"This is important intel whether true or not. I recommend we report it," Kakashi said once he'd gathered himself.
"Mm. I'll stop by the Hokage's office as soon as we're back," Kageyama Kokugetsu nodded.
He had deliberately copied the book in an old script and had artisans age it by hand so Namikaze Minato would take note. Some fates he meant to change; others, he did not. Which was which would depend on his interests—and his tastes. He liked Minato well enough, but changing Minato's fate didn't serve him; preference yields to profit.
"Captain, any other good stories?" Snake asked, eager.
"There are. When I'm done reading, I can tell you some when we have time."
Joking aside, he'd written the book himself. He'd read too many tales to bore anyone, and his logic held together.
"Thanks, Captain," Snake said, delighted.
"Think nothing of it. Eat up and get some sleep. We leave for the village at seven."
"Yes, Captain."
By dusk the next day, First Unit slipped back into Konoha.
The main gate was for ordinary shinobi; ANBU and Root used other ways in. Kokugetsu took the mission report and the book to the Hokage's office and was admitted after a short wait.
Minato was new to the hat and still learning the machinery of governance—busy days, though he took to it fast.
"Hokage-sama," Kokugetsu said with a bow.
"Kokugetsu. What brings you?" Minato's smile was warm, his tone easy.
Given Kokugetsu's record, reputation, position, and the matter of bringing back Uzumaki Kaume, Minato held him in high regard.
"I have something to report. Here's the mission file—but this book is the key." He tapped it. "I've marked the important sections with leaves and red ink."
He stepped to the desk and handed both over.
"Thanks for your work," Minato said, skimming the report first, then opening the book. Surprise pushed the smile from his face. He checked each marked passage again, growing solemn.
"Even if we can't verify it yet, it deserves attention."
For an ordinary jinchūriki the intel meant nothing: strip out a tailed beast and the host dies at once. But for Kushina of the Uzumaki, it might matter—her vitality was staggering.
"Yes. Anything touching jinchūriki must be treated seriously. I hope you can find a way to test it," Kokugetsu said.
He didn't mention Kushina by name. That wasn't a fact he should know; few in Konoha did.
"I understand. Well done, Kokugetsu," Minato said.
"Just my duty," Kokugetsu answered, sober as a priest.
He had, admittedly, a flair for performance. Acting was fun.
"Heh. Go on—take two days' rest."
"Yes."
When Kokugetsu left, Minato mulled over how to verify the claim—and soon had an idea.
Late that night he dragged his tired body home. Kushina, belly showing, set steaming dishes on the table at once.
"Kushina, I told you to take it easy. I can reheat dinner myself," Minato sighed.
"It's fine. I asked the hospital—light activity is good for the baby. Besides, you're run ragged; don't make you reheat food on top of everything," she said with a small smile.
"Alright. I'll do the dishes." He sat. "Here, look at this book—Kokugetsu came across it on a mission."
"What kind of book gets handed straight to you?" Kushina asked, curious. She followed the markers as she read; surprise and awe swept across her face.
"Kushina, do you think it's true?"
She frowned, then slowly shook her head. "Hard to say. But it isn't without logic. After I awakened the Adamantine Sealing Chains, my life force skyrocketed. I might be able to hold on for a while."
"Kushina, what about Lady Mito back then?" Minato asked, serious.
Kushina's eyes lit; she beamed. "Minato, you're smart! After Grandma Mito transferred the Nine-Tails into me, she didn't pass right away—she even spoke to me for a bit after I woke."
"When a host becomes a jinchūriki, the host's life and the beast's are bound," she went on. "If the beast is stripped out, the host dies; if the host dies, the beast dies temporarily too. If we rebuild that bond and restore enough life force, saving the host should be possible."
Minato's face brightened. "Then it's likely true. The Sage of Six Paths… worthy of the name."
"Enough talk—eat while it's hot," Kushina chided fondly.
"Right, right," Minato said, helpless and happy.
Two months later Kakashi was transferred from First Unit to quietly guard Kushina. Minato hoped the coming child would help him climb out of his shadow; it helped, a little.
Kokugetsu, by contrast, stayed busy. Not dog-tired, but steady—month after month of more or less the same number of missions, mostly high-grade assassinations.
Because he never failed, the low-level work stopped coming. He handled only A-rank and above kills now.
Good thing his art of slacking had reached its peak—and his mindset was steady. He never fretted over whether the target was good or innocent, or whether he was right or wrong. The job was the job. If blame was due, it lay with the one who gave the order or paid the bill. Why should a blade without will eat itself with doubt? If they hated him, so be it. If they thought themselves strong enough to seek revenge, he didn't mind—then they'd test strength and settle life and death.
He had never been caught, never left a trace, and his hands were clean, decisive, and merciless. His name didn't just appear on lists across the villages—it spread like wildfire.
In the handbooks of ANBU and their equivalents in every hidden village, Kageyama Kokugetsu ranked near the top. Above him were veterans who'd risen in the Third Great War or earlier—names known to all.
Some villages gave him a moniker: the "Nightmare Shade Reaper."
"Nightmare" for his codename Night and his habit of haunting the dark; "Shade" for the way he seemed to spring from a target's own shadow; "Reaper" for the only escape from the nightmare—death.
He wasn't yet the undisputed king of assassins across the shinobi world, but more than a few had begun calling him Konoha's king of the kill.
For a Konoha shinobi, his dossier and deeds far outstripped his current post.
And as the first to spot Kokugetsu's promise—and the one who'd kept an eye on him—Mitokado Homura felt he should raise the matter before anyone else did. If others brought it up first, where would his chance to curry favor be?
A shinobi like this was the obvious successor to lead ANBU one day.
If you want your clan to endure and thrive, befriending Konoha's brightest young star is never a mistake.
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