That's one heck of a death flag, Aaron thought, shaking his head.
Kakashi was still too green in some ways. If this were truly just a routine document pickup, they wouldn't have sent a jonin like him. A chunin courier would've done the job.
Not everyone wanted peace.
Some factions thrived on conflict; arms dealers, mercenary networks, even smaller hidden villages that had no hope of competing with the Five Great Nations in peacetime. If they wanted to break the monopoly of the major powers, stability wasn't their friend.
If there was even a slim chance to sabotage a treaty, they'd take it.
Aaron didn't believe a stolen set of documents could derail a full peace agreement between Konoha and the Hidden Stone. The momentum toward peace was bigger than that.
But in this world, even a one-percent opportunity was enough to draw blood.
Under Kakashi's insistence, Might Guy reluctantly turned back, looking over his shoulder every few steps.
The two resumed their journey.
Along the way, Aaron said quietly, "Stay sharp. There's a good chance this won't be as quiet as it looks."
Kakashi nodded, but inwardly he wasn't convinced. In terms of mission experience, he had more than this "senior" who was officially just a chunin.
And Aaron's warning stirred up old memories.
Rin used to say the same thing, soft reminders not to get careless…
The thought hit him like a blade.
For a moment, Kakashi felt as though his right hand was once again stained with blood he could never wash away.
He drifted back into self-reproach.
Seeing that look in his eye, Aaron said nothing more.
Words weren't going to fix this.
Sometimes the only way forward was to stumble and feel the ground firsthand.
Thanks to their speed, they quickly reached the rendezvous point and retrieved the treaty documents.
Now came the dangerous part, the return trip.
That was when ambushes happened.
Destroying the documents would be enough. The attackers didn't even need to win outright.
Aaron activated Observation Haki at full range.
Before they'd cleared the border area, he sensed four chakra signatures concealed in the forest, black-clad figures using transformation techniques to mask themselves.
He focused.
Three were roughly chunin level. One slightly stronger special jonin, maybe.
Not a major threat.
He said nothing.
Let's see how Kakashi handles it.
Mid-leap through the trees, Kakashi suddenly felt killing intent wash over him.
He stopped instantly.
Whoosh—!
A kunai sliced past his face and embedded itself into a tree trunk behind him.
Four black-clad ninja materialized from concealment.
Kakashi flipped his headband up, revealing his Sharingan. Hand seals flashed.
"Chidori!"
Lightning exploded into existence around his hand, crackling with lethal energy.
Without hesitation, he surged forward at blinding speed toward the nearest two enemies.
Aaron had to admit; prodigy was the right word. Even in a fragile mental state, Kakashi's instincts were razor sharp.
But just as he was about to strike
The lightning vanished.
Kakashi froze.
In his vision, the black-clad figures blurred… and overlapped with Rin.
He was back on that day. That unforgivable moment.
The enemy didn't understand why he'd stopped but they didn't hesitate.
Chakra surged into a fist.
Boom.
Kakashi was sent flying, crashing hard into the ground. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Pain snapped him back to reality.
He was injured. Four enemies remained. One of them wasn't weak.
And his teammate?
Officially, just a chunin.
Maybe this is fine, Kakashi thought bitterly. Maybe I deserve this. Rin… Obito… I'll join you soon.
Aaron covered his face with one hand.
That was fast. He hadn't expected Kakashi to collapse mentally that quickly.
The black-clad ninja relaxed slightly. Kakashi's earlier burst had terrified them but now he was down.
As for Aaron? A secondary target.
One of them broke off to handle him while the other three advanced toward Kakashi.
"Guess I'm being underestimated," Aaron muttered, cracking his knuckles.
Perfect.
He'd been looking for shinobi to test Conqueror's Haki on.
"Move!" the leader barked.
Three rushed Kakashi. One charged Aaron.
Aaron glanced at them calmly.
Then he released it.
Conqueror's Haki erupted outward like an invisible tidal wave.
The air itself seemed to thicken.
All four attackers froze mid-motion, eyes wide with disbelief.
"What, what is this pressure?!" one of them gasped, trying to form hand seals. His fingers wouldn't move.
Only the strongest among them, the special jonin managed to resist slightly. He staggered backward, drenched in cold sweat.
Even Kakashi, though not the direct target, felt it. The sheer presence pressing down on him was suffocating.
He stared at Aaron like he'd just seen a ghost.
Aaron smiled pleasantly.
"You came all this way. Don't rush off. I don't have tea to offer… so I'll have to settle for fists."
He intensified the Haki.
The three chunin dropped instantly, unconscious.
The leader panicked and turned to flee, abandoning his comrades.
Whoosh—whoosh—
He Body Flickered from tree to tree, pushing his speed to the limit.
He had never encountered such a monster. Dropping three trained ninja with sheer presence alone?
Even the head of his village couldn't do that.
If even a courier team from Konoha had someone like this… what hope did smaller villages have of catching up to the Five Great Nations?
His confidence shattered.
After several seconds, he sensed no pursuit.
He risked a glance back.
Aaron hadn't moved.
Instead, he simply raised his fist, white tremor energy rippling around it and punched the air in the fleeing ninja's direction.
The black-clad shinobi laughed.
From that distance?
"If that hits me," he muttered, "I'll eat every kunai in my pouch."
Then he heard it.
Crack.
The air around him fractured like glass.
Wind pressure surged violently.
And suddenly, the forest itself began to split apart.