Discovery

The Dark Forest.

When he arrived and looked at the dense forest, he found that it truly lived up to its name. Even in broad daylight, looking in from outside, the interior seemed as dark as night.

It really was the perfect place for murder and robbery!

Luo Mang nodded and followed the mission instructions, searching for the marked tree.

Watching secretly, Kakashi could tell that schemes were at work here, with even more sinister undercurrents stirring in the shadows.

When the two Root members appeared, Kakashi's eyes held nothing but murderous intent!

But he had no intention of intervening immediately. He wanted to see how Luo Mang would respond and gauge his current strength, then step in once he could no longer hold out!

Creak, creak!

Branches creaked under their weight, and two figures dropped to the ground below.

As Luo Mang searched, he sensed something unusual behind him and stopped. Turning around, he saw two masked men. Were the first arrivals the assassins sent to kill him?

Whether anyone who secretly read his diary was here remained to be seen.

"May I ask who you two are?"

Luo Mang turned around with a smile, choosing to play dumb.

"Did the client send more people to help?"

"Heh, kid, you got involved with someone you shouldn't have. We're here to finish you off!"

One of the assassins, wearing a distinctive mask, spoke.

"Oh?"

Once Luo Mang heard that they really were here to kill him, he stopped pretending. His Sharingan appeared instantly, and he cast a genjutsu on them!

Caught completely off guard, the one with weaker resistance to genjutsu succumbed immediately and collapsed!

"Th-the Sharingan? How is that possible!"

Seeing Luo Mang's scarlet two-tomoe Sharingan, the assassin pointed at him with a slightly trembling hand. Hadn't the Uchiha Clan been wiped out? Sasuke was the only one left!

"Heh, there's plenty you don't know!"

Luo Mang taunted him outright, checking whether Root had sent any other assassins!

"Kid, don't think having a Sharingan means you've got everything under control. Let me tell you, genjutsu is my specialty! Your half-baked Sharingan can't compare!"

The assassin did not choose to flee. His confidence came from his specialization in genjutsu.

He had strong resistance, decent close-combat skills, and extensive combat experience. How old was the brat before him, anyway? There was no way the kid could match him.

"Oh."

Luo Mang raised an eyebrow at that. It seemed there really weren't any other assassins.

Only two?

Should I pretend to be losing and see whether anyone who secretly reads the diary is here?

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Several shuriken came flying straight at him.

With his Sharingan active, they seemed to move in slow motion, and he easily sidestepped them. But his opponent avoided meeting his eyes, successfully denying him control through genjutsu.

As a Root member, the assassin had excellent combat sense. He immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to hide among the trees, preparing to find an opening for a sneak attack.

Why not attack directly? Luo Mang had just activated his Sharingan and was at his most focused. Charging in might end badly.

Thus, the assassin who had escaped the genjutsu decided to use the Body Flicker Technique to dart through the treetops, draining Luo Mang's ocular power and chakra before delivering a fatal blow once he was exhausted.

That approach could have been called flawless. However, for Luo Mang, who had his own cheat, the Sharingan's chakra consumption was negligible.

He could leave it active for a week without any trouble!

Against any other Sharingan wielder, the assassin's decision could have been called perfect. Against him, however, it was nothing but a waste of time.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Every so often, one or two shuriken, throwing darts, or kunai flew out. None hit him, he wasn't injured, and he didn't feel tired. But he was so bored...

Luo Mang sighed helplessly. It seemed he had guessed wrong. This wasn't one of those formulaic diaries with copies that others could read. Perhaps uploading videos was merely meant to help him review the plot.

After that brief speculation, two shuriken struck his legs, and he collapsed to the ground!

"Heh, heh, heh!"

Seeing this from his hiding place, the assassin immediately broke into a grin. He jumped down from the tree and declared smugly,

"Can't keep going, can you? Let me finish you off!"

A faint, concealed smile tugged at Luo Mang's lips. Of course, he had done it deliberately.

Even if no one was secretly watching, he still needed to feign serious injury to lure his opponent out. Otherwise, dragging this out would be too boring, and exposing his pocket world would hardly be worth it.

But just as he was about to act, a scream suddenly came from behind the assassin.

"Aah!"

"Hm?"

Hearing that sound, Luo Mang whipped his head around.

Kakashi pulled the kunai out of the assassin's neck, and the man fell facedown, dead.

"Copy Ninja?"

"No, wait. Sir, who are you?"

It was actually Kakashi. Luo Mang had grown so used to writing his nickname in the diary that he had blurted it out instinctively. Seeing Kakashi's expression freeze, his own expression shifted slightly, and he hurried to explain.

The two had met once, but he had only been a student then, and Kakashi might not have paid him much attention. It was better to pretend he didn't know him.

Seeing him act like this, Kakashi Hatake was genuinely annoyed!

Calling him that in the diary was one thing, but on their first meeting, after he had even saved Luo Mang's life, the kid still called him Copy Ninja. Wasn't that going a little too far?

"Kakashi. A Konoha ninja. I was passing through on a mission, saw you were in danger, and stepped in to help."

Luo Mang narrowed his eyes at those words. He didn't quite believe them.

He was more inclined to believe his own guess had been right. The diary really did follow that formula and had copies other people could read. Kakashi was one of those readers.

Going by the plot, Kakashi wasn't taking missions at all during this period. At most, he would be in Konoha, looking into the members of the little Team Seven he would eventually take charge of. Why would he leave the village?

Still, he should count himself lucky that it was Kakashi. If it had been anyone else, things would have been troublesome.

"Thank you, Kakashi, sir. I'm a ninja from Konoha too, here on a commissioned mission. I never expected to run into danger like this. Thank you for stepping in to help."

Even if he had figured it out, he had better not show it. Who knew whether that lousy cheat of a Diary had any penalties?

"Mm. We're both Konoha ninja. Helping each other is only natural. I'm heading back to the village too. Why don't we go together?"

Kakashi nodded, then took the initiative to invite him back to the village. After all, he had come out here to keep Luo Mang safe.

"All right."

Luo Mang removed the shuriken embedded in his legs, hastily bandaged the wounds, and headed back to Konoha with Kakashi.

Along the way, each was occupied with his own thoughts.

For instance, what occupied Kakashi's mind most was Luo Mang's future training plan.

Judging from the fight he had watched from his hiding place in the trees, Luo Mang was fairly strong. His chakra reserves and the endurance of his Sharingan's ocular abilities were particularly impressive.

But his performance just now suggested that he lacked combat experience. When attacked, he hadn't known to retaliate with shuriken, probe his opponent, or evade.

Still, all of that could be improved gradually later. There was no rush.