"Hatake Kakashi."
Kakashi corrected.
For some reason, when he heard the words "Gojo Satoru," Kakashi felt a burst of annoyance.
He looked back at the kunai that had flown away, piercing through the clouds and disappearing.
"Is that your Ninjutsu? Or a summoned beast?"
Linto didn't answer the question, saying calmly, "We just want to leave, to leave this village that doesn't welcome us. Please let us pass."
Since Konoha didn't want the Uchiha's power, leaving quietly was the best and most respectful way for both sides.
Logically speaking, with the entire Uchiha clan dead, all related property should belong to Linto and Sasuke, the two survivors.
They didn't want it.
They didn't even try to get "severance pay."
Just like Linto said, he just wanted to sneak away, and nothing more.
Did they really have to wipe them out completely?
Snap—
Kakashi closed the book in his hand, took back the headband covering his left eye, and poured Chakra into both eyes, vaguely seeing the tall figure standing like a statue behind Linto.
"Sorry, this isn't a personal matter, it's just a job."
He took three shuriken from his waist and threw them backhand.
Clang clang clang!
Platinum Star punched them all away.
Kakashi disappeared in front of him, and a hidden wind sound came from behind Linto.
Platinum Star turned around.
The bright moon shone silver light, and the great figure of Platinum Star cast a thick shadow, covering Kakashi who was approaching from behind.
Wildly dancing long hair, a pair of imposing eyes, like an angry guardian deity, just looking at it made you feel a terrible pressure.
Kakashi was about to dodge with his steps, but how could he be faster than Platinum Star.
Platinum Star grabbed Kakashi's head, swung around, and slammed him to the ground.
Bang—
Water splashed everywhere.
Kakashi turned into a cloud of water.
Water Clone Technique.
This was just a test.
In the shadows a dozen meters away, Kakashi thought:
"Just like the information said, invincible in close combat within two meters. Even Guy hasn't given me this kind of pressure."
"In that case, let's try Ninjutsu."
Danzo's orders didn't apply to Kakashi, and besides, he had enough control over Ninjutsu to not hurt young Sasuke.
Kakashi quickly made hand seals.
"Water Release! Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Kakashi's hand seal speed was astonishing. Before the water from the Water Clone could land, it turned into a water dragon again, soaring into the sky.
The water dragon was filled with terrifying power, its scarlet eyes full of killing intent, opening its bloody mouth and biting at Linto.
"Ora!"
Platinum Star threw a heavy punch, and a dent immediately appeared in the water dragon's ferocious head.
Not giving the water dragon time to recover, and accompanied by Platinum Star's roar, one punch after another hit the water dragon's body. It was actually trying to blast apart a B-rank Ninjutsu with its fists.
Suddenly, Linto stepped on nothing, and his whole body was dragged underground.
Earth Release・Headhunter Technique.
In such a short time, he continuously used three Ninjutsu, and with exquisite coordination.
The Water Clone probed, the Water Dragon Bullet lured the enemy, and the Headhunter Technique restrained him. The main body maintained distance from Linto the entire time. One person achieved the effect of an entire ninja squad.
Worthy of being Konoha's Ninjutsu master.
The water dragon used its last bit of life to wrap around Platinum Star. It would take Platinum Star half a second to get back, enough time for Kakashi to put a kunai to Linto's throat.
"I win."
The moment Kakashi had this thought.
Platinum Star, who was fighting the water dragon, disappeared into thin air, followed by a surge of vines.
Purple vines wrapped around nearby buildings like ropes, and at the last moment before Linto was trapped underground, they pulled him out and threw him high into the sky.
The howling wind messed up Linto's hair.
But Kakashi could see clearly, Linto's eyes were incredibly calm.
Kakashi felt danger.
The vines disappeared, and Platinum Star reappeared.
It grabbed Linto's arm, spun him around twice in the air, and threw Linto at Kakashi like a baseball.
Seeing Linto approaching rapidly, Kakashi's heart skipped a beat. He pushed off the ground with his feet, moving away from Platinum Star's attack range.
But it was too late—
"Ora!"
A fist harder than diamond smashed into Kakashi's face.
Bang!
A cloud of smoke flashed.
Leaving behind a log.
Substitution Jutsu.
Young Sasuke had at least seen the world. He noticed the paper charm stuck to the log.
"Be careful! It's an explosive tag!"
The pace of the battle between the two was too fast, so fast that Sasuke couldn't react at all. Only now did he have a chance to speak a warning.
Platinum Star shattered the log with one punch, and extended its fingers with the other hand.
With absolute precision and speed, the fingertip cut the explosive tag from the log like a scalpel, cutting the fuse and not giving the explosive tag a chance to explode.
Ten meters away, Kakashi reappeared, his eyes full of seriousness.
Before the actual fight, Kakashi still had a slight disdain for Linto, thinking he just had a special power.
Kakashi had seen many ninjas who relied on one trick. As long as he found a way to counter it, he could quickly solve it.
But now, Kakashi realized things were not that simple.
The key wasn't the power of the Stand.
It was Linto who used this power.
His calmness on the battlefield, his split-second judgment... was very strong.
Young Sasuke next to him felt the seriousness of the atmosphere, and unconsciously clenched his small fists.
It wasn't just Sasuke who was paying attention to this battle.
Inside the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage, smoking his pipe, peered into the crystal ball in front of him.
A dozen flies hovered in the air, their compound eyes looking down, transmitting the image to the Aburame clan.
The Hyuga clan had it even easier. Their Byakugan penetrated the walls and obstacles, directly watching the live broadcast.
Countless pairs of eyes, with their own complex thoughts, watched this battle.
"Kakashi has become stronger again. His tactical choices and Ninjutsu casting speed are impeccable."
"But facing such a Kakashi, he isn't losing ground at all..."
All eyes fell on Linto.
His files weren't hard to find. The Uchiha's most famous good-for-nothing, firmly on the path of doing nothing.
Could it be that he had been pretending for over a decade?
Why?
To steal information?
No, to steal information you would try to climb as high as possible. Staying at the bottom wouldn't get you any key information.
So...was he just a hermit?
Pairs of eyes with different emotions looked at Linto, their minds filled with the same question:
"Who exactly are you?"
If Linto could hear this question, his answer would be:
"An ordinary unlucky guy."
He studied hard day and night his whole life, and just when he was about to start working and making money, he was transported to another world.
Being transported was bad enough. The moment he opened his eyes, his whole clan was killed. He lost even the right to just eat and do nothing.
Not only did the person in power not comfort the survivors, but they wanted to wipe him out.
The JOJO Stand system he got was less of a perk for being transported, and more of a balancing reward for this misfortune.
"Brother Shou, can we win?" Sasuke asked.
Linto had created too many miracles tonight, but Hatake Kakashi was also a strong person who had fought and killed on the battlefield. A series of high-speed battles had exposed Linto's strengths and weaknesses—
Absolute dominance in close combat and weakness at medium and long ranges.
As long as Kakashi kept harassing him with Ninjutsu, kept his distance, and stalled for time while waiting for backup, Linto could only be passively beaten.
As for using Platinum Star to throw Linto out and quickly close the distance, like before, besides putting a lot of burden on Linto's body, there was a certain time difference in between.
Kakashi had enough time to dodge and use the Substitution Jutsu.
Even Sasuke could see the problem. The people watching the battle in the dark could see it too.
"The battle is over."
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, shook his head slightly, leaning his tired body against the chair.
A hand appeared, attracting the audience's attention.
Linto gently rubbed Sasuke's small head, messing up his middle part hairstyle, and smiled:
"We will win."
Win?
With what would they win?
Linto charged at Kakashi again, they got entangled, and Platinum Star found another opening and threw a punch.
The familiar smoke flashed, Kakashi used the Substitution Jutsu, and reappeared over a dozen meters away, preparing to meet the next round of attacks.
But Linto didn't move.
Linto, who had been constantly attacking, stood motionless on the spot, and Platinum Star also disappeared.
Hiding behind the scenes, Danzo looked at the surveillance footage and snorted, "After talking such a big game, did he finally give up?"
He spoke the thoughts of many people.
Even Sasuke at the scene thought Linto had given up.
Only Kakashi felt his hair standing on end.
He felt a strong sense of danger and was about to run away again, but found...
He couldn't move?!
Several purple vines shot out from the ground, wrapping around Kakashi's feet and waist. The vines tightened, like steel cables, trapping him in place.
"When?" Kakashi asked.
"From when you thought you had mastered my weaknesses, and that you could win for sure."
It wasn't just Kakashi who observed during battle.
He saw Linto's weaknesses.
Conversely, Linto also observed Kakashi's weaknesses.
First, he had insufficient Chakra, and he didn't dare use some long-range, large-scale Ninjutsu casually.
Second, the dodge range of the Substitution Jutsu was about ten to fifteen meters.
Based on these two points, Linto constantly switched to Hermit Purple during the battle, in order to create a Hermit Purple lockdown net with a radius of twenty meters centered on himself.
As long as Kakashi used the Substitution Jutsu, no matter which direction he dodged, he would eventually fall into the entanglement of Hermit Purple.
Substitution Jutsu wasn't teleportation. With his whole body tied up, Kakashi couldn't escape anymore.
But... so what?
Linto could only use the power of one Stand at a time.
That was what Kakashi had observed.
Hermit Purple couldn't cause actual damage to Kakashi. Once Linto switched Stands, Kakashi, who had prepared in advance, could use the Substitution Jutsu to dodge the attack immediately.
"I know what you're thinking."
Linto took a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket.
Kakashi was stunned to find that it was the explosive tag that had been attached to the log when he first used the Substitution Jutsu.
"I really can't hurt you, but this, should be able to, right?"
Linto reignited the explosive tag, threw it in front of Kakashi, and patted Sasuke's small head.
"Let's go."
Sasuke looked back at the explosive tag on the ground.
"Aren't you going to stick it on him?"
Linto shook his head.
There was no need.
Kakashi had held back earlier. His moves hadn't been aimed at vital points. Linto had no grudge against him, so there was no need to kill him.
Kakashi stared blankly at the disappearing figures of the one big and one small.
He was known as the Ninjutsu Copycat, and had copied countless Ninjutsu since his debut. He had also seen many mysterious bloodline limits during the war years.
Linto's Stand was beyond his understanding.
But even more beyond his understanding was Linto himself.
Kakashi smiled:
"He really is an interesting young man."
Boom—
Explosive flames soared into the sky.
Linto left the explosion behind him, along with his identity as a Konoha Ninja.
He raised his hand and waved behind him.
This scene was like a famous painting, imprinted in the memories of many observers.
The explosion disappeared, and Linto and Sasuke disappeared into the darkness.