Lighting Up the Konoha Technician Title

In the Hokage's office, Kakashi knelt on one knee and told the Third Hokage—Hiruzen Sarutobi—everything.

After hearing him out, Hiruzen Sarutobi lightly tapped his pipe and let out a heavy sigh.

"My old friend..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi turned his back, as though reminiscing about the past.

Only after a long while did Hiruzen Sarutobi turn back around.

"Kakashi, in that case, we'll split up. You'll take my place on the original route, while I take a shortcut to meet the daimyo."

"Yes, Lord Third!"

Honestly, all of Root put together would not have been enough to fight the Third Hokage. He was merely afraid of being delayed on his way to meet the daimyo.

At this point in time, the Third Hokage was practically invincible. Kakashi had no idea where Danzo got the confidence to assassinate him.

Could his real intention have merely been to delay the Third Hokage?

As long as the daimyo believed the Third Hokage was lacking in ability and no longer capable of leading the village, Danzo would still have a chance?

Kakashi felt that his guess was closer to the truth.

At Root's secret base, a large number of Root shinobi knelt before Danzo.

Danzo's one exposed eye gleamed coldly. "Everyone has seen Konoha's decline. The village has weakened because Sarutobi is far too cowardly."

"I have received word that there is now an excellent opportunity to eliminate Sarutobi."

"You will disguise yourselves as wandering shinobi and kill him tomorrow on his way to the daimyo's residence."

"Yes, Lord Danzo!"

The Root members answered in unison. They rose expressionlessly, without questioning why their master wanted to assassinate their own village's Hokage, and immediately went to prepare for the next day's assassination.

This was Root, a killing machine completely controlled by Danzo.

The Third Hokage strode swiftly through the quiet forest, followed in silence by three ANBU members.

Suddenly, several kunai flew toward them.

"Watch out! There are explosive tags on the kunai!" one sharp-eyed ANBU member shouted.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The explosive tags detonated, and the blast briefly separated the group.

More than a dozen shinobi emerged from the hidden woods, terrifying masks covering their faces.

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!

Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!

Water Release: Water Shockwave!

"..."

A dense barrage of ninjutsu came crashing toward them. The three ANBU members struggled to fend it off and had no time to spare for the Third Hokage beside them.

The Third Hokage remained calm in the face of danger, unhurriedly dodging the incoming attacks.

Just then, a young man stepped forward and formed hand seals.

Following the principle that power came from shouting, the young man roared, "Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"

Countless thick branches struck the Third Hokage, their momentum unabated as they pierced straight through his body.

"Lord Third!" the ANBU members cried out.

Seeing that his attack had landed, the young man prepared to retreat.

At that moment, the slowly falling Third Hokage suddenly turned into a log.

Damn it, the one he had hit was only someone else's substitution log!

Wood Release: Exploding Tree!

The young man reacted swiftly. Several branches instantly grew from his arm and shot toward a certain spot, tearing through the air with a rumbling howl.

Unfortunately, the man before him was faster.

"Ox—Rabbit—Monkey, Raikiri!"

The incoming branches were like paper. In less than the blink of an eye, they were sliced apart and fell limply to the ground in pieces.

The three tomoe in his eye spun rapidly, and the young man's flaws were laid bare before the crimson Sharingan.

With a flash, Kakashi landed in front of the young man. His hand, filled with violent chakra, stopped before the young man's chest.

Blue-white lightning flickered between them. Young Yamato swallowed, and a trace of awe flashed through his eyes.

"Who are you? Why can you use Wood Release?"

Though he knew full well who the other was, Kakashi still asked. If he was putting on a show, he might as well see it through.

Watching the silent young man, Kakashi spoke again. "Go. One day, Konoha will need your ninjutsu."

Hearing that, the young man quickly got up and left without looking back.

Kakashi Hatake!

The young man firmly etched that name into his heart. He had a feeling that the two of them would meet again someday.

Only after Yamato had gone far away did Kakashi put away his Raikiri.

Even if I'm out of chakra, I still have to hold Raikiri while chatting.

Yep, that's one of my ninja ways too!

Shadow Clone Technique!

Kakashi formed hand seals with both hands, and two more copies of himself appeared behind him.

The three figures gripped kunai and joined the battle, quickly taking care of the remaining Root members.

After completing the mission, Kakashi returned to his usual lazy state and slowly made his way back toward the village.

The ANBU members behind him all looked at Kakashi with admiration.

He was clearly only about the same age as their own sons, yet he already possessed jonin-level strength. Lord Kakashi was truly remarkable.

Kakashi looked like a slacker, but he was actually considering what would happen next.

At this time, Danzo should already be sitting in the Hokage's office, enjoying himself. Kakashi wondered what expression Danzo would make when he saw the Third Hokage return unharmed.

Heh, Kakashi really wanted to see it for himself, a mischievous expression appearing on his face.

Still, since it involved the Third Hokage, it was better not to join in on the fun.

Hmm, now that Yamato had used Wood Release today, the Third Hokage would probably receive the news soon.

After that, Orochimaru's immoral experiments would likely be discovered before long. The Third Hokage would probably follow the trail and set his sights on Orochimaru.

After this incident, Orochimaru should realize that his exposure was only a matter of time. Defecting would also be put on the agenda.

Kakashi could not be bothered to judge Orochimaru's merits and faults. After all, someone wholeheartedly devoted to studying science through cultivation was a rare talent.

But once Orochimaru defected, Jiraiya would leave the village as well, leaving Konoha with only the Third Hokage among its top combat forces.

Kakashi rubbed his forehead. What a headache.

For a long time after returning to the village, neither the Third Hokage nor Danzo summoned Kakashi. It was probably because a series of political changes were underway.

But that was not something Kakashi needed to worry about, and he was happy to enjoy the peace and quiet.

"I've more or less mastered all the ninjutsu that appeared in my memories. Now, the title of Konoha Technician truly suits me."

Kakashi adjusted the forehead protector over his left eye. For now, his increase in strength had reached a bottleneck.

Although his chakra and natural energy increased slightly every day, compared to his previous leaps in strength, the current growth seemed rather insignificant.

As for the ninjutsu he would master in the future according to his memories, he had already learned most of them now.

Kakashi closed his eyes in thought. Perhaps he could combine some of the ninjutsu from his memories and create new ninjutsu!

It was not that Kakashi was blindly arrogant. He truly was a genius in ninjutsu. The S-rank ninjutsu Raikiri was a Lightning Release technique he had developed himself!

Kakashi sat in his chair with one hand supporting his chin.

"Well, I don't have any good ideas... Wait, I've got it!"

Kakashi's eyes lit up as inspiration suddenly struck him. "What if I combine the ultimate taijutsu technique my father taught me with Raikiri..."

That ultimate taijutsu technique was named for the pain it inflicted, said to feel "like a thousand years of death"—Thousand Years of Death!