Chapter 44: Threat

When Kakashi woke up again, it was already nighttime. Of course, after regaining consciousness, he didn't immediately get up. Instead, he first checked his body—his injuries were severe. Squinting slightly, Kakashi soon saw Linton and Sasuke not far away.

Sasuke was busy training his body, doing handstand push-ups. This was his fourth set, and he was drenched in sweat. While Linton wasn't good at teaching, in the original story, Sasuke's training focused on Taijutsu and Lightning Release techniques. The Taijutsu training was mainly to enable him to use the Chidori, so Linton had Sasuke start with that.

As for Linton, he was examining the skills he had acquired from Kakashi. After defeating Kakashi, Linton discovered that his store had exploded with new options—tons of new ninjutsu appeared all of a sudden. After thinking it through, Linton realized why. Wasn't Kakashi called the Copy Ninja, rumored to have copied over a thousand ninjutsu? While that was clearly an exaggeration, there were still several hundred techniques in the store now.

This was also why Linton specifically went after Kakashi—he instantly solved his problem of not having enough ninjutsu. Although none of these techniques were particularly powerful or unique secret arts, or bloodline techniques, they covered all five elemental releases and came in a variety of forms. Linton had truly become an all-rounded mage now.

However, Linton didn't immediately learn all of the ninjutsu. Even though most of them were low-level and didn't cost many points, the total expense would still be huge. There was no need to spend so much on these techniques; he would learn them as needed.

By the way, Linton currently had over 670,000 points left. The reason he had so many points was that, somehow, the system uploaded something from Sasuke's body last night, giving him an unexpected 500,000 points. Linton suspected it had something to do with Indra's powers or something along those lines.

Looking at Sasuke in the morning, there didn't seem to be any significant changes. Anyway, even if there were, Linton didn't know how to retrieve anything from the system. Sasuke himself clearly wasn't aware of the situation either. Still, Linton made a huge profit off him, which was why he was being so considerate of Sasuke now.

Kakashi, seeing the current situation, was a bit confused. Sasuke seemed to be training, which wasn't what he had expected. Not only was he still alive, but what was going on with Sasuke? What exactly was Linton up to?

After some thought, Kakashi decided to open his eyes. He figured that if Linton wanted him dead, he would've done it by now. Not knowing what Linton intended, Kakashi decided it was best to ask directly. He might even get some useful information.

"Oh, you're awake," Linton noticed Kakashi moving and turned his head. "Alright then, get over here and take over. I really don't know how to teach people."

"What exactly do you want?" Kakashi asked directly.

"I told you, didn't I? I'm back for revenge," Linton replied. "That old man suddenly labeled me as a rogue ninja and nearly got me killed. Don't you think I'd come back for payback? But for now, I'm putting that on hold to help Sasuke improve his abilities."

"What does Orochimaru want with Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.

"Orochimaru?" Linton was taken aback, but quickly understood. "So, you think I'm working with Orochimaru, and training Sasuke to help him? Listen, Orochimaru does want Sasuke's body—he's obsessed with the Uchiha bloodline. I've heard he has some kind of reincarnation technique that allows him to steal someone's body."

"So that's why he left a mark on Sasuke," Kakashi said. By this time, Sasuke had paused his training and walked over to them.

"Oh, that mark is just a Yang chakra imprint, a weaker version of the Sage of Six Paths' body," Linton said. "It's nothing to be overly concerned about. Orochimaru's schemes won't work. Don't worry—Sasuke is my nephew. Do you really think I'd let anyone take his body?"

"You're really not working with Orochimaru?" Kakashi started to believe him a little.

"The intel you received said I joined Orochimaru in conducting human experiments and defected, right?" Linton asked.

Kakashi nodded slightly.

"I've told you, that was all the Third Hokage's doing to blacken my name," Linton explained. "I had just returned from the battlefield, not even a day back, and suddenly I'm accused of conducting experiments with Orochimaru? Doesn't that sound suspicious to you? Use your brain. Do you really believe everything the higher-ups in Konoha say? Think about how your father died—don't you have any suspicions?"

Kakashi was visibly shaken. Mentioning his father made it hard for him to stay calm. The circumstances surrounding Sakumo Hatake's death were indeed suspicious. Kakashi didn't have any doubts about that—he had always suspected it was a lie. But despite having some guesses, he always prioritized the village above all else and wouldn't act against it.

"In short, I'm not as close to Orochimaru as you think," Linton said. "I do know him, but that's about it."

"So, you came back just to take revenge on the Third Hokage?" Kakashi asked.

"That was the original plan, but after seeing that there's still someone left from the Uchiha clan, I figured I'd train him a bit. Who knows, he might help me later on. After all, it's tiring to take on an entire village by myself, don't you think?"

Kakashi understood what Linton was implying. Sasuke, being an Uchiha, was Linton's relative, and it seemed Linton wanted to bring Sasuke to his side to join his fight against the village's leadership. It made sense, and Kakashi believed him.

"So, do you think I'll join you against the village too?" Kakashi asked, as Linton had mentioned his father, possibly knowing something to persuade him to betray the village.

"No, you're not useful enough for that," Linton waved dismissively. "But for now, you can at least help teach my nephew. Put yourself to good use."

Kakashi looked at Linton, speechless.

"Come on, he was your student anyway. It's only right you teach him," Linton said. "How about this: if you help, I'll let him go back to take the Chunin Exam."

"Huh?" Kakashi was taken aback.

"Yeah, I need to go back and have a little chat with the Third Hokage myself," Linton said. "Since he slandered me, I'm obviously going to expose him, and what better place to do it than in front of an audience during the Chunin Exams?"

Kakashi understood now. Linton wanted to publicly confront the Third Hokage, to reveal what had happened in the past and seek revenge. The Chunin Exams would be a perfect stage for that, with representatives from all the major nations in attendance.

"Of course, the Third Hokage can't know I'm back before then," Linton added. "If he finds out and cancels the exams, that would be a problem. So don't even think about reporting this… If you do, well, your student here won't get out so easily."

Kakashi was stunned. He glanced at Sasuke. Sasuke, of course, was also shocked. Didn't Linton just say he wouldn't harm his nephew?

"I think you should think it over," Linton said. "My issue with the Third Hokage will be dealt with sooner or later. If you don't report me, I'll show up in a few days at the exam site to resolve it. But if you do report me, I'll disappear again, and who knows when or where I'll resurface. Do you think an enemy in the open is more dangerous, or one in hiding? What will you do if a few people go missing from Konoha, or missions can't be completed because your teams are intercepted? How will you handle that?"

Kakashi was alarmed. Linton made a good point. If Kakashi ran and Linton disappeared with Sasuke, it would be bad news. As Linton said, enemies in the shadows are far more dangerous than those in the open. In that case, Linton showing up at the Chunin Exams was actually the best outcome. At least then, most of Konoha's forces would be present, minimizing the damage. And if Linton's accusations had any merit, it could harm Konoha's reputation, but that wasn't as important as preventing lives from being lost.

Kakashi thought that even the Third Hokage himself would likely agree with his reasoning. After all, that was what he had taught Kakashi.

Besides, Kakashi didn't entirely believe Linton's story. Even though he claimed the Third Hokage had framed him, Kakashi found it hard to imagine the Third would do something like that. There must have been more to the story. Keeping this hidden wouldn't do any good, and letting Linton speak his piece might even lead to something unexpected.

"Are you telling the truth?" Kakashi asked.

"Of course, otherwise why would I keep you alive? Do you think you

're useful in any other way?" Linton replied. "Anyway, for now, focus on training my nephew. When the Chunin Exams come around, we'll go back together. Until then, you can't expose my presence, understood?"

Seeing Linton's "or else" attitude, Kakashi had no choice but to nod. "I... understand."

"I just checked—this kid's fundamentals are weak," Linton said, pointing at Sasuke. "So, for now, focus on basic Taijutsu training. You specialize in Lightning Release, right? He has a lightning affinity too, so teach him some of that."

Kakashi was slightly taken aback. Linton's training plan wasn't far off from what he had in mind. "Didn't you say you didn't know how to teach?"

"I'm too lazy to teach," Linton said. "At least get his basics down first, then come to me. You handle this part."

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(End of Chapter)