He had only wanted to quietly train until he reached the level of Jōnin, but now he had been forced to kill someone, disrupting the rhythm of his training. For a moment, Kaede was at a loss for words.
Should he destroy the body to cover it up...?
There probably wasn't enough time.
Whoosh!
Without even checking Rin Kinyuuya's corpse, Kaede leapt up, grabbed his belongings, and quickly fled into the distance.
He could easily guess that Konoha's Anbu were likely rushing to the scene. Kaede had no intention of running into them.
Almost immediately after Kaede left—
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several shinobi appeared at the location where the fight had taken place. They all wore animal masks, clearly members of the Anbu directly under the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Over there!"
One of them, a sensory-type ninja, caught a flash of something and saw Lin Qingyu Yuuya's corpse. He didn't approach directly, instead hurling a shuriken that struck the body, confirming that the target was dead.
The other two Anbu quickly approached from both sides.
"He's dead."
One of them crouched down to confirm the death, then flipped the corpse over so the face was up, revealing the forehead protector of Kirigakure.
The three Anbu looked at each other, a flicker of surprise passing through their eyes. They had expected to find a fallen Konoha shinobi, only to discover it was an enemy ninja instead. Judging by his gear, he was likely a scout, though it was unclear who had taken him out.
"This guy should be a Kirigakure elite Chūnin."
The crouching ninja swiftly inspected the body. A flicker of doubt appeared in his eyes as he turned to his companion.
"It's been less than a minute since you sensed the battle here, right?"
"Yeah..."
The sensory ninja furrowed his brow. "To take out an elite scout from Kirigakure that quickly, it'd have to be one of our Jōnin. But I don't recognize that chakra signature at all. And after killing the enemy, they just left? Seems they didn't want to encounter us."
The ninja inspecting the body looked thoughtful for a moment, then suddenly froze. He stared closely at the wound on Rin Kinyuuya's head, his expression turning to surprise.
"This wound…"
"What about it?"
The other two turned their attention to him.
After hesitating for several seconds, the inspecting Anbu spoke, sounding unsure.
"This kind of wound... I've seen it before. It looks like something caused by Lord Sakumo's sword technique."
"No way!"
"Lord Sakumo died two years ago…"
The two were almost in sync with their reaction.
The inspecting ninja also looked uncertain, but after double-checking, he finally said:
"This kind of cut is definitely the result of Lord Sakumo's blade technique. But it likely wasn't him. If it were, this forehead protector would've been cleaved right through too."
Hearing this, the three Anbu exchanged glances.
The Hatake Sword Technique was a secret art passed down only within the Hatake clan, just like the Nara Clan's Shadow Jutsu or the Yamanaka Clan's Mind Techniques. Ever since Sakumo's death, very few people could use it.
"…Compile a report for the Hokage."
"Understood."
After coming to a decision, the Anbu returned to the village.
The death of a scout from an enemy village wasn't exactly a major incident given the current tension between the villages, so there was no need to wake Hiruzen Sarutobi in the middle of the night. It wasn't until the next morning, when Hiruzen entered his office, that he was informed of what had happened.
"A Kirigakure elite scout, killed by the Hatake Sword Technique? And the fight lasted no more than a minute?"
Hearing the Anbu's report, Hiruzen was a little taken aback.
An elite Kirigakure scout capable of sneaking near Konoha would at the very least be a high-level Chūnin. To take such a person out in under a minute would require a Jōnin-level shinobi. But there shouldn't be any Jōnin in the village currently proficient in the Hatake Sword Technique.
"Could it be… him?"
A figure flashed through Hiruzen's mind—Kakashi.
His heart trembled slightly.
Killing a Kirigakure scout in under a minute… Had Kakashi already grown that powerful? He wasn't even eight years old yet!
Though it was hard to believe, no one else seemed to fit the profile. Hiruzen took a deep breath.
"Kakashi... Bring him here. I have questions."
"Yes, sir."
The nearby Anbu vanished instantly.
A short while later—
Kakashi arrived outside the Hokage's office and walked in. He bowed respectfully.
"You summoned me, Lord Hokage?"
Hiruzen stood up, approached Kakashi, and gave him a warm smile, his eyes full of admiration.
"Your training has progressed quite a bit recently, hasn't it? I didn't expect you to already master Sakumo's blade techniques at your age."
"...?"
Kakashi froze.
Hiruzen patted Kakashi's shoulder and said with a smile, "Seeing you now reminds me of Sakumo in his youth... Don't you have something you want to report to me?"
Kakashi looked at Hiruzen, utterly puzzled. After hesitating, he asked,
"Lord Hokage, what exactly are you referring to?"
Hiruzen was slightly surprised, but then smiled again.
He hadn't expected the proud and impulsive Kakashi to have learned how to hide things. It seemed the boy had truly grown up. Maybe it wouldn't be long before Kakashi could truly take on the duties of a Jōnin. If he'd known this earlier, there might have been no need to have Minato guide him.
Clack.
Hiruzen raised his hand and tossed something toward Kakashi.
Kakashi caught it and saw that it was a Kirigakure forehead protector, stained with dried blood and marked by a clean cut across the middle—as though it had been sliced by a sharp blade.
Utterly baffled by the Hokage's gesture, Kakashi looked even more confused, lost in thought as he turned to Hiruzen.
"...Still not remembering?"
Hiruzen took a sip of tea, his expression calm.
Knowing how to hide was a good quality, but once the Hokage knew, it was time to report the full situation.
Kakashi's mind raced, but he truly couldn't recall anything involving the forehead protector. After a long silence, he finally asked,
"Lord Hokage… this forehead protector... what exactly—?"
Hiruzen frowned slightly, surprised that Kakashi was still denying it. His tone turned colder.
"The battle last night. I want you to explain it."
"Last night?"
Kakashi was stunned, and his expression turned serious.
"Lord Hokage, I was home all night. I wasn't involved in any battle…"