Leaf Village - 7:17 am.
Kakashi was resting under a tree, leaning against it with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. For ordinary people it would seem as if he was sleeping. It was only partially true.
Even during his rest, the silver haired Jonin sensed the approach of another ninja from a distance and quickly opened his eye. He was familiar with the chakra signature of the new arrival and was slightly surprised.
A few moments later a masked ninja jumped down from the trees and stood in front of the copy-cat ninja..
"It's been a while, Kakashi senpai."
Kakashi stood from the spot and stretched his limbs. "Tenzo? This is a surprise. Last time I saw you was around a year ago."
"Yeah. I got done with my missions and returned a few days ago." The Anbu ninja replied as he took off his mask and pulled back his hoodie. His short brown hair and black almond shaped eyes became visible to the world.
"So what brings you by here?" Kakashi asked his friend.
"I heard you were on babysitting duty." Tenzo spoke as he looked to his right. A short distance away was Kensei's home, protected by a small barrier.
Kakashi chuckled when he heard that and looked towards the house. "Trust me. He is no baby."
"Lord Hokage wanted an update. Has anything unusual happened since last night? Any unexpected visitors?" Tenzo asked with a slightly serious tone and the silver haired Jonin narrowed his visible eye.
"I didn't sense anything amiss. Nobody went in or out and I didn't sense anyone near here." Kakashi replied and after a few seconds of silence, he whistled.
Moments later several ninja dogs appeared in front of him.
"Did anyone come near this location?" Kakashi asked them just to make sure.
"No. We kept a tight patrol. Nothing out of the ordinary." One of the ninja dogs replied.
Kakashi nodded with a smile. "Thank you guys." Kakashi gave them a scroll. "You all can go back now. I'll take it from here."
The ninja dogs barked and vanished in a puff of smoke and Daichi's teacher turned to Tenzo. "Everything's fine."
"That's good." Tenzo let out a small breath of relief.
"What's going on?" Kakashi was curious about Tenzo's sudden visit. He knew it had to do with more than Daichi.
"Last night Lord Hokage and Jiraiya assembled a team and attacked the Root. I was part of the raid."
Tenzo's words shocked Kakashi and his eye slightly widened. This was big news.
"What happened to Danzo?" The silver haired Jonin asked.
"He's in custody and under heavy surveillance. The head of the interrogation and analysis departments are with him right now."
Kakashi internally sighed as he recalled the face of the ruthless man he once worked under. 'Lord Hokage taking action against Danzo? I knew he was tired of Danzo's reckless decisions but I never thought he would launch an attack, especially at this time.'
"There's something else you should know." Tenzo spoke. Kakashi noticed the tense atmosphere around him.
"Someone broke into Danzo's base shortly before us and stole several valuable pieces of intelligence and Hidden jutsu exclusive to the village."
"Who?"
Tenzo shook his head at that question. "We don't know. All we have is a description. But Lord Hokage suspects that this individual could be a Leaf ninja or someone hiding in the village. Someone who knows Danzo well and most probably participated in the 3rd world war."
"Have the barrier sensors reported anyone entering or leaving?" Kakashi was once Anbu captain. So he had an idea what kind of intelligence Danzo would have kept in his base of operations.
"No. Sensor ninjas didn't report any suspicious individuals." Tenzo replied calmly.
Kakashi closed his eyes and leaned on the tree. "Having secrets of the village leaked, at this time, would cause serious chaos. Especially with Orochimaru's abduction of Lady Tsunade."
Suddenly the silver haired Jonin's eye snapped open. "Wait! What about Naruto?"
"Don't worry. A team has his home surrounded. They're keeping a close watch on him…"
Kakashi nodded with relief. "Has there been any progress on Orochimaru's front?"
"Yeah." Tenzo nodded. "He has several hidden bases around the Land of Fire. Since time is of the essence, The Hokage wanted to attack all of them at once. Seven teams were mobilized several hours ago. Unless I'm mistaken, the raid should begin shortly."
Kakashi nodded in understanding. Since he was guarding Daichi all night he wasn't aware of the deployment of the Leaf Ninjas.
Tenzo gazed at Kakashi. "Lord Hokage wanted me to check and see if everything's fine with Daichi. He also wanted to update you on the situation. That's why I am here now." Tenzo turned to face Daichi's home.
"Well, thankfully nothing exciting happened here last night." Kakashi spoke as he looked towards the house. A few seconds later a frown slowly formed on his face. Kakashi tilted his head up and looked at the sky before turning his attention back to Daichi's home.
Tenzo noticed the odd movements. "What's wrong?"
Kakashi was silent for a few moments and slowly began making his way to Kensei's house. "It's just… Daichi should have been up by now. Especially with all that's happening… Even on a normal day, I've never seen him sleep in so late."
Tenzo nodded as he walked beside him. "Well, you said no one left the premises. I don't doubt your skill. Maybe he just hasn't woken up."
"Maybe..." The silver Jonin had a good understanding of his student. 'Based on his personality, he should have woken up and found me an hour ago and would have wanted to see the Hokage for any update… So what's taking him so long?'
The two Leaf ninjas reached the home and Kakashi placed his right hand on the gate. The barrier sensed his chakra and allowed him entry while Tenzo stood outside.
Meanwhile Inside.
[You have slept in a bed. HP, CP, SP and MP have been fully restored.]
Daichi opened his eyes feeling refreshed and full. With his energy and mental faculties fully restored to their peak he was ready for the day.
He ignored the other notifications and opened the quest list. He looked at the timer on the Rescue Tsunade Senju mission. 'Less than 35 hours remaining to complete this quest. If I don't save them in 35 hours there's a good chance Orochimaru might kill them.'
Daichi sat up and closed his eyes. Last night during his sleep his shadow clone managed to infiltrate the Land of Earth and was doing his own investigation.
'Looks like he's managed to stay by taking chakra from nearby mercenary ninjas. He should narrow down my search list.'
Daichi looked at his own chakra points and smiled. 'Full CP. Creating shadow clones and getting a full rest gets my chakra back to full strength. But still, it only works if I have 4 or less shadow clones operating while I sleep.'
Daichi suddenly sensed a presence entering his compound. 'Kakashi sensei.'
A few knocks on the door came from below and the gamer ninja got out of his bed and made his way downstairs. On his way down he looked at the few notifications in the corner of his window. One in particular caught his eye.
[Skill Flying Thunder God Technique has Leveled up]
'As expected. I used this skill a few times. Still… Such a useful skill. I got to level this up quickly.'
[Flying Thunder God Technique - Active (LV. 02): This is an S rank high-level space-time ninjutsu that allows the user to instantly teleport to any location marked with their unique seal. Originally developed by the Second Hokage and perfected by the Fourth Hokage, this technique offers unmatched speed and strategic advantage in combat.]
Current Grade: Basic
[Effects]
Instant Teleportation: Instantly transport to any location marked with the teleportation seal.
Marking: Ability to place teleportation seals on targets, objects, or locations through physical touch.
Multiple Seals: As skill level increases, the user can place and teleport between multiple seals.
Combination Attacks: Can be used with other techniques for surprise or combination attacks.
Evasion: Allows the user to evade attacks instantaneously by teleporting to a pre-marked location.
.
[Note: The effectiveness, range, and versatility of these abilities would largely depend on the user's knowledge, skill level, and amount of chakra. Mastery of this Jutsu requires exceptional spatial awareness, chakra control, and precision. As with all other jutsu, the constant use of these abilities would drain the user's chakra, with more complex and powerful applications requiring more energy to use.]
[Limitations: The user must touch the object or location to place the teleportation seal. The technique can be countered by disrupting the user's chakra flow or removing the seals. Using the jutsu multiple times in rapid succession can lead to severe chakra depletion.]
Daichi closed the notification windows and opened the front door.
"Morning sensei." Greeted Daichi.
"Morning." Kakashi gazed at Daichi nonchalantly but the boy knew the man's sharp eye was taking his appearance down to the smallest detail.
'Strange. Is he just getting up?'
Daichi stepped forward and sensed a presence outside the barrier. He looked and saw an Anbu ninja waiting outside.
"Did you just wake up?" Kakashi asked his student.
The gamer ninja turned his attention back to his teacher. "Yeah. Was going over several files so I slept really late."
"Mmhm." Kakashi nodded. The next instant Kakashi rushed forward with a karate chop to Daichi's head.
The boy was startled with the sudden unexpected attack, but he quickly defended himself. He successfully blocked the strike and took a defensive posture.
Kakashi nodded to himself and put his hand in his pouch and slowly took out his favorite Orange book.
"What the hell was that?" Seeing Kakashi no longer intending to continue with his attack, Daichi eased up.
"Just wanted to make sure it was really you."
Daichi suddenly understood his teacher's concern. "You were worried I was a shadow clone trying to fool you."
"I know not to underestimate you." Kakashi glanced at his student from the corner of his eye.
"Well, don't worry. I'm not reckless and foolish enough to go out on my own. It will only make the current situation worse." Daichi replied with a calm tone.
"We're going to meet the Hokage. So freshen up."
Daichi nodded and soon he was ready, walking out the house. The Anbu ninja looked at the two and spoke. "Lord Hokage has asked for the two of you."
Tenzo then glanced at Kakashi and gave a small nod and left.
The silver haired Jonin looked at Daichi and saw that he was quietly staring at the Anbu the whole time. 'Did he find something unusual about Tenzo?'
Daichi was examining the man without using his 'Observe' skill. It was to improve analysis abilities.
"What have you found out about him?" Kakashi asked his student.
"Larger than average chakra reserves. Strong water and earth nature but that's not all." Daichi spoke. "Unlike other ninjas, the way his chakra moves… He can use wood style jutsu can't he?"
Even though he phrased it as a question Kakashi figured Daichi already knew it was the case. Daichi looked ahead and sensed the chakra quickly moving away from their location. 'So that's Captain Yamato. No. Right now he should be going by the name Tenzo.'
"The way his earth chakra nature and water chakra nature are blended in his body. Not to mention his smell." Daichi explained his findings.
"His smell?" Kakashi was puzzled. He had an above average sense of smell but he didn't smell anything in particular from his friend.
Daichi nodded. "He smells of forest."
Kakashi sighed. "You know he's Anbu right. You're not supposed to pry into their secrets. That could land you in big trouble."
"Maybe. But if you really think about it, shouldn't he be the one in trouble for not concealing his chakra from me?"
The one-eyed Jonin internally sighed. "Let's just get to the tower." He didn't say anything else and kept reading his book.
As they reached near the tower Kakashi suddenly spoke. "Almost forgot to ask. You said you were going over some files and slept late. What kind of files? Were you researching some new jutsu?"
After he woke up late, Daichi had a feeling his sensor might ask him such a question. "It wasn't jutsu or training. I was going over the geography and topography of the Land of Earth. Gramps also kept detailed notes on the bordering small nations. I was studying the best and fastest ways to get into the earth country."
Kakashi stopped and looked at his student with a serious gaze. "And have you found it?" After a few moments of silence he asked.
"Maybe. But I need some more information."
The Jonin put his book back into his pouch and turned to his student. "You realize that I have to report this to the Hokage, right?. He'll only make me keep a closer watch on you."
"I do. I'm not an idiot."
"You could have lied… Why didn't you?"
Daichi recalled the happy days he spent with his teachers. His fists clenched as he recalled the moment he saw Tonton running up to him yesterday. "I can't just sit back and do nothing. Time is running out for them. But I also know it won't help anyone if I keep secrets and recklessly leave the village on my own."
Daichi looked at Kakashi and the man could see the internal struggle in the boy's eyes. "I know it might put tighter restrictions on me, but keeping too many secrets won't help me with saving them."
Kakashi looked at his student and then nodded in understanding. They walked up the stairs and informed the ninja guarding of their arrival.
As they waited for the Hokage to summon them Kakashi spoke. "Earlier you said keeping too many secrets… So I'm assuming there are a few things you haven't told me. What are they?"
Daichi had a small mysterious smirk and glanced at his teacher. "Guess."
Kakashi sighed. 'He's imitating me. I don't know if I should be happy or not.'
At that moment the ninja standing in front of the door nodded. "You two can go in."
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