At the sa ti, on the other side of the market...
Kakashi, Kurenai Yuhi, and Yamashiro Aoba, cloaked, moved through the bustling crowd.
Based on Hidden Leaf's intelligence network, they had tracked down mbers of the Akatsuki who had been frequently attacking shinobi from the village, and those mbers were in this small town.
Initially, the attacks only targeted genin and chunin.
The village quickly dispatched a team led by a special jonin to investigate.
However, shockingly, the investigation team also went missing without a trace.
This imdiately raised alarms within the village.
In the Five Great Shinobi Villages, special jonin were considered elite shinobi capable of handling significant missions on their own. The fact that an entire team led by one had disappeared without a sound indicated that the situation was far more severe than initially anticipated.
As a result, the village sent Kakashi this ti.
Kurenai quietly asked, "Who exactly are these Akatsuki mbers? They dare to attack our Hidden Leaf shinobi in the Land of Fire?"
Aoba added, "They're acting with such disregard for the rules."
To launch such bold attacks on the shinobi of Hidden Leaf, the most powerful of the Five Great Villages, in the heart of the Land of Fire carried a provocative ssage beyond the attacks themselves.
Such a blatant assault hadn't happened in many years.
Kakashi remained silent.
Unlike Kurenai and Aoba, he had received classified information from the Third Hokage about the Akatsuki organization.
He knew not to regard this group as just another rogue ninja band.
Almost all of the Akatsuki's mbers were S-class criminals wanted by various villages, and even one of the Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru, had once been part of the organization.
The Third Hokage's mission for Kakashi wasn't rely to investigate the disappearance of Leaf shinobi, but to make secret contact with an undercover operative the village had placed within the Akatsuki and uncover the group's true intentions.
As Kakashi pondered his thoughts, his brows furrowed, and he ca to a halt.
Kurenai and Aoba imdiately stopped as well, their eyes scanning forward cautiously.
Amidst the crowd ahead, stood a young man with white hair, wearing the Akatsuki cloak with red clouds. He had an eerie grin on his face—a smile wide enough to show his teeth but devoid of any warmth.
The most striking feature was his eyes, which were multicolored and had the characters for "Upper Moon" and "Five" etched into his pupils.
Kurenai leaned toward Kakashi, whispering, "Is that him?"
Kakashi didn't imdiately answer. Instead, he lifted the forehead protector that covered his left eye, revealing his Sharingan.
The three-tomoe Sharingan was capable of observing chakra flow.
After observing the white-haired man for a mont, Kakashi's expression grew serious.
Though the Sharingan didn't have the sa powerful perception as the Byakugan and couldn't see all of the enemy's chakra pathways, it could still detect the massive chakra flowing on the surface of the man's body—far beyond Kakashi's own chakra reserves.
Even though Kakashi wasn't known for his large chakra reserves, he had chakra levels on par with a jonin.
This alone made it clear the white-haired youth was no ordinary opponent.
Aoba asked, "Should we engage?"
Kurenai glanced around at the bystanders. "There are too many civilians here. If we use ninjutsu, there could be collateral damage. Let take him down with genjutsu, and then we can interrogate him in a safer place."
Kakashi hesitated.
He had expected to encounter the individual the Third Hokage had ntioned, but instead, he was facing an unfamiliar Akatsuki mber.
Just then, Kakashi's gaze shifted, and he noticed two more figures clad in Akatsuki cloaks with red clouds, one wearing a bamboo hat—Itachi and Zabuza—erging from the crowd at the far end.
At the sa ti, Itachi and Zabuza noticed Kakashi's group and the white-haired man standing between them.
Zabuza's hand went to the hilt of his massive Executioner's Blade, resting on his back. "Another one of those guys with writing in his eyes."
Itachi briefly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his black irises had turned crimson with the Sharingan.
But he didn't act imdiately, sensing that the situation was strange.
And so, on the long street of the night market, three groups stood facing each other from a distance, with the crowd of people and the vendors' shouts separating them.
Suddenly, the white-haired youth standing in the middle of the street covered his mouth with a golden fan, laughing as he looked toward the rooftops of the shops on the side of the market.
Both Itachi and Kakashi followed the man's gaze.
On one of the rooftops, three more figures had appeared, also dressed in Akatsuki cloaks and wearing masks.
The leader of the three stood quietly on the roof, gazing down at the white-haired youth below. Although his expression was hidden by his mask, both Itachi and Kakashi could feel a palpable coldness radiating from him.
The other two stood behind the leader.
Despite wearing the sa cloaks and masks, anyone could tell from a single glance the hierarchical relationship between the three.
Aoba said, "Three more just showed up!"
Kurenai frowned slightly. "If a fight breaks out, it'll be hard to avoid civilian casualties."
Though their numbers had increased, neither Kurenai nor Aoba was intimidated. Under normal circumstances, they were both strong enough to take down a group of rogue shinobi.
With Kakashi leading them, they felt their chances were pretty good.
But Kakashi shook his head, "Don't act rashly."
He was confused now.
Three separate groups dressed in Akatsuki cloaks had appeared, and it was clear that they weren't all together.
At this point, Kakashi was desperate to et with the contact and learn more about what was going on within the Akatsuki.
Itachi and Zabuza were equally perplexed.
Zabuza eyed the rooftop. "Itachi, who are those three?"
Itachi shook his head, indicating he didn't know either.
After seeing the white-haired man with the writing in his eyes, they had locked onto him as the one responsible for impersonating the Akatsuki and attacking Hidden Leaf shinobi.
But just as they were about to move, three more figures in Akatsuki cloaks had appeared.
And judging by the atmosphere, Itachi could sense that these two groups weren't on friendly terms.
Zabuza planted his Executioner's Blade into the ground. "Let's make our move!"
Itachi said, "Wait a mont. It seems they aren't on the sa side."
Zabuza responded, "Does it matter if they are? Anyone bold enough to impersonate our Akatsuki has to pay the price!"
Tensions rose sharply in the air.
And then...
The white-haired youth in the crowd suddenly tore off his Akatsuki cloak and bowed slightly toward the three figures standing on the rooftop. "Upper Moon Five, Doma, at your service!"
With that, he unfolded the golden fan in his hands and gave it a light wave.
Boom!
With a deafening roar and a surge of freezing mist, a massive twenty-ter-tall ice statue erged from the ground.
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