Chapter IV

Right now I am surrounded by ANBU while disguised as Sarutobi Hiruzen. The purpose is to play decoy for The Third and lure out Danzo's assassins.

It was easy to convince The Third that there might be assassination attempts to delay his meeting with the Daimyo which is bound to discredit him in the eyes of the Daimyo to be harmful to Konoha. So The Third agreed with my plan. And if everything goes right, then I should encounter my future buddy Yamato for the first time right about now.

Yep, speak of the devil and he shall appear, with colleagues in toe.

A group of of masked ninjas appeared and attacked me and the ANBU escort. One of them made a beeline for me and lo and behold there's the bastardized Wood Style wrapping around me trying to drain my chakra reserves. Too bad for Yamato, I charged a Chidori on my right hand which shredded the bindings of his Wood Style while simultaneously dropping my disguise and kicking him in the ribs. Although it was a pretty underpowered one, I still think he has a couple of broken ribs.

A split second later, I am standing over Yamato with a charged Chidori on my right hand, the light of the A rank Lighting Style Ninjutsu reflected on the large eyes of Yamato, who was lying on the ground and had his mask knocked off.

"Wood Style? Who are you?" I whispered.

Of course I know who he is, but I gotta keep my cover.

The Wood Style user didn't answer. So I dismissed the Chidori and told him, " Go, Konoha will need you one day. So try not to die like an imbecile in the meantime."

He looked at me surprised, making his already large eyes appear even larger, and escaped.

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The Third Hokage returned from his visit to the Fire Daimyo having successfully regained his position of Hokage. And I was busy reporting the foiled assassination attempt.

"...and one of them used Wood Style to attack me. Although it was a severely weakened version, but it was still Wood Style..."

At the end of my report, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at me with a complicated emotion in his eyes," Kakashi, ever since Minato died, you've changed a lot, but you've changed for the better. Your Will of Fire is burning bright, dispelling the darkness. Minato would be proud of you, just like I am."