Chapter 233: Gekkō Hayate's Death, Yakushi Kabuto's Acting
Akiyama Makoto was sensing and investigating as he walked. He was surprised to find that the ones meeting here were, in fact, Baki and Kabuto. Other than Gekkō Hayate, who was using the Transparent Escape Technique to hide his presence and form, there was no one else around. It was clear that the two of them had chosen this place after careful consideration.
But this still made him feel strange. For these two to appear so brazenly inside Konoha... did they really not see Konoha as the strongest village in the ninja world? Konoha was indeed at its weakest point right now, but it hadn't fallen so far that even the Sand Village could just ignore it.
How do these two plan to clean this up?
"So, it's you."
When Baki saw Kabuto's face, a look of clear surprise appeared.
"The 'right-hand man' Orochimaru mentioned... is a guy whose face is known to Konoha, who even participated in the Chūnin Exams, and who is likely under surveillance."
"For a guy like you to come and meet me... you're a complete fool."
Kabuto's eyes narrowed, a fake smile on his face. "There's a saying: the most dangerous place is the safest place. And given the current situation with the exams, if the Sand Village were to withdraw now, it would be a complete joke."
"So as long as we're a little careful, even if the Hokage discovers our secret meeting, he won't do anything unnecessary."
Baki's brow furrowed deeply. "But what if Konoha raises its guard?"
"It is precisely because Konoha has raised its guard that we have the possibility of cooperating. Otherwise, Lord Orochimaru would have been sufficient on his own."
Baki snorted, noncommittal about this statement. He naturally didn't believe that Orochimaru's strength was comparable to Rasa's and the entire Sand Village's, but he didn't dare to say anything disrespectful. Orochimaru's reputation had been built on real battles.
"I've given you the warning. If you leak any information, we will immediately pull out. In any case, the main force for this infiltration operation is your Sound Village."
"Before that, our ninja will not surface. This is the will of our Kazekage."
"No problem."
Kabuto calmly took out a scroll and handed it to Baki. "This is our plan. It's about time for you to start preparing."
"Alright. I'll be leaving then."
After speaking, Baki put away the scroll and used a Body Flicker to leave, seeming to head back to his own lodgings.
Seeing this, Hayate, who had been using his jutsu, let out a sigh of relief, preparing to silently report this matter to the Hokage.
But then, Baki returned, appearing behind him.
It turned out that he and Kabuto had discovered his presence long ago. While they had been talking, they had used eye contact and hand gestures to confirm their plan to join forces.
With Baki behind him, Kabuto also immediately moved forward. The two of them surrounded Hayate.
Hayate didn't say a word, but simply drew his sword. He knew that if he wanted to live, he could only fight.
As for shouting... not to mention how remote this place was, with the speed of an Elite Jōnin, he would be dead before he could even get the first syllable out.
Konoha-Style Fencing: Dance of the Crescent Moon!
The moment he drew his sword, he created two shadow clones, which slashed at Kabuto from different directions.
In his eyes, Kabuto was clearly the easier one to deal with. Even if he was a Sound spy, he was at most at the level of an ordinary Jōnin. But Baki was an Elite Jōnin who had been famous for a long time.
But this time, Hayate was wrong.
Striking Shadow Snake!
Kabuto raised his hands, and a large number of poisonous snakes were summoned from his sleeves, biting at Hayate and his two shadow clones.
Although the blade in Hayate's hand became a blur of afterimages, his two clones were bitten by the snakes and instantly exploded.
Hayate himself immediately retreated, but silent wind blades had already pierced through the gaps from behind, mercilessly hitting his back and penetrating his chest.
Blood spurted from his mouth and nose. His internal organs had been pierced. He was deader than dead.
Kabuto went up and checked his condition, then nodded to Baki, confirming that he was dead.
"He's dead. But we just killed a Special Jōnin inside Konoha. How do you plan to clean this up?"
"Very simple—"
His hand reached for Hayate's face, took his skin, and used the Dead Soul Jutsu. He slowly transformed into Hayate's appearance.
As for the "Kabuto" who was an exam candidate, he could just find any Sound-nin to disguise themselves as him later. As long as that person stayed in their room and didn't go out, he could ensure this matter wouldn't be leaked.
Watching Kabuto take his face, Baki felt a chill. "Now I believe you're Orochimaru's right-hand man. You're all a bunch of inhuman monsters."
"Thank you for the compliment. As for this body, I'll take care of it."
With that, Kabuto took out a scroll and sealed Hayate's body.
Just as the two of them were about to leave, they both looked in another direction at the same time.
"Why is someone else here? Do we continue?" Baki's brow furrowed.
At this time, Kabuto, disguised as Hayate, said, "Let's just stop here. We just need to put on a little show."
He then simply cleaned up the blood on the ground and, with Baki, assumed a confrontational stance.
At this moment, Makoto and Yūgao leaped onto the wall.
With his sensory ability, he had, of course, sensed the entire process of Hayate's death. He had been considering whether to intervene, but she had held him back, insisting on a slow infiltration. And from the moment Baki had attacked to Hayate's death, only five seconds had passed. This was what had made him miss the chance to save him.
He hadn't left a Hiraishin mark on any of them, so he naturally couldn't fly over in one second and resolve the battle.
Oh well. If he couldn't be saved, he couldn't be saved. It was, after all, within his acceptable range of outcomes. In reality, he wasn't that close to him. If he had saved him, he would have had to expose his strength, which would have completely disrupted the Konoha Crush plot. This did not match his original expectations.
As for not saving him... it might be doing a disservice to Yūgao. But in that case, he would just have to work harder to be good to her in the future.
If Hayate knew, he would probably thank him, right?
"It's you?"
Kabuto looked at him and Yūgao, slightly stunned. He hadn't expected to see these two.
He then began to calculate whether he should kill them both. With his and Baki's strength, it should be no problem.
Baki was also ready to strike.
Makoto, on the other hand, just looked at them calmly. If these two made a move now, then Konoha would be missing three people today.
At this moment, Kabuto made a decision.
"What are you doing with him?!"
His sudden shout even startled Baki. So he's not planning to fight?
Yūgao, who had been about to ask what he was doing, was momentarily baffled. Was this really the time to be discussing such things?
"Hayate! The question should be why he is here!"
"And... I smell blood. Is someone injured?" She pointed at Baki.
Baki was silent, waiting for Kabuto to perform.
Kabuto suddenly began to cough, a trace of blood flowing from the corner of his mouth. "I don't need your concern. It's just... my old illness acting up."
Yūgao was completely stunned, not even knowing if she should step forward.
"As for what I'm doing, I'm just accompanying Lord Baki on a tour of Konoha. This matter doesn't require your concern."
This reason was so clumsy that even Makoto laughed.
In the future, she would definitely report this to the Third Hokage. Did Kabuto dare to appear in front of him with this face? Even if the face and body shape were completely disguised, the scent and chakra feeling couldn't be. He would definitely be discovered.
"Brat, what are you laughing at?" Baki said in a sinister tone. He was already getting the urge to kill. In his opinion, what Kabuto was doing was too risky. It would be cleaner to just kill him and this female ninja.
"I'm laughing because Yūgao can't even tell that the proctor-dono is just trying to get her to leave. It's for her own safety."
"So, Yūgao, let's just leave. I'm sure the proctor-dono can handle everything."
Baki still wanted to make a move, but Kabuto kept shooting him looks. He could only force himself to calm down. "No one is in any danger here. I just wanted to see the sights, and we had a little spar. That's all."
"Now, everyone leave. If you have anything to say, you can go and talk to the Hokage and the Kazekage."
Afterward, Baki really did use a Body Flicker and leave. Although he was still monitoring everything from a few dozen meters away, this meant the conflict was over.
No one had died, and no one was injured. At least, on the surface.
"Cough, cough... You shouldn't have interrupted my mission. I was this close to catching him."
Kabuto looked at Yūgao with dissatisfaction, his eyes full of contempt. "And you still haven't answered my question. What are you doing with him?"
She was so flustered by his questioning that she had lost the ability to think about the situation. She lowered her head and said nothing.
Seeing this, Makoto spoke up. He had to play his part. "I was walking Yūgao home. We heard a noise over here, and she wanted to come and check it out."
"She's an Anbu ninja. Naturally, she has to be responsible for Konoha."
"Then what about you? Why was she at your place?" he continued to press, clearly trying to muddy the waters and make it so that neither of them had the mind to pursue the matter further.
If he hadn't known the truth through his sensory perception, his plan would have basically succeeded.
Seeing him say this, he could only take her hand. "Yūgao confessed to me. We're a couple now, so we can naturally be together."
"We had no intention of disturbing you. We just didn't expect to find you and a Sand-nin making such a commotion."
Kabuto looked at her in disbelief. She wanted to speak, but couldn't.
He coughed violently. "Fine. Fine. I understand."
"Yūgao, from now on, we're through. Let's not see each other again."
"As for what happened today, I will report it to the Hokage. You'd better not meddle any further."
Her eyes reddened. She looked at the "Hayate" in front of her, confused. His indifferent gaze made her heart die completely.
Makoto couldn't help but want to applaud. As expected of the multi-faceted spy, Kabuto. His acting and his grasp of the atmosphere are simply invincible!
After his "jilted lover" performance, he and Yūgao really couldn't investigate any further. In the future, Kabuto could even use this as an excuse to take leave and slack off, avoiding contact with the Hokage. It was killing two birds with one stone.
But he was still a little curious. Why hadn't he and Baki chosen to kill them?
Soon, he got the answer from Kabuto's mouth. "As for you—Akiyama Makoto. I know you're a big celebrity, and a playboy."
"Since Yūgao confessed to you, you'd better take good care of her. Don't let those other ninja of yours bully her, understand?"
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