Some Things Should be Kept in the Dark

"It seems that Danzo has hidden a lot of good things from me." Orochimaru said in a hoarse voice.

Originally, Orochimaru felt that it was a pity that Danzo was thrown into prison. After all, Danzo was a good partner with mutual benefits.

However, it seemed that this partner of his did not trust him that much. Not only did he conceal the fact that there was a survivor among the Hashiramas cell experiment subjects, he also hid Sharingan even though he could research more about it.

If Danzo had let him study Yamato earlier, Orochimaru felt that he might have already solved the mystery of Hashirama's cells.

"Everyone has their own little secrets, just like how you won't expose me to him," Nagasawa said with a smile.

Considering Danzo's cautious personality, it would be strange if he completely believed in a dangerous person like Orochimaru.

The reason Yamato stayed behind was as insurance. In case Orochimaru couldn't figure out anything, he still had a Shinobi who could use Wood Release.

It was even less likely for Danzo to give Sharingan to Orochimaru. Each Sharingan was like an additional life for him. For someone who was so afraid of death, Danzo obviously wouldn't give his additional life to Orochimaru.

If he had more, he might give it up for Orochimaru's research, but since he only had these two, Danzo would definitely keep them for himself.

"Hehe, I'm more curious about your little secret, Nagasawa-san." Orochimaru smiled.

"Then the more reason to hide it from you." Nagasawa picked up one of the transparent bottles and looked at it. The Sharingans were soaked in an unknown liquid, making them look extremely strange.

"Sharingan is a representative of strong spiritual energy. With these two three-tomoe Sharingans, the experiment should progress faster." Nagasawa said as he put the bottle back on the table.

Orochimaru also picked up a transparent bottle and nodded, "I'm curious to see if the three-tomoe Sharingan can mitigate Hashirama cells' side effects. If it does, it'd be a big step forward.

Nagasawa began to look for other things in the room.

He had seen a lot of Orochimaru's research data here. It seemed that Danzo also wanted to conduct his own research.

In addition, he found some unique Ninjutsu. It was Super Beast Imitating Drawing Technique, which was the Ninjutsu that Sai used in the manga.

However, Nagasawa was not interested in this Ninjutsu. It was not strong enough, and the animal drawings were very fragile.

However, he could use it to expand Anbu's Ninjutsu repertoire.

Although this Ninjutsu was not strong enough offensive-wise, it had its place. It could be used to draw birds to scout the air or dogs to hunt on the ground. It was also good for delivering information. Super Beast Imitating Drawing could turn the information the user wrote into animals, allowing it to reach its target unnoticed. Even if the enemy intercepted these drawings, they would only revert into ink, and they couldn't be read.

They took the valuable things and walked out.

On the way, Nagasawa met Yamato, who was waiting in the same place he left him.

"Let's go, I'll take you back to Konoha," Nagasawa said with a kind smile.

Yamato nodded and stood to Nagasawa's right, glancing at Orochimaru from time to time.

...

....................

On Saturday, after finishing his daily bath, Kakashi wore casual clothes and a pair of black shorts instead of his usual Anbu attire. After thinking about it for a while, Kakashi wore his forehead guard.

It could sometimes save him from trouble.

Hanabira was also a Shinobi now. After being taught by Kushina, she had already mastered Sealing Technique to a considerable level.

Moreover, because of her Uzumaki bloodline, her Chakra was also increasing at a rapid pace.

Therefore, Minato assigned Hanabira as Konoha's Genin.

Today, Kakashi had a date with Hanabira.

Kakashi had been busy dealing with all Root-related problems lately. He was a little tired and felt that he should relax. Moreover, Hanabira had been in Konoha for more than half a year. For safety reasons, she basically stayed in Konoha and never went out.

Since the two of them had basically visited all places in the village, Kakashi felt that he should take Hanabira around the Land of Fire.

After preparing, Kakashi went out of the house and went to Hanabira's house.

Hanabira was already prepared so that they could immediately leave as soon as Kakashi arrived.

Today, Hanabira was wearing a light yellow short-sleeved shirt and a black knee-length skirt. She was also wearing black stockings, and her long red hair was tied into a high ponytail. She looked young and elegant.

Seeing Kakashi wearing a forehead protector, Hanabira thought for a moment and then went to her room to put on her forehead protector, too.

The two walked together hand in hand as they left Konoha.

Hanabira looked at the endless forest along the road and sighed, "Land of Fire sure is full of forests."

Kakashi nodded and said, "This is Land of Fire's specialty."

As a military base of some sort for Land of Fire, Konoha naturally had no towns or villages around it.

It took them quite a while to reach a nearby village. However, since they were both Shinobi, they didn't feel tired.

Hanabira looked at the villagers curiously along the way.

She noticed that the villagers here were much livelier than Kusagakure's villagers.

Smiles could be seen on their faces when they were chatting, a sign that they lived a satisfying life.

"They seem to be living well." Hanabira sighed.

"This place is close to Konoha, and no bandits or Rogue Shinobi dare to come here," Kakashi explained.

It'd be suicide to stir up trouble under Konoha's nose.

The two continued to walk, and it was evening before they knew it. They arrived at a town that was holding a festival.

There were many people wearing kimonos everywhere on the street.

There were also parades and all sorts of stalls. There were also some women dressed as geisha there.

Kakashi saw Hanabira stand in front of a small goldfish scooping stall and asked the owner of the stall, "How much?"

The boss smiled and said. "Twenty Ryo for a paper net and a bowl. If the net is broken, you can buy another one for fifteen Ryo."

"It's nothing, Kakashi. I just remembered something from the past." Hanabira said as she shook her head.

When she was a child, she remembered that the Land of Whirlpool had several festivals like this every year. She liked goldfish scooping the most.

Unfortunately, either she was not skilled enough, or because the net was too fragile, she never managed to catch a single fish.

She now found herself in front of the goldfish scooping stall again after so long. She no longer wanted to play goldfish scooping, but she couldn't forget her childhood.

Who would imagine such a good country would suddenly disappear?

Kakashi thought for a moment and said, "Since we're already here, let's play a bit. I haven't enjoyed a festival for a long time. I used to be a master at goldfish scooping."

"Boss, I'll have three nets first." Kakashi took out fifty Ryo and gave it to the owner.

After collecting the money, the boss quickly handed three paper nets and a bowl to Kakashi.

Kakashi handed the bowl to Hanabira and did a warm-up as if he was a real master.

After the warm-up, Kakashi held the paper net in his hand, ready to go. His eyes locked onto a goldfish on the edge, and then he made his move.

Much to his surprise, the goldfish directly broke the wet paper net and got away.

"Ahem, I made a small mistake. Let's try again." Kakashi cleared his throat to cover his embarrassment and then quickly picked up the second paper net.

This time, Kakashi learned his lesson and switched his target to a weaker-looking little goldfish.

Unfortunately, this goldfish was nimble, which made Kakashi's net wet.

"The fishes here are something else. It seems I have to get serious for once." Kakashi said to redeem himself.

Two minutes later...

"Boss, five more nets."

Kakashi proceeded to fail four more times in a row, making the atmosphere somewhat awkward.

"I'm an expert of goldfish scooping..." This sentence seemed to be still echoing in the air.

Kakashi was about to remove his forehead protector. He hadn't used Sharingan yet, so he was not at full strength yet.

Hanabira, who had been holding the bowl, smiled and said, "Kakashi, why don't you give me the last net?"

Kakashi nodded and handed the paper net to Hanabira.

Hanabira held the net in his hand, and the scene in front of him was getting blurry. It slowly changed into the scene from when she was a child. She saw the scene where he couldn't get goldfish no matter how much she tried in front of the stall.

Hanabira shook his head. He looked for the right time and quickly made her move. She was so fast that the goldfish was scooped in a split second.

The Uzumaki Hanabira, who couldn't scoop a single goldfish, was no longer here.

No matter how wonderful the past was, she couldn't go back. Her current life was pretty good now. She had many friends, and she also had someone who cherished her and wanted to protect her.

No one would've thought that a genius Jonin couldn't even scoop a single goldfish, right?

The two of them left the goldfish-scooping stall and strolled around.

They bought all kinds of snacks and toys on their way.

Eventually, people began to leave, and the stall owners began to close their stalls. That was when Kakashi asked, "what do you think about the Land of Fire's festival?"

Hanabira slightly tilted his head as she thought for an answer and said: "Today is the happiest day for me."

"There will be more happy days from now on," Kakashi replied.

"But it's getting late. We should go back to Konoha." Kakashi added.

"It's so late. The path to Konoha is full of forests. There must be a lot of wild animals out there. It's not safe. Let's find an inn."

"That's true..."