"Almost time, huh…"
Amamiya Kenichi clicked his tongue softly to himself.
That "almost" wasn't about missions, promotions, or experiments.
It was about that night.
The night of the Nine-Tails' Rampage.
If you really had to list all the reasons why Minato Namikaze died so young, there were… honestly, quite a few.
For starters, his face just wasn't as thick as the Third's.
Then there was that disciple of his who got schemed on, lost his mind, and came back as a full-blown final boss.
And as everyone knows:
Blackened = combat power x N.
Obito, who wasn't even the strongest on Minato's team back in the day, went completely off the rails after awakening his Mangekyō Sharingan and instantly vaulted into the "I can solo entire villages now" tier. The Mangekyō ripped the Nine-Tails right out of Kushina and kicked off the whole disaster.
If the Nine-Tails hadn't been released… Minato might not have died.
Konoha might have walked a very different road.
A village with Minato as active Fourth Hokage and an actually competent Third Elder backing him up in retirement?
Plus a scummy but undeniably strong Danzo Shimura lurking in the shadows?
Yeah… Kumogakure would think long and hard before "accidentally" provoking that lineup.
And Minato wasn't like Hiruzen, who loved to "seek harmony in all things" and swallow his anger.
Other villages wanting to make a move would have to really, really weigh the consequences.
"Alright, that's it for today's experiments. Remember to write your report later."
Orochimaru wiped his hands clean, his tone flat.
To be honest, he'd completely lost interest in Hashirama's cells by now.
If not for his cooperation agreement with Root, he wouldn't even bother touching this topic anymore.
"Got it, sensei."
Kenichi didn't complain. This underground lab was co-funded with Root, and Root meant "eyes everywhere."
It wasn't a good place to work on his own secret projects.
Once they officially left the village for good, then he could go wild.
Research day and night. No dark politics, no sneaking around.
Money was still going to be a problem though.
Root's financial support was already nice, but for the scientific madness in his head?
Far from enough.
Kenichi had long since drafted his future roadmap.
Akatsuki.
Nagato's Rinnegan, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and all those S-class psychos joining one after another—
tell him, which of those doesn't scream "top-tier research subject"?
As for funding?
Easy. They came with a built-in money printer.
Kakuzu.
The perfect corporate slave.
You want revenue? Let that man loose. He'll bring back money, bounties, and a financial report balanced to the last coin.
When Kenichi thought about it like that, Akatsuki really did look like a perfect destination:
Plenty of research materials.
A rich psychopath in-house CFO.
And a leader, Nagato, who keeps mumbling about "making the world feel pain" and "true peace."
Kenichi just happened to have a few little… "tools" in mind that might tempt a man like that.
If done right, he could spend his days burning through Konan's stacks of paper money on research, delay Black Zetsu's plan, and get paid for it.
One move, many birds.
"Only problem is… Akatsuki is still a long way off."
Kenichi scratched his head.
They hadn't even defected from Konoha yet, and he was already daydreaming about joining a criminal organization. It was a bit early, even for him.
For now, the priority was simpler:
How to make the most out of the Nine-Tails' attack.
Sure, he was leaving Konoha.
But that didn't mean he planned to walk away empty-handed.
If he was going to cut ties, then he owed it to himself to at least pick up a few parting gifts.
For example:
A sample of the Nine-Tails' chakra.
Blood from the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clans.
Blood from the Hyūga clan.
And, if possible, a peek at the Scroll of Seals so he could copy down a few forbidden techniques.
They were going to brand him a rogue anyway.
Didn't matter whether he walked out with the Scroll's contents or not.
Leaving without taking anything?
That would be the real disgrace.
Of course, he had zero intention of physically stealing the Scroll.
That would only provoke maximum-level pursuit.
Just copying some jutsu formulas down was more than enough.
Leaving the joint Root lab behind, Kenichi walked into the commercial district.
The Nine-Tails' night was almost here.
Once it happened, he and Orochimaru would likely start their own "moving out" process.
He really didn't have much emotional attachment to Konoha as a village.
The only thing he felt genuinely unwilling to part with… were the snacks.
Three-colored dumplings.
Ichiraku Ramen.
Those were peak-tier cultural heritage.
Once he left, who knew how long it'd be before he could taste them again?
So before he defected, he'd decided:
Eat. Well.
A farewell feast for his tastebuds.
"...Kakashi?"
As soon as Kenichi stepped into Ichiraku, the first thing he saw was that familiar silver hair.
Kakashi was sitting at the counter, dressed like a civilian for once. No mask, no flak jacket—just simple clothes.
Probably meant he wasn't on duty today.
Kenichi blinked, then realized it fit perfectly.
Kushina Uzumaki's due date was close.
For Konoha, that wasn't just important.
It was a full-blown S-rank event.
All ANBU, Root operatives, and élite jōnin who could be recalled had already been dragged back, unless they were on missions that couldn't be interrupted.
"The Fourth is being careful, I see. Shame it still won't be enough."
Kenichi clicked his tongue softly, ordered a bowl of tonkotsu ramen, and sat down.
Kakashi looked exactly as dead inside as usual.
Kenichi took one glance at that empty gaze and decided there was zero point in going over to talk.
It would feel like enthusiastically chatting with a gravestone.
Better to focus on his ramen.
That was his plan, anyway.
But unexpectedly, before Kenichi could even start eating, Kakashi picked up his own bowl… and came over to sit right next to him.
Kenichi raised an eyebrow.
Kakashi kept that dead-fish expression, said nothing, and just sat there.
The silence stretched.
The sound of chopsticks and boiling broth filled the air.
Only when his ramen was set down in front of him did Kakashi finally open his mouth.
"…Sensei told me," he said suddenly, "that I should make more friends."
Kenichi's mouth twitched.
So your great idea for "making more friends"… was to silently move next to someone, sit there like a corpse, and say one sentence after five minutes?
If this were in his previous world, people would be calling the cops.
"We're already friends though, aren't we? We were before."
Kenichi's face naturally shifted into that "upright, straightforward, reliable good guy" expression—a look he'd honed while hanging out with Might Guy.
Guy had this talent:
Just by standing there and smiling, he made people's guard drop. No scheming, no hidden daggers. Everything was written right on his face.
You could call it a pure, honest heart.
Or you could call it a complete lack of subtlety.
Either way, the effect was powerful.
And it was useful.
So Kenichi had quietly copied a bit of that "vibe" for himself.
Apparently it worked.
Kakashi froze for a second.
That dull gaze of his flicked sideways.
He saw Kenichi sitting there, posture straight, expression bright and earnest, like he was about to give a speech on "the power of youth." The only thing missing was a thumbs-up and a sparkling smile.
"…Yeah," Kakashi finally replied, softly. "We are."
He paused, then added, almost reluctantly:
"You really… do feel like Guy sometimes."
Kenichi: "..."
He wanted to be offended.
But thinking about his current persona, he couldn't even deny it.
If acting a bit like Guy made people drop their guard around him, then so be it.
Whatever worked.
He slurped his ramen, mind already drifting away from the counter.
Nine-Tails.
Obito.
Minato.
The night sky torn open by a howling beast.
And in that chaos…
A perfect chance to slip away.
A perfect chance to harvest samples.
A perfect chance to take that final step out of Konoha and into the wider, crueler world of shinobi.
Somewhere out there, a stitched-up miser named Kakuzu was counting his money.
Kenichi smiled to himself.
"Best employee in the world," he thought. "You'd better wait for me."
Because when Amamiya Kenichi walked into Akatsuki one day…
Their R&D department was going to explode.