Uchiha Kaede looked at the Ninja who had come to deliver the order, knowing that he had indeed attracted their attention. He agreed and headed to the Hokage Building.
Inside the Hokage Office in Konoha Village, where sunlight streamed in, the atmosphere was exceptionally heavy. When Kaede walked in, he saw a very familiar figure. His iconic silver hair shimmered in the light, a bit disheveled but casual.
The black mask still tightly covered most of his face, and the slightly tilted forehead protector perfectly concealed the scar that symbolized past pain—it was Konoha's Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake!
Hiruzen Sarutobi saw Uchiha Kaede enter, a kind expression on his face. "Kaede, you've arrived."
Uchiha Kaede followed behind Kakashi, outwardly respectful. "Hokage-sama! You called for me?"
The Hokage, seated behind his large desk, smiled and nodded. Once they stood still, he slowly began, "I have called you here because there is an important mission to entrust to you."
"Oh, what kind of mission?" Kakashi asked.
"Recently, there has been unrest within the Land of Wind. I want the two of you to go and investigate the situation."
"What?" Kakashi's exposed dead-fish eye widened slightly. He couldn't help but look at Kaede. He had no intelligence sources; he hadn't known this person before.
He didn't recognize this Uchiha Clan member, which meant this person wasn't even a Jonin. He had thought they were on different missions. He never expected such a dangerous mission, infiltrating the Land of Wind, to be given to someone who wasn't even a Jonin.
"Both of you are excellent Ninja of Konoha, so it is very suitable to send you." The Hokage waved his hand, speaking in a calm tone. "The intelligence we currently have is very limited. The main purpose of sending you is to get a clear understanding of the situation and report back to me."
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" they both said in unison.
Walking out of the Hokage Building, Kakashi scrutinized Uchiha Kaede with a strange expression. "You're Kaede, right? Are you a Chunin?"
"No."
Kakashi exhaled, thinking he must be a newly promoted Jonin whom he wasn't yet familiar with.
"I'm a Genin."
"..."
Kakashi's dead-fish eye widened again. A Genin? Sending a Genin with him on a mission?
"No need for pointless talk, Kakashi-senpai." Uchiha Kaede slowly raised his lowered head, his eyes gleaming with a strange light in the darkness. His Three-Tomoe Sharingan emitted an eerie and captivating red glow under the moonlight, as if it could see through all the illusions of this world.
Kakashi suddenly felt a powerful ocular jutsu. He instinctively placed a hand on his forehead protector, but before he could act, Kaede retracted his Three-Tomoe.
Now Kakashi finally understood why he was accompanying him on the mission. Estimating his age, Kakashi felt a sense of emotion, thinking that after Shisui's death, another genius had emerged.
So, the two stopped talking and immediately headed out of the village.
Along the way, the two traveled non-stop, crossing lush forests and rushing rivers. After several days, they finally entered the territory of the Land of Wind.
What greeted their eyes was a desolate scene. Fierce winds howled across the land, and yellow sand filled the sky, making it almost impossible to open one's eyes.
Uchiha Kaede looked at the situation, realizing why Sunagakure kept eyeing Konoha. In this environment, just surviving was difficult, let alone developing.
The two knew that infiltrating Sunagakure for this investigation was a difficult task. After all, the relationship between Konoha and Sunagakure was not good, and if they were caught sneaking around in Sunagakure, it would be a huge problem.
So they were extra cautious. Kakashi, relying on his rich experience, skillfully used sand dunes, rocks, and other terrain as cover, quietly approaching Sunagakure.
Uchiha Kaede, on the other hand, used his keen insight to constantly observe the surrounding movements, ensuring their actions remained undetected.
After entering Sunagakure, the two decided to start their investigation from places that might leave clues.
The two were careful everywhere in Sunagakure. Kaede even saw a few familiar figures, such as Kankuro, who was already wearing camouflage.
"Hmm?" Kaede saw another familiar person, with a large "Love" character on his forehead. As he walked down the street, passersby who saw him all changed their expressions, recoiling in disgust and fear.
Gaara paid no attention to those people, merely giving them a cold glance. This instantly made them tremble all over, and someone angrily muttered, "Monster!"
Gaara stopped, and the sand on the ground began to stir. Several Ninja-dressed figures instantly appeared beside him and restrained him with their hands.
Kaede saw this scene and roughly guessed that the unrest within Sunagakure was likely related to the Jinchuriki. At this moment, Kakashi, who had gone to investigate other places, also returned.
"How was it? Did you find anything?" Kakashi asked. Kaede, looking at Kakashi, who had changed his appearance with a Transformation Jutsu, nodded.
"It's probably related to the Tailed Beast."
"The Tailed Beast?" Kakashi paused. "I found out that the Kazekage Rasa's younger brother, Yashamaru, died suddenly not long ago. There's no news yet on how he died."
"So that's it," Kaede murmured, enlightened. Yashamaru, Gaara's uncle.
According to the original plot, because Gaara had difficulty controlling the Tailed Beast, Rasa believed that a Jinchuriki who couldn't suppress the Tailed Beast was unqualified. So, he had Yashamaru assassinate Gaara to test whether Gaara could suppress Shukaku.
One has to say, Rasa's mind must have been damaged by playing with Magnet Release to come up with such an idea of having the Jinchuriki's own relative assassinate him.
What followed was Gaara's predictable rampage, leading to the Ichibi's unrest. Although the news was immediately suppressed, it was still known by other villages.
After figuring it out, Uchiha Kaede was a bit speechless. The so-called unrest referred to this. At this moment, Gaara was clearly still reeling from being assassinated by his uncle, and his state was extremely unstable. He didn't know what Rasa was thinking, letting him walk on the street now.
Kakashi also noticed Gaara in the center of the Ninja, a little surprised. "This Chakra, what is this? A Jinchuriki?"
Indeed, the current Gaara was already exuding a violent aura, and those few Ninja couldn't hold him down at all.
Kaede subtly took two steps back and told Kakashi that if anything went wrong, they should run immediately. He wasn't confident that he could contend with a Tailed Beast right now.
"Ah ho ho ho!" Sure enough, a terrifying roar erupted from the center. Hearing this sound, the villagers, who had just been disgusted, now only felt fear, scattering and fleeing, shouting things like "Monster!"
"Retreat!" Kakashi made a decisive decision, preparing to run. The current situation had already exceeded the scope of their mission.
"All Ninja, come help control it immediately!" a Sand Ninja in the center shouted.
All Ninja? Is this person okay? Shouldn't only Jonin or Kage-level Ninja be called in this situation? What are others rushing up for, to feed the Tanuki?
Kaede's mouth twitched. He cursed twice, calling them idiots, and was about to make a quick escape, but then he saw that Ninja looking in their direction.
Kaede turned to look at Kakashi, who had an embarrassed expression because the person he had transformed into was wearing a forehead protector.
"Kakashi-senpai, why did you transform into a Ninja?"
"How could I gather any information if I transformed into a civilian? Never mind that, run!" Kakashi turned and left under the furious gaze of the Sand Ninja.
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