Chapter 97: The Highest Mountain? Hey, Shark Face!
"Lord Jiraiya, I didn't expect the reinforcements to be you."
Inside a forest in the Land of Whirlpools, at a Konoha encampment, Morino Ibiki greeted the three of them very respectfully.
These three were all renowned figures!
There was no need to mention Jiraiya and Kakashi; one was a member of the Sannin, and the other was his Senior and a captain in the Anbu.
As for the last one, Hyuga Makoto, he was a truly ruthless individual!
He was the first Hyuga to join the Anbu and had carried out many extremely difficult missions.
His performance during the Uchiha Incident, in particular, was known to everyone in the Anbu!
Besides that, he really dared to embezzle funds—
Yet, looking at these three, Morino Ibiki felt a bit panicked.
"Oh no, I'm afraid this mission is going to be troublesome!"
If these three needed to be mobilized, it didn't seem like it could be a simple mission—
However, his gaze was also a bit strange because he noticed that Kakashi's expression didn't look too good.
Even though his face was covered, the part exposed looked a bit off.
But he didn't have time to dwell on this, and he asked with a solemn expression.
"Lord Jiraiya, is there some unexpected development with this mission?"
"Unexpected?"
Jiraiya was also sizing up Morino Ibiki, and his face was full of smiles.
"There aren't too many surprises; rest assured, we have our own mission."
"I see, I understand."
Morino Ibiki breathed a sigh of relief. In truth, he wasn't afraid of danger.
As a Ninja and a member of the Anbu, he was mentally prepared for it; what he feared was only the failure of the mission.
"Then I won't disturb you further. Please get some rest."
Morino Ibiki bowed slightly; he didn't ask too many questions.
"I will send someone over with food, and I will notify the three of you when the operation begins."
"Thank you for your hard work."
Jiraiya still had a smile on his face, and it was getting increasingly devious, which left Morino Ibiki feeling puzzled.
After he turned and left, Jiraiya finally couldn't hold it in anymore!
"Makoto, pay up!"
"Tch—"
Hyuga Makoto took out a few bills with a pained expression, unable to stop himself from complaining.
"Seriously, why do I remember him being bald? Where did he get hair?"
"I kept telling you he had hair; you just remembered it wrong."
Kakashi's voice sounded a bit weak, but he still smiled as he took the money Hyuga Makoto handed over.
"You just wouldn't believe it, but do you believe it now?"
"How long has Kakashi been working with him? How could he have gotten it wrong?"
Jiraiya also took the money with a grin. Being able to extract money from the greediest person felt great!
"You kid are really absurd. Just because he wears a headgear, he's bald?"
"Hard to say, maybe he'll be bald in the future."
Hyuga Makoto curled his lip. When they were chatting on the road, they brought up Morino Ibiki, and it turned out his memory had been skewed.
But Kakashi had adamantly disagreed, and even though he was tortured to the point of near-death, he refused to change his stance.
In the end, Jiraiya proposed a bet, and it turned out he had indeed lost—
"Hey, you don't have to be that stingy, right?"
Looking at Hyuga Makoto's unhappy expression, Jiraiya comfortably pocketed the money.
"Tsunade loses over a hundred thousand a day, and she isn't as unhappy as you are."
"Eh?"
Upon hearing that name, Hyuga Makoto's eyes suddenly lit up!
It seemed he had found another way to make money?
"Do you know where Lady Tsunade is?"
"How would I know? I want to go find her myself."
When it came to Tsunade, Jiraiya could only shake his head.
"There hasn't been any news from the old man, and there's intelligence here, so we'll just have to wait until later."
"No problem, take me along when you go to find her."
Hyuga Makoto's expression instantly became serious. Tsunade was a truly big fat sheep!
And according to legend, as long as you bet against Tsunade, there's a high probability you'll end up with a villa by the sea.
He wanted to test if this fat sheep was big enough.
"Sure, but I get the feeling you're up to no good."
Jiraiya huffed, his gaze falling on Kakashi.
"Just like this guy; look at what you've put him through."
"Tch, do you believe he'll thank me?"
Hyuga Makoto raised an eyebrow, while Kakashi looked embarrassed and depressed, but in the end, he spoke helplessly.
"Indeed, thank you, Makoto..."
Kakashi really had to say that "thank you," because Hyuga Makoto had genuinely helped him!
It was just that the way he helped him made him feel a bit miserable...
"Since you have a Sharingan, use it to observe and record every change after teleporting with the Flying Thunder God."
"Record mine, and record yours too!"
"And your body must constantly feel and adapt to this state after traveling through space."
"Friendly tip: I won't help you adjust."
"If your body coordination is insufficient or your reaction isn't fast enough and something goes wrong, that's not my concern."
Recalling Hyuga Makoto's words, Kakashi had agreed readily at the time, after all, he had experienced the Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God.
It had only taken an instant to complete the transport, and there was absolutely no feeling of discomfort.
However, when Jiraiya ran off with the mark and he was transported by Hyuga Makoto, the situation went wrong!
With no one holding onto him, he got lost the moment he traveled through space.
After appearing, he slammed heavily onto the ground.
And the second time, he crashed headfirst into a large tree...
If it were just this, as a Ninja, he could endure it.
But as the environment became more complex, he kept using his Sharingan to observe.
He felt that his body and Chakra couldn't take it anymore!
But what surprised him was that amidst this repeated torture, his Sharingan seemed to have undergone some changes.
This eye seemed to have faintly found the underlying patterns and resonated with them!
It then allowed him to gradually adapt and get used to this feeling.
Even because of this eye, even after traveling through space, he could determine his orientation, body position, and other states.
Thereby making quick and precise adjustments, greatly reducing the predicament of crashing into walls now and potentially crashing into a Kunai later.
"It's just that this Sharingan has become stronger by absorbing Chakra..."
Kakashi was baffled, but when he thought of Obito's eye.
That magical ability to travel through space, he seemed to understand Hyuga Makoto's previous words!
"The talent Obito possessed, I'm afraid this eye of mine also possesses; do I need to open it in another way?"
With this concept, Kakashi trained even harder.
Hyuga Makoto also began to constantly accelerate, and he had Jiraiya throw the mark into even more perilous places.
It could be said that along the way, Kakashi was truly tortured miserably...
But he had also truly gained huge rewards!
"I feel that as long as I finish condensing the curse mark, I should be able to attempt space travel."
Kakashi gently touched his Sharingan; he really hadn't expected it could be done this way!
"Makoto, did you plan this from the beginning?"
"Ha, do you think I'm a prophet?"
Hyuga Makoto couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.
For other things, he really could be considered a "prophet," but this business with Kakashi was truly just an attempt.
Kakashi had no idea that his Sharingan was already at the Mangekyo level.
In Hyuga Makoto's memory, it was only after taking a Tsukuyomi from Uchiha Itachi that he slowly discovered the secret of this eye.
After that, he trained hard for three years before the Kamui appeared to deal with Deidara.
"I just wanted to see the difference between your eye and Uchiha Obito's, and if you also had super strong talent to achieve it."
"For me now, the biggest difficulty is stably fusing a curse mark."
Kakashi didn't mind being a guinea pig, and he asked softly.
"Can you offer any advice on this aspect?"
"This..."
Hyuga Makoto scratched his head; this made things a bit difficult for him.
"Sealing Jutsu isn't difficult. Look at me, learning the Yin Seal was a breeze. Just practice hard, and you can't go wrong."
Kakashi rolled his dead-fish eyes. Hyuga Makoto's talent in Sealing Jutsu seemed like "the highest mountain"!
The fact that he learned the Yin Seal instantly was still fresh in his memory. If he said it wasn't hard, heaven knows how difficult it was for others...
"Alright, in any case, you've made progress. Now you need to get some good rest."
Seeing that Kakashi wanted to continue, Jiraiya had to step in and stop him.
"Don't forget, we have a mission waiting. You won't be able to handle it in this state."
"That's right, but I suggest you read more books on Sealing Jutsu. Pervy Sage has plenty of them anyway."
Hyuga Makoto nodded as well, then sighed helplessly.
"Seriously, why is it that when I tell you it's not hard, you just won't believe me?"
Even Jiraiya was silenced by Hyuga Makoto's words.
The two of them were truly at a loss for words, and they simultaneously had a delusion.
It was like handing a secret technique developed by the Second Hokage to a child who had just entered the Ninja Academy and telling him it wasn't hard.
The gap in their understanding of "difficulty" was truly vast.
But this also made the two of them feel compelled to sigh.
"Just how high is this kid's talent..."
"Mr. Kisame..."
At another encampment in the forest of the Land of Whirlpools, Hidden Mist Ninjas who had just silently crossed the sea were gathering to rest.
Only Kisame Hoshigaki, dressed in Anbu attire, was leaning against a tree alone, guarding the surroundings.
But at this moment, a woman walked toward him and said to him with a smile.
"Sit over here and eat with us."
"Please don't..."
Kisame Hoshigaki was a bit dazed, but after hesitating for a moment, he closed his eyes.
"...trying to get close to me."
"Hey, leave him alone; he said it himself."
Not far away, other Hidden Mist Cipher Division Ninjas who were resting and playing cards saw this and spoke up, somewhat annoyed.
"He doesn't think much of our bookish Cipher Division."
"We're all on the same mission; the deployment doesn't matter at all."
The woman frowned slightly and couldn't help but defend Kisame, but her companions didn't see it that way.
"Tch, the 'brain' faction and the 'muscle' faction responsible for guarding; even if they want to chat, they can't find common ground."
Kisame remained silent, just looking at the woman with some surprise.
The Hoshigaki clan wasn't actually popular in the Hidden Mist because they all had shark-like facial features, pale skin, and sharp teeth.
Kisame was the same, and having grown up in the Blood Mist environment, he had always upheld "protecting everything about the Hidden Mist" in his heart!
It was just that...
When he joined the Anbu, became a subordinate of Suikazan Fuguki, and carried out a guard mission.
His heart slowly began to waver and feel lost, because what he did was eliminate companions who might leak secrets in order to "protect the Village's secrets"!
Even as someone who grew up under the Blood Mist policy, when he actually pierced a companion's body with his sword, the feeling was different.
"Everything is for the Village, everything is to protect the Village..."
Kisame didn't want such feelings to affect him, and he could only use such excuses to convince himself.
Moreover, for every mission, besides hoping for it to go smoothly, he also deliberately kept his distance from his "companions."
But the appearance of this woman seemed to have quietly broken his previous habits.
Such gentleness was something he had never experienced before...
"Hmm?"
But just as he was lost in thought, his gaze suddenly sharpened, and he stood up.
This action of his scared the other Cipher Ninjas.
"You... what are you doing?"
"Everyone, move out immediately."
Kisame didn't waste any words; his peripheral vision saw that the traps he had set had been triggered.
This made him realize that their trouble had likely arrived!
"Tch, seriously..."
Although all the Cipher Ninjas still harbored some complaints, they also understood the urgency of the situation.
After all, their identities were very sensitive; once they fell into enemy hands, the situation would be more than just bad!
Swish, swish, swish, they leaped up and quickly moved through the trees in the forest.
Kisame frowned tightly, secretly pondering countermeasures.
But just then, the woman jumped to his side again.
"Mr. Kisame."
Kisame turned his head in confusion, and the woman actually revealed a gentle smile.
"Can we wait until after the mission for what I said just now?"
Kisame was dazed and didn't speak, while the woman continued to look at him with a smile.
"Let's have a meal together."
Kisame was stunned; he looked at the woman in silence for a long while before withdrawing his gaze.
For some reason, he had a very strange feeling.
This feeling seemed to echo the bewilderment he had buried, but at this moment, the cold face of Suikazan Fuguki appeared in his mind.
"You must never let any Cipher Ninja fall into enemy hands. No matter what happens, your mission is to protect the code at all costs."
Kisame clenched his fists slightly, but the next instant, his expression changed drastically.
"Scatter, quickly!"
Swish, swish, swish, dense sounds of wind breaking came from the sky, and the next moment, dense explosions rang out continuously in the forest!
This ear-piercing roar caused the trees to sway continuously and blocked the direction they were advancing in.
Kisame had to stop along with the other Cipher Ninjas. He stood in front of everyone, one hand on his sword, staring ahead.
Just at this moment, a group of Konoha Anbu Ninjas walked out from the forest.
"Surrender. You are surrounded, and you have no chance of winning."
"You, I recognize."
Kisame looked at the person leading the Konoha side, a grim smile appearing on his lips.
"Konoha Anbu's torture and interrogation expert, Morino Ibiki. It seems we really are going to have a fight."
As he spoke, he had already drawn his sword.
However, he was surprised to discover that the Konoha side didn't seem to be making any preparations.
They were just looking at him with a strange gaze, a gaze that seemed like...
Pity?
"Hey, Shark Face."
But just as he was confused, a voice came from above.
This made him frown even tighter, but he also vigilantly swept his peripheral vision over.
But upon looking, his heart instantly went cold!
He saw that on a large tree, three white-haired figures were staring at them.
These three were the notorious Kakashi Hatake, and one was Jiraiya, one of the Konoha Sannin!
There was also a kid he wasn't familiar with, but those Byakugan eyes still made him instinctively feel danger.
And that kid spoke up at this moment.
"I wonder, can you do us a favor..."
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