Above the alleyway—
Kaito deliberately chose a blanket that looked relatively clean and mostly dry, hiding himself within it while keeping his Chakra Eye active, continuously monitoring the surroundings.
This is fun.
Traveling meant loosening up a little. Teasing a squad of enemy-nation genin was a harmless guilty pleasure—
though unfortunately, one of them seemed to have noticed him.
Thud—thud—thud!
Wuhua grabbed the left end of an iron chain.
Kali took the right.
Both of them ran straight up the wall.
Troi stayed back, hands full of shuriken, prepared to strike.
Ayei had once developed an A-rank Lightning Release conduction technique specifically after noticing Troi's talent at the Academy.
Compared to Magnet Release, which could lock onto anything metallic—living or not—and mark targets remotely, Lightning Release required direct contact, and the user couldn't move during the marking phase.
"Suspicious bastard! Die already!"
Wuhua hurled the chain—
The blanket loosened for an instant—
Then tightened violently as Wuhua and Kali worked together, binding it completely.
A kunai flashed. The bamboo clothes pole snapped.
They dragged the bundle down.
"I'll see who you really are," Wuhua said, stepping forward to cut it open.
"Be careful not to scratch his face," Kali pouted. "He looked kinda handsome~"
"Tch. Women are troublesome."
Troi's face darkened.
Idiots… that was obviously a substitution.
From the shadowed corner—
Kaito stood with arms crossed, watching them with interest.
"Huh? It's a substitution log?!"
Wuhua froze.
Kali stiffened.
Both spun around, kunai raised—
At the alley entrance stood Kaito.
Further behind him, arms folded and expression dark—
Captain Miliei.
"You have nowhere left to run," Miliei said coldly.
"State your identity. How did you enter Kano Town?"
Kaito's face remained half-shadowed.
Then he smiled, brushed back his hair, folded his arms, and looked up at the sky.
"My name is Bai," he said calmly.
"A wandering doctor."
—Over the past three years, even as a genin, he'd learned quite a bit of medical knowledge. Including basic healing techniques like Hemostasis.
"A doctor?" Miliei narrowed his eyes.
"You're skilled. Your Substitution speed was excellent."
He raised a kunai.
"Last chance.
Explain yourself."
"Or we'll take you back to Cloud Village for interrogation."
Kaito smiled.
"I haven't done anything wrong.
If you attack me, aren't you afraid I'll report you to the local garrison?"
Miliei scoffed. "You even paid the entry fee?"
"Yes."
Whoosh.
Miliei caught the card Kaito tossed.
He froze.
Name: Bai
Permit: Temporary (3 days)
Purpose: Travel / occasional medical aid
Status: Wandering doctor
Stamped by: Local Guard
Miliei's face flushed bright red.
Damn it… we messed up.
Within city limits, without high-level authorization, they couldn't detain someone legally registered—temporary residents were protected by the Land of Lightning.
"Well?" Kaito said lightly.
"Told you I wasn't lying."
He took back the card, tilted his head thoughtfully.
"You're… what was it again?
Genius jōnin… Mickey Mouse?"
"MILIEI!" Miliei nearly snapped.
"Remember this!"
"Wuhua, Kali, Troi—we're leaving!"
The Cloud team withdrew.
Kali glanced back curiously.
Wuhua cursed under his breath, already thinking about compensation for the broken bamboo pole.
Troi hesitated—clearly itching to fight—but they had no justification.
"Magnet Release… Troi, huh."
Kaito watched them go.
Later cannon fodder in Naruto's era. Killed by Hiruko, revived in the Fourth War, erased by Naruto in one hit.
Which made him curious.
How exactly does Magnet Release work?
He turned toward a western-style inn.
Time to sleep.
Late Night — Kano Town
The town fell quiet near midnight.
Lights glowed softly behind windows.
At a cheap inn nearby, the Cloud team rotated night watch.
At 3 a.m., it was Miliei's shift.
Standing by the third-floor window, he gazed at the moon.
"Was he really just a wandering doctor…?"
"I should report this to intelligence."
He slid the window open slightly—glancing at his sleeping students—and smiled faintly.
"Looks like you're in a good mood."
The voice came from above.
Miliei hurled a kunai—
Only for a visible chakra thread to catch it midair and place it gently into Kaito's hand.
Moonlight revealed Kaito—now dressed as the Surgeon—sitting on the upper eave, ponytail swaying.
"Your smile earlier," Kaito said lazily.
"That wasn't this tense."
He twirled the kunai, then flicked it down—
crack—embedding it beside Miliei's foot.
"Good quality. Don't throw it away. They're expensive."
Miliei drew his sword.
"You came for revenge, didn't you—Bai?!"
Kaito ignored the question.
He raised his hand.
"ROOM."
Miliei slashed—
Missed.
The pale-blue spatial field passed through him—and the building.
Kaito calmly produced a yellow anesthesia bomb, standard ninja issue.
"Guess what this is."
Miliei recognized it instantly.
"Fire Country equipment…
You're a Leaf ninja."
"What's your purpose in Lightning Country?
Espionage? War?"
Kaito raised the bomb to the moon, squinting.
"Or maybe," he said lightly,
"I'm just curious."
Whoosh—
Miliei's eyes widened.
Above—
Kaito was holding Troi, fast asleep.
"TROIIII!!"
A dull thump came from the room.
Miliei leapt back, covering his mouth as pink anesthetic gas poured from the window.
"Bastard! If my student—"
"Big words," Kaito said.
He patted the sleeping Troi.
Troi stirred.
"…Teacher…?"
Then he looked down.
Floating.
Bound by blue "ropes."
"Teacher?!"
"Troi!"
Troi realized it instantly.
I've been taken hostage.
"Kid," Kaito's voice sounded at his ear.
"You're a bloodline user, right?"
"I want to see Magnet Release. Show me."
Troi stayed silent, thinking.
"Oh—right."
Kaito snapped his fingers.
"I'm Surgeon.
Leader of White Cross."
"Just passing through—and you happened to catch my interest."
Miliei and Troi: "..."
"No bloodline is easy to learn," Troi said flatly.
Kaito grinned.
"That's what experiments are for."
ROOM — Scan / Transplant
Invisible spatial needles pierced their hearts—
Not flesh.
Mind.
A soft, unreal pulse.
Then—
Bodies exchanged.
Kaito released the bindings and jumped to another rooftop.
"Now then," he said, watching with interest.
"What will you do?"
Miliei opened his eyes—
And froze.
Young hands.
Troi's body.
"I… switched?!"
Meanwhile, Troi—inside Miliei's body—panicked.
Kaito yawned.
"First human test. Success."
"Fight," he said cheerfully.
"After that, I might switch you back."
Miliei tried to attack—
Kaito stopped hundreds of projectiles with one finger.
"I said fight each other."
Realization struck.
Troi charged.
Kaito pierced him with chakra threads—non-lethal.
"Relax," Kaito said.
"I avoided vital points."
"If one of you dies, the other returns to their body."
Miliei broke out in cold sweat.
"My body—don't let it die!"
Finally—
Miliei complied.
He activated Magnet Release—
Inside another body.
Kaito's eyes gleamed.
A swapped body… still using a bloodline.
"Interesting."
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