A bright moon hung high, its cool light spilling over the hilly sea of trees and throwing countless shifting shadows as the night breeze rustled the leaves.
Three figures streaked through those shadows, leaping now and then with clean, agile lines.
"There are Mist shinobi ahead—no, also left and behind," Kageyama Kokugetsu signed and said, his tone turning grave.
"How many?" Kakashi asked, steady and calm.
"Six. One in front, two behind, one on the right, two on the left. Judging by chakra, one jōnin and five chūnin. From their gear, they're Kirigakure ANBU," Kageyama said, a trace of urgency creeping in.
Damn it, Kakashi swore inwardly. There must be a Mist spy in the Konoha camp for them to set this up.
(There was, in a sense—though not a spy they could reach. White Zetsu was tailing Team Minato.)
"What do we do, Kakashi?" Nohara Rin asked, forcing herself to stay calm.
ANBU were every village's elite. One jōnin and five chūnin—hard odds for their squad.
"Kokugetsu, you protect Rin. Forget everything else. We break out to the right."
"The right is the sea," Rin reminded him.
"If we shake them off at the start, the open water is harder to search than land. Move!"
Kakashi burst forward toward the right-hand forest, and the other two had no choice but to follow.
"How far?" Kakashi glanced back.
"The real body is at two o'clock, about three hundred fifty meters, behind a tree. The rest are all water clones," Kageyama answered at once.
At about a hundred meters, Kakashi paused on a trunk, flashed through seals, and his right hand erupted in searing white lightning—birds shrieked in the dark woods.
In a blink he surged ahead, a bolt of light to ordinary eyes. The enemy threw water clones in his path; he slipped past each one. Panic took the true foe—he ran, but Kakashi caught him and drove a hand through his back.
"Can't even buy a second? Useless," the sensory-type Mist jōnin snarled coldly. "But you're not getting away…"
One side fled and the other gave chase, the two forces streaming toward the coast.
"Rin, can you use the Shadow Clone Technique?" Kageyama asked.
"No." Rin looked ashamed. "I've put almost everything into medical ninjutsu. I never learned it."
Tch. Minato's curriculum had a hole—shadow clones were a lifesaver. Tsunade's old idea of sticking medics on front-line squads really was too naïve. Did she think other medics were like her? And Dan, a jōnin, supported it—either scheming or just foolish.
"Fine… in that case, we do it my way. I'll go stall them," Kageyama said with a sigh.
Kakashi and Rin jolted, shocked.
"Kokugetsu, no—you'll die," Rin said quickly.
"Rin's right. Don't be reckless," Kakashi said. "We're not there yet, and if it comes to that, it should be me as squad leader."
"Heh. You really think I'm throwing my life away?" Kageyama chuckled. "I didn't make tokubetsu jōnin on the Byakugan alone."
He flashed through seals. His body melted into the night, and—more importantly—his chakra signature vanished.
"Kirigakure's assassination arts are famous. I've always wanted to compare notes," he said, voice drifting like a chill breeze. "I won't trade head-on. As long as they don't lock me down completely, getting clear is no problem. I've also got a flying summon that can carry one."
His laughter—low and eerie—brushed their ears. Kakashi and Rin stared; aside from the voice, there was no trace at all. Maybe scent, but a human nose wouldn't catch it—an Inuzuka might. And even that could be fixed; scent-masking salves weren't rare.
"Your assassination work is impressive," Kakashi said after a beat, still hesitant. "But be careful. There are too many of them."
"Hesitation is defeat. And I'm best suited for this," Kageyama said. "Enough talk—I'm off."
He slipped away. Kakashi and Rin called out, but got no reply.
"Kakashi…" Rin's face showed her worry.
"Remember what Obito said?" Kakashi asked, eyes bright. "Believe in Kokugetsu. He's our teammate."
"Mm!" Rin nodded hard—and silently made a decision. If she became dead weight to Kakashi, she would end herself. She had resolve; with her strength, though, even dying on purpose wasn't always easy.
"These five ANBU are mine," Kageyama thought, glancing back at their retreating figures. "Whether you dodge fate now is up to you. If you can't, that's only for the moment—you'll meet again. Once I learn the Outer Path—Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique, bringing one person back is no big deal."
Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's black eye was deep and vast; mastering its fundamentals and unique powers would take time.
—A little earlier—
The instant Kageyama's chakra signature disappeared—
"One target's chakra just vanished. A trick?" The pursuing Mist jōnin frowned.
"No—gone for real. Damn it."
He drew a special iron whistle and blew a coded pattern. The sound reached the other four.
They tightened their guard and closed in together. This felt exactly like the prelude to an assassination strike…
Far below, in lightless earth, a low, rasping murmur sounded.
"Black Zetsu, what is it?"
"Strange. Kageyama Kokugetsu's chakra signature disappeared. I can't sense him—not at all." Even Black Zetsu was rattled. A chakra-suppression art he didn't know? Self-taught? Found somewhere? Interesting.
"He's that strong?" White Zetsu blinked.
"That's not the point. Will it affect Lord Madara's plan?"
"It shouldn't. He's likely moving to intercept the Mist."
"Send more of you to watch. He'll show himself."
"Right. I'll redeploy some bodies."
"Good."
Back above—
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Sensing Kageyama vanish, the Mist swapped to shadow clones—more chakra-hungry, but harder to tell from the real thing than water clones.
They underestimated Kageyama's Byakugan. The earlier Mist shinobi had died for that mistake.
"Tsk. This Mist jōnin's got some skill," Kageyama muttered. "If I can't pick them out at a glance… then I'll just wipe them all out at once."