"Three… two… one… now, go!"
Kurenai Yuhi's voice rang out with youthful excitement as she waved her hand to signal the start of the mission. At the same moment, Sakura and Hinata rushed forward from opposite directions toward the small target sitting near the wall, a gray stray kitten that seemed completely unaware of the chaos around it.
But Sakura was faster.
With a decisive step and one smooth motion, she caught the cat before it could escape and lifted it high in her arms with clear pride.
"Kurenai-sensei! I got it! I caught it!"
she shouted with childish excitement, smiling brightly as she glanced at Hinata with an unmistakable look of victory.
Kurenai clapped her hands, smiling with satisfaction.
"Great job, Sakura. You did well."
Then she slowly turned her head. Her smile faded into a light frown as she looked at the white-haired boy leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and boredom written clearly on his face.
"Honestly, Kyosuke-kun… this is a team mission. You should help your teammates."
Louis clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Help them? Help them with what exactly? Catching a cat? What nonsense."
He did not say it out loud, but his thoughts were far sharper.
Damn you, old Hokage… putting me in a team like this. What the hell do you think I am?
Kurenai looked at him with clear displeasure, then her eyes suddenly gleamed with a teasing, dangerous light as she glanced sideways at Sakura and Hinata.
"What? Are you embarrassed to do this kind of mission in front of your two little sweethearts here?"
The moment froze.
Sakura's face turned red instantly, and Hinata's eyes widened in embarrassment, her body nearly stiffening in place. Before either of them could respond or protest, the cat took advantage of the distraction… and jumped out of Sakura's arms.
"Ah! The cat!"
Sakura cried out in panic.
In the very next moment...
Louis took a single step.
To everyone else, it looked as if he vanished from where he stood. They saw only a brief blur of movement, and then… it was over.
The cat was in his hands.
Louis caught it in one clean motion, without any visible effort.
He had not used teleportation. He would never waste such a technique on a trivial task like this. What they had just witnessed was the direct result of his advanced taijutsu and physical speed, far beyond the normal level.
In fact, thanks to his exceptional talent in taijutsu, Louis had been able to understand the Eight Gates technique and begin training it much faster than his work on the Rasengan, which was still stuck at its second stage despite months of practice.
"Here."
he said calmly, handing the cat to Kurenai.
She stood there, stunned for a moment.
Did he use a movement technique?
Or was that pure physical speed?
Have his Taijutsu really developed this much already?
She took the cat with both hands without thinking, her eyes still unfocused. Only after a few seconds did she realize that Louis had already turned around and started walking away.
"Wait!"
she called quickly.
"Kyosuke-kun, where are you going? Aren't you going to celebrate with the team? We've finally completed ten missions, and we were the fastest of all the teams."
Louis let out a light, mocking laugh and waved his hand without turning back.
"Catching cats and dogs is really tough work. You deserve to celebrate. Sorry, I have training I can't miss."
"Moo…"
Disappointment briefly crossed Kurenai's face, but she quickly replaced it with a bright smile as she turned to the two girls.
"Alright, girls, let's not worry about that training idiot. To celebrate being the first team to finish ten missions, barbecue is on me today."
"Yay!!"
Sakura shouted happily.
Hinata smiled shyly.
"Meow!"
The cat cried, as if joining in their joy.
Deep down, despite her slight annoyance at Louis's behavior, Kurenai convinced herself that it was natural for an Uchiha, to chase power before anything else.
And so, Kurenai headed toward the barbecue restaurant with Sakura and Hinata.
She was truly happy to have two girls on her team… and perhaps, more than she admitted, she felt that this team carried something special, even if its members did not realize it yet.
*** ***
From the outside, the village of Konoha looked as calm as ever. However, beneath this calm surface, hidden currents were moving silently.
The theft of the Forbidden Techniques Scroll was still limited to the highest levels of leadership. It had not been announced, and no rumors had spread in the ninja world. Only the village elders knew what had happened, and that was exactly what worried Sarutobi Hiruzen.
The Third Hokage sat behind his desk, deep in thought, his hand slowly tapping against the old wooden surface.
The fact that the news had not spread meant only one thing:
The thief was not a spy from another village.
But rather… someone from within.
This possibility made his chest feel tight.
Suddenly...
Bang!
The door to the Hokage's office burst open without any warning.
Hiruzen calmly raised his head and saw Shimura Danzo entering with his usual heavy steps, his cane hitting the floor with a cold rhythm. Danzo did not say a single word. He walked forward and threw a large scroll onto the Hokage's desk.
The scroll rolled slightly before stopping.
Hiruzen spoke calmly, showing no sign of anger.
"Hmm… what is this?"
Danzo replied in a flat, emotionless tone.
"A copy of the Forbidden Techniques Scroll."
Hiruzen raised his eyebrows slightly, reached out, and began carefully checking the scroll's contents.
"When did you make this copy?"
Danzo answered coldly,
"That is not important."
Hiruzen stopped flipping through the scroll and looked at him.
"Did you find the thief?"
A short silence followed, then Danzo said,
"We are searching, but we have found nothing so far."
Then his tone suddenly became sharper.
"But what truly matters is this… You risked the honor of the Hidden Leaf and exposed its secrets to hostile forces for what? To help a useless child graduate from the academy?"
Hiruzen slowly stood up from his chair, his eyes narrowing.
"He is not just a child, Danzo."
Then he continued in a heavier voice,
"He is the son of the Fourth Hokage. Do not forget that he was the reason the village survived the Nine-Tails ten years ago."
Danzo tightened his grip on his cane.
"I do not deny that," he said angrily, "but that does not justify sacrificing the village's secrets for him."
Hiruzen did not respond.
Instead, he turned toward the window and looked down at the village below the mountain.
It was a clear message.
Danzo clenched his teeth and let out a sharp snort.
"Hmph!!"
Then he turned and left, slamming the door behind him.
Silence filled the room once again.
Hiruzen slowly returned to his desk and sat down. He stared at the wooden surface for a long moment before reaching out and opening one of the drawers.
He took out a letter.
It was a strange letter, found on his desk earlier that morning.
There was no sender's name.
And not a single trace of chakra on it.
The Hokage frowned deeply.
Someone had bypassed the Hokage building's security, placed a letter on his desk, and vanished without leaving any trace…
Had the ANBU become careless?
Or did this person possess extremely high-level infiltration skills?
Whatever the reason…
If such a person was from the village… and if such a person became an enemy…
*** ***
A few more days passed.
Elsewhere in the village.
Sakura asked hesitantly,
"Kurenai-sensei… can we get different missions now?"
Lately, their missions had been nothing more than simple routine work: catching cats, helping with farming, delivering items. Sakura and Hinata had endured it for several days, but Sakura could not get rid of her unease.
Her worry was not for herself… but for Louis.
She constantly heard him complaining about these trivial missions and feared he might be punished because of his attitude. Deep down, she felt she did not deserve the kindness Louis had shown her, so she tried, in her own way, to help him however she could.
Hinata silently nodded in agreement.
She was tired of this routine as well.
Kurenai smiled and suddenly reached out, pulling a scroll from "somewhere," as if she had been waiting for this question.
"I was going to tell you after you finished your current mission… but since you asked."
She opened the scroll slightly.
"It's a joint mission between our team and Team Seven. A C-rank mission to escort a man named Tazuna."
Of course, Kurenai had expected this and had already chosen an appropriate mission.
Normally, this type of mission was handled by only one team. However, for some reason, the Hokage himself had ordered that at least two teams work together.
"A joint mission?"
Sakura and Hinata said at the same time, their eyes naturally turning toward Louis.
Sakura felt conflicted when she heard about Team Seven… and remembered Sasuke.
But she secretly clenched her fist and promised herself she would not look at him anymore.
All her "efforts" would be focused on Louis.
Hinata, on the other hand, found herself thinking about something completely different.
How would Naruto look at her?
Especially after the rumor spread that she was Louis's girlfriend, after the two of them were seen holding hands on the day the teams were assigned.
As for Louis...
He simply smiled faintly.
The smile of someone who seemed to have expected this all along.