“Hatake Kakashi, the legendary Copy Ninja?”
Hearing Uchiha Itachi mention the name, Hoshigaki Jūzō’s expression shifted slightly.
Kakashi was a renowned figure throughout the shinobi world.
“Yeah. I just didn’t expect him to have left the ANBU and started taking on students.”
Uchiha Itachi’s gaze remained calm as he casually explained.
But inwardly, he couldn’t help feeling a headache coming on.
How did I run into Kakashi, my former superior, in a place like this?
Regardless of anything else, Itachi still considered himself a member of Konoha.
Whether anyone else acknowledged that was another matter entirely.
“This is troublesome…”
Kakashi didn’t even dare to read his book anymore.
His gaze instinctively shifted toward Gen Hoshino beside him.
These are the extremely dangerous shinobi you were talking about?
Where is the “extremely”?
They’re downright terrifying!
One of the former Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Hoshigaki Jūzō.
And Uchiha Itachi, who had single-handedly slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan—and had once been Kakashi’s fellow ANBU operative…
For a moment, Kakashi couldn’t help wondering if his terrible luck had flared up again.
Otherwise, how could accepting some mission nobody else wanted possibly lead to enemies like these?
“Assassins! Attack!”
Kakashi didn’t dare make a rash move against the two Akatsuki members.
The samurai dressed as farmers, however, had no such concerns.
They had already been extremely unhappy about having two shinobi added to their group in the first place, as though their own abilities had been questioned.
Now that they had encountered enemies, this was the perfect opportunity to prove themselves!
They immediately drew their swords.
Chakra began flowing along the blades, and with angry shouts, they charged forward.
“Hey! Don’t be reckless—”
Kakashi hurriedly tried to stop them.
But his sharp eyes caught the movement of Uchiha Itachi’s hands.
The hand seals were already complete.
“Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!”
A torrent of flames roared toward them.
The samurai could only raise their blades and channel chakra through them to defend against the attack.
Voom—!
Yet the instant the flames dissipated, Hoshigaki Jūzō had already appeared in front of them.
The massive Kubikiribōchō swept horizontally.
The two samurai collapsed before they could even scream.
“Damn it!”
The other two samurai cursed under their breath and immediately rushed forward.
They intended to take advantage of the moment Jūzō was recovering his sword.
But Uchiha Itachi’s shuriken flew out.
Both men were killed instantly.
The coordination between Jūzō and Itachi was quite impressive.
Against these samurai, the two powerful shinobi cut through them with ease.
Kakashi could only sigh.
The samurai had lost far too quickly.
He hadn’t even had time to find an opportunity to help.
“Gen, the moment you get an opening, leave.”
Kakashi put away his book, drew a kunai, and quietly spoke to Gen Hoshino.
“This mission has already gone far beyond what we expected. The enemy is too powerful, so you—”
Then he froze.
Gen Hoshino hadn’t been listening to him at all.
Instead, at some point, Gen had taken out a signal flare and fired it into the sky.
The flare slowly ascended before bursting into brilliant light.
Kakashi was momentarily dumbfounded.
He understood exactly what Gen was trying to do.
But what difference was there between this and courting death?!
“A signal flare?”
After Uchiha Itachi used a genjutsu to incapacitate the final samurai, both he and Jūzō frowned as they looked at the light in the sky.
“Reinforcements?”
“As luck would have it, I already encountered the two of you in town last night.”
Gen Hoshino blinked at Kakashi before turning toward Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Jūzō with an utterly serious expression.
“Especially you.”
“You’re the ruthless man who can sever all ties and slaughter his entire clan. I doubt there’s a single normal Konoha shinobi who wouldn’t recognize you.”
“So we immediately contacted Konoha last night and requested nearby ANBU reinforcements.”
“You’ve got no chance now.”
“…”
Uchiha Itachi fell silent.
Although he’d mentally prepared himself for such a reaction, hearing a Konoha shinobi describe him this way still made his heart ache.
Kakashi’s eyes widened even further.
What the hell?
You’re actually provoking them?
Have you lost your mind?!
“Looks like Itachi is quite famous…”
Jūzō didn’t seem particularly bothered.
His fierce gaze locked onto Kakashi and Gen Hoshino.
“But, kid, have you ever considered something…?”
“Hm?”
Gen Hoshino tilted his head, a puzzled expression appearing on his face.
But in the next instant, he suddenly leaped backward!
At almost exactly the same moment, Jūzō appeared directly in front of him.
The massive Kubikiribōchō came crashing down.
“We just need to finish this quickly!”
“Itachi, you take Hatake Kakashi. I’ll deal with this kid, then I’ll come help you!”
“Just as I thought…”
Kakashi felt his head begin to ache.
The thing he’d feared most had happened.
Gen’s plan was actually quite good.
Using the signal flare to scare them off could very well have caused these men to retreat.
But there was one problem.
If they were determined to complete their mission, that signal flare would become a death sentence.
And now, everything was developing in exactly the direction Kakashi had least wanted to see…
“No. I have to get Gen out of here!”
Kakashi tightened his grip on his kunai and prepared to rush over.
But Uchiha Itachi had already stepped in front of him.
“Forgive me, Kakashi.”
Itachi’s eyes turned crimson.
His Sharingan stared directly into Kakashi’s eyes.
“Itachi…”
Kakashi sighed.
He knew his former subordinate fairly well.
In particular, he’d heard that after slaughtering his clan, Itachi’s eyes had become even more powerful. New chapters come out on g.com first.
That made him even more difficult to deal with.
But regardless, this battle was unavoidable.
As a Konoha jōnin, Kakashi had to deal with this missing-nin.
Originally, he’d planned to handle everything himself.
Now, however, he also had to find an opportunity to support his own student.
“If I were you, I’d leave.”
Kakashi pushed up his forehead protector, revealing the Sharingan beneath it.
Following Gen’s lead, his voice gradually became cold.
“But it doesn’t matter.”
“As long as I keep you two occupied until the ANBU arrive, that’ll be enough.”
“This ends today.”
“Perhaps.”
Uchiha Itachi remained completely composed, though chakra was already circulating through his body.
“Kakashi may be fine.”
“But what about your student?”
As he spoke, Uchiha Itachi suddenly charged forward.
The two men immediately clashed!
Meanwhile, on the other side…
“Kid, if you’d turned around and left, this never would’ve happened.”
Hoshigaki Jūzō moved with astonishing speed.
The enormous Kubikiribōchō seemed almost weightless in his hands.
Every swing generated a tremendous boom, effortlessly smashing apart trees and rocks in its path.
Gen Hoshino didn’t respond.
He simply continued evading with remarkable agility.
Truthfully, he had wanted to leave as well.
But after seeing these two men, he seemed to have figured out how to complete Kakashi’s Exclusive Quest.
And, by an incredible coincidence, he’d also received a new side quest.
So he decided to accept both.
[New Side Quest Acquired]
[Kakashi’s New Favorite]
[Make Kakashi realize who matters more to him now!]
Seeing this quest, Gen Hoshino felt somewhat conflicted.
But since he was going to fight anyway, there was no reason not to accept it.
Of course, he was also confident in himself.
He might not be able to defeat Jūzō, but simply stalling him shouldn’t be a problem.
After all, Gen was indeed bluffing.
But there was one important factor here.
There was a man who considered himself a Konoha spy standing right in front of him.
Uchiha Itachi!
He was probably the person least willing to encounter Konoha shinobi.
If Gen could give him a “reason he couldn’t refuse,” perhaps that would be enough.
And if all else failed, Gen Hoshino was still extremely fast…
“So then…”
Whoosh!
After dodging another slash from Jūzō, the chakra inside Gen Hoshino began to surge violently.
“I might as well see what my Purple Electricity can really do!”
But at that very moment, Jūzō’s massive sword descended silently toward him once again.
Yet this time, the one whose gaze had become strange…
was Hoshigaki Jūzō himself.