Chapter 291: You're Not Dead?
No.
Kakashi was not Naruto. He quickly realized something.
Although he had been the one doing the dirty, exhausting work, if it had only been him, then once Ōtsutsuki Toneri was driven here by piles of garbage and filth, he would inevitably have come to demand an explanation.
At that point, a fierce battle would have been unavoidable.
Shiromo had seemed to speak only a few light words to Toneri, but those few sentences were the most crucial part.
Kamui made moving trash convenient, yes. But even without him, the task could still have been accomplished.
At worst, the Five Great Nations could have sent people to transport it here slowly.
No one was truly irreplaceable.
Except Shiromo.
Realizing this, Kakashi decided to further demonstrate his value.
Shiromo had just said this place needed renovation and that the hot spring water should be drained. So he would handle it.
"Kamui!"
After resting briefly and recovering some chakra and ocular power, Kakashi activated Kamui again, absorbing all the hot spring water into his dimension.
At the same time.
In a forest several miles away, a short, white-haired masked "young man" was fleeing in a sorry state.
This person was Hiruko, the boss from the movie 'The Will of Fire'.
Hiruko, who cultivated the Chimera Technique, was jokingly called Little Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki. His Dark Release could absorb ninjutsu and then release it back.
Sounds impressive, right?
But in reality, his absorption could not even handle an ordinary Rasenshuriken.
The reason was simple: the Rasenshuriken rotated too fast.
If even that absorption was inferior to the Rinnegan, it had no business being compared to Takamimusubinokami.
In the original story, after Hiruko absorbed four kekkei genkai, he planned to capture Kakashi and absorb his Sharingan as well.
Now, Hiruko's appearance was naturally related to that goal.
Kakashi had been traveling between various villages and nations these past days, accompanied only by a weak little girl. To Hiruko, it was as if Kakashi had stripped naked and was deliberately tempting him.
How could he possibly resist?
He could not invade Konoha.
He had heard that even Orochimaru had failed.
Hiruko was from the same era as the Sannin, but he knew his own talents were inferior to theirs in every aspect. That was why he chose the Chimera Technique, hoping to overtake them by taking a shortcut.
Unfortunately, Hiruko's greatest strength was his clear self-awareness. He truly was inferior to the Sannin in every regard.
Not only in ninjutsu talent, but also in research, where he fell far short of Orochimaru.
While he was still figuring out how to use the Chimera Technique to fuse others' powers, Orochimaru had long since transplanted Sharingan into Shin's body and even gifted an arm to Danzō.
Later, Yakushi Kabuto fused others' powers with nothing more than an IV drip, without even needing a special technique.
In short, under such circumstances, Hiruko chose to tail Kakashi, waiting for an opportunity to absorb his Sharingan and achieve the fusion of five kekkei genkai into one.
He believed that at that point, he would be invincible and could trample the Sannin beneath his feet.
What Hiruko never expected was that he had competition.
Just as he was about to make his move while tailing Kakashi, a lecherous masked man suddenly appeared and attacked him.
The man kept saying things like "Kakashi is mine" and "Only I have the right to kill Kakashi."
Hiruko was stunned.
Was this the benefit of being a celebrity in the ninja world?
You never knew when a secret admirer would pop out from somewhere.
Was this some yandere ninja obsessed with Kakashi?
After confirming the other party's identity, Hiruko had immediately decided to dispose of him like a stray dog by the roadside.
But to his shock, the masked man was elusive. All of Hiruko's attacks failed, while the opponent's attacks struck him every time.
Caught off guard, if not for the Chimera Technique, he would have already been gravely wounded and on the brink of death.
Hiruko could only flee in embarrassment, not daring to pause for even a second.
As for the mysterious yandere masked man obsessed with Kakashi, Hiruko had no way of determining what his ability was.
Indeed, being inferior to the Sannin in all aspects, Hiruko was also inferior in battle intelligence, let alone compared to Namikaze Minato.
Minato could gauge an opponent's abilities in a brief exchange. Hiruko did not possess that capability. He was beaten senseless almost immediately.
He fled all the way here.
He could not be sure whether the yandere masked man had followed him. The man's ability was simply too bizarre, appearing and disappearing without a trace.
He had to seize every moment and absorb Kakashi as soon as possible.
However.
In truth, the masked man had long since stopped pursuing him.
Hiruko was scaring himself.
After their first clash, the masked man had assessed Hiruko's strength and concluded that he posed no real threat and did not require further attention.
Moreover, while chasing Hiruko, the masked man had passed by a movie poster and was drawn in by its content, deciding to watch it.
Yes, the movie was titled 'Grieving My Lost Love, Ruin Before My Eyes'.
The poster featured strange lines that deeply resonated with the masked man.
He found himself walking into the cinema.
But when the film ended and Isolde said, "I have loved you until my final moment. Is that not enough?" causing the protagonist Viego to become the Ruined Clown, the masked man's mental defenses shattered. He burned the cinema down with a Fire Release.
Back to Hiruko.
After days of fleeing, he was exhausted, but his injuries had already healed.
Confirming that Kakashi was ahead, Hiruko revealed a sinister smile beneath his bandaged face.
From within the cave ahead, he could hear only a few breathing sounds.
Two men and two women.
Hiruko guessed that aside from Kakashi and the little girl he always kept with him, there were two others.
With that configuration, as long as he struck by surprise and eliminated three of them first before facing Kakashi in single combat, victory would be certain!
"Kakashi, my dear junior Kakashi, I'm coming~"
Hiruko felt excitement and delight bubbling within him.
He leaped into the hot spring cave, wearing an eager grin, ready to unleash his attack, instantly kill three, and then absorb Kakashi.
And then…
"Who's this?"
"No idea. Monkey, do you recognize him?"
"He looks a bit familiar."
The First, Second, and Third Hokage, the three reanimated dead who had come to watch the excitement, walked up to the Hiruko who had just jumped down and curiously examined him.
Who was he?
Where was he?
What was going on around him?
Hiruko was dumbfounded.
Wasn't it supposed to be only four people?
Sure, there were only four living people. But what was with all these dead ones who weren't breathing?
"First-sama, Second-sama, Third-sama, y-you're not dead?"
Hiruko forced an awkward smile and tried to step back and retreat, only for Senju Hashirama to grab his shoulder.
"Monkey says you look familiar. Why don't you take a closer look?"
Hashirama pushed Hiruko in front of Sarutobi Hiruzen.
It's over!
Hiruko shut his eyes.
(End of this chapter)