"Your friend is probably not coming back. But don't worry. The people who killed him will get what's coming to them. You'll sleep until tomorrow night, and then you'll be fine."
As Kakashi spoke, he put the male employee into a deep sleep.
Then he hid the man inside a wardrobe, planning to take his appearance tomorrow and enter Victor's company as him.
It wasn't just that one employee. Three other employees in similar situations were handled the sa way. Tomorrow, Shino, Kiba, and Hiashi would impersonate them.
As for Akamaru, Kakashi could simply stash him inside Kamui (Divine Might) space for the ti being.
Soon, the next day arrived. After transforming, the four of them trudged toward the company looking listless and drained. On the way, a few people greeted them. They only nodded, not bothering to respond.
Luckily, because those four had been acting like this for days, nobody found it suspicious.
After clocking in, Kakashi's group used the intel they'd extracted under genjutsu to locate the four employees' desks and began putting on an act, pretending to work.
One of the most important lessons for a shinobi is learning how to disguise yourself and infiltrate.
All four were veteran shinobi, so the acting wasn't difficult. And since most of the workers around them were ordinary civilians, the risk of exposure was even lower.
Even so, Shino kept working while quietly releasing insects. He found the mysterious laboratory with ease, and he also got a clear read on the company's internal security.
When no one was watching, Shino extended several chakra threads from his forehead and linked them to his three teammates' foreheads.
He'd learned the technique from Natsuki. It made covert communication effortless.
He twitched the chakra threads, using Morse code to share what the insects had discovered, then imdiately retracted them to avoid being noticed.
After half a day of fake work, Victor finally showed up.
Victor was a short, one-eyed old man. He didn't match the version from Boruto, and it wasn't because of any injured leg.
The tiline had already changed. Most of the Fourth Great Ninja War's danger had been shouldered by Natsuki and the other top-tier fighters, so even if Victor had taken part, he hadn't suffered any crippling injuries.
But it hadn't changed his ambition. From the beginning, his goal had been the God Tree.
So the experints continued. A different tiline didn't an different choices.
Victor arrived in a hurry with his dark-skinned female secretary and headed straight for the mysterious lab, not sparing a glance for the employees. Naturally, he didn't notice Kakashi's group either.
Shino imdiately had his insects tail them. Once the insects confird Victor had entered the lab, they flew back at once to report.
Shino gave his teammates a slight nod.
Then the four of them left their desks and moved directly toward the mysterious laboratory.
Their sudden departure caught other employees' attention. The employees didn't stop them, but security did notice sothing was off. They rushed over with batons and barked at them.
"Hey! What are you doing? Get back to your stations!"
But the guards dropped to the floor one after another, unconscious. Shino's insects had already landed on them without anyone noticing. At the signal, the insects released their toxin and put them down cleanly.
Good.
At the sa ti, the four of them reverted to their real appearances, revealing Konoha forehead protectors.
No explanation was needed. The employees saw Konoha shinobi at work and not only refrained from sounding the alarm, they didn't even dare say a word. Nobody wanted to risk their life.
Kakashi's group reached the lab door without resistance.
Inside, Victor stared at a massive cylindrical glass apparatus and snapped in irritation. "Why is the God Tree fragnt's activity so low? It's absorbed plenty of life force and power, and it still can't even sprout?"
The secretary hesitated. "Boss, if it's a God Tree, using a handful of ordinary people as sacrifices won't be enough."
Victor paused, then nodded. "That's true. But if we mass-sacrifice company employees, the results might still be bad, and it'll draw the Ninja Alliance's attention. It's not the ti for that. If we want to raise the fragnt's activity, we need sothing with extrely strong vitality for it to absorb, and… hmm? Extrely strong vitality? Isn't that Hashirama's cells?!"
Victor's knowledge of the shinobi world wasn't shallow.
He knew exactly how terrifying Hashirama was. He knew about Wood Release experints. He also knew how famously potent Hashirama's cells were.
So he imdiately saw the possibility: use Hashirama's cells to force the God Tree fragnt into higher activity.
But the secretary still hesitated. "Boss, Hashirama really has been revived, but as the God of Shinobi, he's monstrously strong. And Konoha has multiple Hokage now, plus several Six Paths-level fighters. If we go after Hashirama, how is that any different from suicide? We shouldn't take that risk."
From her perspective, going after the First Hokage was far worse than preying on the company's own employees. The risk difference was absurd.
Victor snorted. "Idiot. Did I ever say we'd go after Hashirama himself? I said we need Hashirama's cells, not that we have to take them from Hashirama directly. Orochimaru ran Wood Release experints before. We can start with Orochimaru…"
He didn't even finish the sentence before sothing moved behind them.
Both of them spun around, only to see the reinforced door twist and tear open, as four shinobi wearing Konoha forehead protectors burst in.
Kakashi's Kamui was already active. The door had been ripped apart by Kamui (Divine Might).
At the sa ti, Kakashi released Akamaru from Kamui space. Akamaru leapt into the air and fired off two streams of urine, splashing Victor and the secretary squarely.
The two of them: …
Konoha shinobi, seriously?
We haven't even spoken yet and you're already letting your dog piss on us. Do you people have any decency at all?
Having completed his mission, Akamaru imdiately trotted back to Kiba, tail wagging, clearly asking for praise. He got head pats and a thumbs-up right away.
anwhile, Shino had already quietly released insects, planting a hidden mark. It was unclear whether the insects had returned to Victor's body or remained sowhere else, but the hook was in place.
Victor was livid. "Konoha shinobi, you've gone too far! You broke into my company's laboratory and let a dog urinate on . Are you trying to seize my company's dical research by force?!"
Kakashi didn't flinch at all. He sneered. "Victor, you're finished. You've been using civilians for experints in secret. The evidence is solid, and you still want to deny it? We're taking you in right now, so behave. And we don't need you to confess. All we have to do is probe your brain, and we'll know everything."
As he spoke, he pointed at several smaller cylindrical glass tanks beside the main one. Human silhouettes could be seen inside. Those were clearly the missing employees.
That alone was enough evidence to arrest Victor.
And Kakashi was saying it on purpose. He wanted Victor to understand that if he was caught, he wouldn't be facing interrogation, he'd be facing direct mind-reading, a mory extraction.
At that point, any excuses were aningless. Every secret would be stripped bare.
(End of Chapter)
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