Chapter 19 What Is Kakashi's Purpose?
In barely three seconds, only Yoruha's head was still above the ground.
But the hidden attacker still didn't show himself.
Sure enough, when the swamp swallowed Yoruha's head, a puff of Haku smoke appeared.
The Yoruha in the swamp also turned into a log.
"Heh, Substitution Technique, huh."
"You really have mastered applying the jutsu you've learned."
So just now, Yoruha had used Substitution Technique to evade the attacker's Earth Release.
And Yoruha's real body had already appeared more than ten meters away.
But he wasn't relaxed in the slightest.
His expression was grave as he stared in the attacker's direction.
"This guy is way too strong. I'm absolutely no match for him as I am now. Who is he?"
"I shouldn't have any enemies, right?"
"I barely even know many people in the village. Who exactly wants to hurt me?"
Yoruha was irritated. Those few jutsu just now had clearly been aimed at forcing him to death.
What grudge, what hatred? He didn't remember offending anyone this strong.
Just as Yoruha was racking his brain, trying to figure out who was attacking him, a figure walked out from the dark forest.
"Not bad, not bad. Looks like you already have Chunin-level strength."
The moment he saw this person, Yoruha's expression grew even more tense.
It was too dark here, and with the newcomer masked, he couldn't tell who it was.
But the feeling this person gave him was overwhelmingly strong, several times stronger than even his teacher.
"If this guy really wanted to kill me, there's no way I'd still be standing here right now."
"But what's his goal?"
"This is the village. Would he really dare kill someone in the street?"
Ninja often carried out assassination missions, but this was the village. There was order here.
Even ninja didn't dare hurt people however they pleased.
And with this man's strength, if he really wanted to kill him, there was no need to make it this troublesome.
Yoruha knew very well this person could kill him instantly.
While Yoruha was thinking, the man had already come before him.
"I don't think I've offended you, have I?"
Yoruha still didn't make a move. He wanted to know who this person was.
The attacker glanced at Yoruha and said flatly, "Come with me."
With that, he turned and walked off on his own.
In that instant, Yoruha really wanted to turn around and run.
But thinking of the gap between them, he gave up.
"He probably doesn't want to kill me. Otherwise I definitely wouldn't have survived just now."
"But what does he want?"
Unable to figure it out, Yoruha hesitated for a moment, then followed.
He had no choice. He wasn't this man's opponent. This person could kill him instantly.
Resistance was useless.
And Yoruha also wanted to know who this person really was, and what his purpose was.
In the darkness, the two walked one after the other, more than ten meters apart, gradually making their way to Konohagakure's back mountain.
When they entered the back mountain, Yoruha had originally not wanted to keep following, but in the end he still did.
He could tell this person probably wouldn't kill him.
The two arrived beside the lake Yoruha and the others had cleaned up yesterday.
Under the moonlight, this person's head of Haku hair made Yoruha's eyes narrow slightly.
"This guy... could he be Kakashi?"
Yoruha looked him over carefully. The more he looked, the more it seemed that way.
"No way. I don't think I've offended him, right? Could it be that Kihon Toichi offended him back when they were both in Anbu?"
"So now he's teaching me a lesson to get back at my teacher?"
After guessing that this person was Kakashi, Yoruha immediately felt it had to be because Kihon Toichi had offended Kakashi in Anbu, so Kakashi was retaliating against him to warn Kihon Toichi.
But if this person really was Kakashi, then Yoruha was also sure he definitely wouldn't be in danger.
And this person really was Kakashi.
During the day, he had taken Naruto and Sasuke out on a mission.
Actually, Naruto and Sasuke were the ones completing the mission while he read his novel off to the side.
Kakashi was, after all, a fan of Jiraiya's books.
When they reached the lakeside, Kakashi took off his mask.
Yoruha let out a breath. "Thank goodness. It really is Kakashi."
After confirming it was Kakashi, Yoruha still said nothing. He wanted to know what kind of grudge existed between Kakashi and his teacher.
Those few attacks from Kakashi just now would have already turned an ordinary genin into a corpse.
Yoruha didn't blame Kakashi. He knew that if it was Kakashi, and if Kakashi was taking revenge on him because of his teacher—
then Kakashi definitely knew his approximate strength.
Otherwise, with Kakashi's personality, he wouldn't make a move so casually.
Kakashi wasn't some kind of villain.
Yoruha was actually a little curious. He wanted to know what feud his teacher had had with Kakashi back in Anbu.
For a long time, neither of them spoke.
The atmosphere was awkward for a while.
After a long silence, Kakashi finally spoke first.
"Jingwen Yoruha, your performance just now was pretty good."
Yoruha said nothing.
He just quietly watched Kakashi standing by the lake, acting all profound.
And not getting the response he wanted, Kakashi felt a little awkward too.
But he was an Elite Jonin after all, so he quickly adjusted his mood.
"You must be wondering why exactly I attacked you, right?"
Yoruha nodded.
"I assume Kakashi-sensei wasn't just bored and amusing himself by toying with me."
Kakashi felt a little embarrassed.
Yoruha didn't seem curious about his purpose at all.
On the contrary, without the panic he'd shown while responding to his attacks earlier, he was now extremely calm.
Calmer than Kakashi himself.
Even Sasuke wouldn't be like this.
Sasuke's usual brooding was completely because he was tsundere.
But Yoruha's calmness was genuine, as if he had the feeling that everything was within his grasp.
In truth, Yoruha knew nothing. The reason he was this calm was simply because this person was Kakashi, which meant he definitely wouldn't be in any danger.
His understanding of Kakashi made Yoruha extremely at ease right now.
And he felt Kakashi had made a move against him because of his teacher.
After all, Yoruha had barely had any contact with Kakashi before.
But his teacher had once been an Anbu ninja. There had to have been some old conflict between Kakashi and Kihon Toichi.
Not seeing what he had wanted to see, Kakashi was a little disappointed.
But he hadn't forgotten his purpose.
Kakashi turned around. Under the moonlight, his silver-Haku hair was especially eye-catching.
"My attacks just now weren't something ordinary Chunin could block at all. That proves your strength is already above that of normal Chunin."
"But that's all. If I increased the intensity any further, you would lose."
Yoruha nodded. "That's right. Kakashi-sensei is a Jonin. I could tell that, actually, you could have defeated me from the very beginning."
"In front of you, I don't have the slightest power to resist."
"That much, I'm very clear on."
Yoruha had no doubts about that at all.
He even knew very well that if Kakashi really wanted to take him down, he wouldn't even have a chance to fight back.
Although Chunin and Jonin were only one rank apart,
their actual strength was worlds apart.
During the Land of Waves mission, those two Chunin in front of Kakashi had been nothing but clowns; once he was done using them, he killed them instantly.
Yoruha wasn't about to think he could try challenging Kakashi just because Kakashi praised him for having Chunin-level strength.