canopy at terrifying speed, his right hand carrying violent force as it stabbed straight toward the figure's back.

A dull sound of flesh being pierced rang out.

Lightning Cutter passed through the figure's chest without resistance, but Kakashi's sensation immediately turned strange. There was no blood, no feeling of bones shattering.

It was merely a decoy created with a high-level Substitution Technique, temporarily disguised using mud and broken wood.

I fell for it. This is bad.

His Sharingan spun wildly as he tried to find the enemy's true body, and cold sweat instantly soaked Kakashi's back.

An Anbu member hidden in the shadows and prepared to provide support at any time suddenly felt a terrifying chill at the back of his neck. He was behind another large tree less than twenty meters from Kakashi.

It was the instinctive shudder of someone on the brink of death.

He had just raised his hands to form seals and warn the others when a hard, powerful palm silently pressed against the back of his head.

Ye appeared soundlessly behind the Anbu member. Holding nothing back, he unleashed the Monstrous Strength of his Sage Body and brought the edge of his hand down cleanly upon the most vulnerable nerve point in the Anbu's neck.

The Anbu member lost consciousness completely before he could even let out a muffled groan.

Ye casually slung the Anbu captive, weighing over a hundred jin, over his shoulder. As chakra burst beneath his feet, he looked back at the stunned and uncertain Kakashi, a mocking smile curling at his lips. Then he merged into the night and vanished without a trace.

Only a few crushed dead leaves and an empty Anbu hiding spot remained on the ground. By the time Kakashi dispersed the Lightning Cutter in his hand and followed the chakra fluctuations to the back of the tree, he discovered everything.

A hostage had actually been taken right under his nose.

Kakashi breathed rapidly. The ozone scent left behind by Lightning Cutter mixed with the earthy stench, while dew on the leaves clearly reflected the horror and pain he could not hide in his Sharingan.

He had lost—not only tactically, where he had been played like a fool, but psychologically, where he had been utterly crushed.

A Chunin barely in his teens could not possibly possess such terrifying mental fortitude and counter-surveillance ability. Most terrifying of all, that brat had somehow learned the details of what had happened back then.

His Sharingan suddenly noticed something, even as Kakashi's mind buzzed.

He slowly turned his head toward the tree's rough trunk.

The scattered wood chips showed that it had just been carved. Someone had used a kunai to forcibly engrave a line of words into it with arrogant, even strokes.

Kakashi stared at the words, his expression beneath the mask turning livid.

"Senior Kakashi, pass a message to that old dog Danzo for me... Tell him to wash his neck and wait for me to come collect it."