"It's over, Kakashi-sensei."
Watching the backs of the two leaving, Takemi felt relieved.
This battle was more dangerous than expected.
If it weren't for Itachi, that double-agent, who had reservations whether it was for his brother or the village, who knows what might have happened?
Plus, his 'Purple Electricity' was also stunning enough. Otherwise it probably wouldn't have ended so easily.
"Yeah."
After confirming that the two had indeed left, Kakashi collapsed onto the ground.
Itachi's pair of Mangekyo Sharingan was far more terrifying than he had imagined.
Even though he also had the Sharingan, the Mangekyo was truly on another level.
"No wonder he could wipe out his entire clan by himself."
Kakashi felt a lingering fear. If Takemi hadn't affected Itachi at the critical moment, then the situation probably wouldn't have been optimistic.
Especially that purple current, it gave him a strange feeling.
However...
Glaring at Takemi, Kakashi's expression suddenly turned unpleasant.
"Didn't I tell you to run quickly? Although you performed well, and even created the jutsu you envisioned, but..."
"Alright, Kakashi-sensei." Takemi interrupted with a smile before Kakashi could finish speaking.
"Didn't we already fool them?"
"But did you ever think about what would happen if they weren't fooled?" Kakashi shook his head and asked in a deep voice.
He continued, "If this continues, you'll die!"
Takemi said, "But I couldn't just let Kakashi-sensei fall into danger."
Takemi blinked and slowly spoke with a smile, "Maybe I didn't follow orders, but has Kakashi-sensei forgotten that those who don't follow rules are trash, but those who don't cherish their comrades are worse than trash?"
"Alright, Kakashi-sensei, you rest first, I'll go see how our employer is doing."
After saying this, Takemi quickly stood up, smiled at Kakashi, and then headed towards the palanquin.
"This kid..."
Kakashi stood frozen in place.
Honestly, encountering Jūzō and Itachi this time, he truly felt things were going to be bad.
Looking back at his destiny from childhood until now, it seemed as if he was destined to be alone.
As a child, his father committed suicide, and he became an orphan.
Growing up, his close friends, Obito and Rin successively sacrificed themselves in the war.
Later on, his teacher and wife both passed away during the Nine-Tails' rampage.
During that time, he was plunged into darkness, completely lost and unable to find the path ahead. He just continued to carry out missions in a machine-like state.
If it weren't for Guy and other friends from Konoha, he felt that the best possible outcome for himself might have been to die during an Anbu mission.
And after leaving the Anbu, he met his first student.
Actually, he didn't pay much attention at first, and after this student's teammates were hospitalized, he even wanted to give up.
But this student eventually said the very words Obito had once cautioned him with.
With this encounter, Takemi proved that he truly believed those words from the bottom of his heart.
"But this time, we were lucky, no problems occurred."
Kakashi's gaze was somewhat dazed. The last person who said those words had died on the battlefield after saving him.
And this time, the person who said those words saved him, but everything was different now...
Slowly, Kakashi recovered. He lowered his headband, covering his Sharingan.
"It seems this is truly a new beginning..."
[Side Mission Completed: The Light in Kakashi's Heart]
[Reward: Information on Divine Artifacts]
Just as Kakashi was having these wild thoughts, new information appeared in Takemi's mind.
Seeing that the mission was completed, Takemi could only sigh, Obito's words were truly devastating to Kakashi.
But seeing this reward, his expression became exceptionally strange again.
"What the hell is this?"
In his memory, it seemed that the so-called Divine Artifacts were the things used by those crazy brothers from Kumogakure, right?
So, these Divine Artifacts are the Treasured Tools of the Sage of Six Paths.
But after examining it carefully, he realized that something was wrong.
"Totsuka Blade and Yata Mirror?" Takemi frowned.
He remembered that these two things seemed to be the weapons of Itachi's Susanoo, right?
He didn't know they were one of the Treasured Tools of the Sage of Six Paths. Or was this Divine Artifact not the Treasured Tools of the Sage of Six Paths he thought it was?
If he remembered correctly, Itachi sealed Orochimaru, who had used the Eight Branches Technique, cleanly and decisively by relying on Totsuka Blade.
Moreover, both of these things were in a Chakra state. He had always thought they were the original weapons of Itachi's Susanoo. But now it seemed the actual situation was a little different.
"Could it be that these two were originally in a Chakra state and were only equipped onto Utachi's Susanoo after being found by him?"
Thinking about it carefully, it seemed quite possible.
Because when Itachi used Totsuka Blade and Yata Mirror, both Orochimaru and Black Zetsu recognized them. Not only that, they even knew some of their abilities.
"This means that they actually existed in the Ninja World long ago, and left behind quite a few legends..."
Otherwise, Orochimaru and Black Zetsu, couldn't have known their details the first time Itachi had used them.
As for why they ended up in Itachi's hands...
"Either he was lucky, or this information was originally within the Uchiha Clan!"
Thinking of this, Takemi's gaze slightly changed.
He didn't care about them at all, but if the information about them was really related to the Uchiha, then his interest would be raised.
This very likely indicates that these two things are either possessions of their ancestor Indra, or...
"Or even something the Sage of Six Paths once used!"
Regardless of which it is, weapons in a Chakra state are bound to retain the user's Chakra, and this Chakra could very likely promote the development of Takemi's bloodline.
"Now that they've left, they will go back and report Kakashi's situation to Obito, right?"
Even though he didn't like Itachi, he couldn't help but murmur, "You're truly a good person, Itachi..."
.....
"Are you alright?"
In the forest on the other side, Itachi glanced at Jūzō, whose body was still stiff, and asked with a frown.
"It's not a big problem, but I'll need to rest properly for a while..." Jūzō shook his head and spoke with great displeasure.
"I was careless. I advanced rashly without any information on that kid, and that kid's Lightning Release is truly incredible..."
After all, he was once a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Although Jūzō was tricked by Takemi, ninjas inherently use any means necessary. If he lost, he lost. He accepted it.
What he remembered most vividly now was that purple lightning. That move truly brought him quite a shock.
"He's truly Kakashi's disciple. And Kakashi isn't simple either. Even after using the Mangekyo's pupil technique, I couldn't completely subdue him." Itachi nodded, then closed his eyes.
"Let's leave this place first. I also need to rest properly. It would be troublesome if Konoha's Anbu caught up."
Actually, he wasn't sure if the so-called Anbu reinforcements actually existed, but as a spy, he insisted that there were.
"Okay, let's go."
Jūzō also nodded. He moved his numb body slightly before speaking.
"How troublesome. To actually be injured by a kid, and the mission failed. I'll report it to the others later..."
"After all, we encountered the Copy Ninja Kakashi, as well as a genius young ninja."