'They really do have other objectives!'
Kakashi wasn't surprised by Kisame's sudden betrayal. He had been waiting for the other shoe to drop.
In the next second, he saw Makoto step in front of him.
Kakashi's expression tightened instantly. They had only exchanged a single, brief blow before, which wasn't enough to gauge the man's true capabilities.
Now, with his Sharingan already active from the fight with Zabuza, Kakashi decided to test him properly.
His three-tomoe Sharingan locked onto Makoto.
Makoto, seemingly giving the Copy Ninja plenty of face, raised his hands and began forming seals.
Kakashi immediately mirrored him.
"Hey, kid, watch out!" Zabuza shouted from behind Kisame, clutching his wounds. "That's Kakashi of the Sharingan! He'll copy your jutsu and use it against you!"
However...
'What kind of technique requires this many hand seals?'
A drop of cold sweat slid down Kakashi's forehead.
He was worried, but he didn't dare stop.
His Sharingan tracked Makoto's hands with microscopic precision. He could read the subtle tension in Makoto's muscles, predicting the next seal before it was even formed, allowing him to weave the signs slightly faster than the original user.
It was the exact same trick he had just used to humiliate Zabuza.
Finally, they reached the end of the sequence.
"Reaper Death Seal!"
"Reaper Death Se—WHAT?!"
Kakashi, full of confidence, finished the seals a split second before Makoto and shouted the technique's name in unison.
But the moment the words left his mouth, his heart nearly stopped.
The Reaper Death Seal?!
Kakashi didn't know the hand seals for that specific forbidden jutsu, but he certainly knew the name.
His teacher, Namikaze Minato, had used it to seal the Nine-Tails.
It was a suicide technique—a guaranteed death sentence for the user in exchange for taking the enemy with them.
Genuine terror flooded Kakashi's system.
He froze, waiting for the spectral shinigami to appear and rip his soul out.
Seconds passed.
No chakra fluctuation. No shinigami. Nothing.
"Were you scared?" Makoto grinned, shaking out his wrists. "Will you dare to recklessly copy jutsu again? And cast them ahead of time, no less?"
"..."
Kakashi's face darkened.
He stared at Makoto, realizing he had just been played.
'What a fuckedup personality.'
But as the adrenaline faded, Kakashi realized the man had a point.
If an enemy knew how the Sharingan worked, they could bait him into copying a self-destruction technique.
By copying it faster than the opponent, he would effectively kill himself first.
Having figured this out, Kakashi became even more confused.
This man had just deliberately exposed a fatal weakness in his fighting style.
Was he an enemy or a teacher?
"Bwahahaha! To think the great Kakashi would be toyed with by a brat!"
Seeing Kakashi's blunder, Zabuza threw his head back and laughed wildly.
"An idiot who needs forty-four hand seals just to summon a water dragon has no right to laugh at others," Makoto shot back without looking at him.
Zabuza's laughter died instantly, choking in his throat.
"Kisame," Zabuza growled, his mood ruined. "Is he your subordinate?"
"No," Kisame replied casually, resting Samehada on his shoulder.
"I suppose I'm his."
"What?" Zabuza frowned, assessing Makoto with a new look of wariness.
Before he could question them further, the masked figure hiding in the trees finally made his move.
Haku leaped out, landing between the groups.
Come to think of it, Zabuza really was a terrifying character.
At the end of the war, facing Kaguya Otsutsuki, the lineup was Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, and a "masked man" (Obito).
Now, facing Zabuza, it was the exact same team configuration.
"Who's there?" Kakashi snapped, raising a kunai defensively.
"Greetings. I am a Hunter-nin from the Hidden Mist Anbu," Haku recited his pre-planned lines, his voice muffled by the mask.
"My mission is to capture the rogue ninja Zabuza Momochi and retrieve the Executioner's Blade. Could you please hand this person over to me?"
"That is indeed the mask of the Mist Anbu..." Kakashi muttered, but his eyes were deadpan.
He was speechless at the sheer audacity of this performance.
If it were just Zabuza, the story might hold water.
But Kisame was standing right there.
Kisame was a notorious S-rank rogue ninja from the Mist, currently helping Zabuza.
Why would a Mist Hunter-nin ask for permission politely when a fellow rogue was aiding the target?
"Haku, you idiot, stop talking," Zabuza sighed, interrupting the act.
By using the name, he completely blew Haku's cover.
Kakashi didn't even need to analyze it.
'So, they're partners.'
"Zabuza-sama?" Haku froze, confused.
"Kisame, what is your game?" Zabuza ignored Haku and turned his gaze to the Shark Man. "You're not after my sword, are you?"
Zabuza knew he was checkmated.
He was battered from fighting Kakashi, barely able to stand. Facing Kisame—a chakra monster in peak condition—was suicide.
Even Kakashi looked drained and was burdened with three useless genin.
Zabuza's life was entirely in their hands.
"What would we want with your beat-up sword?" Makoto answered for Kisame. "Since we saved you, the price is simple. You, your sword, and your subordinate will join our branch."
Kakashi's ears perked up.
'Branch? That implies a headquarters. A larger organization.'
'Could it be that this was a new power, with rogue ninja at its core, gathering somewhere?'
"An organization that can absorb someone of your caliber, Kisame, must be formidable," Zabuza mused.
He weighed his options: join or die. It wasn't a hard choice.
"I can agree. But I have a few questions first."
Zabuza fell silent, turning his gaze toward Kakashi and the trembling genin.
Kakashi's expression was grave.
An organized group of high-level rogue ninja was a nightmare scenario for the Five Great Nations.
He needed intel.
But looking at his exhausted team, he knew this wasn't the time to play hero.
"We..."
"Strategist, the mission is complete."
Just as Kakashi was about to order a retreat, a flock of crows descended from the sky.
They swirled together, manifesting into the form of Uchiha Itachi, who calmly handed a scroll to Makoto.
"Uchiha... Itachi?"
Kakashi's blood ran cold.
This was the worst-case scenario!
And sure enough, the reaction was immediate. Behind him, Sasuke began to tremble violently.
"ITACHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!"
With a roar of pure hatred, Sasuke threw a Fuma Shuriken and charged forward with a kunai gripped tightly in his hand.
His rationality was gone.
Makoto nodded, taking the scroll and whispering a few words to Itachi.
Only then did Itachi slowly turn his head.
His eyes locked onto the charging boy.
The three tomoe spin instantly merging into the triangular pattern of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Stop! Itachi! Don't hurt Sasuke!" Kakashi screamed, lunging forward to intercept.
But halfway through his shout...
Whoosh.
The world turned red.
The sky bled into a dark crimson, and the ground vanished. Kakashi found himself bound to a cross.
'HUUUH'
'He... wasn't targeting Sasuke?'
Outside the Tsukuyomi space, Sasuke froze while confused.
After all, that pair of eyes was all too familiar.
The moment he saw those eyes, it meant he was about to start reliving the night of the massacre.
But... nothing happened.
Sasuke patted his chest, checking for injuries.
He was fine.
He turned just in time to see Kakashi collapse face-first into the river, unconscious, before being frantically hauled ashore by Naruto and Sakura.