Kaede Kitahara had not said much about it.
But Hatake Kakashi had spent years in the Anbu, even served as a squad captain. When it came to reading people, he trusted his instincts.
In the diary, Kaede Kitahara had shown caution toward many individuals.
Yet never once had that caution felt the same as when he mentioned Otsutsuki Isshiki.
"If all the enemies we face are like that…" Kakashi muttered under his breath.
If that was the level of their opponents, then he could understand why Kaede Kitahara would cling so tightly to the two so-called saviors.
How were you supposed to fight that?
Through hard work alone?
No amount of effort could bridge a gap like that.
Right now, Kakashi understood that feeling better than anyone.
He had no other expectations left.
He could only hope his two students would truly become saviors.
As for Kabuto, the man beside Orochimaru, he had to be dealt with.
Originally, Kakashi had thought he was a minor nuisance. A small problem.
Now he realized how wrong he had been.
Kabuto was not just skilled in medical ninjutsu. In terms of combat strength, he was no weaker than a dedicated elite Jonin.
Even Tsunade had been pushed into a corner by him.
Yes, there had been circumstances. Tsunade's long absence from real combat. Her Hemophobia being exploited.
But none of that changed the core fact.
Kabuto was strong.
Tomorrow, he would report this to the Third Hokage.
Kabuto was a nail Orochimaru had buried deep in Konoha for years.
That nail had to be pulled out.
"Strength… it always comes back to strength," Kakashi murmured, fingers brushing over the hilt of his short blade.
Ever since he began reading Kaede Kitahara's diary, he had never once felt that his so-called title of Konoha's Number One Technician was enough.
"It's not enough. I need more."
He changed into training clothes, grabbed his blade, and headed to the clan's training grounds.
"So this is the savior who will stand beside Sasuke," Uchiha Itachi said softly, a trace of relief in his voice.
And yet, worry lingered.
Could Sasuke truly handle enemies of that level in the future?
Even if he fused their Mangekyo Sharingan and awakened the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, would the power of the Uchiha Clan mean anything before monsters like that?
There had to be more.
Something he did not yet know.
But that was fine.
As long as Kaede Kitahara kept writing, the answers would eventually appear.
For Uchiha Sasuke, today's footage had shaken his worldview.
First, he had witnessed a battle between fighters at the level of the Legendary Sannin.
None of them were in their prime, yet their combat abilities were terrifying.
Their survival tactics alone were overwhelming.
If an ordinary Jonin had been in their place, they would have died long ago.
Orochimaru had lost the use of his arms.
Jiraiya had been drugged.
Tsunade had been crippled by Hemophobia, had her muscles severed, even been impaled.
Any normal Jonin would have perished under those conditions.
Yet they had continued fighting.
Then there was the Three-Way Deadlock Summoning.
It completely overturned Sasuke's understanding of Summoned Beasts.
He had grown up seeing Ninja Cats and Ninja Crows within the Uchiha Clan.
He had seen Inuzuka Kiba's Ninja Hounds.
He had never imagined Summoned Beasts could be that massive.
Since the Uchiha Clan's massacre, that kind of high-level shinobi knowledge had been out of reach.
Possessing such a colossal Summoned Beast was a massive boost to one's combat strength.
It was practically the equivalent of having another Kage Level fighter at your side.
And in the future, he himself would be able to summon something like that.
Most likely inherited from Orochimaru.
Thinking about it that way, joining Orochimaru had its advantages.
As for his two former teammates from Team 7…
He had never imagined they would grow that strong.
"Itachi. The day I kill you isn't far off. Just three years."
Sasuke clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles whitened.
Knowing the potential he would one day reach filled him with satisfaction.
But it also filled him with fear.
The more he learned about the future, the more he worried he might fail to reach it.
Kaede Kitahara slipped the diary into his pack.
His ears twitched.
Footsteps.
Light, controlled.
Ninja.
They were careful. But not careful enough.
He closed his eyes.
He had never trained in sensory techniques. But the Uzumaki Clan's innate vitality granted him extraordinary perception.
Not precise.
But strong.
"Five of them. All ninja. Chunin… Chunin… Chunin… and one Jonin."
He judged them by the volume of chakra he sensed.
It was a crude method. But it worked most of the time.
Cases like Uzumaki Naruto, who had the chakra reserves of a hundred elite Jonin yet only held the rank of Genin, were rare.
For most shinobi, chakra quantity correlated closely with strength.
He considered whether they were targeting him… or someone else in town.
The settlement looked ordinary.
But there was a very large, very tempting target staying here.
Within moments, he was certain.
They were coming for him.
"Shimura Danzo? Root?"
He quickly ran through possible enemies in his mind.
Danzo stood out the most.
His team kept a low profile.
And the people they had offended on missions did not have the means to dispatch a Jonin.
A Jonin was not disposable cannon fodder.
Strike first.
Kaede Kitahara made his decision instantly.
The next second, he vanished from his room and appeared on the rooftop.
The approaching figures froze mid-charge, startled by his sudden appearance.
"Out for a stroll this late at night? You all have impressive enthusiasm," he said calmly, arms crossed.
They recovered quickly, drawing Kunai and spreading out cautiously.
Under the moonlight, they finally saw him clearly.
A boy around ten years old.
Konoha flak vest. Combat trousers.
Clean and efficient.
"Kaede Kitahara."
Recognition dawned.
The same face from the photo at the Bounty Station.
They had planned to ambush him.
Instead, he had intercepted them.
"Forget it. Kill him and take the bounty," someone muttered.
"So it really is about me," Kaede said lightly. "Mind telling me who hired you?"
"We don't know. Bounty Station rules. We don't ask."
The one who answered wore a headband from the Hidden Rain, slashed through the symbol.
Kaede glanced over them.
Hidden Rain. Hidden Mist. Kusagakure. Iwagakure.
The leader, the one with Jonin-level chakra, was from the Hidden Cloud.
All of them had the same mark across their headbands.
Missing-nin.
It was common for missing-nin to band together.
Whether to resist pursuit from their former villages or to complete Bounty Station jobs more efficiently.
It was survival.
The Akatsuki was simply the most extreme form of such a group.
Other organizations functioned similarly.
They took on missions ordinary villages could not, would not, or dared not accept.
Even missing-nin needed to live.
You could not slaughter indiscriminately forever. That would provoke every major village and end in swift death.
Even the Akatsuki had kept a low profile while gathering strength.
The Bounty Station was different.
No one truly knew who stood behind it.
Powerful forces from all sides mingled there.
It was a den of snakes and dragons.
The missions posted there were often the kind that respectable villages would never touch.
Take Sarutobi Asuma, for example.
His bounty was said to be thirty million.
Within the Five Great Villages, countless shinobi could kill him.
But how many dared?
Sarutobi Asuma was a registered Jonin of Konoha.
Hunting a Jonin from the strongest village in the world carried enormous risk.
Worse, he was the son of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Kill him, and Konoha's retaliation would be merciless.
During wartime, high-ranking ninja died all the time.
Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law from Sunagakure were proof of that.
But assassinating Sarutobi Asuma during peacetime?
That was an entirely different matter.
Even after years on the Bounty Station's board, no one had completed that mission.
Ninety-nine percent of ninja could not kill him.
And of the remaining one percent, very few were willing to risk full-scale war with Konoha for thirty million.
Right?
Kakuzu.