Chapter 36: The Facade of Peace Will Eventually Be Torn Apart
"Kenichi, you seem a bit distracted today."
Kakashi gave his friend a puzzled look. Kenichi Amamiya's performance tonight was noticeably off.
Just yesterday, the two of them had been going back and forth over board games, evenly matched and completely absorbed. Today, though, Kenichi kept drifting off, his moves sloppy and delayed.
"Ah, sorry, sorry, Kakashi. I was just thinking about something."
Kenichi shook his head and then offered Kakashi an apologetic smile.
The apology was so earnest and sincere that Kakashi actually felt a little embarrassed for complaining.
Looking at Kakashi in front of him, Kenichi's gaze remained apologetic. The truth was simple: he was distracted because today was no ordinary day.
After so many peaceful, comfortable days, the turning point for Konoha had finally arrived.
Today was Uzumaki Kushina's delivery date.
Strictly speaking, a mere chunin like Kenichi should not have known this sort of information. But his teacher had hinted at it, and Kenichi was sharp enough to pick up on what that meant.
"Naruto Uzumaki," Kenichi clicked his tongue in his heart.
Today was the day Naruto Uzumaki would be born.
The absolute protagonist of the future Naruto story, the so called child of prophecy.
Even if there might eventually be some Boruto style sequel nonsense in the far future that everyone pretended not to see at first, for now, the protagonist was without a doubt Naruto Uzumaki.
And from this moment onward, the plot Kenichi remembered would finally start to move in earnest.
But that was something for later.
Right now, Kenichi had other things to deal with.
"Kakashi, have a drink."
Kenichi chuckled and pulled out a bottle of beverage, casually popping it open right in front of Kakashi.
Kakashi did not think much of it.
Over the past few nights staying at Kenichi's place, he had noticed that his friend genuinely liked drinks like this and would have a bottle almost every evening.
Kakashi glanced out the window.
It was not completely dark yet, but it was getting close. He would have to report to Anbu soon.
If the teacher had not specifically given him half a day off because of his recent closeness with Kenichi, he would already be wearing his mask and carrying out his mission.
"Kenichi, I am sorry. I have to go soon," Kakashi said, forcing a small smile.
This was his friend, so he still felt the need to explain himself properly.
"Ah, I know, I know. It is fine, it is fine. Just finish your drink before you leave." Kenichi's smile became even more natural and relaxed.
Kakashi did not find anything strange about it.
He lifted the bottle and downed the drink in one gulp. The taste was familiar.
Then he stood up, said goodbye, and headed for the door.
Kenichi walked him out, smiling as he saw Kakashi off.
The moment Kakashi turned his back, Kenichi suddenly struck.
In that instant, the vast Yang attribute chakra within Kenichi, already refined to its very limits, surged down his arm and into Kakashi's body through a palm strike to the back.
Caught completely off guard, Kakashi stiffened.
He felt a heavy impact between his shoulder blades, followed by a tidal wave of chakra crashing through his body and a sharp, spinning dizziness.
Under the joint effect of the strike and the drug, Kakashi did not even have time to turn around before he collapsed right at Kenichi's doorstep.
"I am sorry, Kakashi," Kenichi said softly, looking at the unconscious Kakashi with a faint smile.
The Healing Palm Technique was a specialized medical ninjutsu that demanded extremely precise control over chakra output.
If too much Yang attribute chakra was pumped in at once, it could cause the target to lose consciousness.
After inheriting the First Hokage's Sage Body, Kenichi's Yang attribute chakra reserves were enormous.
Combined with the anesthetic he had smeared at the bottom of the cup beforehand, it was hardly surprising that Kakashi had been taken down so easily.
"This is really troublesome. If my research were complete, I would not need to borrow this eye from my teacher," Kenichi muttered, glancing at the glass bottle in his hand as he scratched his head.
Inside floated an eyeball.
One of Orochimaru's private treasures.
It was a three tomoe Sharingan taken from a member of the Uchiha clan during the Second Great Ninja War, something Orochimaru had collected back then and quietly kept.
The teacher actually had two of these. Kenichi had pestered him for a long time before finally convincing him to hand one over.
"Even though this probably will not fool Obito, it does not matter," Kenichi said.
He grabbed Kakashi by the arms and dragged him back inside, hauling him onto the table.
Time was short and the workload was heavy. There was no time for idle talk.
Kenichi pulled out a scalpel, took a steadying breath, and carefully extracted the Mangekyou Sharingan he had wanted for so long from Kakashi's eye socket.
Then, with practiced precision, he implanted the three tomoe Sharingan from the glass bottle in its place.
The entire process did not actually take that long. Swapping eyes, in itself, was not all that difficult.
The real requirement was a basic command of medical ninjutsu.
Because of his previous cooperation with Danzo, Kenichi had been forced to learn the fundamentals of medical ninjutsu, so these procedures were well within his capabilities.
The scalpel was simply his way of avoiding being too crude about it.
"The Mangekyou Sharingan. This really is an incredible eye. I wonder just how far I can dissect its secrets," Kenichi murmured.
He studied the eyeball in his hand with obvious fascination before finally placing it into a specially crafted glass container for preservation.
After that, he carefully wiped away the bloodstains, then dragged Kakashi over to the bed and laid him down.
Kakashi would remain unconscious for a while, though not indefinitely.
As time ticked by, a crazed roar suddenly tore through the night sky and echoed over the entire village.
Kenichi glanced out the window at the colossal, snarling silhouette that towered over Konoha, and he could not help the smile that spread across his face.
The Nine Tails had finally been released.
Which meant the deaths of the Fourth Hokage and his wife were all but set, unless Hiruzen suddenly rushed out and fought the Nine Tails to the bitter end.
But the chances of that happening were about the same as Kenichi manifesting a nuclear bomb out of thin air with his bare hands.
Kenichi supported Kakashi's limp body and helped him outside.
All around them, people were screaming and running for their lives.
In the chaos, no one paid any attention to the two of them, which allowed Kenichi to slip into a side alley and toss Kakashi down in a corner.
"The streets are in complete chaos," Kenichi remarked.
He reached toward a nearby empty stall, picked up a discarded mask, and slipped it over his face.
He remembered that, according to the story, someone had managed to collect a portion of the Nine Tails' chakra on this very night.
He wanted to try the same.
If he could secure some of the Nine Tails' chakra, he could study it in detail.
Even a non jinchuriki could use the Nine Tails' chakra to form a tailed beast cloak.
That alone was worth experimenting on.
"Kenichi, where are you going?"
A gentle voice came from behind him.
Kenichi froze, then slowly turned around.
Standing there in the firelit glow of the burning village was his teacher, Orochimaru.
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