Natsuro quickly engraved a Flying Thunder God seal into Kakashi's Sharingan.
At this point, his mastery of the Flying Thunder God Technique was well-known across the ninja world.
Simply giving Kakashi a kunai with the seal wouldn't be enough, once Kakashi reached his destination, his enemies would confiscate and destroy the kunai immediately.
The Flying Thunder God seal had no defensive properties, it could still be erased or destroyed by jutsu.
Natsuro had initially planned to engrave the seal somewhere else, but then he reconsidered, Kakashi's left eye was Obito's Sharingan.
What if engraving the seal there ended up being useful later?
More importantly, sealing it inside the eye would make it much harder to detect.
As for the size of the seal, he had long since optimized it, reducing its required space significantly.
Originally, he had done this for a completely different reason, but who knew it would come in handy now?
Once the engraving was complete, Kakashi took a deep breath, then released his resistance to the puppet technique controlling him.
Immediately, his body became dazed, moving mechanically as if sleepwalking.
Natsuro carefully observed his condition.
Sure enough, the first thing Kakashi did after being controlled?
He threw away all of his weapons, including his kunai.
Then, even his clothes were stripped off.
Thankfully, Hiruko had some limits, as he made Kakashi put on a random outfit before directing him toward a specific location.
Otherwise, if Kakashi woke up later completely naked, his social reputation would be ruined.
He might even end up following in his father's footsteps…
Under the puppet technique's control, Kakashi headed toward Konoha's main gate.
The gate was being guarded by Konoha's famous "Twin Gatekeepers", Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane.
Since Natsuro had already ordered heightened security, even someone as famous as Kakashi wasn't allowed to leave the village without a Hokage-issued permit.
So, the two gatekeepers did their job and blocked his path.
But Kakashi, in his puppet-controlled state, was unable to hold back his strength and instantly knocked them both out.
At that exact moment, Naruto had just finished training and was heading home after a late-night meal at Ichiraku Ramen.
Seeing Kakashi take down the gate guards, Naruto rushed forward to intervene only to be stopped by Natsuro.
"Natsuro! Why are you stopping me?!" Naruto demanded, his voice full of confusion.
"Kakashi-sensei is acting really strange!"
"He didn't even acknowledge me, and he just knocked out the gate guards!"
"I know." Natsuro said calmly, showing no urgency.
Instead of hiding anything, he explained everything to Naruto, detailing his plan involving Kakashi.
"Oh! So Kakashi-sensei is actually trying to find the enemy's base?" Naruto finally understood.
Then, with determined eyes, he said: "In that case, I'm going too!"
"Good." Natsuro didn't refuse his request.
But before they moved forward, he asked:
"How's your Wind Style: Rasenshuriken training coming along?"
Naruto scratched his head. "Uh… I think I'm almost there?"
He didn't sound too confident.
Natsuro smirked. "Then hurry up. For all you know, Kurama might be waiting for you."
"Wait, really?" Naruto squinted at him, a little suspicious.
Then his eyes suddenly widened as he stared at Umbreon resting on Natsuro's shoulder.
"Wait a second, this little guy! I think I saw it in my dreams!
It's your pet?!"
Natsuro's expression twitched.
Umbreon had been sneaking into the Nine-Tails' seal space so often, and Naruto still hadn't realized?
Or did he just assume it was a dream?
He decided to skip over that topic.
"It's late. Go home and rest." Natsuro said. "I'll come find you tomorrow."
Naruto nodded.
Although he was worried about Kakashi's safety, he trusted Natsuro completely.
If it was him handling the situation, that meant Kakashi would be fine.
Naruto had absolute faith in Natsuro, because he had never failed to deliver on his promises. So, with that in mind, Naruto headed home.
With Naruto gone, Natsuro turned his attention to the unconscious gatekeepers.
They may not have stopped Kakashi, but they at least tried. They deserved some recognition.
He personally brought them to the hospital, ensuring their injuries were treated.
To avoid unnecessary rumors, he instructed them not to spread the story, and explained that Kakashi was on a top-secret mission.
"A top-secret mission?" Izumo and Kotetsu felt a little bitter.
"Did he really need to beat us up for that?!"
After hearing the full story, they finally understood and Natsuro reassured them that their injuries would be classified as 'work-related.'
At that moment, the two gatekeepers' eyes lit up. They immediately started thinking ahead.
"Wait a second… if this counts as a work injury… doesn't that mean we can make Kakashi buy us drinks later?"
"Oh, and we get a few paid days off too!"
"Not bad! This actually worked out pretty well!"
After handling everything, Natsuro returned to his training.
The next phase of his plan was about to begin.
.....
Shikkotsu Forest – The Next Morning
Natsuro calculated the timing as he observed the sky.
By now, Kakashi should have already reached Hiruko's hideout.
After all, Hiruko would need some preparation time before performing the Chimera Technique on him.
However, Umbreon still hadn't returned.
This made him a little uncertain, Was Kakashi not at the location yet?
Or did Umbreon not understand his instructions?
Just as he was wondering, Umbreon suddenly reappeared in Shikkotsu Forest, landing gracefully on his shoulder before affectionately licking his cheek.
"Has Kakashi made contact with the enemy?" Natsuro asked.
Umbreon nodded in response.
"Good. Well done." Natsuro patted Umbreon's head, rubbing its soft fur before activating the Flying Thunder God Technique, teleporting directly to Naruto's location.
This time, he had decided to go personally. Not because his Spirit Clone couldn't handle it but because his clone was still handling Konoha's administrative duties.
With no time to spare for Kakashi's mission, Natsuro's real body had to step in.
When he arrived, Naruto was still training in the back mountains practicing his Wind Style: Rasenshuriken.
But as Natsuro looked around, he fell silent.
The training ground was completely unrecognizable.
The landscape was filled with craters, large and small, and the entire back mountain was on the verge of being completely destroyed.
"If he keeps training here, the back mountain is going to disappear entirely…." Natsuro thought to himself.
But then again, there weren't many other places suitable for Naruto's training.
He definitely couldn't practice inside the village.
No amount of reinforcement or repairs would be able to keep up with the destruction Naruto caused.
When Naruto saw Natsuro arrive, his eyes lit up.
"Is it time?" He asked eagerly.
"Yeah, pretty much." Natsuro nodded, not bothering with unnecessary explanations.
He immediately prepared to teleport them using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
But the moment he activated his technique, he sensed something off.
The Flying Thunder God seal he placed on Kakashi yesterday was being interfered with.
"As expected… even after stripping Kakashi of his weapons and changing his clothes, Hiruko still wasn't fully convinced."
"He must have set up a barrier as a precaution."
However, such a barrier was meaningless to him.
If Hiruko wanted to block his teleportation, he'd need at least a pair of Rinnegan. The same kind of large-scale barrier Pain had used.
And even then, it would only have a chance of working.
Too bad for him… Hiruko doesn't have the Rinnegan. Even if he somehow obtained it, Natsuro's own strength had never stopped improving.
In the next instant, Natsuro and Naruto vanished from Konoha's back mountain.
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