A faint rustle echoed through the dense forest.
Garou was nestled inside a thick shrub, lying in wait for his prey to enter range.
Footsteps drew closer.
He held his breath, hand gripped firmly on his blade's hilt. The weapons he carried, sourced from Tenten's family, weren't chakra-forged, but they were reliable enough for conventional combat. The only downside was the diminished effectiveness when channeling chakra through them.
Off in the distance, the clash of Kakashi's battle raged on.
"Lord Ishi, should we…"
"Wait," replied a gruff voice. "Let Kakashi and that man wear each other down a bit more. When the water gets muddy enough, that's when we strike and reap the real reward."
It was a middle-aged samurai, giving calm orders with practiced ease.
"Fan out. Don't give him a clean escape path."
"Yes, sir!"
They split up into a loose formation, voices low and steps quiet. From the nearby underbrush, Garou's eyes narrowed.
'As expected. These men are after us.'
Or rather, they wanted to ignite conflict between the Land of Iron and the Land of Fire, pushing a neutral country into the chaos of the world's endless warfare.
"The Artisan Village and the Kiyotani Clan…" Garou muttered under his breath, brows furrowed.
The fact that these two factions had allied was surprising, and yet, it made perfect sense. Over 90% of the world's ninja tools were crafted in the Artisan Village. They were, in essence, the world's arms factory.
Everyone relied on them, but no one wanted them to possess their own military power. This paradox had left the Artisan Village in an awkward political limbo.
Still, it wasn't without ambition.
Many of the current leaders were descendants of Seimei, the famed ninja-smith who once tried to weaponize the village's knowledge and power.
Garou pieced things together. The picture was becoming clearer.
'Should I make a move now?' He hesitated, concerned that he might startle a larger force hiding nearby.
But then he shook his head.
No, that was overthinking it.
Anyone bold enough to target a jōnin or even a jinchūriki wouldn't be scared off by a lone child. If anything, they'd underestimate him, seeing him as the bird trying to peck at a mantis, without realizing the "child" might be the real predator.
With that in mind, he didn't hesitate further. He wouldn't trigger his prepared sealing formations yet. Better to rely on raw assassination skills.
He couldn't afford to expend too much chakra here. He had to conserve strength for what might come next.
A strategy quickly formed in his mind.
Garou went completely still, lying in ambush as the enemy approached.
The sounds of fighting were beginning to fade. The skirmish in the distance was nearing its end.
It was almost time.
"Let's move, strike now!"
Whoosh!
A group of samurai leapt toward the direction of the battle between Kakashi and Yuichi.
But just then, a blur burst from the foliage.
From above, a flash of steel. A blade unsheathed midair. One clean, decisive slash. Blood spurted from a samurai's throat, and the figure vanished again behind the trunk of a nearby tree.
"Who's there?!" barked Kiyotani Ishi, eyes wide in shock.
A perfect iaido slash.
Even in the Land of Iron, few could perform that level of swordsmanship. And to have hidden there completely undetected until the very last moment…
'Is this one of Mifune's men? No. Impossible.'
If Mifune had sniffed out their plot, he wouldn't have sent just one operative.
Then who is this kid? A Konoha shinobi?
"Lord Ishi," someone whispered. "How many ninja did Konoha send again?"
"Kakashi, a boy, and a girl. Three total. But the standard team formation is a four-man…"
"I see. So you're the missing one. Copy Ninja must really trust you, to let you act alone."
Ishi's expression was dark as he glared at the direction the attacker had vanished.
He would've doubted it if it were anyone else, but Kakashi was the man who had copied over a thousand jutsu. Of course he could teach a child this level of sword technique.
"Against the likes of you," Garou's voice rang out, "one is more than enough."
But it didn't sound like Garou's voice.
It sounded like Kakashi.
The voice echoed from all directions, amplified and distorted, sending shivers through the samurai.
"Kakashi? No… that can't be."
Ishi narrowed his eyes and discreetly signaled to his subordinates.
Clever brat. Not just skilled in kenjutsu, but also a mimic, capable of copying voices and performing silent assassination techniques.
Definitely a genius of Konoha.
No wonder the legendary Copy Ninja was leading this team personally.
"You know, kid," Ishi called out into the trees, "we hired your people to help us detain Yuichi. But now you've killed one of mine. Isn't that crossing the line?"
Garou's reply was calm and dismissive.
"That man clearly had the power of a jōnin. And your mission request listed this as a B-rank. That discrepancy gives us every right to withdraw from your contract."
Using his full strength wasn't ideal. Fatigue from his high-performance state wasn't just mental, it was physical. But he recovered faster than most.
If they wanted to waste time talking, he was more than happy to indulge them.
But they weren't just talking.
While Ishi distracted him, three samurai had silently flanked him, moving into position near three separate trees.
It was a kill zone. Every move was calculated. No one was underestimating anyone anymore. Garou focused, his mental energy honed razor-sharp. Hands moved in swift seals.
Chakra pulsed.
From his position, nearly invisible threads of chakra extended outward, dozens of them, quietly forming a web between the trees.
It was the trap.
He maintained the web with one hand, and with the other, popped a specially prepared soldier pill into his mouth.
Then he leaned slightly, just enough to glimpse Ishi's approach.
That was when it happened, three nearly silent swooshes came from different directions.
The ambushers struck.
One from the left slashed with his blade, confident in a clean kill, until his face twisted in pain.
Too late.
He'd triggered something. Agony ripped through his body. His muscles, ligaments, and blood vessels were all being sliced, slowly, invisibly.
He screamed, muscles locking up, but kept swinging, desperate to at least wound his target.
But Garou's response was casual.
A clean, effortless counter-slash.
One body fell from the tree.
The other two halted midair, their eyes wide.
What was that?
Looking closely, they finally saw it. An intricate web of chakra threads spread around Garou. He was the spider, and they were the flies.
They turned to flee.
Too late.
They tried to avoid vital strikes, but against a trained shinobi with enhanced speed and surgical precision, there was no hope.
Another clean draw.
Two more bodies fell.
"Combat," Garou muttered, "is about information."
He'd known that, but now it meant something deeper.
These three weren't weak.
They were solid mid-level chūnin at least. But in his prepared trap, with knowledge and planning on his side, he'd eliminated them with minimal effort.
This technique, his Spiderweb Technique, was the result of months of experimentation. It demanded precision chakra control and constant mental focus.
No one else could use it.
He hadn't even considered teaching it yet.
"Spiderweb is effective, but the chakra cost is high. Precision requirements make it hard to replicate. Might be worth developing into a barrier-type jutsu."
He made mental notes while moving quickly.
Three down.
But Ishi and his elite were still alive, and anyone confident enough to ambush Kakashi was no fool.
This was only the first round.
______________________
Bonus chapter at 300 power stones.
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