‘Kimimaro should be one of the last two survivors of the Kaguya Clan.’ thought Kuroto as he focused his gaze on Kimimaro.
Because of the information provided to him by Yagura, Kuroto knows more details about the Kaguya Takashi, as such he knows that Takashi is a shinobi of the Kaguya Clan.
But even if that’s the case, Kuroto still prefers Kimimaro for extracting the cells of the Kaguya Clan, after all, Kimimaro is extremely talented and almost undefeatable.
In the canon, there are not many records of Kimimaro’s battle, putting aside the doubtful battle where he helped Orochimaru in the assassination of Yondaime Kazekage, the mere statements about him make him an extremely strong character.
As a child, Kimimaro was kept imprisoned because the Patriarch of the Kaguya Clan feared him, when released to Kirigakure he was able to continuously kill the shinobi of Kirigakure and still managed to survive whereas the rest of his clan save for Takashi was annihilated.
Trained personally by Orochimaru; Kimimaro’s strength further increased by leaps and bounds.
Later he became the leader of Sound Four, and it was stated that he defeated all four of Sound Four alone, the same sound Four who defeated the Konoha Special Mission Platoon; provided that the Konoha Special Mission Platoon was probably tired from their mission, but even then, their strength is nothing to scoff at.
Not to mention, Kimimaro in his terminally ill state, the state where him being able to move alone was considered miraculous, in that very same state; he not only obliterated more than 300 of Naruto’s Kyuubi Chakra Enhanced Shadow Clones, but even went on to fight a weakened Rock Lee and the Jinchuriki of Ichibi; Gaara, and in fact, he not only fought them but nearly killed them both before dying of his terminal illness.
He may have had the advantage of being older and more experienced of the three but that advantage can be put aside considering his terminally ill state where he was only a step away from death.
And the next part comes in the Fourth Great Shinobi War, where he without even using his Curse Mark was able to match up to Kyuubi Chakra Mode Naruto’s Shadow Clone and still remained undefeated; even the Samurai of the Land of Iron were unable to do anything to him.
Not to mention, he was and is still probably Orochimaru’s first choice as a vessel after Uchiha Itachi.
So overall it won’t be wrong to assume that Kimimaro is most definitely as talented as Itachi; the same kind of talent if allowed to bloom will put down all; so, it’s no wonder that Kishimoto sensei decided to put the bud in the nib before it could bloom into a flower.
“A fine choice indeed.” Muttered Kuroto.
At this moment, perhaps it was because Kuroto wasn’t trying to be discrete while observing Kimimaro; the kid noticed someone watching him, he raised his face to look in the direction of the watcher, and his expression instantly turned cold.
At the same time, Orochimaru in his disguise also followed Kimimaro’s gaze and looked in the direction of Kuroto; looking at Kuroto dressed in his Jonin vest; the corners of Orochimaru’s lips quivered; revealing a smile that wasn’t really a smile.
Kuroto did not bother to entertain Orochimaru but noticing Kimimaro’s look; he muttered, “Very Sharp indeed.”
Kuroto may not have been discreet, but this does not mean that he was being explicit, so the fact that Kimimaro noticed him alone speaks volumes about him.
But contrary to Kuroto’s attitude towards the disguised Orochimaru; the reaction of his subordinate was completely different.
Kurenai had subconsciously reached out for a Kunai in her shinobi bag, she didn’t know the specific reason, but her instincts were screaming at her to be very careful of that Otogakure-nin.
Kuroto immediately put his hand on Kurenai’s shoulder and stopped her midway, and said “Otogakure is going to be an ally of Konoha so we can’t make any move on him… take a deep breath and calm your nerves, for now; he isn’t an enemy, at least, I hope he isn’t.”
As instructed by Kuroto, Kurenai took a deep breath and let go of the Kunai she had almost drawn out, “I am fine, thanks.”
Kuroto nodded and looked back in the direction of Orochimaru, at the same time, Hayate asked; “Captain; that Shinobi of Otogakure is very strong; probably stronger than an Elite Jonin level; we would better keep a watch on him.”
Kuroto nodded, “Yugao; inform Inoichi-san about him; also have Shikaku-san instruct someone to keep a watch over him; the watcher need not be hostile towards him; just remain in close proximity to make him understand that he is under surveillance, to keep his actions limited.”
“Yes, captain.” Yugao nodded and passed Kuroto’s instruction to Yamanaka Inoichi.
At this time, Kurenai said, “That kid with grey hair; he also doesn’t seem to be ordinary, especially that cold expression towards us.”
Kuroto smiled and didn’t say anything, because Kuroto understands that Kimimaro is someone fiercely loyal to Orochimaru, and values Orochimaru’s interest above everything; even himself.
It didn’t take long for Kuroto’s instructions to be followed and the village sent someone to not only keep a watch over him but also act as a guide for the Otogakure shinobi.
Coincidentally enough, the one who came was none other than Mitarashi Anko; and Kuroto can’t help but sigh upon looking at her, ‘Of course, it had to be Anko of all.’
After a brief greeting to the Otogakure team, Anko led them in the direction of the Hokage Building.
Of course, Anko is not that bad of a choice, she might have been chosen for the task while keeping in mind that she can keep a watch over them; at the same time not make them feel uncomfortable because of her carefree attitude.
Obviously, with the passage of time, Anko has gradually walked out of Orochimaru’s shadow, and these days the girl has become almost similar to what she was in the Canon; loud, stubborn, and prone to acting without thinking.
While leading the Otogakure team, she even went on to boast about Konoha’s power to the disguised Orochimaru; in an attempt to give them a good understanding of ‘who’s the boss here.’
But everything she is talking about is quite useless because the one listening to her is none other than Orochimaru who had a mocking expression as he paid great interest in Anko’s boasting.
At this time, Kimimaro also stopped looking at Kuroto and he seemed to have reached some sort of determination.
Looking at Kimimaro; Kuroto also remembers a piece of information that he learned about the Kaguya Clan from the confidential archives in Kirigakure, the document states that all the members of the Kaguya Clan; without any exception have Wind Nature as their main Chakra attribute.
This fact is quite similar to the Uchiha Clan, as all the members of the Uchiha Clan have Fire Chakra as their primary Chakra Nature.
This fact also shows that Kaguya Clan; quite similar to the Uchiha Clan; is not only a very powerful Shinobi Clan; but also has a stable bloodline.
‘If the Kaguya Clan are really descendants of Hamura, then using Kimimaro’s genes for creating the Wind Clone is a very viable option.’ Thought Kuroto.
And if Kuroto creates the Wind Clone using Kimimaro’s cell, then that would mean; his main body has the eyes of Hamura, and Wind Clone has the body of Hamura.
Additionally, the Fire Clone has the genes of the Uchiha Clone, which is equivalent to possessing the eyes of the Sage; and then the Yang Clone he will create in the future will inevitably be chosen from either the Uzumaki descent or the Senju Descent; so the Yang Clone will have the body of Sage.
In this way, when these four clones are fused together using the Chimera Jutsu; they will gather the body and eyes of both Hamura and Hagoromo, and when thinking of such a thing, Kuroto can’t help but wonder, “If this is achieved in the final fusion, wouldn’t it mean that I will be the closest to Otsutsuki Kaguya in terms of bloodline?”
“What are you mumbling Kuroto-san?” Kurenai asked from the side.
However, Kuroto was too busy to listen to Kurenai’s question and didn’t reply.
…
At a secret training field in Konoha.
“Haah… haah…” Kakashi was breathing heavily as he wiped off the sweat from his forehead.
“I wonder how long has it been since I trained so fervently.” Muttered Kakashi as he remembered the past month during which he has been training almost sleepless, without any care for the food or rest.
When he was young; because of his talent and desire to prove certain things, Kakashi graduated early from the Academy without much effort, later as the years progressed, he soon became a chunin from a genin and then a Jonin by the age of 11 or 12, even managed to develop a Class-A Lightning Ninjutsu: Chidori.
Kakashi’s talent has always been superior to those of the same generation; even those of four noble Clone couldn’t compare to him, Sarutobi Asuma, Hyuga Kuroto, and Uchiha Obito were no exception.
However, after experiencing several tragedies one after another which included the suicide of his father Sakumo, the sacrifice of his friend Obito, the death of his other friend Rin at his own hand; then finally the death of his Sensei Minato and Kushina whom Kakashi was supposed to protect as per the mission assigned to him, Kakashi lost all motivation he once had and became to grow darker and gloomier.
The companionship from Guy, Kuroto, and Shisui indeed helped him in the past few years but he is still far from overcoming it.
But even so, the dark and decadent him was still the best; at least until some time ago, gradually Kakashi noticed that whether Guy, Kuroto, or Shisui, all three of them seems to have surpassed him.
Kakashi too became strong but those three were stronger than him, but he never felt any urgency, even if he knew that the target of Akatsuki and Amatsukami was Uzumaki Naruto; the son of his Sensei whom he has to protect because Kakashi never truly believed that these two organizations would be able to overpower entire Konoha.
Well, that used to be the case until the War of Summit.
His entire perception of strength and power was broken at Amegakure.
After witnessing the level of power of the leaders of the two organizations; Kakashi realized just how wrong he was, and how insignificant and powerless he is, at the same time, he understood that with the way he is, he would never be able to protect the village and Naruto, and then a long-lost desire to grow stronger burned in his heart, he was determined to work harder than ever, this is why when given the offer by Sandaime to join the Special Tactical Team, Kakashi didn’t refuse and readily accepted.
Looking at the broken tree in front of him, then at his hand, Kakashi muttered, “I have still too much to learn to match up to Minato sensei.”
Kakashi sighed and put the Kunai in his shinobi bag, “If I am not wrong then today is supposed to be the Alliance Ceremony, let’s see if I can find something interesting there.” Muttered Kakashi while stretching his tired body and left the training field.
He was going to go home, take a bath, then walk around the village for a while, at least that was the plan, but for some reason that Kakashi himself didn’t understand, he was on the outskirts of Konoha; more specifically at the Konoha Cemetery, “Why did I come here?” muttered Kakashi in wonder, as he looked at the bouquet of flowers in his hand that he unknowingly bought at the Yamanaka flower shop, but Kakashi didn’t really care too much and proceeded ahead.
Kakashi spends much of his free time either at Konoha Cemetery or at Memorial Stone, and he would often stay here for as much as a whole day telling all kinds of things to Obito, and Rin.
Sighing slightly, Kakashi slowly walked in front of Rin’s Tombstone and habitually prepared to clean up the growing weeds, burn incense and add a few flowers and talk about his life but when he arrived here, he found that her tombstone was already cleaned and even a bouquet of fresh flowers; similar to his, that Rin particularly liked was also present here.
Kakashi looked around but noticed no one in the immediate vicinity, he couldn’t help but wonder, “Who came to visit Rin, not to mention they even knew about Rin’s preference when it comes to flowers?”
Kakashi’s question was a valid one, because Rin was an orphan just like him, as such it is hard to imagine someone other than him coming to visit Rin, at the same time being aware of her likes.
“Perhaps it was just some coincidence, and perhaps someone else also remembered Rin. I guess I should try to find who that person is.” Muttered Kakashi as he too lit incense and put the flower on Rin’s tombstone, then proceeded to tell her all that has been happening in the village and the shinobi world for the past few months, along with the things he has been doing all this while, and at the same time apologize for not being able to come more often.
While Kakashi was busy talking to Rin; he did not notice the figure of a swirled masked individual sitting on the trunk of a tree and silently watching him from the distant forest.