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Before moving on to what he needed to do next, Haori needed to prepare himself. That was… to bask in the sun.
After all, basking in the sun is good for both physical and mental health.
In his own courtyard, Haori held a transparent vial between his two fingers. He turned it towards the sun. Through the refraction of the transparent curved surface, you could see the distorted sky and the wispy clouds in the sky.
He gently swayed his wrist, and the liquid in the vial swayed along with it.
The blue sky and the crimson blood didn't seem to match very well.
"What's that?"
Someone asked from behind Haori.
The current situation was that another Anbu ninja had come to Haori's house. But this time, it was a true Anbu ninja, and he was the head honcho of the Anbu.
So, he spoke very casually. He didn't have the slight awkwardness that ordinary ninjas felt when they saw Haori.
"A ninja should be able to tell at a glance, right? It's blood. Someone's blood." Haori said without turning around. He seemed to be engrossed in studying the optical phenomena.
"Human blood? Whose?" The newcomer asked this question out of instinctive curiosity.
But Haori's answer was unexpected. After all, that name wasn't mentioned much in Konoha anymore.
"Orochimaru's."
The blood in Haori's hand undoubtedly came from Orochimaru.
"Have you had contact with Orochimaru recently?" Orochimaru had infiltrated Konoha twice in a row. The Anbu ninjas might not be able to catch him, or even find concrete evidence. But they couldn't be completely oblivious to any abnormalities. Otherwise, how could they continue to exist?
"Is the Anbu's mind playing tricks on you again? Don't get excited. I've been staying in Konoha this whole time. How could I possibly have contact with Orochimaru? Besides, he's a rogue ninja of Konoha… This is something I got during the war." Haori explained.
If he was telling the truth, then you really had to praise his preservation skills. Years had passed, but this blood was still blood. It hadn't clotted, nor had it evaporated.
But even if you praised him, it wasn't for that. It was for praising his lying skills… In reality, this was something he had gotten recently.
Haori gently flicked the vial. The half-bottle of blood was thrown into the air. Then, he scooped it up with his palm. The vial was back in his hand, and then it disappeared.
With this action, he told Kakashi not to ask any further questions. For example, about the purpose of the blood.
Haori wasn't some kind of fanatic human research enthusiast. He didn't have any thoughts about turning himself into a snake. He got Orochimaru's blood for a very simple purpose.
That was, by using Orochimaru's blood to perform a reverse summoning jutsu, Haori could go to Ryuchi Cave once. This was something he planned to do in the near future.
But… it seemed like this plan was about to be disrupted.
"Then…" After putting away the vial, Haori finally stood up and faced the newcomer.
"Anbu captain, the son of the White Fang, Kakashi Hatake. What brings you here? Are you bored?"
He didn't know why, but even though they were all complimentary titles, and it wasn't like no one else had called him that, when Haori said it, Kakashi felt a sense of irony.
The more seriously Haori said it, the stronger this feeling became… Maybe Haori didn't realize it, but Kakashi's illusion came from his own self-awareness of "being weaker."
"The Anbu has indeed been idle, including me. After all, the biggest event recently has ended." Kakashi said.
After the Uchiha incident, Konoha Anbu's mission load rate had dropped from 120% to less than 50%. For them, their tense nerves relaxed. Even their attendance rate had dropped below previous levels. So, even Kakashi, the captain of the thirteen Konoha guard squads and the captain of the first squad, was a bit bored. This wasn't surprising.
Haori's interpersonal relationships were still quite pure, or rather, quite monotonous. In fact, he had been back in the village for several months, and he hadn't run into any acquaintances. This was the first time he had seen Kakashi in years.
It wasn't that they were familiar but hadn't seen each other. It was that they really didn't have time.
So, if you asked Haori about Kakashi's changes over the past few years, it wasn't about his strength, nor his physique or appearance. Because these were things that naturally happened with age.
Kakashi's biggest change was that he had finally completed the "eye technique."
Don't get me wrong. This wasn't about his Sharingan. The human body always has some eyes that are hidden from others, like Kakashi's Sharingan under his forehead protector.
But what Haori saw was that Kakashi's right eye, which was exposed, had finally completely "dead-eyed," evolving to the level of the indestructible, unyielding, unmoved by fame or fortune, and extremely lazy Gin-san eye. So, this person gave off an overall feeling of, Kakashi-kun @ doesn't care.
But… even so, it was still much better than he was a few years ago.
"Speaking of that, I heard that Itachi Uchiha was your subordinate. How do you feel, being surpassed by your younger subordinate?"
Haori's way of speaking was still very annoying. He was bringing up a sore subject.
In the situation where Itachi had already defected, Kakashi wouldn't possibly feel relieved to be surpassed by his junior.
"If I had to say, it's true that 'genius ninjas' exist." Kakashi said. He had to admit that Itachi's talent was above his.
"Huh, shouldn't your deepest feeling be that a half-baked Sharingan user will always be inferior to a true Uchiha?" Haori asked in confusion.
This was a blatant, malicious jab… once, twice, but not a third time. Don't be so hurtful. Rest in peace, Obito-san. Kakashi-kun really wants to leave here.
In reality, after the Uchiha clan's collective demise, the indirect effect on Kakashi was… he could now be called the Copy Ninja, the Top Technician of Konoha.
Otherwise, in the era of "rampant" Sharingan, this title would never have fallen on the head of a half-baked eye technique user like him.
"I just feel like… you're more approachable than before." This was forcing Kakashi to make a sarcastic remark.
"Really? But the general consensus is… I'm much more amiable than before." The so-called general consensus was definitely just Haori's self-awareness.
Because of their master, you couldn't really say that Haori and Kakashi were best friends. But they were still friends. But Haori wasn't showing the appropriate welcoming attitude now.
"No matter what, your suppression of the Uchiha clan after you returned was very obvious. Before the incident, they had to divert a lot of their energy to you. This made the Anbu's activities a bit easier."
Without the Sannin, the Fourth Hokage, and in a situation where the Third Hokage shouldn't personally intervene, although Haori seemed to have done nothing before the incident, his role was undeniable. Sometimes, just "restraining" someone can have great value.
But… the destruction of the Uchiha clan, from beginning to end, was done by Danzo's Root. What role did the Anbu play besides surveillance?
Although Itachi was also an Anbu member, no matter what, his actions weren't the Anbu's credit.
"Kakashi, your EQ is terrible. Don't you understand what I mean?" Haori said helplessly. "I'm saying, if you have something to say, just say it. Don't beat around the bush."
Haori didn't think Kakashi had just come to chat with him. He must have something else to say.
Kakashi: "..."
Okay, he's been seen through. He did have something official to say.
Maybe he should have just gotten to the point from the beginning. If he had, he wouldn't have been needlessly stimulated.
"There's a special mission now. The Hokage wants you to do it."
"It's about the tailed beasts."
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