A tracking mission.
Well, it makes sense. Team 8 specializes in tracking and reconnaissance missions.
Actually, it's kind of funny... Their mission was to try to find traces of a possible assassin who killed Danzo.
Yes, they already knew about Danzo's death, but they didn't make a fuss about it because they knew that chaos would only bring disorder—something that was not in their interest.
By the way, a random piece of information: the two old elders from Tobirama's team... are scared shitless after Danzo's death. Why is that, huh?
Well, it's not hard to imagine that they might be suspecting Tsunade and fearing they're next, but they have no proof and can only hide in a corner in a fetal position... Okay, maybe not that extreme, but it's true that they're cowering in fear.
By the way, he missed an important piece of information... In a few days, Sasori will meet with Orochimaru. He discovered this last night. Actually, it was in the manga, but he ignored it, thinking he had changed the plot too much. However, it's still going to happen.
And the place is very close to the area they were heading to.
After hours of running, they took a break.
"Zaydas-kun, here." Hinata said in her sweet voice, handing him a cup of water.
Just seeing her gentle and innocent smile made Zaydas happy. He smiled back as he accepted the cup. "Thank you, Hinata-chan."
She seemed a little surprised when he called her 'chan,' but then she smiled and went to give water to Shino and Kurenai.
Zaydas thought for a moment before taking out golden fruits, pretending to pull them from the backpack he was carrying.
"Try it, I was lucky to get this on a mission," Zaydas said. "They're delicious."
Each of them received one.
When they tasted it, they obviously looked at him differently—especially Kurenai.
"Zaydas!" She asked seriously. "Where exactly did you get this? Besides being delicious, I felt my body strengthening... This is too magical to ignore!"
"Sorry, I don't remember," Zaydas lied. "I entered something like a hidden area and felt confused the whole way, and that's when I found a tree with golden fruits. After tasting one, I picked some, and then I just managed to leave, but I couldn't find my way back. By the way, it's southeast of the Leaf Village."
"Southeast of the Leaf Village... You must have fallen into some kind of formation," Kurenai concluded.
"Yes, I passed along this information, but they weren't able to find the place. I was simply lucky," Zaydas lied.
On the other hand, he would only need to make this a 'true' piece of information.
Hinata, meanwhile, finished the golden fruit with small bites. Afterward, she seemed to have a sweet, nostalgic expression...
'Why are her reactions so cute?'
Or was it simply because he saw her that way through the filter of a fan thinking: If I ever go to the Naruto world, I need to make her my wife...
By the way, through his shadow clone in Naruto's presence, Zaydas discovered that Naruto was actually struggling while reading the book he had given him.
Unexpected, right? Well, maybe he really wanted to understand it before passing the book to Sakura? Or maybe, even if he didn't understand most of it, he still liked the book?
Whatever the case, it was a good thing.
───────────
Kakashi was feeling, at the very least, different.
Finding out that he had lost his old friend's Sharingan, and on top of that, his own eye had returned to normal... It was anything but normal and incredibly suspicious.
In front of him, Tsunade was frowning.
She was just as confused about it.
She wasn't the only one—even the intelligence unit hadn't been able to uncover anything about this.
Tsunade had even performed a full check-up on Kakashi but wasn't able to find any irregularities. In fact, Kakashi was in his best condition.
"Strange things have been happening lately... First, Danzo's death, without anyone even noticing," Tsunade sighed. "And now this..."
It was obvious that whoever did this to Kakashi didn't want to harm him—they had even healed his eye somehow. However, they had killed Danzo and there was that laboratory...
She murmured, "Could that lab be somehow connected to Danzo?"
"Tsunade!" The two old council members, who had come after hearing about Kakashi, raised their voices upon hearing her words.
"Huh? You're here?" she asked rhetorically, then said, "And did I say anything false? Isn't it extremely suspicious that the day he died is also the same day that inhumane lab was discovered?"
"I agree with Tsunade-sama," Shikaku said, stroking his goatee. "Danzo was always doing suspicious things, and we recently discovered that he placed seals on all the ninjas under his command to prevent any secrets about him from leaking. Intelligence is investigating, and it's very likely that some of them know something linking Danzo to that place."
"So... One of them escaped and killed Danzo... But if that's really the case, could this same individual be close to Kakashi?"
The one who raised that question was Shikamaru, who had also been invited.
"It can't be him, right? He's dead..." But 'he' would be the only one with enough reason to want Kakashi's eye, yet still want to heal Kakashi.
"But if that's really the case, doesn't it mean Danzo created a monster capable of doing all this right under our noses?"
"..."
They fell into an uncomfortable silence.
───────────
Later at night, Zaydas was balancing on one foot at the top of a tree.
It was his turn to keep watch while the rest slept.
The reason he was doing something like this was silly and childish. He was simply imitating fighting stances like the 'crane' and so on.
After having enough fun, he jumped down from the tree and landed silently near the campfire.
Picking up a manga [The Greatest Estate Developer], he began to read.
Perhaps because he laughed a little too loudly, Hinata came out of the tent, sleepy.
"Did I wake you up?" he asked.
Rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, she replied, "No, I just…"
"Bathroom?"
She nodded, embarrassed.
Thinking for a moment, Zaydas tapped the ground, and not far away, something was built that seemed to be made of earth. It was about the size of a standard portable toilet.
He said, "You can use it. It'll be more comforting, right?"
Nodding, she thanked him, "Yes, thank you."
What he created was basically a square with a gap for entry. However, the visible area was turned in another direction, and there was a tree right in front, meaning there were almost no blind spots.
Maybe because she still felt uncomfortable, Hinata took longer than necessary.
'How did she handle her needs before?' he wondered.
Not just her, but most ninjas were like that. Just because they became ninjas didn't mean they didn't have the need to use the bathroom...
'In the end, the television industry lied to me—pretty girls need to use the bathroom too!!!'
Laughing at his own dumb thought, Zaydas saw Hinata return, somewhat embarrassed.
"Good night," she said, entering the tent with Kurenai.
"Good night," Zaydas said, though he wasn't sure if she heard him or not.
───────────
The next morning, Zaydas woke up… or rather, opened his eyes.
He had basically been 'meditating' through the night, with Shino sleeping beside him.
In truth, he had been analyzing the jutsus he possessed and information that could be useful for creating or improving a jutsu.
After the tents were dismantled, they continued with the mission.
However, it was an impossible mission. There were no tracks, and they didn't even know what they were looking for—simply heading in a direction in search of something suspicious that could be connected to Danzo. On top of that, they hadn't even managed to find his corpse, making the search even more difficult.
Several hours later, near dusk once again, after investigating thoroughly, they still found zero clues. However, in return, they came across a small village being attacked by bandits.
"Will we help?" Hinata asked.
"This…" Kurenai couldn't decide immediately.
However, Zaydas told a lie—one that, while illogical from some perspectives, could still be used: "What if these bandits know something?"
"…"
Each of them was intelligent. Otherwise, they wouldn't be a tracking and reconnaissance team. They immediately understood Zaydas's intent in saying that.
"So far, we haven't found anything," Kurenai considered. "So even if the chances are small, it's worth it."
"Yes, yes." Hinata nodded.
Shino murmured something, as always, too quietly for almost anyone to hear.