Kakashi sat alone in his training yard, the morning sun casting long shadows across the grass. The open scroll beside him was covered in detailed notes, sketches, and chakra diagrams, all centered around the cursed seal Orochimaru had placed on Anko.
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and stared down at his own handwriting, eyes narrowed with focus.
"This isn't just a seal," he whispered, running a hand slowly over the scroll.
"It's alive… it grows and feeds on the user's chakra."
Even with all his experience, Kakashi couldn't help but feel a flicker of awe. The cursed seal wasn't a simple binding or suppression technique.
It was parasitic. It latched onto the user's chakra network, burrowed into their tenketsu points, and slowly corrupted their body while feeding them strength, strength wrapped in chains.
He recalled the mont he first touched the seal on Anko's neck. The way it pulsed beneath his fingers. The eerie resistance. It felt less like a technique and more like a living organism.
Then it clicked.
"…Jūgo."
Kakashi's eyes widened slightly as he sat upright, thoughts racing. "That's it. Orochimaru used Jūgo's abilities to create this."
He rembered. Jūgo possessed a unique physique or Kekkei Genkai, that allowed him to passively absorb natural energy from the environnt, transforming it into raw, volatile power.
But the cost of that power was madness and mutation. Orochimaru, always hungry for power without the drawbacks, must've harvested enzys from Jūgo's blood and rged them with his own chakra.
"This explains it," Kakashi muttered. "It explains the transformation. The power boost. Even the instability."
He picked up a pen and began adding more notes to the scroll. "If I want to replicate this technique, or even create a counter, I need access to those enzys."
But Jūgo's body was the only known source. Replicating it would be impossible… unless there was another being tied to natural energy.
Kakashi paused, tapping the pen against the page.
"The snakes of Ryūchi Cave…" he murmured.
They were known for their connection to senjutsu, natural energy, and forbidden arts. If he could form a summoning contract with one of them, perhaps they could provide the components he needed. A gamble, but a calculated one.
"It's a long shot," he said under his breath, standing slowly. "But it's worth trying."
He rolled the scroll closed and slipped it beneath his sleeve, tapping the seal underneath his wrist. There was no ti to waste.
Kakashi made his way to Kurenai's house. As he neared the front steps, he saw her and Anko standing outside in casual conversation. The late morning sun gave everything a warm glow.
The mont Kurenai saw him, her eyes lit up. She didn't hesitate. She walked straight up to him, threw her arms around his neck, and pulled him into a kiss, deep, warm, and very public.
Kakashi blinked but quickly lted into it, returning the kiss without hesitation. The world faded for a mont.
Behind them, Anko groaned loudly.
"You two are really too much. Hello?! I'm right here!" she snapped, folding her arms.
Kakashi chuckled and looked over Kurenai's shoulder, offering an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, sorry," he said. Though his voice made it clear he wasn't sorry at all.
Anko rolled her eyes and muttered sothing under her breath, clearly unimpressed.
"Let's go and finish this," she said, brushing past them and opening the door.
Kurenai watched her go, then turned to Kakashi. "Will it be dangerous?" she asked softly, concern in her eyes.
"I've got it under control," Kakashi replied, brushing a hand through her hair gently. "Trust ."
Inside the apartnt, Anko moved quickly. She summoned a mid-sized snake, its scales dark with a purple sheen. With a few whispered words, she instructed it to reverse-summon Kakashi to Ryūchi Cave.
A mont later, with a flash of chakra and a sudden pull, the world shifted.
Kakashi landed on a cool stone. The air was damp and heavy, thick with the scent of moss and old earth. Ryūchi Cave was darker than he expected, glistening rock walls lined with strange vines. Water dripped sowhere deep within the shadows.
He took a cautious step forward.
Then a voice echoed through the cavern. Low, grating, ancient.
"Another human dares to enter my domain?"
From the shadows slithered a massive serpent, red-scaled and scarred. One eye was blind, a long gash running across it. Kakashi recognized him instantly, Garaga, the violent and infamous snake summon known for his hatred of humans in Boruto.
Kakashi grimaced inwardly. He had hoped to et a less hostile snake. So much for that.
"My na is Kakashi Hatake," he said calmly. "I'm not here to fight. I seek a summoning contract. I want a partner I can trust."
Garaga's one good eye glared at him.
"Trust?" the snake hissed. "Humans speak of trust, yet all they offer is betrayal. I know their lies. I carry the scars."
Kakashi stepped forward slightly, lifting his head.
"I've known betrayal too," he said softly. "I've lost comrades. Friends. I've buried the people I cared about. I don't make promises I don't intend to keep."
Garaga studied him, that slitted eye narrowing. He could feel the human's senjutsu signature, raw but honest.
"You speak of pain… but do you understand mine?"
"Maybe not all of it," Kakashi admitted. "But I want to. I don't seek to use you. I want to build sothing new, different from the past."
The cave fell silent. Then, slowly, Garaga lowered his massive head.
"…Very well," he said. "I will form a contract with you. But betray , and you'll suffer the consequences."
Kakashi let out a slow breath of relief. "Betrayal has never been a word associated with ."
"We'll see," Garaga muttered.
He slithered to the back of the cave and retrieved a large summoning scroll. Its length was imnse, the parchnt old and worn but clearly powerful.
"This is my personal contract," Garaga growled. "You won't need the main one in the White Snake Sage's hands. This one gives you the right to summon and my underlings. But don't summon for anything petty."
"Understood."
Garaga unrolled the scroll with a flick of his tail. There was only one na at the top, scratched out violently.
Kakashi stepped forward, bit his thumb, and pressed it to the scroll. His blood soaked into the parchnt, forming kanji that shimred.
Garaga did the sa, his na appearing beneath Kakashi's in small, jagged script.
They stood there, facing each other in silence.
"…So what now?" Garaga asked irritably. "You just gonna stare at ?"
Kakashi smirked. "I was waiting to be sent back, actually."
They both looked toward the snake that had brought him, now hiding behind a rock.
"Send him back!" Garaga hissed toward the snake.
The trembling snake slithered over and coiled around Kakashi's ankle, its body glowing with chakra.
With a flash, Kakashi vanished.
Garaga let out a long breath and coiled into the shadows.
"Hmph," he grumbled. "Another fool. Let's see if this one lasts."
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